MDIV - Master of Divinity
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Program Title
Program Type
Degree Designation
Program Description
The Master of Divinity (M.Div.) prepares students for professional pastoral and/or congregational leadership, and often ordination. The program consists of an integrated common curriculum, a vocational pathway, and experimental and experiential learning to cultivate adaptive leadership.
Integrative and Experiential Learning
Required courses in the M.Div. introduce and deepen an integrated understanding of Christian traditions, practices, and values. The vocation and formation course sequence and the mentored portfolio invite students into the process of self-reflection, spiritual practice, vocational discernment. Problem-based learning courses, an intercultural immersion experience, and thematic electives emphasize creative and resilient responses to particular and pressing questions faced in ministry, specific vocational locations, and in the world.
Vocational Pathway
Each student chooses a vocational pathway that shapes course selection and the internship placement.
Ministerial Leadership: Study Christian history, theology, practice, and organization and prepare for full-time or bi-vocational congregational ministry that is spiritually- grounded and socially-resourceful for cultivating the God’s love and justice in, with, and for the world. In this pathway, students are able to meet the educational requirements for ordination in Christian protestant and Unitarian Universalist denominations.
United Methodist Ministry: Study U.S. and global Wesleyan/Methodist history, theology, practices, and organization and develop a uniquely Wesleyan understanding of God’s mission in the world. This pathway meets the educational requirements for ordination as an Elder or Deacon in the United Methodist Church.
Social Justice Advocacy: Explore methods of organizing and advocating for and with socially-marginalized communities within church and society and develop gospel-based practices for the transformation of systemic forms of injustice. This pathway emphasizes leadership in contexts or organizations that reach beyond local congregations.
Chaplaincy: Study the practices and contexts of pastoral care in settings beyond a congregation. The chaplaincy pathway emphasizes ministry with and advocacy for people in multicultural and multifaith contexts such as hospitals, college campuses, and the military.
Requisites
Degree Requirements (78 credits)
Students in the Master of Divinity program complete 78 credit hours from the Theological School course listings, as well as approved courses from programs in the Caspersen Graduate School.
I. Required Courses (29 credits)
Students must earn a C- or better in required courses.
Complete all of the following:
course - Transforming Theologies
course - Identity, Spirituality, and Vocation
course - Bible and Its Interpreters
course - Christian Communities in Contexts
course - Global Faiths and the Earth
course - Gospel Living and Social Transformation
Year-Long Vocational Internship Concurrent with Leadership Seminar (5 credits)
course - Leadership Seminar I
course - Leadership Seminar II
course - Vocational Internship I
course - Vocational Internship II
Mentored Portfolio (3 credits)
course - Mentored Portfolio A
course - Mentored Portfolio B
course - Mentored Portfolio C
course - Mentored Portfolio D
course - Mentored Portfolio E
course - Mentored Portfolio F
Students register for course - Mentored Portfolio (Continuing Students) in any fall or spring semester when not registered for VOCF 900A-F.
Immersive Intercultural Experience (3 credits total)
course - Engaging Cultural Contexts
TREC 551-589: One immersive travel course (2 credits)
course - God’s Mission in a Multicultural World
Learning Enrichment Requirements
All students fulfill learning enrichment requirements by taking courses designed with the following categories (no additional credit)
2 Problem-based learning courses (PBL)
1 Search for the Good Community course (GC)
1 Search for the Good Community course - Historical Emphasis (GCH)
1 course with arts-intensive learning (ARTS)
1 additional off-campus learning course (OCL or PREP)
II. Electives (21-22 credits)
Elective courses from Theological School offerings or from the Caspersen School programs by advisor approval.
III. Vocational Pathway (27 credits)
Students complete one of the following four vocational pathways:
Ministerial Leadership
27 credits
Hebrew Bible (3 credits)
course - Biblical Literature I: Torah, Prophets, Writings
course - Hebrew Bible: Torah and Former Prophets
course - Latter Prophets and Sacred Writings
Or another 3 credit course with HEB attribute
Christian Testament (3 credits)
course - Biblical Literature II: Gospels, Epistles, Apocalypse
course - New Testament: Narratives
course - New Testament: Letters
Or another 3 credit course with CNT attribute
Theology (3 credits)
Choose one of the following:
course - Systematic Theology
course - Reformed Theology
course - Constructive Theology
course - Process Theology
course - Liberation Theologies
course - Anglican Moral Theology
course - Interreligious Theologies
course - Theology in Global Contexts
Practices in Ministry (9 credits)
9 credits from three different categories:
Preaching (PREA)
Pastoral Care and Counseling (PCC)
Worship (WOR)
Religious Education (REDU)
Practical Theology (PRTH)
One Denominational Polity Course (3 credits)
Note: Can be made exempt by petition.
course - Polity, Doctrine, and History
Additional Electives (6 credits)
United Methodist Ministry (UMM)
28 credits
Hebrew Bible (3 credits)
course - Biblical Literature I: Torah, Prophets, Writings
course - Hebrew Bible: Torah and Former Prophets
course - Latter Prophets and Sacred Writings
Or another 3 credit course with HEB attribute
Christian Testament (3 credits)
course - Biblical Literature II: Gospels, Epistles, Apocalypse
course - New Testament: Narratives
course - New Testament: Letters
Or another 3 credit course with CNT attribute
United Methodist Studies (10 credits)
course - United Methodist History and Mission
course - United Methodist Doctrine Polity
course - Evangelism in the United Methodist Tradition
course - United Methodist Book of Discipline (1 credit)
Worship (3 credits)
course - Public Worship in the Methodist Tradition
course - Vital Worship in the 21st Century for United Methodists
course - Praise, Worship, and Christian Communities
Or another 3 credit course with WOR attribute
Practices in Ministry (9 credits)
9 credits from three different categories:
Preaching (PREA)
Pastoral Care and Counseling (PCC)
Religious Education (REDU)
Professional Ethics (ETH)
Social Justice Advocacy
27 credits
Bible, Theology, and Justice (6 credits)
Choose two courses from the following:
course - Scripture and Social Transformation
course - African American Visionaries and the Bible
course - Contextual Biblical Interpretation for Liberation
course - Theodicy in the Hebrew Bible
course - The Politics of Biblical Interpretation
course - Biblical Studies Frontiers: Minority and Global Perspectives
course - The Kin-dom of God and Social Change
course - Theology and Social Transformation
course - Constructive Theology
course - Process Theology
course - Liberation Theologies
course - Theology in Global Contexts
course - Saints, Sages, and Citizens
Religious Ethics (3 credits)
3 credits from Ethics (ETH)
Social Analysis and Advocacy (9 credits)
9 credits from SJA offerings
Leadership and Practice (9 credits)
9 credits from three different categories:
Education (REDU)
Conflict Resolution (CRES)
Worship or the Arts (WOR, TMUS, ARTS)
Interfaith or Religious Studies (INTF, REL)
One Partnership for Religion and Education in Prisons (PREP) Course
Chaplaincy
27 credits
Pastoral Care and Counseling (6 credits)
6 credits from Pastoral Care and Counseling (PCC, RPSY)
Interfaith Understanding (3 credits)
3 credits from Interfaith or non-Christian religion-focused courses (INTF or REL)
Chaplaincy Contexts (6 credits)
6 credits examining social contexts of chaplaincy (CHAP)
Leadership and Practice (9 credits)
9 credits from three different categories:
Education (REDU)
Conflict Resolution (CRES)
Bible (BBCL)
Worship or the Arts (TMUS, ARTS, WOR)
One unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (3 credits)
course - Clinical Practical Education - Extended Unit
OR
course - Clinical Practical Education - Full-Time Unit
NOTE: If an extended CPE unit is approved for the student’s internship, Chaplaincy pathway students can either do another unit of CPE or CPSE or an approved apprenticeship (course).