Asbury Theological Seminary
Doctor of Ministry
Concentration in Spiritual Formation
Objectives
- To understand the broad sweep of Christian spirituality from a theological and historical perspective;
- To understand and appreciate the role of Scripture in one's personal spiritual formation;
- To understand ways in which spiritual direction as a specific ministry occurs; and
- To nurture each participant as they incorporate the coursework into their own lives.
- Spiritual Director
The ministry of spiritual direction is part of the legacy of the Church fathers and mothers. The process deals with the wholeness of the human person as a director and directee seek to discern the movements of God in an individual's life. In order to experience this ministry firsthand, and in order to be better prepared to serve as a spiritual director, participants are expected to meet with a spiritual director at least once each month for eighteen consecutive months throughout the course-taking phase of his/her doctoral studies.
If you choose a Spiritual Formation emphasis in your program, you will keep a spiritual journal which will become a resource for use in sessions with your spiritual director.
- Required Course
DM851: "Readings in Western Spirituality" is required for everyone in the Spiritual Formation concentration. It is offered every other year.
- Spiritual Formation Retreat
Spiritual retreats for the renewal and re-alignment of the human spirit with God's Spirit is an essential of a well-rounded spiritual formation process. Consequently, participation in a one-week retreat offered every other year in tandem with the courses: The Pastor as Spiritual Guide OR Shaped by the Word is required. Spiritual direction will be provided during this week which takes place in an off-campus retreat center.
One class may be transferred in from courses offered through the Epiphany Institute.
Outstanding Course Offerings
Our Professors Make the Difference
- Dr. C. Reginald Johnson B.D., Ph.D.
Dean of the School of Theology, Professor of Spiritual Formation
Expertise: Spiritual Formation, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Dr. Johnson has been a member of the Asbury faculty since 1978. The past chair of the Division of Preaching and Worship, he has also served as director of Supervised Ministry and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program. Dr. Johnson is an ordained elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.
- Dr. Kenneth J. Collins M.Div., Th.M., M. Phil., Ph.D.
Professor of Church History, Spiritual Formation
Expertise: Wesley Studies, History of Spirituality, American Christianity
Dr. Collins is an ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church and has written several articles and books. His articles have appeared in Quarterly Review, Christian Scholars Review, The Asbury Theological Journal, Covenant Quarterly, and the Wesleyan Theological Journal. Dr. Collins serves as president of the Wesleyan Theological Society.
- Dr. M. Robert Mulholland Jr. M. Div., Th.D.
Post Doctoral Studies Vice-President, Chief Academic Officer
Expertise: Spiritual Formation, New Testament and Christian Origins
Dr. Mulholland has been vice president and provost since 1987. Besides conventional teaching posts at Wesley Theological Seminary, Harvard University, and McMurry University, he has also been a supply and disbursing officer in the U.S. Navy, a foreman for Scott Paper Co., and the pastor of a recreational ski ministry. Dr. Mulholland is a frequent speaker at Bible and spiritual renewal conferences, and serves as a faculty member of the Academy for Spiritual Formation.
- Dr. Stephen L. Martyn M. Div., Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Spiritual Formation
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.
- Dr. Susan Muto Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Spiritual Formation
Expertise: Literature and Spirituality
Dr. Muto is executive director and co-founder of the Epiphany Association. She teaches formational theology at Duquesne University, the University of Notre Dame, St. Michael’s University, Bethel College, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and Asbury Theological Seminary. She offers conferences, workshops, and seminars on lay spiritual formation throughout the United States and abroad.
- Dr. Jerry Mercer M.Div, S.T.M., Ph.D.
Professor of Preaching
Expertise: Preaching as Ministry, Christian Spirituality, Thomas Merton
Prior to his arrival at Asbury in 1972, Dr. Mercer taught at Azusa Pacific University and served a variety of pastorates. A prolific author, his articles, book reviews, and poems have appeared in various journals. His book, Cry Joy! Was a "Guideposts" Book of the Month Club Selection in 1988. His latest published book, Being Christian is an interpretation of Wesley's tract "The Character of a Methodist." An accomplished poet, he is the author of the collection, Scratchings on the Walls of My Prison Cell. Dr. Mercer and his wife, Ruth, have four adult daughters.
- Dr. Stephen A. Seamands M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D.
Professor of Christian Doctrine
Expertise: Historical Theology, Systematic Theology, United Methodist Doctrine, Pastoral Theology
Dr. Seamands is known for merging the classical and the practical. His courses on theology and doctrine are taught with a scholar’s mind and a pastor’s heart. Dr. Seamands has extensive pastoral experience and is an ordained elder of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is a retreat and seminar leader as well as a gifted evangelistic speaker.
Course Descriptions
- DM 851 Seminar in Spiritual Formation (3) - Johnson
This course gives an intensive examination of the discipline of spiritual formation, with the purpose of helping persons in ministry function more effectively in this area.
- DM 854 Readings in Western Spirituality (3) - Collins
This course will freely consider questions, as the ancient Greek philosophers and the fathers and mothers of the Christian church did centuries ago, which look "upward" rather than downward. That is, the course will assess what a human being is in terms of spiritual trajectories as they are oriented toward purposes, ends, or goals. Here teleology will be offered as an answer, at least in part, to scientific reductionism and abstract speculation. Indeed, philosophy (love of wisdom) for Plato, in his realization of the forms, was a participatory activity which engaged not only the ratio (the speculative intellect) but also the intellects (intuitive knowing). In other words, Plato’s philosophy called not only for engagement but for transformation as well. It involved the whole being.
- DM 855 The Pastor as Spiritual Guide (3) - Johnson
This course explores the meaning and place, as well as some of the models and dynamics, of the ministry of spiritual guidance (or spiritual direction) through an intensive, doctoral-level experience. Participants will be encouraged to experience spiritual direction, to receive feedback on their own ministry of offering direction, and to consider the place of spiritual direction within their own ministries. The class utilizes lectures, video tapes, discussions, book reviews and practicums, and will be both "informational" as well as "formational."
- DM 856 Shaped by the Word (3) - Mulholland
- DM 859 (formerly SF 840) Issues in Spiritual Formation (3) - Staff
This course addresses a variety of topics in spiritual formation through the use of resident and visiting faculty. It focuses on historical and contemporary issues, and draws upon the expertise of noted experts in the area of spiritual formation in order to optimize relevance for the doctoral student. (Occasional and experimental -Instructor to be assigned.)