Overview
- The Doctor of Ministry program is a professional program designed for men and women who actively engaged in full-time Christian ministry. The primary purpose of the program is to enhance the candidates’ professional competence in the particular area of their gifts and calling. The program is practical, but also maintains the highest academic standards for theological reflection on the practice of ministry. The program integrates learning into the context of each candidate’s ministry and can be shaped to meet individual needs. The program offers many opportunities for personal and spiritual growth throughout its duration. A key feature of the program is joining a D.Min cohort. Each cohort consists of selected people from different ministry backgrounds. The cohort stays together for the main part of the program and builds deep and meaningful relationships. The cohort provides a peer learning environment that is challenging and motivating. The DMin program aims to produce Pentecostal scholar-practitioners who are strong in their faith. Effective leadership that is filled with the Spirit is needed for today’s growing and vital ministries.
Learning Outcomes
- Spiritual Ministry
- Competent Leadership
- Integrated Scholarship
Program Features
- Curricular Design
- Cohort Community
- On-Campus Courses
- Flexible Program Duration (3-5 Years)
Course Description/Components
Core Courses
The course is designed to study the Spirit-empowered ministry in biblical, historical, and contemporary contexts, with a focus on how church leadership builds ministry teams, aligns functions, makes team decisions, and plans ministry. The students will learn Spirit-Empowered ministry in preaching, teaching, healing, and leadership, and to learn how they can build team ministries that raise up the body of Christ in the 21st century.
This course will teach students how to do and report on applied action research. By examining the criteria, the stages, the methodology, and the disaggregation of the collected data, a student will be prepared to embark on the self-directed process of the applied research dissertation.
This course explores the distinctive features and methods of Pentecostal biblical interpretation and the historical and theological factors that have shaped them. Students will examine the role of the Holy Spirit, the experience of Pentecost, the use of narrative and other genres, and the engagement with contemporary issues in Pentecostal hermeneutics. Students will also learn to apply Pentecostal hermeneutical principles to various biblical texts and contexts and to critically evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. The course will include readings from Pentecostal scholars, case studies, and practical exercises.
Offers a fresh, constructive, and re-envisioning of the Pentecostal tradition. A study is made of the early years of the Pentecostal movement and the influence of Wesleyan, Holiness and revivalist-restorationist roots in an attempt to interpret the heart of the movement, as well as the way Pentecostal spirituality has developed over the decades that followed. The course also traces out the biblical theme of spiritual formation in both Old and New Testaments. Students gain an appreciation for the consistent manner in which biblical writers explain the process of spiritual growth by an appeal to natural growth processes in creation. Students formulate practical applications of a biblical model of spiritual formation to ministry practice within their own context and theological traditions.
Specialized Courses
This course will examine the theological foundations and historical developments of various church renewal movements, with a special focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in initiating and sustaining spiritual revival. Students will explore the biblical and doctrinal basis for church renewal, the characteristics, and challenges of different renewal movements, such as the charismatic renewal, the emerging church movement, and the missional church movement, and the implications and applications of church renewal for contemporary ministry contexts. This course will equip students to discern and respond to the movement of the Spirit in their own churches and communities.
A truly effective leader understands the relationship between the organization’s success and the ability to develop other leaders within the organization. This course will examine how leaders are recognized and developed inside the local church. Skills necessary for developing and mentoring leaders for the local church will be examined from a biblical, philosophical and practical perspective.
This course explores the integration of psychology, counselling, and advanced pastoral care in the context of Christian ministry. Students will examine the theories and practices of various psychological and counselling approaches, such as cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, psychodynamic, and systemic, and their relevance and application to pastoral care. Students will also learn to critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of these approaches in light of biblical, theological, and ethical principles. The course will include readings from both psychological and pastoral scholars, as well as case studies and practical exercises. The course aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge to provide effective and holistic pastoral care and counselling to individuals, couples, families, and groups in their ministry settings.
A theoretical and practical review of dyadic relationships such as mentoring, discipleship, and spiritual direction that play a critical role in spiritual formation. Includes application of learning to ministry.
Research
The Research Design Centres on a research project arising from various ministry context and leadership. Addresses project design, planning and management, research methods, and ethical considerations. Guides implementation of the project including obtaining permission for various aspects of the project, developing circles of students, finding, or developing resources, documenting relevant events and steps, and evaluating the process and outcomes.
Facilitates the completion of the summative DMin document, integrating the main three research components that meets publication standards. The research project Includes a public presentation and a viva voce based on the objectives of the program.
Learning Outcomes
SPIRITUAL MINISTRY
- Growing in personal spirituality by learning from the historical and theological insights of the Pentecostal-Charismatic tradition.
- Cultivating disciplines of self-leadership by developing habits and practices that help you lead yourself and others that will effectively produce holistic health and integrity as a leader.
- Integrating Pentecostal spirituality into the practice of the leadership.
COMPETANT LEADERSHIP
- Integrating missional leadership into their ministries through strategically implementing purpose, vision, and values.
- Effectively applying new knowledge and skills to the practice of ministry.
- Becoming catalysts for transformation in individuals, organizations, and communities.
- Creating an expanded awareness of the implications of globalization within the overall ministry of the Church.
INTEGRATED SCHOLARSHIP
- Integrating insights of both biblical and practical theology, as well as disciplines to enhance ministry effectiveness.
- Writing high-quality academic papers that demonstrate the ability to integrate scholarship with the practice of ministry.
- Developing professional research and writing skills to provide an enduring service to the larger Church through the publication of a professional Project, and further written contributions to the scholarly world.
CURRICULAR
DESIGN
FBC DMin is designed to be completed in 3 to 4 years while continuing in ministry. Each component of the program unit is an integrated whole and includes 8 required courses culminating in a research project, oral presentation (viva voce), and hearing. Requirements are accomplished primarily through online interactions with minimal residential expectations.
COHORT COMMUNITY
The DMin is a cohort-based program. Students will enter with a group of 9-15 other students. The cohort will follow a prescribed sequence of courses together. Because cohort learning involves a group of students who start and finish their degree together, students experience several educational advantages. As part of a cohort group, doctoral level students will have rich and deep relationships with peers and expect to exhibit a posture of collaboration.
ON-CAMPUS COURSES
Students begin the program with one of the two annual intensives at Filadelfia Bible College Campus. The schedule is designed to build community between cohort members before students begin the online portion of the program.
PROGRAM DURATION
The degree, including the project, will normally require three to four years to complete. This schedule is set to avoid unnecessary pressure on the candidates’ responsibilities to family and ministry. The candidate is allowed an extension up to 5 years with a fee for extension. However, if the student takes more than five years, the registration expires, and the student has to re-register for the program.
CREDIT REQUIREMENTS
Each module has four credits and will be ten weeks long, incorporating Google Meeting sessions (synchronous) and FBC Global Classroom LMS based learning (asynchronous). Each credit requires 34 hours of learning a four-credit module will need 120-140 learning hours.
The thesis writing begins in the second year. The DMin thesis must be 40000 to 50000 words (excluding bibliography, footnotes, appendices). The thesis project will constitute 15 credits (500 – 520 learning hours).
| No. | Courses | Modules | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Core Courses |
4 |
16 |
|
2 |
Specialization |
4 |
16 |
|
3 |
Thesis Research/Writing/Defense |
|
15 |
|
Total |
8 |
47 |
|
Program Details
Taught Component
2 Years
Module Requirements
Of the 8 modules taken in first and second years, two are delivered in the classroom and the rest, online. Online modules are a set of 6 modules administered over first and second years. The module sequence is made up according to the interest of the cohort of students in each year.
Each module runs for ten weeks and is hosted on FBC Global Classroom LMS. Of each module, the student are involved in two weeks of pre-reading, six weeks of online asynchronic engagement (usually from a given Monday to Friday) and one day a week synchronic Google meet with the mentor. This is followed by two weeks of post-module research and writing papers that apply course materials to participants’ ministries.
In each module, the student expects to find:
- And introductory video to the module
- The Course outline
- The ten week course schedule. The online segment of the module will be delivered as six-unit weeks. On Monday to Friday
- A short lesson podcasts/videos for each day/week (about 8 to 10 minutes each) in the Lesson page of Global Classroom LMS.
- Reading section in the Material Section of Global Classroom LMS for either for each day or for the week.
- The Course expects that every week the student will:
- Complete reading provided.
- Participate in the online discussion forum every week (open Monday 5 pm to Friday 10 pm)
- Submit assignments (Journals, Response papers, Book Reviews, Research papers) as per the requirements of each course.
- Each module is led by a faculty with expertise in the subject area. S/he will participate online one’s a week and will evaluate and give the student feedback on submitted assignments.
- Assignments are to be generated in the required FBC academic writing format as per the FBC style guide.
Research Component
Research Defence
DMin Candidates will defend their thesis against a panel consisting of four members as follows:
- The Principal, Academic Dean or a senior member of the Faculty appointed by the Doctoral Program Committee who is the Chairperson.
- One FBC faculty who is a subject expert appointed by the Doctoral Committee.
- One subject expert external to FBC, also appointed by the Doctoral Program Committee.
- The Research Mentor, who will be a non-participatory member, and take notes of recommendations.
The official result arrived by the panel will be communicated to the student by the Principal.
Possible outcomes are:
- Accepted as it is without any amendments (except typographical).
- Subject only to any minor amendments to be made according to the recommendations of the panel, verified by the research mentor, that the degree of DMin be awarded.
- Subject to substantial revisions to be made according to the recommendations of the panel, verified by the Research Mentor, that the degree of DMin be awarded, however, re-submission may be done only in the next academic year with another viva.
- That no degree be awarded.
For theses resubmitted for the degree of DMin, two decisions are possible.
- Subject only to any minor amendments to be made according to the recommendations of the panel, verified by the Research Mentor, that the degree of DMin be awarded.
- That no degree be awarded, or a master’s degree be awarded.