Doctor of ministry

The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree is a professional doctorate targeted at individuals involved in some form of ministry. Under Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) standards, programs must require matriculants to have earned a Master of Divinity or its equivalent. The ATS requires students to complete at least one year of coursework followed by the completion of the doctoral dissertation or research project. Normally, the degree requires somewhere between three and six years to complete. Students typically concentrate on an area of applied theology, such as missions, evangelism, pastoral counseling or the psychology of religion, homiletics, spiritual formation, church growth, church administration, or church leadership.