Doctor of Ministry Curriculum

---

The basic curriculum for all D.Min. students requires 27 semester units. The educational methodology throughout supports the professional character of the degree, striving to integrate content and process, intellect and emotion, and theory and practice -- all essential to the effective practice of ministry.

NOTE:  Special Southern California Group, 2008-2009: Members of the collegium group convening in Pasadena in the fall of 2008 may choose a different way to fulfill some of the requirements. See below under “Extended Option” for more details.

SFTS offers three options for completing the degree requirements:


Designed for students not within commuting distance of the San Anselmo campus, the intensive option requires two intensive on-campus periods of study during successive summers: four weeks the first summer and six weeks the second summer.

• A. Four-Week Intensive Collegium Group (6 units)
  Collegium groups of 10 to 14 students meet on campus for four weeks during July and August to take two intensive seminars: The Pastor as Person and The Cultural Milieu and the Mission of the Church. The collegium group provides a unique opportunity for participants to explore their work openly and honestly with the reciprocal support of peers and faculty persons.
  
  
  • First Seminar: The Pastor as Person (3 units) Objectives include rediscovering one's self in the company of professional peers, coming to terms with depersonalizing factors in ministry, reviewing present and future professional and vocational choices, establishing a collegial learning team, and building deeper levels of trust and cooperation among colleagues. Spirituality and pastoral theology are the disciplines that inform this seminar.
    
    
  • Second Seminar: The Cultural Milieu and the Mission of the Church (3 units) Objectives include developing skills for identifying, researching, and understanding a major social issue or area of concern and preparing and analyzing strategies for mission with regard to this issue. This seminar's work is informed primarily by social ethics and missiology.
    
    
• B. Independent Study on Theology of Ministry (3 units)
  During the academic year following the on-campus intensive, each student engages in an individual project in consultation with the APS director, focusing on his or her own theology of ministry.
  
  
• C. Six-Week Summer Term (9 units)
  The summer residential term at SFTS consists of two resource seminars, a seminar in research design leading to formulation of a dissertation/project (D/P) topic proposal, and a frontier seminar that focuses on one contemporary issue at the cutting edge of the church's mission. Students may select from among a variety of resource and frontier seminar offerings. The summer term concludes with a candidacy interview during which students meet individually with a faculty team to examine written evaluations of course work and to review their progress. Students are advanced to candidacy only after 1) recommendation to the faculty by the interview team and 2) the approval of a D/P topic. If the interview team recommends further work before beginning the D/P, any additional costs are borne by the student.
  
  
• D. Dissertation/Project (9 units)
  The purpose of the dissertation/project is to develop the skills involved in an objective investigation into an issue or aspect of the student's own ministry. The work must demonstrate relevance to the mission of the church, theological foundations, methodological rationale, and a process of critical evaluation. The D/P also involves accountability or reporting to a church body, e.g., presbytery, conference, diocese, or other faith community, and an oral presentation.
  
  
• 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, the student 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, the D.Min. student is accepted for degree candidacy. Successful completion and acceptance of the dissertation/project by the APS committee is 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.
  
  

• A. Nine-Month Collegium Group (9 units)
  Each year in San Anselmo—and from time to time in Pasadena—an extended collegium group meets on campus once a week from late September through early May. Occasionally other groups of clergy organize to meet in the same way at off-campus sites in the western United States. Such a group of 10 to 14 clergy provides a unique opportunity for participants to explore their work openly and honestly with the reciprocal support of peers and both local and SFTS faculty persons. The group's work focuses on three themes: The Pastor as Person, The Theology of Ministry, and The Cultural Milieu and the Mission of the Church (see descriptions below). Local groups meet for three 40-hour quarters, beginning in the fall. All three quarters of the collegium group curriculum must be completed before a student attends the six-week summer term.
  
  
  • Fall Quarter: The Pastor as Person (3 units)
    See above, under Intensive Option.
    
    
  • Winter Quarter: The Theology of Ministry (3 units)
    
  • Winter quarter objectives include examining, understanding, and critiquing the ministry of each student; helping to build new and more coherent theories of ministry; and reflecting upon the ministry from biblical and theological perspectives. Practical Theology is the primary discipline under girding this quarter's work.
    
    
  • Spring Quarter: The Cultural Milieu and the Mission of the Church
    See above, under the Intensive Option.
    
    
• B. Six-Week Summer Term (9 units)
  The six-week summer residential term at SFTS consists of two resource seminars, a seminar in research design leading to formulation of a dissertation/project (D/P) topic proposal, and a frontier seminar that focuses on one contemporary issue at the cutting edge of the church's mission. Students may select from among a variety of resource and frontier seminar offerings.
  NOTE: Southern California: During the 2009-2010 academic year only, students who are part of the  2008-2009 collegium group in Southern California have the option of fulfilling the resource seminar requirement on the Pasadena campus and completing their D/P and frontier seminars during two weeks of residence in San Anselmo in July 2009 to complete their D/P and frontier seminars.
  
  
• C. Dissertation/Project (9 units)
  The D/P is an independent undertaking in which the student takes full initiative to plan, seek approval for, and implement a study and action project within her/his ministry. See the Dissertation/Project section under “Intensive Option” above for more detailed information.
  
  

• Spiritual Direction
  Students applying to study for a Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction may simultaneously apply to begin the Doctor of Ministry program with advanced standing. The two sets of application materials are different, but applicants who meet the criteria for DASD admission usually qualify for D.Min. study as well. The three January terms required as part of the Diploma program take the place of the collegium group component of the D.Min. After graduating with a Diploma, students in the joint program attend the six-week summer term and write a dissertation/project (see descriptions above in the general D.Min. curriculum information). Fees are structured according to the proportion of each program completed: full DASD tuition and pro-rated D.Min. tuition. For more information about the DASD/D.Min. option, contact the Diploma in Spiritual Direction (DASD) office (darcamooney@sfts.edu) or the APS office (pperry@sfts.edu).
  
  
• Pastoral Care and Counseling
  In September 2003, SFTS began a new Bay Area-based Doctor of Ministry Collegium Group with an emphasis in Pastoral Care and Counseling. For years, the Doctor of Ministry program has existed alongside the Lloyd Center Pastoral Counseling Service's American Association of Pastoral Counseling Training Program. Now the two programs have joined together to give regionally based participants the opportunity to accrue the clinical training and pastoral counseling hours required for certification in the AAPC while earning a D.Min. degree.
  
  Throughout the program, participants see parishioners from their churches and/or clients in pastoral counseling at the Lloyd Center. Counseling hours are supervised in accordance with the standards of AAPC. After completing 375 supervised hours of pastoral counseling and the Pastoral Counseling D.Min. courses, participants are eligible to apply for Certified Pastoral Counselor membership in AAPC. For more information, contact Dr. Scott Sullender at the Lloyd Center Counseling Service (ssullender@sfts.edu) or the APS office (pperry@sfts.edu).