Oriented to prepare and develop ministers within the framework of a biblical model of leadership.
The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program offers a professional degree to those students who search for more advanced competencies in ministry. The program prepares ministers for development within the framework of a biblical model of leadership. It promotes an Adventist perspective regarding evangelism, ministry, and mission. It is generally offered to those who are active professionals in ministry.
The courses are taught in an intensive or modular format. The emphasis of this professional degree is pastoral ministry including areas of ministerial interest as church growth, leadership and administration, chaplaincy ministries, youth ministry, family life, and mission. The intensive sessions are offered by a team of instructors that include seminary professors with expertise and academic knowledge, along with professionals in the field who have extensive experience in the areas mentioned above. The approach combines theological methods with appropriate technology, in an environment conducive to creative teaching and dialogue.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
There is a limited amount of spaces available at each cohort and priority is given to the students that come from the Unions of the IAD territory.
Based on the guidelines provided by the IATS, each Union establishes administrative criteria to choose the candidates to be sent to the DMin program. Applicants must comply with the following requirements:
- To hold a Master’s of Divinity (MDiv) or its equivalent from a Seminary or an accredited institution recognized by the IATS. In the absence of an MDiv, the student should have at least a total of 72 semester credits of a ministerial professional program. The student must have a grade point average of at least 3.00 in his/her Master’s program.
- Applicants who hold a Master’s of Arts in Pastoral Theology (MAPTh) need to take the equivalent of the minimum prescribed requirements. These courses may be taken in some accredited Seminary or at IATS. The student could enroll in a Pre-DMin program and take 12 credits in master level courses (preferably in the area of Christian Ministry), write a master-level Thesis on the area of Pastoral Studies (6 GSEM698 credits), and present a Portfolio (6 GSEM660 credits) to complete the minimum of 72 professional credits needed to be accepted in the DMin program.
- If the applicant has a Master’s degree in an area other than ministerial, he/she must take prerequisite credits in the area of Christian Ministry.
- Have an equivalency of at least four years of pastoral experience at prior to admission into the DMin program. The candidate must provide evidence of high professional and personal potential for the pastoral ministry.
- Present satisfactory recommendations from: the Academic Dean or the Dean of the program from which he or she last graduated, the ministerial secretary of his/her Union or local field, and an elder from a local church where he/she has served.
- Turn in a recent written work of no fewer than 25 pages that demonstrates the student ability to do research and adequately prepare a written report of it related to a ministerial matter or problem.
- Prepare a letter or essay expressing the candidate’s commitment to the Christian faith, and with the Adventist Church and its teachings (for Adventists), and the purpose that motivates the candidate to pursue this academic degree.
- Applicants from other denominations may be accepted into the program as long as they comply with the requirements of admission and represent a high moral standard where traits of character, life-style, and spiritual commitment reflecting the ideals of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
- Applicants must request that their schools send transcripts of their degrees and grades directly to the IATS Registrar in Miami, FL. Unofficial copies or copies sent by the applicants will not be accepted.
- Show evidence of skills to work at the graduate level in English (having done the secondary or the university study levels in English, or having obtained at least 400 points in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or higher than 83 points in the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB), or higher than 76 points in the exam Levels of English Proficiency (LOEP), or at least 70% in the test administered by the Seminary.
- Approve, with a grade of at least 80%, the IATS’s Basic Biblical and Theological Knowledge Test in biblical languages and knowledge that is administered by the Seminary.
- Complete and submit all the paperwork required for the program.