MIN

An introduction to vocational formation for religious leadership.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

An introduction to practical theological reflection on the skills and practices central to transformative religious leadership, including proclamation, worship, and relational care.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course explores relationships between ministry, professional ethics, and pastoral leadership. Topics include clergy confidentiality, healthy clergy relationships, clergy self-care, pastoral issues related to business and finances, healthy use of social media in ministry, and practices for ensuring the safety of children and youth in ministerial programs.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A study of social factors that pose challenges to church life. Students consider the everyday lives of churchgoers and how faith plays a role in their responses to social, cultural, and political issues. Attention is also given to the ways in which communities of faith create religious culture as a means of strength, cohesion, and survival.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course is designed to provide ministry leaders a basic understanding of business and financial concepts in a congregational (and nonprofit) context. The overall goal is to help students learn how to use financial information in decision-making and leadership roles. The course will be praxis-oriented, aimed at helping learners develop basic skills in the areas of budgeting and related financial processes. The course will also provide an overview of effective fundraising and giving philosophies and practices.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

1

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

21st Century Ministry. (3 h) How does religious leadership transform communities? What strategies are effective in today’s ministering contexts? This course explores models of practical theological reflection and methods of reflective professional practice as frameworks for religious leadership in a variety of contexts. Students will develop reflective strategies to place into conversation their personal vocational narratives, institutional and cultural contexts, biblical leadership tropes, and elements of what they are learning across theological disciplines.

Subject

MIN

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A study of the role of symbol and ritual, sacred times and festivals, sacred places and persons, and expressions of art and music.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

How can worship leaders effectively encourage the participation of children in Sunday worship? What is the role of worship in shaping children's spiritual life? What is the purpose of the 'children's sermon' or 'children's worship'? This one-credit course will explore these and other topics related to the presence of children in worship.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

1

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

In this course, students will learn to create, plan, and lead weekly worship services for the School of Divinity community. In addition to learning different worship and liturgical traditions, students will reflect theologically on the meaning of worship elements, thereby giving them tools to plan worship services with attention and intention.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

1

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Seminar with clergy, seminarians, Christian educators, young adult leaders and other faith-based advocates for children for spiritual renewal, networking, movement-building workshops, and continuing education about urgent needs of children at the intersection of race and poverty.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

An introduction to theories and methods of pastoral counseling, including the nature of pastoral identity and essential skills for effective counseling.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This introductory course in pastoral care and counseling in the Christian tradition seeks to highlight the global significance of culture and difference in the practice of caregiving. Students will examine a theology of care from a psycho-socio-cultural lens, drawing from the resources of narrative, family systems, and object relations theories.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course introduces the fundamentals of preaching with a goal toward developing in students the capacity for transformative proclamation. With close attention given to biblical exegesis; theology, language, imagery, design and the basics of effective delivery, this course helps students develop interpretive, theological, homiletical and practical disciplines that will inform and shape their preaching and lay the groundwork for lifelong learning and improvement. Further, this course seeks to set a foundation for a holistic and life-long approach to preaching in which you proclaim the Good News with your full self-body, mind and soul. P-BIB 521 or 541.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course will provide foundational knowledge of interfaith engagement with focus on forms of leadership. The course will consist of 4 units examining: 1) interfaith history and identifying interfaith movements; 2) principles of interfaith leadership; 3) case studies in interfaith leadership; 4) special topics in interfaith practice and leadership. Students will be encouraged to identify their own leadership styles and to build relationships with effective interfaith leaders within their own communities.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This seminary graduate course delves into the transformative power of Sacred Memory as an approach to Black prophetic preaching. Through an exploration of the worldview, narratives, and ideals inherent in African American and African Diaspora cultural theologies, students will illuminate the crucial role of Africa and the African Diaspora in shaping Christian church history and herstory. Additionally, the course will investigate the significance of Africentric doxologies in amplifying the prophetic voice within these Communities.Students will critically examine the intersections between memory, theology, and preaching, unraveling the threads that connect the historical experiences of the African American and African Diaspora communities to contemporary Christian discourse. Through an exploration of sacred memory, participants will gain insights into how these communities have preserved and transmitted their theological perspectives, resistance narratives, and spiritual resilience.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

& MIN 602B and Internship Reflection Seminar or MIN 602C Summer Internship Reflection Seminar

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Internship Reflection Seminar engages second-year students in theological reflection through a year-long internship. The 3-hour, two-semester course (1.5 credits in each semester) includes plenary sessions that focus on skills development. At the center of the internship learning process is a structured relationship between each student and an on-site mentor. Students also learn how to reflect theologically about minstry and leadership through work with peer groups consisting of other student interns.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1.5

Credits (max)

1.5

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A full-time ministry internship placement (300 total hours, to be completed in 6-9 weeks of full-time internship work) during the summer.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Students may elect to do summer, semester, or academic year internships away from the Divinity School's geographic region. Course credit may be given for a specialized internship if the student submits a proposal and the internship is approved by the faculty. If approved, a faculty member serves as an advisor to the student, and a reflection paper, along with other related readings, is required.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

0.5

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This one credit course is taken concurrently with the two credit practicum in Applied Sustainability. With a divinity faculty mentor, students engage in directed theological reflection on practicum experience.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

1

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Worship is a community and experience-based resource of theology. When communities worship, they perform and embody what they believe about God, Jesus, Spirit, scripture, the earth, humanity, and more. This course explores how communal and individual theologies are formed through liturgical practices. Through classroom experimentation and reflection partnered with readings from historical and contemporary sources, students will examine how theology and worship are mutually formative of religious beliefs, values, and practices.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course will explore how pastoral leaders approach personal and church finances and how their approach relates to their theology. Money is a medium of social exchange that creates hope, anxiety, blessing, conflict, opportunity and temptation. Students will examine the values related to money in the communities that have shaped them; think through their beliefs about money biblically and theologically; evaluate their current money practices in light of their faith; and develop a money-related practice to pursue throughout the course. How will you organize your own finances and provide leadership within your church in addressing financial matters? In this course students will seek to answer questions like this by considering biblical and theological resources for developing a theology of finance along with developing the tools needed for personal financial planning and the management of finances in a church setting.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

1

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

The goal of this course is twofold: (1) to consider how legal and theological inquiry shed light on public leadership roles that theologically and legally trained professionals inhabit; and (2) to prepare students to be competent leaders of nonprofit organizations, considering issues like: the legal structure and status of a nonprofit organization (a 501(c)(3)), the process of casting a mission and vision in nonprofit organizations; fund-raising; developing and engaging a leadership board; cultivating a volunteer staff; representing an organization as a public leader; etc.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course explores the role of minister as public leader. It attends to four areas of concern: (1) what public leadership is, and what it means in the context of Christian ministry; (2) how U.S.-Americans make morally relevant meaning of their social and political life together, and how these meanings are relevant to ministry leadership in broader publics; (3) what models of public leadership are available to ministry leaders, and what it means to lead well through them, and (4) how ministry leaders reflect theologically on their role as public leaders. To focus our conversation around these matters, the course will examine the theme of urban poverty throughout.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A study of the church's ministry of caring for persons throughout the life cycle which is grounded in theological understandings of the human condition, the spiritual journey, and the nature of ministry.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A part-time ministry internship placement (2 semesters at 100 hours per semester, for a total of 200 hours) tkaen in either the second or third year of program.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A part-time ministry internship placement (2 semesters at 100 hours per semester, for a total of 200 hours) taken in either the second or third year of program.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

2

Credits (max)

2

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

h) A study of theories and practices related to individual and community traumas, trauma-informed care, and the human capacities for resilience and growth. The course will utilize sources from multiple disciplinary lenses and practices, including neuroscience, psychology, practical theology, and restorative justice.

Subject

MIN

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Just as "iron sharpens iron," this course explores select aspects of the self-experience of women who lead in traditional and non-traditional ministry settings. Students will assess their individual leadership styles, with particular attention given to authenticity, personal and pastoral identity, integrity, use of voice, communication, conflict resolution, team building, ethical decision-making, building collaborative support networks, and developing strategies for successfully navigating complex religious systems.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course explores how health equities can be cultivated at the intersections of spirituality and health. Students will consider how health systems function as loci for understanding brokenness and cultivating shalom in community. Students will also have opportunities as multi-disciplinary professional teams to imagine how to utilize course content in responding to case scenarios. By engaging course scenarios in consultation with community leaders, local data, and faith-based initiatives, students will cultivate skills as collaborative community change agents.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

The Leading Causes of Life are the complementary thought and logic to the leading causes of death. The causes of life offer a practical framework for building the vital conditions at neighborhood, state and federal levels. They undergird sustainable ministry strategy on which specific programs and partnerships thrive.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This one-credit course invites religious leaders to explore the profound connections between aging processes, faith, and spirituality. Through theological reflection, spiritual practices, and contemporary insights, students will examine how aging shapes and is shaped by faith communities. The course focuses on questions such as: What does theology teach us about aging, health, and community? How can faith traditions offer wisdom and support for navigating the challenges and gifts of growing older? What unique health challenges do people encounter as they age? Students will deepen their understanding of aging as a sacred journey and develop practical tools to support aging individuals and their communities with compassion and theological grounding.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

1

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course focuses on the relationship between leadership ethics, and preaching in communities of faith. Special attention is given to the roles of gender, race, ethnicity and class in homiletical practice and theology. The course also considers the role of pastoral leadership in guiding communities toward ethical decision-making that can result in justice and liberation. Also listed as THS 643.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Alias

THS 643

and Other Pastoral Rites. (3 h) A study of pastoral rites. This course is a seminar and practicum through which students learn how to design and lead pastoral rites, with an emphasis on funerals and weddings. Each student is required to preach for the class a funeral sermon and a wedding sermon.

Subject

MIN

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course invites students to explore the heart and soul of the African American preaching traditions with attention to the historical emergence of the Black Church, its dual function as a religious and socio-political institution, and the theologies, practices and histories that continually give shape to its preaching traditions. The course is designed to enhance students’ ability to create theologically grounded sermons that are intelligible, accessible and transformational by exploring the Black Preaching tradition’s contributions to homiletical theory and practice. Course emphases include the theological dimensions of preaching, biblical interpretation, sermon preparation and delivery, preaching as formative practice, and preaching as a communal communicative act.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course analyzes the biblical, theological, and pastoral nature of the seasons and special moments of the church year. In addition to instruction on sermon preparation for the major liturgical moments (e.g., Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost), attention is given to baptism, communion, weddings, and funerals.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course explores womanist proclamation, a practice of truth telling, wisdom bearing and justice seeking that is identified via the radical inclusion of marginalized voices, as an embodied rhetorical and theological act of resistance. Through the carving out of sacred spaces, the course will examine how Black women and girls use speech (performed word) and movement (embodied word) to intentionally disrupt popular terrains where Black bodies are literally and metaphorically disembodied. Ultimately, the course theorizes that womanist proclamation is a means through which Black women's bodies generate and transmit spiritual power from traditional and alternative pulpits and sources to unfetter themselves and their communities from the vestiges of interlaced oppressive systems.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Faithful preaching pays deep attention to the contextual realities of preachers, biblical texts, listeners, and the world in which we live. This course will invite students to consider how contextual realities require an intersectional homiletic. We will pay special attention to marginalization and how 'preaching at the intersections' can uplift, empower, convict, and transform. Students will evaluate understandings of culture context, and identity, then begin to construct, homiletic theories and practices as we consider topics including (but not limited to) race, gender, sexual identity, class, disability, race/racism, ethnicity, age, and ecological disaster.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Practices. (3 h) A place-based exploration of the history, theologies, and practices of baptism and the Lords' Supper in diverse Christain contexts.

Subject

MIN

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Community. (3 h) This course is required for students pursuing either concentration in Well- Being and Religous Leadership (Food and Faith or Faith and Health), and develops leadershp skills applicable to either congregational or not- for-profit ministries. It utilizes interdisciplinary conceptual lenses and methods to introduce participants to food systems and health systems as overalapping 'loci' for understanding brokenness and cultivating shalom in community. Student will interact with community leaders, local data, and faith-based initiatives working at these intersections.

Subject

MIN

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

An examination of the history, theology, and practice of the sacraments and other pastoral rites in congregational life. Attention is given to the meaning and function of ritual in a contemporary context. The course is taught from a Reformed perspective.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Age. (3 h) This course investigates the many ways religious leaders are increasingly using digital media to proclaim the Gospel thus engaging with people who are not in the same space. As social media is now part of the daily lives of many people around the globe, this course explores how religious leaders engage and make meaning of their encounters on Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter and other social and digital media formats. Specifically, the course examines how preaching is re-imagined through digital pulpits i.e., podcasts, livestreams and vlogs.

Subject

MIN

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the intellectual tradition of preaching as both spiritual witness and prophetic resistance in the United States. The ultimate aim is to foster intellectual dispositions, ethical orientations, and personal motivations which enable us to raise voices of dissent against any status quo and/or ideological options offered by popular society. We will thus seek to fulfill the three following interrelated tasks: 1.) Clarify the role of the public intellectual within a prophetic tradition, 2.) Examine historical examples of those who bore witness to horrors otherwise denied and their methods of public address, and 3.) Encourage students to craft creative sermons, write clear, concise, and compelling editorials, and engage pressing social issues in ways that are ethically based, intellectually sound, and emotionally animating.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Clinical Pastoral Education 5

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course seeks to prepare students to respond to issues related to religious diversity through experiential engagement in interfaith dialogue and critical reflection on these experiences.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A study of the development of denominationalism in America with particular attention to specific faith communities and the shape of religious organizations for the future.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

A study of Baptist history with particular attention to Baptists in the U.S. and the diversity of Baptist ways of belief and practice. Also listed as HIS 682.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Alias

HIS 682

(2 h) The course will explore the history, polity, theological foundation, and characteristic beliefs of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.

Subject

MIN

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

The course will explore the history, polity, theological foundation, and characteristic beliefs of the United Church of Christ.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

2

Credits (max)

2

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Courses in ministerial studies can be developed and offered on a one-time basis using this designation.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

1

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

CPE or Relational Care Elective Hours

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

This course explores approaches to theological reflection on ministry practice from discipline-specific points of view. This version of the course introduces students to frameworks and perspectives of biblical interpretation from multiple cultural perspectives, particularly those of women from various social locations, nationalities, socio-economic classes, and faith commitments. Students learn skills for interacting with textual frameworks that are not their own. The course equips students to interpret their own ministry contexts with an awareness of their social and cultural location and in light of the interpretive possibilities that other social and cultural locations open up.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

The primary objective of this course is to prepare Doctor of Ministry students to be skillful analysts and interpreters of their ministry contexts. Frames and methods of context analysis from a variety of disciplinary perspectives are introduced, including sociological, ethnographic, cultural, and historical approaches. Students will design a research paradigm for the Doctor of Ministry project and complete initial data gathering and analysis.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

What is religious leadership? How does it transform communities? A core question for our times anchors the course: What motivates ministers to adopt transformational leadership strategies, especially when faced with resistance? For religious leaders, the first question necessitates a second one: How does hope function within this resistance? In other words, how does it sustain leaders, shape strategies, and prevent burnout? Several conversation partners will join us as we wrestle with these questions. The course will utilize readings, practical exercises, and case studies to explore reflective leadership strategies and encourage peer-supported leadership formation. Students will explore a variety of leadership challenges and opportunities, including:The role of theological and biblical models of leadership in how religious leaders shape and are shaped by sacred texts, traditions, and communal contexts. The relationship between power, resistance, and hope in religious leadership by integrating insights from liberation theology, prophetic imagination, and contemporary leadership theories.How theological and practical frameworks sustain transformative leadership in the face of resistance, burnout, and social opposition. Theological models and practices that foster spiritual resilience and community empowerment.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Working with a faculty advisor in a structured independent study format, students hone the thesis and structure of their Doctor of Ministry project, create an annotated bibliography that serves as the basis of the literature review section of the project and write and present a project proposal approved by their advisor and the Director of the Doctor of Ministry program.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Working with a faculty advisor in a structured independent study format, students conduct research and writing that contributes to their Doctor of Ministry project.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu

Working with a faculty advisor in a structured independent study format, students complete, revise, submit, and present their Doctor of Ministry project.

Subject

MIN

Credits (min)

3

Credits (max)

3

Type

course

Edition

2026-2027

Source

bulletin.wfu.edu