The Program Curriculum

• Curriculum Objectives
• Curriculum Approach
• Curriculum Description
• Requirements and Five-Year Overview
• Sourcing and Ecumenical Partnerships

The program curriculum prepares persons to enhance their capacity for effective ministry in the church –either within congregations or in staff roles within regional judicatories or national agencies. A person holding a degree with this concentration will be professionally prepared to provide leadership for the sake of the missional church.

Curriculum Objectives
 

1. To prepare persons to lead congregations into the dynamics of vitalization, or through the process of redevelopment.
2. To prepare persons to engage in mission development/new church development.
3. To prepare persons to serve as staff in regional judicatories or national agencies of denominations so that they will be able to engage their work missionally.
4. To develop a growing body of case studies on congregations, mission, and leadership that is theologically grounded while being informed by the social sciences.

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Curriculum Approach
 

1. Help persons lead congregations from the perspective of an advanced understanding of the nature and purposes of ministry.
2. Help persons develop enhanced competencies in pastoral analysis and ministerial skills.
3. Help persons integrate their understanding of, and skills for, ministry into their experience through critical theological reflection.
4. Help persons gain new knowledge about the practice of ministry.
5. Help persons continue to grow spiritually within their ministries.

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Curriculum Description
 

Design Issues – This program is designed to function in the following manner, consistent with ATS guidelines:

• Students will complete their work in a seminar-based program.
• A variety of learning experiences will be incorporated into the program including peer learning, self-directed learning, integrative experiences, skill development and gaining competencies in conducting research.
• Opportunities will be available for students to have sustained exposure to campus faculty and research facilities.

Seminars – The DMin curriculum for the concentration in Congregational Mission and Leadership will consist of eight seminars in addition to a thesis. The following assumptions are made in relation to the seminars:

• The seminars will be scheduled for the months of July and January. There will be a six month window related to each seminar – three (3) months of preparation, one (1) month when class meets, and two (2) months for completion of paper or project.
• Each seminar will meet for one week with at least 30 contact hours.
• Seminars will normally be limited to a cohort of 12 enrolled students, but class size may range in number from 8-15 students.
• Faculty teaching seminars will include Luther Seminary personnel in addition to qualified adjuncts.
• A student will normally take two seminars a year, completing the program in five years. However, as more course offerings become available, a student may take up to four seminars per year and complete the program in three years.
• The minimum number of years required to complete the program is three and the maximum is five. Extensions will be allowed by petition for up to two more years based on reasonable requests.
• Seminars will require approximately 2,500 pages of advanced reading and a post-session integration paper or project.
• Students will be expected to chose one of two tracks for their fourth year of seminars, either congregational vitalization or mission development.
• Another option available for the fourth year is for students to complete two equivalent seminars in a field of concentration of their choosing. These two seminars may be registered as credit from another institution that has an ATS approved DMin program and agreement with Luther Seminary to transfer credit. To facilitate this option, this program will develop strategic ecumenical partnerships with a variety of schools offering comparable programs.
• The thesis seminar is required of all students. Thesis cohorts will normally be six students with an instructor. The instructor will guide the development of the thesis projects in partnership with primary readers of each thesis.

Requirements

View a graphic overview of the five year schedule.

Orientation
All new students will be required to complete GR7500 DMin Orientation, a one-day, non-credit course with pass/fail grading. This seminar will initially be offered as a lead-in to the July seminar, but may also be offered in January once the program is fully operational.

Year One – Introductory Seminars

GR7501 Integration of Theology and Ministry – Theological Reflection
GR7502 Pastoral Identity, Leadership, and Spirituality

Concentration Seminars

Year Two
CL7525 The Missional Church
CL7530 The Missional Leader

Year Three
CL7535 Introduction to Research
CL7540 Studying Congregations in Context – Guided Research Project

Year Four
Track A
CL7550 Theological Foundations for Congregational Vitalization
CL7555 Strategies for Congregational Vitalization

Track B
CL7560 Theological Foundations for Mission Development
CL7565 Strategies for Mission Development

Track C
Two comparable seminars as a field of concentration – these may be transferred from another ATS accredited school.

Thesis: CL7570–80

Students meet four times for two days each from July to March in seminar cohorts and review draft sections of their thesis on the following schedule:

• July – Overview of thesis and literature review (chapters 1-2)
• September – Research design and methodology (chapter 3)
• January – Analysis of research (chapter 4)
• March – Summary findings and theological reflections (chapters 5-6)
• April – Completed thesis due

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Sourcing and Ecumenical Partnerships

Luther Seminary will be the primary provider of classes, seminars, etc. for this program. It is anticipated, however, that partnerships and alliances with other educational institutions that have comparable programs will be developed to allow students to cross register a number of their seminar requirements. This will allow students more flexibility and choices in their programs, and will allow Luther Seminary to further its commitment for developing strategic ecumenical partnerships with other schools that are engaged in providing theological education from a missional and confessional perspective.

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