Rationale

The Doctor of Missiology degree program is an advanced professional degree in preparation for leadership roles in cross-cultural ministries.  It is designed to educate leaders for specialized expertise in missiology and cognate disciplines for research and teaching.  The program normally requires the equivalent of three to four years of full-time study including the dissertation or a project thesis

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Admission Requirements

Applicants must have a B.A. degree or its equivalent in scope and a M.Div. degree or its equivalent in scope and content, or a master’s degree in an appropriate theological or missiological discipline.  They must have maintained a minimal grade average of 3.0 (B) on a scale of 4.0 in their master’s studies.  The applicants must have engaged in vocational Christian service for at least two years (other than seminary Field Education), and this vocational service should be in a cross-cultural ministry context.  Applicants must pass the doctoral entrance examination in theology.​

Defense

After completing the required course work, the student will prepare and defend a prospectus that describes the proposed research topic.  This prospectus must be at least 20 pages in length (excluding bibliography).  The student, accompanied by his or her supervisor, will defend the prospectus before the faculty.  In the event that the supervisor cannot be present, the student may request a circulated prospectus defense.  In this case, the Associate Dean will request that the faculty members  evaluate the prospectus privately.  If there are problems, the Associate Dean will meet with the faculty and supervisor to determine a course of action.  Upon approval of the prospectus by the faculty, Associate Dean, and the Dean, the student may proceed with research and writing for the project thesis or the dissertation.

Supervised Ministry or Teaching Requirements

Please refer to the Doctor of Ministry Supervised Ministry requirements or the Doctor of Theology Supervised Teaching requirements.

Degree Requirements

The Doctor of Missiology course work includes the following basic requirements:
                                                                               Credits
Core Seminar (Contextualizing
Practical Theology)                                                2
Missiology Seminars                                             8
Methodological Research (440-125)                 2
General Seminars:
    Historical-Systematic Theology Area           2
    Biblical Area                                                         2
Research & Design Seminar                                2
Colloquium in Christian Ministry                        2 
Supervised Teaching/Minisrty                           4
Prospectus/dissertation/defense                    14 
Total                                                                        38

The Doctor of Missiology seminars are approved based on their appropriateness for the study of ministry across socio-cultural boundaries; their relationship to the social science disciplines of anthropology, cross-cultural studies, and contextual studies; and with respect to the study of culture, history, and the study of world religions.

Professional Project or Research Dissertation

The research may be either a professional project or a research dissertation provided that the subject matter focuses on a cross-cultural theme.  (See the D.Min. and Th.D. requirements; dissertation shall be no less than 125 pages.)​