Is a D.Min. In Your Future?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 5:00AM I completed a D.Min. (Doctor of Ministry) in May 2007. It was a great experience. I'm sometimes asked whether or not I'd recommend a D.Min. program to other pastors.
A D.Min. isn't for everyone. It's a practical degree for those in ministry; a research degree would be more suited to some. A D.Min. is fairly demanding and will cost you time and money. You need the support of your church and family, and the resources to complete the work.
It's also worth knowing that not everyone is impressed with a D.Min. degree. I highly recommend that you read David Well's classic chapter on D.Min. degrees. You can read an excerpt here.
If you are feeling like you need to grow, and you have the resources and support of key leaders and your family, a D.Min. can be a great idea. Here's how I benefited:
- It provided structure and discipline for continued learning when I needed a challenge.
- It gave me the opportunity to learn under a phenomenal teacher (Haddon Robinson). As they say, don't pick a course; pick a teacher.
- It's immediately applicable to ministry within a local church, and made me more effective in my role as pastor.
- It allowed me to build relationships within a cohort system. Some of those relationships have been the best part of the experience.
- It's opened up more opportunities for further learning and ministry.
A D.Min. isn't for everyone, but it does have a lot going for it. If you've been toying with the idea, I'd encourage you to give it some serious thought.
Reader Comments (2)
It wasn't long ago that the D.Min. was created to accommodate those who couldn't hack a Ph.D. Our pastor Jn Piper told us that the bar was lowered which is unfortunate for the evangelical church today.
Gee! Peter didn't have either a Ph.D. or a D.Min. Neither did Paul. How about Matthew? Nope.
I am not suggesting that our Pastors be uneducated, but I wonder how many North Americans realize that in Africa and other third world countries there are many pastors who probably don't even have much of a formal education of any kind?
I suspect that there are many good people, called by God to service, who do not get a chance to do anything because of the western world's demand for academic qualifications above all else.