Doctor of Ministry

Multidisciplinary Emphasis Curriculum

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For all students, the curriculum of the Doctor of Ministry with a Multidisciplinary emphasis (30 semester units in all) consists of six seminars, a research workshop and a dissertation/project.

All students complete the workshop and dissertation/project requirements in the same way.  However, there are two options for completing the six seminars:

Seminar Requirement - Extended Option
(Bay Area students within commuting distance)


If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may complete the first three of your six seminars as components of a 30-week collegium group experience on Monday mornings from September to May.  These three initial seminars (Pastor as Person, Theology of Ministry, and The Cultural Milieu and Mission of the Church) are designed to empower you to explore and renew your vocation in ministry, your theological understanding of your own ministry, and the cultural context and mission of your ministry in light of world Christianity.

Extended Option - schedule for Monday mornings, 2010-11

Sept. 21-Nov. 23	Nov. 30-March 1	March 8-May 10
Pastor as Person	Theology of Ministry	Culture and Mission

After you complete these three seminars, you will continue the program with three summer resource seminars, chosen from several offerings, and an ongoing summer research workshop. You may fulfill all of these requirements as one six-week summer term, or you may divide the work into shorter periods of two or four weeks over two to three summers.


Extended Option - Summer Schedule 2010

June 7-18	June 21-July 2	July 5-16
Resource Seminar 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for chapel and coffee	Resource Seminar 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for chapel and coffee	Resource Seminar 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for chapel and coffee
Dissertation/Project Research Workshop 1:30–2:30 p.m.	Dissertation/Project Research Workshop 1:30–2:30 p.m.	Dissertation/Project Research Workshop 1:30–2:30 p.m.

Seminar Requirement - Intensive Option
(All students beyond commuting distance)


If you live beyond commuting distance (or prefer a completely residential educational experience), the required six seminars are offered during the summer. You may choose to complete three seminars each summer for two successive summers, or you may divide the work into shorter time periods of two or four weeks during three or four summers.

The program begins with three seminars (Pastor as Person, Theology of Ministry, and The Cultural Milieu and Mission of the Church) designed to empower you to explore your vocation in ministry, your theological understanding of your own ministry, and the cultural context and mission of your ministry in light of world Christianity.

Intensive Option - Summer Schedule 2010

June 7-18	June 21–July 2	July 5-16
Pastor as Person	Theology of Ministry	Culture and Mission

In the succeeding summer or summers, you will continue the program with three resource seminars chosen from several offerings, and one ongoing research workshop. You may fulfill all of these requirements as one six-week summer term, or you may divide the work into shorter periods of two or four weeks over two to three summers.

Intensive Option - Summer Schedule 2011

June 6-July 17	June 20-July 1	July 4-15
Resource Seminar 1 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for chapel and coffee	Resource Seminar 2 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for chapel and coffee	Resource Seminar 3 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with a one-hour break for chapel and coffee
Dissertation/Project Research Workshop 1:30–2:30 p.m.	Dissertation/Project Research Workshop 1:30–2:30 p.m.	Dissertation/Project Research Workshop 1:30–2:30 p.m.

Dissertation/Project (D/P)
Required for all D.Min students

The dissertation/project (D/P) is a major independent undertaking.  You will take full responsibility for planning and implementing a study and action project within your ministry.

You may wish to work on a tentative focus for your D/P prior to your summer term or terms.  During your summer class work, especially the D/P research workshop, your faculty and fellow students will help you define a D/P topic.

The dissertation/project may be any one of the following:

• An academic research project
  
• A participant/observer study of a social issue
  
• Action research on some activity of ministry, such as church administration, religious education, or liturgy
  
• An analysis of the therapeutic or educational processes of the church
  
• A creative work, such as a novel, play, or film, which must include a critical dissertation as well.
  

The D/P begins with the development of a two-page topic statement including a summary of the problem, area of inquiry, or hypothesis; a summary of the purpose of the inquiry and the methodology to be employed; an initial bibliography; and a proposed advisor. If the advisor is not a member of the faculty of SFTS/GTU, you must provide the proposed advisor's curriculum vitae to the Advanced Pastoral Studies committee for approval.

When both the topic and the advisor have been approved, you will be accepted for degree candidacy and will go on to enlarge your topic into a more detailed design. Successful completion of the dissertation/project, including approval by the Advanced Pastoral Studies committee, are required for the degree. For more specific information regarding the criteria and process for approval, please request a copy of the Guide to the Dissertation/Project.

Many find that the personal fulfillment of the D/P experience is directly related to the degree of significance of the problem they select.  Your D/P is more likely to be rewarding to you if:

• it deals with a significant issue of our time;
  
• it can readily draw upon the biblical and theological resources of the Gospel and the church;
  
• it is of personal urgency to you; and
  
• it is one to which you are willing to devote two or three years.

The D/P should examine the problem in its historical (i.e. social, political or economic, etc.)  context and investigate it in terms of its biblical/theological importance. The D/P should be seen as one step or action which makes a contribution toward the solution of a larger problem - a problem that could be significant enough to engage your energies and the energies of many other people for many years.  In other words, be sure that you shy away from problems that yield to simple "how to fix it" solutions.

The D/P is an invitation to a "grappling" experience rather than a "solving" experience.

We are looking forward to sharing with you in the struggles of the D/P seminar because your D/P can represent a creative response to the major needs of the churches and our societies.