The Doctor of Missiology (DMiss) degree is organized around a cohort format in which the students meet together each year for a two-week seminar. Each group of 6-12 students build community as a cohort and pledge to loosely center their studies around a theme that enables each to contribute to maximizing their research for God’s Kingdom.  Ideally, each member will contribute to the collective interests of the cohort.  Each cohort will be structured to meet strategic purpose, goals, and significance that are of mutual benefit to all members of the cohort. 

The sum total of the four year process enables cohort members to build community and become thoroughly acquainted with each other’s work.  This understanding, in turn, contributes to the development of each leader as they seek to apply the research to more effective ministry and on-going leadership for God’s glory.  Continuity is provided by the structuring of the modules around research objectives, the input of the mentor, and the interaction of cohort members with each other.  Therefore, there are individual and collective benefits that should enable leadership development for more effective ministry in the particularity of each student’s context and the whole of missiology

Studying under the cohort format, DMiss students can expect the following:

• Participate in a missional learning community;
• Study under assigned faculty mentors with experience in the field;
• Explore, in depth, a specific missiological topic relevant to the student's ministry context;
• Produce research that demonstrates the ability to integrate theory and practice to the relevance of the cohort objectives;
• Provide a dissertation which represents a key contribution to missiology as envisioned by the original design of the cohort;
• Experience synergy in a lifelong learning approach.

Additional Cohort Format Benfits:

• Decrease cost by eliminating US/Pasadena living expenses;
• Reduce the need for air travel to our main campus;
• Allow student to further their education while continue in-service;
• Service and impact mission organizations more realistically and effectively.