Christian Boyd Finds Exactly What He's Looking For in D.Min. CML Program
 "I wish I had this program three or four years before I did," said Christian Boyd, who is currently in his fourth year of the Congregational Mission and Leadership (CML) program at Luther Seminary. Boyd, who as a designated organizing pastor in the Presbyterian Church is responsible for walking congregations through renewal and transformation, currently serves as pastor of New Creation Church in O'Fallon, Ill. The congregation is a mission church of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy. With his focus on renewal and transformation, he finds the program particularly beneficial.
"(The CML program) was exactly what I was looking for because it takes a theological approach. It pulls you to center yourself in the theology of the Trinity—recognizing that it is God's model of the church—and to work from there," he explained. "The program really helped me change my perspective about what the nature of the church is and what our call is as leaders in the church."
Boyd acknowledges that the five-year program—which requires two annual, one-week, on-campus intensives as well as online classes—is a big though worthwhile commitment. "The CML program at Luther Seminary is worth all the travel, all the money, all the time it has required," he said. "It's a unique program. There's no other seminary that I know of that has it. It's going to enrich the emerging church. It's going to transform the church of the future across denominational lines."
Boyd especially likes the cohort learning model around which the program is based. "The more I learned about the cohort and experienced it, the more I thought it was invaluable. I can't envision doing this any other way." Boyd has also been very pleased with the faculty who serve the program. "They're there to help us as much as they possibly can," he said.
Overall, the program has exceeded his expectations. "What we have learned has just blown me out of the water and has transformed the whole way I perceive the church and church leadership," he said.
"The program has given me more life as a pastor," he said. "I don't feel like I'm burning out like I did before I started the program. I'm more charged and more enlivened, and I've got more fire in the belly. We have the gospel, and I want to go out and share it. I don't feel like anything can really stand in my way. It has renewed me academically, spiritually and professionally.
"There is no other program like the CML program at Luther Seminary. Luther is out there on the forefront," he said. "I'm telling all my colleagues to go to Luther Seminary."
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