Doctor of Ministry
Concentration in Christian Leadership
Objectives
Within the nine courses required for the Doctor of Ministry program, four of them must be in the Christian Leadership concentration. A Christian Leadership concentration will enable you to:
- Integrate your understanding of ministry with an understanding of the dynamics of community life, culture change, human development, and interpersonal relationships.
- Effectively utilize skills in leadership and care which are essential in pastoral ministry.
- Train laity for ministry with increased understanding of biblical faith; and organize, equip, and guide them into more effective areas for Christian service.
Courses available by extension are taught at exemplary churches around the country in partnership with the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership.
Outstanding Course Offerings
- Incarnational Leadership
- Narrative Pastoral Counseling
- The Pastoral Reflective Practitioner
- The Pastor and People
- Issues in Pastoral Leadership
- Developing Leadership in the Local Church
Our Professors Make the Difference
- Dr. Burrell D. Dinkins B.A., M.Div., Th.D.
E.A. Seamands Professor of Pastoral Leadership
Expertise: Pastoral Counseling
Dr. Dinkins joined the Asbury faculty in 1992 with a wealth of experience in counseling. He has served as the minister of pastoral care at Roswell (GA) United Methodist Church, professor of pastoral care and counseling at Oral Roberts University, and director of pastoral care and counseling of the Atlanta-Emory District of the UMC. Dr. Dinkins served in similar capacities in Brazil and developed a hospital chaplaincy program there, as well as served a number of churches.
- Dr. Dale Galloway B.A., B.D., D.D.
Dean: Beeson International Center for Biblical Preaching and Church Leadership
Expertise: Church Growth, Leadership Development, Lay Ministry, Small Group Ministry, Marriage and Family
Dr. Galloway began preaching a message of hope from atop the snack shack at a drive-in theater in Portland, Ore. This unorthodox approach led to the founding of the New Hope Community Church in 1972. By the time he left in 1995 to become the Dean of the Beeson Center, the average Sunday attendance of New Hope was more than 6,000. Dr. Galloway is a popular retreat and seminar speaker and is the author of 13 books.
- Dr. George G. Hunter III B.A., B.D., Th.M., Ph.D.
Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth
Expertise: Evangelism, Church Growth, Communication Theory, Leadership and Change Agentry
Dr. Hunter is the dean of Asbury Seminary’s ESJ School of World Mission and Evangelism. As a young seminary student, he spent eight weeks sharing his faith with dozens of "Muscle Beach" surfers, beatniks, and body builders. That experience set Hunter on a lifetime quest that has placed him among the world’s leading authorities on communicating the Gospel to secular people. Dr. Hunter has led or addressed seminars for more than 30 denominations in 14 different countries. He has authored several books, including Abingdon Press’ top professional book in 1992 How to Reach Secular People
- Dr. Stephen L. Martyn M. Div., Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Ministry
Expertise: Pastoral Ministry, Spiritual Formation, Leadership
After serving for 21 years as an United Methodist pastor (including more than seven years as senior pastor of St. Stephen’s UMC in Albuquerque, New Mexico), in August of 1997 Stephen L. Martyn accepted the newly created position of Director of Spiritual Formation for the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and holds a Ph.D. in Formative Spirituality from Duquesne University.
Biblically Sound
The Christian faith rests on the personal self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the philosophy of education at Asbury begins with the Christian faith which centers in God as revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and as witnessed in the Holy Scriptures by the Holy Spirit.
While Asbury Seminary stands within the Wesleyan tradition and holds to a clearly defined statement of faith, the faculty is committed to academic freedom. Central to all academic work at the seminary are two commitments: the first to Jesus Christ as sovereign Lord and the second to the pursuit of truth as a corporate and personal vocation.
Faculty members are committed to objective study and discussion of all theological opinions, and the seminary regards liberty of conscience as an important dimension of theological and personal integrity.
Course Descriptions
- DM 812 Incarnational Leadership (3) - Staff
A course designed to explore such questions as: Who will lead us into the twenty-first century? What kind of leader do we need? How are Christian leaders different? These questions which are critical for the future of the church are addressed in an incarnational context, integrated with current leadership and strategic decision theory and applied in case studies especially relevant to the ministry of today and tomorrow.
- DM 813 Narrative Pastoral Counseling (3) - Dinkins
This course is designed as an examination of the theory and practice of pastoral counseling from a postmodern paradigm. Attention will be given to the philosophy, methodologies and practice of counseling based upon stories. Students will discover how narratives author persons and develop skills to help reauthor the lives of counselees. The disciplines of literature, Bible, theology, narrative psychotherapy, and spiritual direction will help students develop an integrative understanding of narrative in pastoral counseling.
- DM 814 The Pastoral Reflective Practitioner (3) - Dinkins
This course is designed for advanced practitioners of ministry in the continual reshaping of practical theology. The students will be challenged to learn by the reflection-in-action process, which relies on improvisations learned in practice and shared in a supportive community of peers. Attention will be given to the methodologies of gathering wisdom for the heart and the mind from external and internal resources.
- DM 815 The Pastor and People (3) - Dinkins
This course is designed for Beeson pastors to help examine interpersonal relationships in a parish context. It is an integration of practical reason (phronesis), theoretical reason (theoria), and the craft of pastoring (techne).
- DM 816 Developing Leadership in the Local Church (3) - Galloway
This course is designed to help pastoral leaders to intentionally develop leadership in the local church. This course will go a step beyond the pastor as leader. Its main objective will be not only to fine-tune an individual’s leadership skills, but to help the student to become a leader of leaders, who will have a plan for intentionally developing leaders in the local church. A major focus of the course will be "learning how to do small groups effectively." Other related subjects to be covered are: formal and informal mentoring, staffing from within and without, motivating volunteers, influencing the influencers, and using spiritual gift testing.
- DM 817 Advanced Church Leadership for the 21st Century (3) - Galloway
This is an advanced church leadership course for the doctor of ministry degree program, designed to prepare the pastor to become the master architect in designing and creating an effective church from the inside out, which includes reaching the unchurched. The content of the course will include the latest and best literature and material in leadership, church growth and the life of the pastor.
- DM 818 Spirituality of Leading (3) - Martyn
Within the context of defining the cultural pressure toward "institutional chaplaincy" placed upon most pastors today, this course will seek to enable doctoral students to: 1) Appraise how their own vocational calling can best assist the local church in fulfilling it's mission; 2) Clearly grasp and understand the concept of Fourth Servant Leadership (enabling others to fulfill their ministry calling in Christ); 3) Implement "Radical Time Management" which emphasizes "First Things First" in their everyday lives; 4) Have a beginning overview of the dynamics of resistance, change, and transformation of an entire congregational system; and 5) Be able to articulate the primary values the student desires to hold in leadership.
- DM 819 (formerly PM 840) Issues in Pastoral Leadership (3) - Staff
This seminar addresses a variety of topics in pastoral leadership through the use of resident and visiting faculty. It focuses on contemporary and emerging issues, and draws upon the expertise of noted experts in the field of church leadership and management in order to optimize flexibility and relevance for the doctoral student. (Occasional and experimental--Instructor to be assigned.)