After reading Is the D.Min a “fluff degree? at Pomomusings, I started to rethink my grad school choices a little. I want to have my options open for a Th.D, if I decide to go that route, but I don’t want to “waste” my time (I use quotes because study is never wasted time) on a degree that won’t make me a better minister.
My friend Jason is finishing his M.Div and I know he’s been challenged and has had to work hard on his theological understanding. But he says that his classmates aren’t necessarily following suit. And the school isn’t encouraging them to. Neither of us can understand why.
The majority of the study is on pastoral care issues, church growth, and program trends. But praxis changes. That whole portion of study could be useless in two or three years. But theology is timeless.
Sure, our understandings change from time to time, and we have to be able to articulate and apply our theology in rapidly changing contexts. But Christ doesn’t change. God doesn’t change. Our church leaders need to be grounded in the constant, unchanging things…houses built on the rock. Read more
