Doctor of Ministry
Cross-Cultural Experience
An important aspect of growth in the D.Min. program will be an experience in cross-cultural learning. By immersion into another culture, whether domestic or international, you will begin to:
- Experience and explore different ways the church expresses its identity and mission
- Identify cultural artifacts in a ministry context
- Theologically and biblically identify the core of the Gospel and how it is understood through cultural lenses
Participants will use the experience to begin designing a ministry plan within their concentration that begins with the current realities of the participant's context and leads to a more inclusive biblical model. Example: if the ministry context is primarily a white constituency within a mixed ethnic community, what are the cultural issues involved and how would a leader seek to influence the organizational and ministry culture to better reflect Kingdom values?
Sites
The cross-cultural experience can take place in a number of settings. Important to a participant's decision will be selecting a site that differs somewhat from their current ministry context, to expand their experience and creative capacity. Examples of possible sites include:
- North America
- Greater New York City (Second Cathedral Baptist and Brooklyn Tabernacle)
- Chicago (Willow Creek and St. Sabina)
- Greater Los Angeles (Saddleback and Mosaic)
- International
- China or Taiwan
- Zimbabwe or Kenya
- Argentina
- Russia
- Australia
- London
- Custom- as designed and negotiated by cohorts and professors
The experience can be taken simply to meet the program requirement or for course credit (limit to one per participant for course credit). Taken as a course, there will be a professor of record. There may also be an online component for preparation before and processing after the experience. (Previous experience cannot be applied towards the requirement.)