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Doctor of Ministry

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Doctor of Ministry

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Office of Graduate Admissions

36 Madison Avenue, Madison NJ

973-408-3111

[email protected]

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Application Deadlines

Applications are due June 1 for all cohorts beginning in Summer 2024:

  • Courageous Leadership (all specializations)

Applications are due July 1 for all cohorts beginning in Fall 2024:

  • Bible, Theology and Leadership in the Korean Context
  • Pastoral Identity and Partnerships
  • Social Impact

Admission Requirements

  • MDiv or its equivalent. Applicants with a two-year masters degree will be considered. Prerequisite coursework may be required if the applicant’s master’s degree is not theologically based.
  • At least three years of full-time professional experience in or beyond traditional ministerial positions.
  • Currently holding a ministry or leadership position within or beyond the traditional church setting, including non-profit organizations, community activism, or other social or pastoral leadership contexts.
  • Resume or CV.
  • Email and technological access and capacity is required of all admitted students.
  • Two letters of reference with at least one being from a religious leader. Letters should come from persons qualified to evaluate the applicant’s intellectual capacities and promise, as well as ministry experience or leadership skills.
  • Transcripts for all academic study beyond secondary school.

International Students: Drew’s Doctor of Ministry program is not considered a full time, residential program for Visa purposes.

Merit Scholarships are not offered for the Doctor of Ministry degree. Limited funding options can be found here on our website.

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Responsive leadership. Moral audacity.

Drew Theological School invites you to join us on a new path toward your Doctor of Ministry degree. Choose a DMin experience that supports your vocational goals and lifestyle, and that responds to the great theological and ethical challenges of our day.

We are currently accepting applications for the following DMin cohorts:

Courageous Leadership in a Changing Culture (starts summer 2024)—A radically different degree designed for the engaged and curious leader committed to speaking and leading in congregations and in the public square in relevant and courageous ways. 

At Drew, students and faculty are committed to developing responsive leadership in these challenging times. The DMin program brings together religious leaders and Drew faculty to develop courageous, gospel-inspired responses that are rooted in the Bible, theology, and visions of the beloved community.

Our “Courageous Leadership in a Changing Culture” DMin will help you lead your congregations in these challenging times in a format that meets your lifestyle and vocational goals.

Courageous Leadership

Learn more about optional Courageous Leadership Specializations
All Courageous Leadership students pursue their own research projects. There are also 4 optional specializations available to Courageous Leadership students A specialization includes one required course plus topical research in your electives and professional project. 

Courageous Leadership DMIN students can opt to specialize in: 

  • Women’s Religious Leadership – Women’s leadership is essential to thriving religious communities and social movements. This unique specialization deepens women’s considerable gifts for leadership, engaging women-centered theories, wisdom, and practices, as well as Drew’s long tradition of feminist, womanist, and LGBTQ theology and theory.
  • Church After Pandemic – Emerging from a global pandemic, congregational leaders are finding new modes for their mission in the world.  This specialization empowers courageous leaders interested in the tools of technology, the frameworks of finance, and expansive expressions of ecclesiology to journey together as we look for what “the church” needs to be in this moment.
  • Institutional Transformation for Social Impact – This specialization engages courageous leaders who are committed to changing society’s institutions — corporations, government, and church –  to more effectively contribute to the common good in their communities and to prophetically transform systems from a faith-based perspective.
  • Faith, Health, and Social Equity – How can faith and spirituality be a catalyst for health equity? This DMin concentration dares to ask who and what is driving health disparity, and what kind of courageous leadership is needed to bring justice and wholeness in vulnerable communities and across societies. 

 

About the Program
  • Mix of on-campus and online (All DMIN students are required to be on-campus to attend a 2-week Intensive in July. Students can schedule all remaining classes in either online or on-campus intensives formats)
  • DMIN 2024 Summer Intensive Dates: July 15-19 and July 22-26
  • Curriculum: This 30-credit Courageous Leadership DMin consists of 18 credits of coursework and 12 credits for theologically reflective contextually-responsive research. In the first research module after coursework, students write a well-researched essay demonstrating the ability to reflect theologically and biblically. This paper then serves as the scaffolding for the second substantial paper, which integrates the themes of the reflection within a specific chosen contextual issue.
  • Participants work with internationally known faculty.
Program Roadmap

How do students progress through their DMin? The following “roadmap” shows the most effective way to progress through the program so they may graduate on time.

Year 1 – Coursework

  • Summer 1 
    • Students will take the following on-campus intensives in Madison, NJ
      • DMIN 701 (Context and Change: Introduction to the Doctor of Ministry)
      • DMIN Elective/Concentration 
  • Fall 1
    • Students will complete their summer coursework (with no additional coursework)
  • Spring 1
    • Students will take two elective/concentration courses, with their choice of a weekly synchronous online course or an on-campus intensive during Spring Break
  • Summer 2 
    • Students will take two elective/concentration courses via an on-campus intensive in Madison NJ

Year 2 and 3 – Research Modules

  • Fall 2 
    • Students will engage in a weekly synchronous online session for Research Module I in the Fall along with individual work with a mentor.
    • Goal: Develop an approved project proposal.
  • Spring 2
    • Students will continue and complete Research Module I through individually paced work with a mentor.
    • Goal: Write initial 25-page paper
  • Fall 3
    • Students take Research Module II and will continue individually paced work with a mentor.
    • Goal: Approve professional project in context (IRB approval if needed)
  • Spring 2
    • Students will continue and complete Research Module II through individually paced work with a mentor.
    • Goal: Complete project and write and present an additional 50-page paper.

Graduation in May of Year 3.

Sample Course Descriptions
Here is just a few examples of some of the course offerings available to Drew’s DMin cohorts:

  • DMIN 706 – Pilgrim Spirituality: The course explores pilgrimage, or a pilgrim-themed spirituality, as a theological method for Christian formation. The course focuses on a definitional methodology, biblical expressions, theoretical approaches, the pilgrim experience, and applications for religious travel, everyday Christianity, social justice, and congregational life.
  • DMIN 950 – Religion, Faith, and Finance for Social Impact: This class is designed to help students critically and constructively explore the various ways in which pastors and church leaders can access multiple sources of capital (beyond the offering plate) to fund church growth and community revitalization. Examining the history of financing religious life as well as biblical and other faith-based paradigms, the course explores strategies and practical applications to address the many issues facing local congregations in under-resourced or low-wealth communities. Students will be taught how to develop partnerships with entrepreneurs and how to collaborate with large corporations to make a meaningful social impact in their communities.
  • DMIN 712 – Women, Religion & Society: This course does a deep dive into questions of women’s religious leadership. It surveys the phenomenon of women’s religious leadership by an expansive understanding of leadership types. Thereby it opens to a vista of current women’s religious leadership with examination of ancient documents that discussed women and their potential in ancient Greek and Roman empires. The goal of such delving is the pursuit of elusive answers to a vexing question, “What is the mysterious anxiety about women that manifests as religious misogyny?” It’ll be an adventure. Please join Rev. Dr. Althea Spencer Miller and others in a quest for historic and contemporary evidence of women’s leadership in religion and the reciprocal impact on and in society.

 

Pastoral Identity & Partnerships (starts fall 2024)—The world is changing. The changing world needs pastors. Pastors need to change. The work of the Pastor can no longer be limited to the local congregation.

The wisdom, guidance, and counsel that local congregations need are also important contributions to building and sustaining strong communities. Be a part of a learning community that will adventurously seek the larger global possibilities of pastoral presence and leadership and strategically will think about the partners pastors need to accomplish that larger project. This cohort is for pastors, not-for-profit leaders, and chaplains who have been in the work for three years or more and are seeking new ways to understand themselves and the theological contribution to the global good.

Led by respected Pastor-Teacher practitioner, Rev. Dr. Gary Simpson, and leading work and though partners, this cohort will explore the Pastoral Identity in its broadest context.

Social Impact (starts fall 2024)—This cohort is designed to help pastors and social justice advocates critically and constructively explore the various ways in which the organizations that they serve can access multiple sources of capital (beyond member contributions) to fund community revitalization.

Examining the history of financing religious life as well as biblical and other faith-based paradigms, the cohort explores strategies and practical applications to address the many issues facing local congregations as well as non-profit organizations serving under-resource or low-wealth communities. Students will be taught how to develop partnerships with impact investors, social entrepreneurs and how to collaborate with large corporations and foundations to make a meaningful social impact in their communities.

Led by Pastor-Teacher practitioner, Rev. Dr. Sidney Williams, this cohort will push participants into new arenas of ministry and community engagement.

NOTE: There are additional expectations that students in this cohort will attend designated conferences to enhance the learning experience. Drew University will cover the cost of conference registration associated with this cohort as a part of tuition and fees. However, students are expected to cover all travel related expenses related to their attending any of the required conferences.

Social Impact Pathway Grid

Grid
Social Impact DMIN (Lead: Sidney Williams)
MODULE I – UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL CAPITAL
Fall 2023 – Group Travel + Online
6 credits Group Travel to SoCap – October 2023
Individual bi-weekly meeting + group project
MODULE II – FISHING DIFFERENTLY
Spring 2024 – Online + Intensive
3 credits Congregational Studies
3 credits Understanding Congregational and Communal Trauma
Summer 2024 – No classes
MODULE III – DEFINING SOCIAL IMPACT
Fall 2024 – Group Travel + Online
6 credits Group Travel +
Individual bi-weekly meeting + group project
MODULE IV – SOCIAL IMPACT RESEARCH
Spring 2025 – Summer 2025
6 credits Research Module I
Proposal and Research
MODULE V – SOCIAL IMPACT PROJECT
Fall 2025 – Spring 2026
6 credits Research Module II
Implementation and Project Completion
FINAL GROUP TRAVEL – SOCIAL IMPACT SYMPOSIUM

Bible, Theology and Leadership in the Korean Context

A reflective and innovative concentration for Korean-speaking students that focuses on inward and outward examinations of effective practices of ministry in Korean contexts. In the core curriculum, students will learn a pedagogical methodology that places scriptural literacy at the center of Christian formation and congregational practice in order to bring spiritual renewal to the Korean church in both the Korean-American and Korean contexts. Rev. Younglae Kim, PhD, ([email protected]) serves as the faculty convenor. 

About the Specialization
The message of Christ is deeply rooted in the heart of the ministry of South Korea. The lead faculty for this concentration partner together to deepen the study of meaning and ministry in South Korea.

  • Working with leading semioticians and educators, students deeply examine the power of the biblical narrative. What stories do we tell? In what ways does the biblical narrative shape, transform, and direct ministry?
  • Meet in Madison, New Jersey, Seoul, South Korea, and online to explore and cultivate a deeper understanding of ministry in the South Korean context, particularly its interconnectedness with outside ministry contexts, as well as its expanding global influence.
  • Develop innovative ministry insights based upon a reflective analysis of South Korean religious culture, history, and trends.

PARTICIPANTS STUDY WITH

  • Dr. Leonard Sweet, semiotician, preacher, best-selling author, and Drew Emeritus Professor of Evangelism
  • Dr. Byoungho Zoh, Founder of Tongdokwon, Institute of Reading the Bible Through
  • Dr. Younglae Kim, scholar of the Bible Education through Stories, Professor of Methodist Theological University
About the Curriculum
This concentration is a three-year, 30-credit D.Min degree. Credits are earned in a combination of on-campus and online courses held in South Korea. All students will be required to attend the Drew summer intensives in Madison, NJ during the summer of their first year. This concentration begins in the fall semester and is taught in the Korean language. The DMIN intensive dates run from July 29-August 2.

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