DMin Degree Description - Covenant Theological Seminary

DMIN 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 

www.covenantseminary.edu 

12330 Conway Road St. Louis, MO 63141 

314.434.4044 · 1.800.264.8064

THE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY (DMIN) 

AT COVENANT THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 

I. PROGRAM AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

“Authentic and enduring learning works best when the processes of activity, reflection, 

emotion, and collaboration are supported, legitimated, and nurtured within a community or 

culture that values such experiences and creates many opportunities for them to occur and 

to be accomplished with success and pleasure. . . . Both learning and teaching in such 

settings entails high levels of risk and unpredictability for the participants.” 

— Lee S. Shulman, 

Educational Psychologist 

Thank you for your interest in Covenant Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) 

program! We hope to have the opportunity to get involved in your life and to work with you over 

the next several years. This document is intended to give you a brief overview of the program— 

from initial cohort meeting to the time you receive your diploma. For more detailed information, see 

our Doctor of Ministry Handbook (available through the DMin office), from which this material is 

excerpted and adapted. 

Our DMin program is designed to be much more than an academic degree experience. The groupbased 

cohort component will provide a place where you are able to invest in relationships with 

others who have a similar calling to ministry leadership and who have years of experience in similar 

ministry contexts. Together with your cohort team, we hope to support you in revitalizing your 

sense of call, enhancing your ministry skills, and furthering your passions to grow and learn. The 

DMin residencies will be times of rigorous collaborative academic work with peers and faculty 

mentors. These weeks will also provide you with unique opportunities to step back and reflect on 

personal, family, and ministry experiences so that you might be renewed for further ministry and 

growth. 

The Center for Ministry Leadership at Covenant Seminary recently concluded five years of 

qualitative research with pastors and their spouses to identify core elements that enable sustainable 

and effective ministry for a lifetime. This research identified the five categories below as being 

critical to this goal. In response to these findings, the DMin program will provide structure and 

space for you to not only pursue learning in the ministry specialty area of your cohort but also to 

pursue growth in these key areas of ministry sustainability. 

ROOTED IN GRACE FOR A LIFETIME OF MINISTRY 

12330 Conway Road, St. Louis, MO 63141 p: 314.434.4044 f: 314.434.4819 

www.covenantseminary.edu

Doctor of Ministry Program—Covenant Theological Seminary 2 

Categories Deemed Critical for Sustaining Pastoral Excellence 

• Spiritual Formation is the ongoing process of spiritual maturity on both personal and 

interpersonal levels. These levels interact with each other and are generally reflected in 

lifestyle disciplines and behaviors. 

• Self Care is the ongoing growth of a pastor in calling, relationships, and personal care and 

development. This includes areas of health, hobbies, and continuing education. 

• Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to understand one’s personality and feelings in 

order to manage oneself appropriately both personally and socially. It includes 

characteristics of self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and relational skills. 

• Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the ability to understand, acknowledge, and appreciate the 

current contextual forces and the cultural background of oneself and others. It involves the 

perception of regional, ethnic, and generational differences, and of the possible implications 

of these differences on worldview, belief, and behavior. 

• Marriage and Family refers to the pastor’s commitment to maintaining spiritual and 

relational health within marriage, with children, and with extended family. 

• Leadership and Management are two primary tasks in pastoral and ministry staff vocation. 

Leadership focuses primarily on seeking adaptive and constructive change. Management is 

concerned with providing order and consistency to the organization. 

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II. PHILOSOPHY OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION 

“The expectation of professional competence is an enormous challenge for a minister. We 

preach, we teach, we counsel, we administer, we lead groups, we lead worship, we organize 

for social action. While we acquire some professional knowledge and a few skills in the 

seminary, we know that professional competence will have to be a matter of growth and 

development over a whole career. There will need to be continuing education, year after 

year of experience, significant feedback, evaluation, and constructive criticism . . . ” 

Brief History of the DMin 

— William M. Moremen, author, 

Developing Spiritually and Professionally 

The Doctor of Ministry degree was established in 1970 by the Association of Theological Schools 

as the highest professional degree for clergy, built on the normative Master of Divinity (MDiv) 

degree. The creation of the DMin grew out of decades-long discussions about appropriate 

continuing education for ministers and out of the strong movement in the 1960s to re-conceive 

theological education as professional rather than academic. This meant that training for ministry 

was no longer confined to classroom instruction, and that in order to equip pastors and others in 

ministry to lead God’s people most effectively, such training ought to include in-service 

experiences and evaluations. The DMin program emerged as the best way to help pastors and others 

already serving the church in ministry to connect theory with practice. The DMin is a terminal 

continuing education degree for ministry practitioners. 

Goals of the DMin at Covenant Seminary 

Our main goal is for students to draw upon a wide range of resources in order to attain a higher 

degree of professional competency in the practice of ministry. Our desire for DMin students is a 

thorough engagement on issues of leadership, resulting in a contextualized preparation of pastors 

and others in ministry for the purpose of equipping others to “walk in God’s grace, minister God’s 

Word, and equip God’s people—all for God’s mission,” as Covenant Seminary’s mission statement 

so clearly articulates. 

We desire an immediate and ongoing carry-over from the program of study to the life of the 

participants, their congregations, and/or their constituents. Our students indicate that they want 

opportunities for skill development in the context of trusted relationships with others who face 

similar contextual challenges. They express a desire for concentrated study in areas of real and felt 

ministry needs identified in the “swamp” of practice rather than in the perceptions of academia. 

This DMin is for those who know what the realities and complexities of ministry are, and what 

questions they really want to ask. 

The Place of the DMin in the Academic Spectrum 

The Doctor of Ministry is a professional degree (versus a pre-professional degree or academically 

focused degree), and thus more like a JD or MD than a PhD. It is not intended as an academic 

Revised 10/11


research degree for those seeking a career in academic teaching (though it is often the doctorate of 

record for those who teach practical theology). It is designed to help ministry practitioners further 

develop their skills and understanding in congregational, parachurch, or other missional service. 

Recently, there has been some confusion in the theological world regarding standards for the DMin. 

Our vision for this degree at Covenant Seminary is that it truly is an earned doctorate. This means 

that we strive toward the rigor, quality of course work, quality of research, and practical application 

that are expected of doctoral students in all professional fields. 

Revised 10/11


III. PROGRAM OVERVIEW 

Covenant’s Seminary’s cohort-based Doctor of Ministry program is designed to be taken in an 

uninterrupted sequence of experiences over three years, plus a year or more of research and 

dissertation writing. The cohort model includes two weeks of intensive course residency each year 

and one major post-residency project each year. 

• Residency Preparation (1 per year/3 times total) 

Four to six months before each residency, extensive reading and preparation are assigned by 

the faculty mentor. Students are required to complete this work before reporting to their 

annual cohort meeting. The preparation work will lay the foundation for the learning and 

interaction that will take place during the cohort residency. 

• Residencies (1 per year/3 times total) 

Each year’s residency involves two weeks of intensive course work. A principle focus of 

each residency is the participant’s own preparation, as well as the faculty mentor’s approval 

of a proposal for a major ministry project to be carried out following each residency. 

Students must successfully complete their post-residency coursework and the year’s project 

in order to advance in the program. 

• Post-Residency Coursework (1 per year/3 times total) 

Following each residency, students will have up to eight weeks to complete the remaining 

coursework from the residency. This is the first priority of work upon returning to their 

ministry contexts. Only after the residency coursework is complete should the student begin 

work on the year’s project. 

• Annual Projects (1 per year/3 times total) 

Each year’s final project report must be submitted to the faculty mentor no later than six 

months after the conclusion of the residency. This provides four months to complete the 

year’s project after the residency coursework is due. Faculty Mentors may adjust the due 

dates as they see fit. 

The year one and year two projects are pilot projects that lead into the student’s dissertation 

research. It is helpful, though not required, for the second pilot project to begin focusing on 

the dissertation topic. The year-three project becomes the literature review (chapter two) 

portion of the student’s dissertation. 

• Steps to Candidacy Status 

1. Completion of all residencies and post-residency course work. 

2. Completion of the three annual projects. 

3. Completion of the dissertation class (after year two project, before third residency). 

4. Completion of the dissertation proposal. 

5. Acceptance of the dissertation proposal by the DMin Committee and the proposed 

dissertation advisor. 

Revised 10/11


• Dissertation and Defense 

The participant’s dissertation is the capstone of the program. It is the culmination of 

previous learning in the program and a demonstration of the student’s ability to engage as a 

scholar-practitioner in a given area of the participant’s specialization. A faculty advisor 

(often the faculty mentor) will be selected for the participant’s project by the faculty mentor 

in consultation with the participant. An editor will also be selected by the participant in 

consultation with the advisor and the DMin administration. 

Toward the completion of the dissertation, a second reader will be selected by the advisor 

and participant in consultation with the DMin administration. The advisor and second reader 

will serve as the dissertation committee. The advisor, the editor, and the DMin 

administration will guide the participant through the process, approving each chapter of the 

dissertation through to the final draft. The final requirement for degree completion is the 

participant’s successful defense of the completed dissertation in an oral examination with 

the advisor and second reader, and the submission of acceptable final manuscripts. 

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Year One Residency 

IV. PROGRAM TIMELINE 

• Course Preparation (complete reading and assignments prior to residency) 

• Two Weeks of Residency (usually consecutive) 

• Post-Residency Coursework (as assigned during residency) 

• Year One Project (qualitative pilot project) 

Year Two Residency 




• Personal Learning Contract (review and revise) 

• Year Two Project (qualitative pilot project with view toward dissertation purpose) 

Dissertation Class 

• Attend the one-week dissertation preparation class following completion of the year two 

project. 

• Preparation of rough-draft proposal as the final assignment for the dissertation preparation 

class. 

• Submission of Dissertation Proposal 

Year Three Residency 




• Personal Learning Contract (review and revise) 

• Year Three Project (dissertation literature review) 

Year Four 

• Acceptance into Candidacy 

• Research and Write Dissertation 

• Submit Edited Dissertation 

• Oral Defense of Dissertation 

• Dissertation Reviewed and Accepted by Library Reader 

• Submission of Final Copy of Approved Dissertation 

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Year One Residency 

V. PROGRAM SCHEDULE 

During the first two-week residency, faculty mentors will introduce the participants to the cohort 

model and lead in the coursework. As part of this initial residency, participants will work on their 

Learning Contracts to establish personal goals for the program years. 

Before the residency concludes, participants will submit and receive final approval from the faculty 

mentor for their year one project. After returning to their home ministries, the first priority of 

participants is to finish the required coursework for the first residency. After this work is submitted, 

participants should begin their year one project. The project must be submitted to the faculty mentor 

no later than six months after the residency. The mentor may require an earlier date. 

At the close of the first residency, participants will receive a syllabus for the second residency 

describing the reading assignments and other necessary preparations for this residency. 

Year Two Residency 

Before beginning the second residency, participants should have completed all assignments for the 

first residency course and submitted their year one projects. During this residency period, faculty 

mentors offer two weeks of coursework which build upon the foundation of the first residency. 

Participants will also work on a proposal for their year two projects. During the first week of this 

residency, students will learn about research project purpose statements. Participants will be 

encouraged to consider how the year two project can serve as a preparation for their dissertations. 

At the close of the second residency, participants will register for the dissertation class to be taken 

at the completion of their year two project. They will also receive a syllabus for the third residency 

describing the reading assignments and other necessary preparations for this residency. Both the 

readings for the dissertation class and those for the third residency are considered part of the third 

residency preparation work. 

After returning to their home ministries, participants’ first priority is to finish the required 

coursework for the second residency. After this work is submitted, participants should begin their 

year two project. The project must be submitted to the faculty mentor no later than six months after 

the residency or at an earlier date established by the faculty mentor. During the second residency 

period, participants will have been considering their dissertation purpose statements. Ideally, the 

year two project focuses on the anticipated purpose of the future dissertation. 

After the year two project is completed, the participant will do the readings and assignments for the 

dissertation class and the third residency. Participants will attend the dissertation class prior to the 

residency. 

Revised 10/11


Year Three Residency 

Before the third residency, participants will have finished their year two projects, taken the 

dissertation class, completed an initial draft of the dissertation proposal, and completed all other 

readings and assignments for the residency. 

During this residency, mentors teach class sessions, which build upon the material covered during 

the first and second residencies. In addition, the focus will be on preparation for the final project: 

the literature review and final proposal. During this residency, a discussion also takes place between 

the faculty mentor and each participant regarding an advisor for the dissertation. While the advisor 

is often the faculty mentor, another qualified person may serve in this role. Eventually, the advisor 

and a second reader (selected by the advisor and participant in consultation with the DMin 

administration) form the participant’s dissertation committee. 

The year three project involves the revision of the dissertation proposal written for the dissertation 

class, the submission of this completed dissertation proposal (the foundation of dissertation chapter 

one), and the reading and preparation of the literature review (the foundation for dissertation chapter 

two). During the third residency, participants will be given ample time in the library to do 

bibliographic research for their literature review. 

Dissertation 

Upon successful submission of the dissertation proposal and completion of the literature review, 

participants will officially be Candidates for the Doctor of Ministry (which means they can begin 

their research and write the dissertation). The dissertation is the culmination of work in the program 

and should demonstrate competent doctoral-level integration of the participant’s learning. The 

expectation is that the dissertation will make a significant contribution to that participant’s field of 

study. 

As participants complete each chapter of their dissertations, they must send a copy to their advisor 

and editor. The advisor will review the material regarding content and the editor will review it 

concerning style and form. Both will return the chapter with comments and corrections. 

After the advisor and the editor have given their final approval of the entire dissertation, the 

dissertation committee (advisor and second reader) will, with the support of the DMin 

administration, make arrangements with the participant for the dissertation defense. After a 

successful defense, all dissertations must meet the approval of the Covenant Theological 

Seminary’s library reader. 

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VI. FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Questions Contact our Admissions staff at 1.800.264.8064 or admissions@covenantseminary.edu. 

Apply online at www.covenantseminary.edu (click on “Apply Now”). 

Interim DMin Program Director: Rev. Chris Florence, Dean of Academic Administration, 

Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology 

Revised 10/11

DMin Degree Description - Covenant Theological Seminary

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