You’ve been in ministry for a few years now and you’re feeling a need for a new stimulus. New issues that were not even on the horizon when you were in seminary are now challenging you. The demands of ministry are draining your spiritual life. You want to focus on an important need in your ministry and you want a disciplined structured way to renew yourself for ministry. But…you are having a hard time finding a place for serious conversation about ministry. And… it is difficult to find something that will fit your schedule. The Doctor of Ministry Program at Drew can be that place where you find the future of your ministry.

Here at Drew you will study in a highly respected program with a world-class faculty and in a group of your professional peers. Both our regional and global/online D.Min. concentrations are praxis driven and academically grounded. You will gain resources, skills and knowledge by taking courses during your first year in the program before spending the next two years designing and implementing a ministry project and writing a doctoral project thesis.

Our mission is to prepare you for your 21st century ministry, by improving skills, giving insights, and teaching an approach to ministry that is theologically reflective. Toward this aim, we offer a variety of program options. Tomorrow’s spiritual leaders will be change agents called upon to exegete postmodern culture and create new narratives, images and imperatives of ministry for the Third Millennium. We hope you will join us in this sacred endeavor. As Drew’s Dr. Len Sweet advocates, “Carpe diem!”

Drew’s Global/Online Concentration is cutting edge and future-oriented in both imaginative content and virtual format, and is focused on postmodern ecclesiology and ministerial leadership. New class forming fall 2012!

Drew’s Regional DMIN Concentration seeks to resource the candidate in a three year process to lead a congregation to develop ministries that lead to the congregation’s spiritual growth. The basic operating premise of this process is that every ministry context and congregation are unique and there are no quick fixes or turn key solutions to the challenge of doing ministry in the post-modern context. Every situation will require the leadership to customize its ministry to its situation. New class forming in North Carolina fall 2012.

Drew’s Practicing Mind-Body-Spirit-Healing for Congregations and Clergy Concentration is an exciting new concentration. This concentration is founded upon two important notions: First, that healing and wholeness are communal processes which when put into practice create a pilgrimage that is its own destination; second, that clergy can never be healthier than their congregation, nor can congregations be healthier than their leadership. What this means is that to have healthy families, individuals, and clergy it is essential to develop healthy communities. New class forming in fall 2012!

Drew’s Worship, Spirituality and Preaching Concentration is offered to those specializing in ministries of music, liturgy, preaching and spiritual formation; and who are sensitive to the spirituality of geography, sacred space and seasonal emphasis. It features team-teaching, travel-study, intensive sessions and active learning at multiple geographical and seasonal sites. New class forming for fall 2013!

What Is Special About The Program?
The Drew D.Min. program is designed to accommodate student enrollment in a given time and place. The program is offered in regional settings and online, utilizing a mobile core and adjunct faculty prepared to teach practical theology and organize contextualized learning. It focuses on the practical issues of ministry in the church and community setting.

Jan. 2, 2009
United Methodist Reporter

The Rev. Janet Forbes had been senior pastor at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo., for only a few months when she decided it was time to go back to seminary. “St. Luke’s drove me to it,” she says of the congregation with its high percentage of young people. So last spring, she graduated with a doctorate from Drew Theological School. Her thesis was on postmodern Christianity. Now Dr. Forbes uses what she learned to minister to her flock at St. Luke’s, where the average age is 32, and only a minority of them are lifelong United Methodists. They worship alongside seekers, new Christians and interfaith families. Bonding happens in mission teams and classes like Gap Group, where members talk about their diverse spiritual beliefs and share stories of their faith journeys.

“We’re an organic community in which relationship is the tie that binds, not doctrine,” Dr. Forbes said. “The more you build relationship across difference, the more difference becomes OK.

Who Are The Students?
Students in the Drew D.Min. program come from around the world and are part of an ecumenical community representing the traditions of the Methodists, Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Quaker, Reformed, Wesleyan, Greek Orthodox, and many other denominations. They range in age from 28 to 73 and are multiethnic in background.

How Long Does It Take?
Drew’s Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) program consists of three semesters and one intensive summer session of course work, followed by four semesters of research, supervised project design, applications, and evaluation in your specific area of study, culminating in a professional paper of publishable quality. The schedule, the regional locations, and the academic work are all tailored to the needs of busy pastors. Enrollment in the D.Min. program is selective.

Who May Apply?
Candidates for the Doctor of Ministry program are required to have:

  • a M.Div. degree or its equivalent
  • a GPA of 3.2 or above
  • recognized ministry assignment at time of admission
  • good record of vital ministry and academic excellence
  • good recommendations from a religious leader within their denomination and others
  • 3 years ministry experience after first theological degree