D.Min: Tomorrow’s Degree Today!
If you have been waiting for the right Doctor of Ministry Program, your wait is over. The UTS Doctor of Ministry Degree has been designed for the active minister – whether you have a pastoral ministry, a youth ministry, a campus ministry, an educational ministry, family ministry, a social ministry, or a ministry of your own design. Time spent on campus is kept to a minimum with roughly 80% of the degree coursework, research, and dissertation preparation completed off-campus. What’s more, this design keeps the UTS D. Min. Program affordable, allowing access to advanced theological and ministerial training to more people. All of this is possible at UTS while maintaining an academically strong, theologically rich, and spiritually satisfying Program.
Completely doable, completely manageable, and the results are beyond your wildest imagination.”Dr. Frank LaGrotteria, Headmaster, Bridgeport International Academy
Because it is a non-residential program, students will do most of the preparation for their courses off-campus, at home. Students register for their Intensive periods 2-3 months before the courses take place. Course syllabi are sent to the students who then have those 2-3 months to complete the assignments and readings noted on the syllabi for their courses as preparation for the Intensive session. After completing the 2-week Intensive session, students will have an additional 6 weeks to complete all assignments. Each assignment is intentionally designed to integrate students’ daily ministries with their coursework to provide greater insight and opportunities for self-reflection on their ministries. In reality, the Program requires that each student be focused enough to complete their studies at a distance from UTS.
A Spiritually Transforming Experience:
One D.Min. graduate has noted: “If you want to have an experience that is spiritually transforming, then come to UTS.” (Dr. Delores Harrison (UTS’10). In fact, our D.Min. graduates have completed amazing dissertation projects that they have since implemented in their ministries or work. Their projects have ranged from enhancing the effectiveness of a major non-profit, to the creation of a marriage enrichment and counseling program for couples, the development of an association for storefront churches, the formation of an afterschool program sponsored by churches to support public school teachers, a curriculum for small group ministries, to the development and implementation of an online training program for NGO representatives seeking to work at the United Nations. All are vital projects that have dealt with real issues and have allowed each doctoral student to achieve greater satisfaction with their work and to expand their competency in what they do. Dr. Bill Selig (UTS’12) turned his dissertation project into a small book on the meaning of death and how to prepare for it.
During intensive sessions, held at the main campus in Barrytown, New York, students will take the first of two 3-credit courses from Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm, and then take their second 3-credit course the following week. In addition, students will also take a 1-credit Research Methodology Seminar throughout the 2-week period for a total of 7 credits each Intensive. Students will complete a total of 4 Intensive-based D. Min. Seminar courses, 4 Intensive-based Concentration Courses chosen from one of two concentrations: Family and Educational Ministries or Peace and Justice Ministries and 4 Intensive-based Research Methods Seminar courses. Upon completing the coursework, students then work to complete their Dissertation Project.
At the conclusion of their final Intensive session at Barrytown, students will submit their Dissertation Project proposal as developed through their Research Seminars. Through these Seminars, each student will be able to outline their Dissertation Project and possibly draft a chapter or two before finishing their Intensive coursework. Students are then free to develop, implement and complete their Dissertation Project. Their final step on the journey toward receiving their Doctor of Ministry degree is to successfully defend their Dissertation Project. Successful completion of the Doctor of Ministry Program takes 3-6 years normally.
The UTS Doctor of Ministry degree is certainly the right degree for those involved in ministry. Now is the time for you to take that first step toward realizing your dream of a fulfilling and rewarding vocation and mission while serving God’s people everywhere. Don’t wait any longer.