NBTS announces revised D.Min. curriculum and new concentration in Missiology and Global Christianity

May 23, 2019

(New Brunswick, NJ,  May 23, 2019) – New Brunswick Theological Seminary (NBTS), the first seminary established in North America, located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has developed a new 30-credit Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) curriculum that will be rolled out in Fall 2019, and a new Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) concentration in Missiology and Global Christianity starting in May 2020.

New 30-credit Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) curriculum

The new D.Min. curriculum will require 24 credits of coursework offered in our current hybrid format, and it will integrate the doctoral program schedule with the broader institutional semester-based schedule, allowing for D.Min. students to be more fully integrated into the seminary community. In addition, electives have been added to the curriculum, allowing doctoral students more freedom to shape their degree to engage their interests and meet their needs.

Assistant Dean of Doctoral Studies, Andrew Wymer, observes, “The new curriculum will: allow NBTS to remain the regional leader in providing a cost-effective D.Min. degree that is academically rigorous and relevant to pastors, chaplains, and leader; provide students with more flexibility to shape their degree based on their interests; and emphasize the importance of student engagement and collaboration throughout the program.”

Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs, Beth Tanner, is enthused about the new curriculum, and she says, “Ministry is hard work. Here at NBTS, we redesigned the D.Min. curriculum to make it easier to both keep your commitments to your ministry and your family and still achieve your goals of an advanced degree. Students will save time and money by traveling to campus for two intensives a year, instead of three …This makes the curriculum better for students and the institution without compromising on the quality of instruction.”

NBTS launched the Doctor of Ministry Program in 1995, and this degree remains a logical extension of our mission and commitment to prepare women and men for educated and faithful leadership in church and society. The seminary’s continued record of service to the ecumenical church, and to African-American, Latino/a, and Asian churches places it in a particularly good position to provide advanced training for ministers serving in congregations throughout New Jersey, New York, the northeast corridor, and metro-urban areas across the nation.

New Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) concentration in Missiology and Global Christianity

This D.Min. concentration is designed to provide church/mission leaders with advanced education and experience in developing their awareness and appreciation for diversity of identities through 1) a deeper knowledge of textual traditions, historical practices, and theological frameworks related to mission and world Christianity, along with 2) a contextual ministry leadership approach attentive to cultural dynamics and social power structures, and 3) critical reflection that advances reconciliation, justice, wholeness and healing in specific contexts and through identified Christian ministries and non-profit institutions.

Efforts to advance the mission of God and build Christian communities in a diversity of cultural contexts around the world are a prominent institutional legacy of NBTS. The work of students and graduates, such as Horace Underwood’s missiological vision and ministry in Korea, was shaped by NBTS’s support for a range of world mission endeavors. The D.Min. concentration in Missiology & Global Christianity seeks to reconsider these efforts and re-envision the seminary’s generative connections to Christian communities across far-ranging geographies and among various cultures. Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Beth Tanner says, “The Doctor of Ministry concentration in Missiology and Global Christianity is an important addition to the NBTS curriculum. Our curriculum is focused on preparing Pastors to effectively serve in communities which are more diverse and global than ever before.”

Jaeseung Cha, Associate Professor of Foundational and Constructive Theology, says, “The D.Min. in Missiology and Global Christianity is a concentration for those who want to be faithful witnesses to the Christian God and God’s kingdom as they live in this complex, chaotic, and grateful world … Missiology is never separated from ethics, theology, and history as an interacting and embracing space for the contemporary issues of particular and global contexts. The complexity of missiology becomes more intensified as it critically reflects on Western colonialism and the vibrantly enhanced post-modern and post-Western dynamics of the world.”

The D.Min. concentration in Missiology and Global Christianity will utilize English as a primary language for instruction. However, in a specific coursework setting depending on context, other languages may be utilized. Courses include but are not limited to: Race, Class, Gender and Missiology; The Practice of Missiology; Christian History in Mission and Global Contexts; A Conversation with Neighbors: Interfaith Dialogues; and Missiological Issues and Scriptural Reasoning in Global Contexts.

Questions regarding our Doctor of Ministry program and admission requirements may be directed to our Admissions Office: admissions@nbts.edu or 732-247-5241.

For more information about our Doctor of Ministry program, please click here.