The DMiss is designed to come alongside leaders and scholar/practitioners, enabling them to remain engaged in their ministry or organization, and providing them with doctoral level education that is relevant and transformational to their missional context.

• What is a Cohort?

  The DMiss program is organized around a group of six to twelve students who build community as a cohort, enabling each member to contribute to maximizing each other's research. Cohorts are comprised of students who come with a variety of research interests, ministry backgrounds and leadership experiences, contributing to a uniquely informed learning environment.

  The cohort becomes a collaborative learning community in which student dialogue with, learn from, and critically engage other members as guided by the cohort faculty mentor(s). While much of the coursework and research will be completed independently, students and their cohort mentors interact online on a regular  basis.

  Click here to see upcoming cohorts 

• Contextualized Applied Research Dissertation (CARD)

  While the main priority of traditional research is to expand knowledge, applied research seeks to utilize research in order to solve a practical problem.   

  Students enter the DMiss aiming at a particular area in their contexts where they want to see change. Thus, the work done in the DMiss will ultimately apply directly to the work and ministry in which the student is currently engaged.

• Module Outline

  In addition to the module-specific learning outcomes below, students will participate in communities of practice that foster spiritual formation in both its personal and communal dimensions.

  Upon successful completion of this degree program, students will have:

  •  Developed a Personal Rule of Life that is revisited/revised throughout the program.
  • Corporately developed a Community Rule that is revisited/revised throughout the program.
  • Participated in a Community of Practice.
  • Year 1: Missiological Foundations (8 Units) and Program Design (4 units)

    The focus of the first year is to understand missiological principles as they relate to student program foci. Missiological reflection will provide student with the impetus to design research plans that will seek out theories and models appropriate to student research interests. An SIS faculty member will convene the cohort in this module and serve as the mentor throughout the life of the cohort.

    Objective: To understand missiological principles and think integratively about missional disciplines as related to the subject areas of research.

    Outcomes: At the completion of Year 1, students will have: 1) Demonstrated their ability to think missiologically as they reflect on and critique the literature, as it pertains to their project interests; 2) Developed the elements of a research design and presented it to the faculty mentor and peers within the cohort.

  • Year 2: Issues in Context (8 units) and Research Methods (4 units)

    The focus of the second year is to review precedent literature appropriate to relevant theory and contemporary contexts with the intent of establishing areas that lack sufficient attention in the literature in order to identify lines of inquiry that will be pursued by field research. Emphasis will be placed on relevant theory so that students will be able to apply it to the development of a methodological approach that will enable effective collection and analysis of data. A specialist (or specialists) in relevant theory and research methods required to accomplish cohort objectives will lead the module.

    Objective: To be able to demonstrate an understanding of and sensitivity to contextual diversity in its myriad forms as students engage in effective missiological research in their own unique settings.

    Outcomes: At the completion of Year 2, students will have 1) Formulated a methodological approach commensurate with the sub-discipline and the desired findings of the research project; 2)  Applied the methodology to the collection of data that will enable them to discover new findings.

  • Year 3: Leadership (8 units) and Change Dynamics (4 units)

    The focus of the third year is understanding the nature of leadership as it impacts the missiological response to the students' research findings. The seminar will focus on the nature of leadership within the context, including the current practices and structures of leadership within the ministries represented in the cohort. Building on the leadership issues, the methods course will emphasize the dynamics of change as they impact the necessary restructuring or development of leaders in response to the findings of the research at this point in the study. This seminar will be led by a leadership specialist.

    Objective: To be able to demonstrate the ability to analyze and evaluate students' respective organizations, ministries or churches in order to influence leadership changes in their sphere of endeavor.

    Outcomes: At the completion of Year 3, students will have 1) Presented a profile of the current leadership structure of their organization/ministry that will enable students to produce a corporate ministry report or other tool to meet he organizational, topical, or regional requirements of assessing leadership dynamics within the context of student needs and objectives; 2) Identified the organizational and ministry dynamics that must be addressed to implement the missiological changes to more effectively impact the contextual issues identified in the research.

  • Year 4: Integration (4 units) and Dissertation Writing (8 units)

    The focus of the 4th year serves to integrate learning in the previous three modules. The faculty mentor for the cohort will lead (or co-lead) this module with the intent of facilitating the integration of theory, research, leadership and change dynamics to the students' research interests and settings. The significance of the research can then be presented in the form of applications to effective ministry that meets the purpose and goals of students in the writing of a Contextualized Applied Research Dissertation (CARD).

    Objective: To demonstrate the ability to apply research and missiological reflections to specific situations in their ministry contexts, integrating  program materials individually and collectively to maximize the findings.

    Outcomes: At the completion of Year 4, students will have 1) constructed a dissertation outline commensurate with the reading, research and writing accomplished during the previous three modules 2) Integrated the three previous modules in the creation of a 50,000 word (200 pages) Contextualized Applied Research Dissertation (CARD).

• Nomenclature
  
  Students in the DMiss degree program may elect to have their doctorate degree designated as a Doctor of Missiology degree (DMiss) or as a a Doctor of Intercultural Studies degree (DIS). The election must be made at the time of submission of the Application for Graduation. Once the degree has been awarded the election is non-revocable, non-changeable, and permanent.