Curriculum Overview - D.Min. Biblical Preaching
The Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Preaching program is designed to be completed in three years. Each year requires resident attendance at Luther Seminary for three weeks, in which the core requirement class, an elective and a colloquy are conducted. A post-residency period gives participants time to complete a special project or thesis.
Core Requirements
No. 1. Preaching as the Word of God
An exploration of preaching as an interpretive act through which God's word does what God intends for it. Moving back and forth between practices of interpretation with particular biblical texts and reflection on those practices, participants discover and assess their own theology of the word and how it informs their preaching. View a recent syllabus.
No. 2. Preaching as the Proclaimed Word
An exploration of preaching focused on its technical and performance aspects, such as sermon design and delivery. Special attention is paid to the guidance that a biblical text's literary and rhetorical features offer as the preacher shapes a preaching event based on that text.
No. 3. Preaching as the Word in Context
An exploration of preaching as a word of God addressed within Christian worship to a particular time and place. Participants reflect on the way sermons offer a reading or interpretation of the sermon's audience as much as they offer a reading of a biblical text. Attention is paid to the relation of text and context at each stage of sermon development. View a recent syllabus.
Electives
In addition to the Core Requirements, the Electives offered to participants also further the curricular goals of the program. These include courses falling into four broad categories:
1. Preaching from specific books or genres, such as Preaching on the Texts of Luke, Preaching Wisdom Literature, etc.
2. Investigating some of the specific contexts, genres, and tasks of biblical preaching - preaching in a post-modem world, preaching as celebration, African American preaching, preaching and leadership, etc.
3. Preaching in the context of Christian worship -preaching and the lectionary, preaching to life's significant moments (weddings, funerals, festivals), etc.
4. Exploring further dimensions of preaching in light of the program core commitment to biblical preaching
a. sermon design and delivery
b. the use of technology in the pulpit
c. developing the "voice" of the preacher, etc.
Recent electives have included Preaching in a Postmodern World, Preaching the Psalms and Prophets, Preaching the Book of Revelation and Theological Lenses for Bible and Sermon.
