Mission 

The Doctor of Ministry program at Andrews University is designed to develop spiritually transformed, effective, and responsible professional leaders in ministry for worldwide church leadership.  The Growing and Multiplying concentration aim to develop ministry professionals to lead effective outreach, comprehensive spiritual renewal, reproducible models, and integral growth, in light of the Bible's message for the last days of earth's history. 
 

 Learning Modalities  

1. A ministry development plan -- Careful reflection of the participant's current situation leading to the Ministry Development Plan for personal and professional development and ministry action steps.

2. Context Support Group -- The collective interchange of ideas, challenges, and experiences that provide feedback and assessment through the doctoral journey.

3. Learning groups including collective assignments, consultations, and accountability. 

4. Classroom consultation: including didactic and experiential learning, field trips, and networking with top educators, experts, and practitioners in the field of ministry. 

5. Journaling 

6. Research including perusal of the current literature, assigned readings, and studies.

7. Praxis including implementation of ministry in the context of one's ministry context.

8. Coaching & Mentoring

9. A Professional Dissertation including theological reflection, literature review, field research, and intervention involving a specific challenge coming from a communication perspective. 

 

 The Cohort Experience 

The program is delivered in the cohort model, wherein participants proceed through the sequence of courses together. Study and learning are year-round, with pre-intensive, during-intensive, and post-intensive activities and experiences. Pre-intensive assignment preparation can begin as early as six months prior to an intensive. There are four annual teaching sessions presented by ministry professionals. During the program, you will participate in regional workgroups, follow a ministry development plan, read and reflect on the best literature in your concentration area, and develop and evaluate a professional project within the context of your own congregational or other leadership responsibilities.

Cohorts are identified by the year in which they formed. For example, if you are a member of a cohort that formed in 2021, during the five-six years you expect to be in the program, the title of your group will be "the 2021 Growing and Multiplying Churches Cohort."

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 Module Descriptions 

1. PATH890 - Directed Readings in Church Ministry 

2. PATH885 - Topics: Disciple-Making and Evangelization in the 21st Century
   Credits: 1 and 3
   Starting with the biblical record, this course traces disciple-making and evangelism through the transcultural aspects of the gospel with implications for today's post-Christian, ethnically diverse, and multifaith context.  Students will be challenged to contextualize their discipling and evangelization practices through exposure to a wide variety of contemporary examples and case studies.
    

3. MSSN795 - Topics in Discipleship and Worldview Transformation
   Credits: 4
   A course that explores the interaction of context, methodology, attitude, and approach in fostering a biblically-based Christian worldview.  Discipling strategies and missionary methods responsive to cultural, religious, and socio-historical contexts will be studied and applications developed for specific groups
    

4. GSEM706 - Spiritual and Theological Foundations for Ministry
   Credits: 4
   This module builds the spiritual and theological foundation from which the practice of mission and ministry grows and seeks to lead the participant into a self-reflection and examination of life and belief. 
    

5. GSEM790 - DMin Professional Dissertation Seminar
   Credits: 2
   Forming the professional dissertation proposal and issues related to completing the dissertation successfully.  Areas of focus include academic writing, literature review, critical thinking, experiential learning, reading and evaluating research reports, an effective work plan for completion of the dissertation, and other dissertation-related topics. 
    

6. PATH753 - Building Systems and Leading Movements
   Credits: 4
   This course compares and contrasts systems thinking and movement thinking in the context of the formation, growth, and sending of the church.  Viewed through an equipping leadership lens, diverse tools and approaches including strategic formation, mentoring and coaching, and spiritually-discerned disruption, enable students to develop their own integrative approach to systems and movements. 
    

7. GSEM793 - DMin Research Methods Seminar 
   Credits: 2
   Forming the action plan for successfully implementing and evaluating the DMin project.  Areas of focus include action research, research design, and methods, descriptive statistics, methods of evaluating the project, IRB approval, and other project-related topics.
    

8. PATH742 - Church Multiplication 
   Credits: 5
   This course explores the historical paradigms and contemporary practices around church planting.  Through exposure to a variety of leadership models, sponsoring church strategies, stages of development, and diverse case studies positions students to synthesize and implement their own Spirit-led plans for multiplication. 
    

 Contact 

The coordinator for this concentration is Dr. Anthony WagenerSmith.  Contact him at wagenersmith@andrews.edu. 

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 Schedule 

Travel and lodging information is provided in the links under the "Intensive Location" column.
Cohorts are identified by the year in which they formed. Cohort participants will take these courses and modules:

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2021 Cohort

Course requirements and schedule for the cohort formed in 2021:
Online registration must be completed before the course start date. The course registration number (CRN--in parentheses) is the number that registers the course.
Follow the linked course names to obtain the course syllabi.