The Saskatoon Theological Union welcomes enquiries about the Doctor of Ministry program from prospective students. Please be in touch with the Registrar at [email protected]. Students are admitted to the program as a cohort and work through the program together. The next anticipated date for admissions to the DMin program is September 2023.
Doctor of Ministry degree in Contextual and Practical Theology, with an option to specialize in rural ministry and community development.
The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program is designed as a professional degree
It is designed for Christian ministers (not necessarily ordained) who are interested in a rigourous program of interdisciplinary theological study. Many of the DMin courses are offered in a distance-learning format. Some require a week-long residency.
Purpose of the DMin program
The work of practical theology is foundational to this degree program. The program provides ministry professionals (not necessarily ordained) and their ministry settings with interdisciplinary tools to engage their communities and contexts more effectively. Through ecumenical, cohort-based learning and contextually-based ministry teams, students will integrate academic, theological, and practical knowledge in, and for, ministry.
The DMin is a creation of the member schools of the Saskatoon Theological Union (STU):
- St. Andrew’s College,
- Lutheran Theological Seminary and,
- The College of Emmanuel and St. Chad.
While the program is jointly administered by the schools of the STU, students apply to the program through the school of their choice — either St. Andrew’s College of the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Degrees are granted by either of these two schools.
The DMin program is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in North America.
Expected Outcomes of the DMin Program
Students who complete this program will have the following skills and abilities:
- The ability to analyze their ministry setting and to integrate academic, theological, and practical knowledge by drawing on the resources of practical theology.
- A deepened capacity for spiritual leadership through building learning communities with a peer cohort and within the ministry setting, particularly with a ministry team.
- The ability to engage in qualitative research and to apply appropriate tools in the development and execution of a research project.
- The capacity to demonstrate, through a research project report, learnings about their ministry setting and how this learning contributes to new knowledge and understanding of the theology and practice of ministry within denominational, ecumenical, and community contexts.
- A deepened experience of the academy and the acquiring of skills to present, teach, and continue academic pursuits and research.
Curriculum
The DMin program is a 30-credit-hour program and has three main components:
- Colloquia (3 colloquia; 4 credit hours total)
- Courses of instruction (7 courses total; 20 credit hours total)
- A project in ministry planned, carried-out and written as a final report in collaboration with a team in the ministry site and presented to a DMin evaluation committee (6 credit hours total)
Learn more about the DMin program by contacting the Registrar by email.