Master of Divinity (MDiv)
Overview of the Program
The program fosters students’ understanding of church and ministry in the contemporary world, and students’ ability to work meaningfully and creatively in a vocation of religious leadership. The program increases students’ knowledge and strengthens their ability to integrate their understanding of the various disciplines of theology and ministry with their experience of the church and the world.
Through their study for a Master of Divinity degree, students will gain:
- formation in reflective practices of leadership
- grounding in Christian texts, traditions, theologies, and practices
- an informed sense of one’s self and one’s ministerial vocation through appropriation and integration
- a sense of vocation as practitioners, leaders, and public theologians who will be generative of positive change and new possibilities for the church and world
- knowledge and experience of a multi-ethnic, intercultural, ecumenical, and religiously diverse world
- skills in critical and imaginative thinking, responsible interpretation, and effective communication and
- basic proficiency in practical skills for ministry plus specific competencies in pockets of theological expertise
The master of divinity degree is an 86 hour program and is structured to be completed in three or four years of full-time study; the maximum length of time allowed to complete the program is six years.
Curricular Requirements
Students enrolling in the Master of Divinity program must complete specifically required courses such as the Interpretation of the Old Testament course sequence, Interpretation of the New Testament course sequence, Introduction to the History of Christian Thought course sequence, Systematic Theology, Christian Ethics, and Introduction to Preaching.
In addition to these specific courses, students will have additional requirements to fulfill in World Religions, Introductory Arts of Ministry, Sociology of Religion or Religion and Personality, and Theology or Ethics. Students must also enroll in a course designated to fulfill the Gender, Race, Ethnicity and Contextual Education Elective requirements.
Contextual Education
Contextual Education combines academic instruction with opportunities for formation in ministry and leadership in churches, social service agencies, hospitals and other clinical and ecclesial settings. Candler’s unique commitment to contextual theology and theological education is formalized through the four-semester sequence, Contextual Education I and Contextual Education II, required for all MDiv students.
First Year Experience
Candler’s Master of Divinity Program is uniquely characterized by the First Year Experience. Within the first year, students will be involved in a number of settings, both academic and contextual, that will provide a basic orientation for their time at Candler and for the profession of ministry.
First year students will participate in First Year Advising Groups that will assist in orienting them to their academic studies and to life at Candler. Students will also enroll in two Critical Reflection Colloquies that will focus on critical reading and writing skills as they pertain to theological education and professional formation. Colloquies will be connected with Common Courses required for all MDiv students during the first and second semester at Candler. Finally, first year students will enroll in Contextual Education I, which is composed of placement and work at a local site, reflection groups and enrollment in a contextualized Introductory Arts of Ministry course that connects academic instruction to practice at the Contextual Education site.