{"id":7247,"date":"2023-05-25T09:12:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T09:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=7247"},"modified":"2025-08-13T18:24:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T18:24:29","slug":"an-updated-education-for-a-changing-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2023\/05\/25\/an-updated-education-for-a-changing-church\/","title":{"rendered":"An updated education for a changing church"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luther Seminary is updating the curriculum for its Master of Divinity degree to better meet the evolving needs of the church.<\/p>\n

This curriculum refresh\u2014which was approved unanimously by the seminary’s faculty and Board of Directors\u2014will streamline the M.Div. program, making it more accessible and affordable for students while maintaining rigorous academic standards.<\/p>\n

\"Cameron
Cameron B. R. Howard<\/strong>, associate professor of Old Testament, teaches Scripture and Its Witnesses, a course in the M.Div. curriculum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest change is that the number of courses needed for an M.Div. degree will be reduced from 30 to 25, starting this fall. However, while students will be taking fewer courses, the new curriculum will have a more prescribed sequence of required classes. This means M.Div. students will take most of their courses in a certain order, with fewer electives.<\/p>\n

The 25-course curriculum is designed to provide the robust preparation future church leaders need, while getting them out serving faith communities sooner. It does not include course credits for internship and clinical pastoral education (CPE), but ELCA students will still complete those requirements for the church with significant support from the seminary.<\/p>\n

“These changes are intended to remove barriers for people who previously might have felt unable to explore a call to ministry, whether that be due to the time commitment, financial burden, or other constraints,” said Professor Rolf Jacobson<\/strong>, dean of the faculty. “By increasing the flexibility and affordability of a Luther Seminary degree, we hope to meet qualified candidates where they are and make it easier to answer the call to Christian leadership.”<\/p>\n

The curricular changes are largely a result of deep listening in conversations with church leaders, assessing student learning in courses, and analyzing the success of the seminary’s recent MDivX experiment, an accelerated program that allowed students to obtain an M.Div. in two years. Additionally, the changes align with Luther Seminary’s 2022\u201325 strategic plan, Jacobson said.<\/p>\n

Our strategic plan goal No. 2 is to make our degree programs more sustainable for every qualified applicant,\u201d he said. \u201cThen you have the years of assessment data, plus the learnings from MDivX, plus all of our other evaluation\u2014all of that resulted in us reducing the M.Div. from 30 to 25 classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The refreshed curriculum also closely aligns with Luther Seminary\u2019s mission and vision, aiming to faithfully innovate to continue educating Christian leaders.<\/p>\n

Three paths, learning together<\/h2>\n

Ultimately, the new curriculum will offer three pathways to an M.Div. degree.\"Student<\/p>\n

The first two options will be available this fall. \u201cThere will be a traditional pathway, which will be two-and-half to three years of coursework and then an internship at the end,\u201d Jacobson said. \u201cWe\u2019ll also have a part-time pathway, for students who are continuing to work their current job full time. That\u2019s probably five to six years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third pathway, which will not launch until 2024, will be an accelerated option similar to MDivX. It will allow students to complete their M.Div. in two years by working at a part- time internship while taking classes year-round.<\/p>\n

Another focus of the new curriculum will be cohort learning, which will facilitate a deeper sense of community among students as they pursue their degrees. Because the new curriculum has a more prescribed sequence of required courses, students will be in many of the same classes together.<\/p>\n

“With cohorts, you\u2019re going to end up in classes with familiar students, and anytime you have coherence among cohorts, that really helps with retention because you get to know your community. It builds community,” said Professor Lois Malcolm<\/strong>, chair of the faculty concerns committee.<\/p>\n

Insights from MDivX<\/h2>\n

The power of cohorts and sequenced courses was a key learning that came from the MDivX experiment, said Jacobson, who also served as the director of MDivX. With a transformative gift from investor Dean Buntrock<\/strong>, MDivX enrolled its first cohort of students in June 2019 and graduated its final cohort this year.<\/p>\n

\"PeopleAs Jacobson worked on designing an accelerated program for MDivX, he examined other non-seminary graduate schools. He realized that many of them had students learning in cohorts on prescribed pathways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw that every other professional master\u2019s degree\u2014nurse practitioner, physician assistant, occupational therapist, physical therapist\u2014every other one where you\u2019re being trained for a specific profession goes year-round, and they work in cohorts, and they support each other,\u201d Jacobson said. \u201cSo, we did not reinvent the wheel for MDivX\u2014we learned from our partners in higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, even though the cohort-focused, year-round model proved to be successful through MDivX, Jacobson said the faculty knows that not all students can commit to an
\naccelerated two-year program, and not all students want to learn that way. That\u2019s a big reason why the new M.Div. curriculum will offer the choice of three paths.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is, as much as possible, have that cohort experience without having only one pathway,\u201d Jacobson said.<\/p>\n

MDivX alumni have affirmed the effectiveness of an accelerated M.Div. program with cohorts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cohort model gave me relationships that helped carry me through the work,\u201d said Peter Benedict \u201922 M.Div.<\/strong>, who serves as a pastor at River Heights Vineyard Church in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cMDivX leaders and students walked me through simultaneous seminary and pandemic, helping me stay faithful to the program and to my congregation. The spiritual support provided through group spiritual direction and frequent cohort connections combined to give me what I needed to graduate and serve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Carlos Cortez \u201923 M.Div.<\/strong> said the program\u2019s set sequence of courses helped him succeed. \u201cThe accelerated program allowed me to get into a good learning rhythm,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing ahead of time the classes that I was going to take for the next two years also allowed me to prepare mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unanimous support<\/h2>\n

The curriculum changes will affect most of the seminary\u2019s incoming students due to the popularity of the M.Div. program, which included more than 60% of the student body in 2022. Although some changes will go into effect this
\nfall, current students will have the choice to opt out of the new curriculum and finish their M.Div. as originally planned.\"Students<\/p>\n

It is noteworthy that both the faculty and the Board unanimously supported the curriculum refresh, reflecting the seminary\u2019s strong commitment to continue providing a rigorous education while adapting to the changing needs of the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, curricular reform has always been associated with blood, sweat, and tears\u2014with drama, with faculty conflict,\u201d Malcolm said. \u201cBut this particular curricular refresh went by very smoothly. The new curriculum is much more focused; it\u2019s much more attentive to student needs and costs, and it\u2019s really trying to have a nimble, agile education. I\u2019m very happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This refresh involves fewer changes than most of the seminary\u2019s past curriculum reforms did. \u201cWe used to do huge curricular revisions every 20 years,\u201d Jacobson said. \u201cBut since 2013, we\u2019ve had essentially two small, what we call \u2018refreshes\u2019 rather than revisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacobson and Malcolm both said the seminary community can expect more of these iterative refreshes in the years to come, as the faculty continues working to innovate and find the best ways to educate students and support the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeminaries cannot just keep doing what they\u2019ve done in the past,\u201d Malcolm said. \u201cWe really have to rethink how we\u2019re doing things. This particular curriculum refresh is a move in the right direction because it\u2019s asking the right questions, and it\u2019s attempting to address the contemporary problems that the church is facing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

M.A. Curriculum Refresh<\/h1>\n

A refreshed Master of Arts curriculum will also launch at Luther Seminary this fall, with a focus on increasing affordability and access while maintaining rigor in both the academic and professional degree programs.<\/p>\n

The M.A. curriculum will offer seven concentrations in which the number of required courses will be reduced from 16 to 14, with three courses shared by all degrees, nine particular to each concentration, and two open electives.<\/p>\n

Concentrations include:<\/p>\n