Online Seminary Doctorate Degree Programs

ONLINE DOCTORATE DEGREE PROGRAMS
 
The Rogers Theological Seminary Online Doctorate of Theology, Doctorate of Philosophy, Doctorate of Divinity, and Doctorate of Ministry degrees are graduate academic degrees from our Online Seminary that requires a study to earn 48 credits for all Doctor of Theology Programs, 54 credits for all Doctor of Philosophy Programs, and 48 credits for the Doctor of Divinity or Doctor of Ministry, which includes a required number of credits in the student's "Christian Major" discipline.

Educational Credits may be transferable to the student's academic program, requiring less time to fulfill the credits requirement. Also the student may qualify for the Accelerated Academic Degree Program, which will only require the student to submit a dissertation for the Doctorate Degree, depending on the student's credit transfer for courses already completed at other institutions that are related to their degree major.

DOCTORAL PROGRAMS:

1. DOCTOR OF MINISTRY - D.Min.
2. DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY - Th.D.
3. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - Ph.D.
4. DOCTOR OF DIVINITY - D.D.


1. DOCTOR OF MINISTRY - D.Min.


The D.Min. degree is a professional doctorate that has been a mainstay of theological education for decades, providing the opportunity for post-M.Div. education to pastors and other Christian leaders. The D.Min. at ROGERS Theological Seminary does not require full-time residence and will provide the opportunity for church leaders and other Christian professionals to pursue intensive advanced study while remaining employed on a full-time basis in their vocational settings.  Generally, the degree serves people who have earned the M.Div. degree, are ordained, and are currently serving as associate or senior pastors, or as executives of church-related or other Christian institutions.
The D.Min. offers theological education on Scripture, engagement with the living Christian tradition, and attention to and reflection on contemporary contexts in order to provide formation for leaders of faithful Christian ministries. Because the degree is designed to promote rigorous and imaginative reflection on the practice of ministry and to enhance the critical skills of persons engaged in the leadership of congregations or church-related institutions, a central feature of the degree is its integration of practical ministerial experience with structured theological reflection.
The structured character of the distance learning includes assignments that require students both to integrate course material with the ecclesial practices that are part of their daily work, and to do so in conversation with the community of peers formed during the residential intensives and sustained through online communication.  The five terms of coursework span approximately two academic years. D.Min. study concludes with a period of independent research and writing, normally one year in length, culminating in the production of a substantial written thesis.

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS FOR D.Min.

Ordinarily, applicants for the D.Min degree will be required to:

1. hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university
2. hold an M.Div. degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution
3. have spent at least five years in full-time ministry
4. have earned a grade average of at least B+ (3.3 on 4.0 scale) in their master’s program
5. submit two letters of reference from people capable of assessing the applicant’s intellectual and academic ability, and two letters of reference (one from an ecclesial official and one from a lay person) that address the applicant’s performance in his or her current position of ministry
6. submit two essays, one (two pages) describing their goals in undertaking doctoral study, including an indication of your proposed focus, and another (maximum 15 pages) that is a sample of their academic writing (e.g., an article, term paper, etc.)
7. if a non-native speaker, earn a cumulative score of 108 on the TOEFL iBT with a minimum of 27 scored in each subtest, or a 610 on the TOEFL PBT with a minimum score of 6 on the TWE. The TOEFL iBT is the preferred English proficiency test. International applicants may request a waiver to the TOEFL requirement if they have completed an undergraduate degree and/or the M.Div. or equivalent theological degree at an accredited college, university, or seminary.

2. DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY - Th.D.

The Doctor of Theology program provides students with academically rigorous training, comparable to the demands of the Ph.D., focused on the ministries and practices of Christian communities. The program centers upon areas of study such as worship, preaching, evangelism, and the arts. At the same time, as an integral component of its mission, the Th.D. program seeks to reconfigure the way in which such practices are brought into creative interdisciplinary conversation with the established academic discourses of biblical studies, historical studies, and theology and ethics. Moreover, the interdisciplinary scope of the program extends to other areas of the university and addresses fresh areas of research such as the intersection of Divinity and Health Care, or Peacemaking and Reconciliation.

The Th.D. program is designed to enable interdisciplinary and integrative study. Students work with their principal advisor to craft a Primary Concentration (of at least six courses) and a Secondary Concentration (of at least three courses) that embody their research interests and provide coherence to their study. These areas of concentration will be shaped to enable critical and constructive reflection on particular practices of Christian community and life, and are expected to draw upon core areas of the theological curriculum.

 
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR Th.D.

1. A Bachelor’s degree, or its equivalent, from a college or university approved by a regional accrediting body (or its international equivalent)
2. A Master of Divinity; or a Master of Theology or comparable master’s degree from an institution accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (or its international equivalent)
3. GRE scores (taken within five years of Th.D. application deadline)
4. A TOEFL score (for students whose native language is not English) equivalent to the standards of Duke University
5. At least four letters of recommendation, one of which should be from a person able to comment on the applicant’s experience in (lay or ordained) ministry and suitability for a program attending to the ministries and practices of Christian communities
6. A short essay (two pages) describing the applicant’s goals in undertaking Th.D. study
7. A sample of the applicant’s academic writing

  
     Th.D programs Available:

     SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
     CHRISTIAN WORSHIP
     CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS

3. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - Ph.D.
 
The Graduate Program at ROGERS Theological Seminary seeks to foster the scholarly study and to equip persons of distinguished academic ability to teach in departments of selected subjects in colleges and universities, as well as in theological seminaries.
Though focused on scholarly research, the Ph.D. program also aims to prepare students to teach undergraduate courses beyond the areas of their specialized training.

Strengths of the Graduate Program in Religion include its small, highly selective student cohort and distinguished faculty, as well as ample resources for research, mentoring, and professional development. RTS seeks to allow students to develop regimes of study that accord with their interests and abilities as well as with the demands of the disciplines of their fields of concentration.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR Ph.D.

 
To qualify for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy degree program, an applicant must be the graduate of an accredited college and must possess an M.Phildegree in any biblical program from an accredited & recognized bible seminary. The M.Phil. is a less advanced qualification than the Ph.D. in which the student is expected to master a content area and can be completed in two years' full-time study. The M.Phil dissertation is normally shorter than the Ph.D. thesis. It is often used as a training course in advanced research work, and can be a preliminary stage for the Ph.D. where it is necessary to learn the fundamentals of research and acquire new techniques. The M.Phil. is also a legitimate higher degree qualification in its own right.

As with the Ph.D., it is not possible to spell out in bureaucratic detail what is required to obtain the M.Phil. in your subject now. You need to read successful dissertations in order to discover the standards expected. Here, but only in very general terms, are some ways in which the M.Phil. has been held to differ from the PhD.

A candidate for an M.Phil must undertake an investigation but, com­pared to the Ph.D., the work may be limited in scope and the degree of originality. Considerably more emphasis is put on original work in the Ph.D. and the Ph.D. thesis involves greater depth than an M.Phil. disserta­tion. Greater synthesis and critical ability and also a more detailed investigation of any practical illustrations are expected from doctoral candidates.
The applicant’s previous record must show outstanding academic performance, with a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 3.3. The applicant must also present evidence by way of transcript or otherwise that he or she knows Hebrew, Greek, and a modern foreign language (preferably Dutch, French, German or Spanish). Under certain circumstances a waiver of part of this language requirement is possible.
Applicants must submit scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as part of the application process. They must also submit a twenty- to forty-page research paper that in their estimation exhibits their best ability to do theological research and analysis. The paper may be one submitted for academic credit in a previous degree program, or it may be the result of independent research. Applicants for whom English is a second language must submit a score from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). An overall Internet-based test score of 80 with a 23 in the writing section is required on the TOEFL.

Ph.D. programs Available:

 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP
 CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS
 RELIGION



4. DOCTOR OF DIVINITY - D.D.

The Doctor of Divinity, based on actual accomplishment, directed research and writing, is a unique ecclesiastical degree program specifically designed for senior clergy who have earned a bachelor-level degree (or its ecclesiastical equivalent), have served at least twenty years in full-time ministry, are ordained or licensed by a recognized Christian organization, and are at least forty-five years of age.
Perhaps no other ministry degree title is as widely recognized as the Doctor of Divinity (D.D.).  Because of the high honor associated with this venerable senior degree, it has become the choice of Divinity Schools, Seminaries, and Universities when conferring "honorary degrees" upon individuals.  As a consequence, the "earned" D.D. has become a neglected alternative for senior clergy.
ROGERS Theological Seminary has developed a program that returns this prestigious degree to an appropriate place among ministerial doctorates, while at the same time, recognizing and preserving the more recent historical and ecclesiastical precedents that are accepted by the Church-at-large.  The result is the establishment of a totally unique Doctor of Divinity degree program.  The Doctor of Divinity degree at Master's is a degree acquired through documented accomplishment, directed research and writing.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR D.D.

The applicant must meet the following minimum requirements.

1.Be not less than forty-five (45) years of age.
2.Have served in an approved Christian ministry role for not less than twenty (20) years (does not have to be continuous and may be bi-vocational service).
3.Currently hold license or ordination from a recognized denomination or an acceptable ecclesiastical body.
4.Have earned an appropriate bachelor’s degree from an acceptable & accredited institution.
5.Senior clergy having not earned a bachelor's degree, may otherwise qualify providing they are at least fifty-five (55) years of age, and have served not less than twenty-five (25) years in ministry.  In such cases, a General Bible Knowledge exam will be required to validate the ecclesiastical equivalent of a bachelor's degree.
6.Be able to provide official and verifiable documentation of all of the above