Jan 15, 2025  
2017-2018 Graduate Catalog 
    
Catalog Navigation
  Catalog Home
  About SMU
  Catalog Policy and Legal Statement
  Cox School of Business
  Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences
  Dedman School of Law
  Lyle School of Engineering
  Meadows School of the Arts
  Perkins School of Theology
  Simmons School of Education and Human Development
  SMU Guildhall
  Course Descriptions
  Right to Know
  Educational Programs
  Educational Facilities and Services
  Administration
  Financial Information Bulletin 2017-2018
  My Catalog
HELP
2017-2018 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Ministry, M.A.M., Custom Concentration

Purpose

The Master of Arts in Ministry degree program is intended to prepare students for specialized church ministry. The goal of the program is to increase students’ knowledge about the church and its ministries and to foster their ability to work meaningfully and creatively in a specialized area of church ministry. Presently, the M.A.M. program has five specialized ministry concentrations and one custom concentration. All concentrations share a common core of required courses in theology, Bible, church history and the social context of ministry. The concentrations have additional specialized requirements and a supervised internship appropriate to the area of specialization. The program provides the basic educational requirements for ordination as a deacon in the United Methodist Church.

The six concentrations are

Christian Education: Intended primarily for those preparing for professional leadership as directors or as ministers of Christian education.

Urban Ministry: Intended for those preparing to work in community ministries in urban and peri-urban settings.

Social Justice: Intended for those preparing to lead ministries in congregations, communities, the public realm and other creative situations addressing systematic injustice.

Evangelism and Mission: Intended for those preparing to lead congregations and Christian organizations to engage in evangelistic ministries and mission outreach.

Christian Spirituality: Intended for those preparing to engage and reflect critically on Christian spirituality and to walk with others in ministries of spiritual formation.

Custom Concentration: Intended to respond to individual student needs and goals while also providing a platform to ensure adequate foundational studies for ministry.

Requirements for Admission

The number of new students to be admitted each year is determined by policies of selection established by the faculty. The following considerations are decisive:

  1. Seriousness of purpose, emotional stability and likelihood of satisfactory performance in the degree program and of responsible membership in the Perkins and Southern Methodist University community.
  2. Presence of and potential for growth in those emotional, moral and spiritual qualities requisite for the profession of ministry and the absence of patterns of personal behavior tending to be seriously disabling to ministry.
  3. Academic ability as shown by a minimum GPA of 2.750 (on a 4.000 scale) in a well-balanced curriculum. Normally, an applicant must hold the B.A. or equivalent degree from a college or university which is accredited by one or more of the organizations recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (chea.org). An applicant with a degree from an unaccredited school may be considered if the case is exceptional. It is particularly important that the student have an adequate liberal arts preparation. In keeping with the recommendations of the Association of Theological Schools concerning pretheological studies, the following 60 hours of liberal arts coursework are highly recommended for admission to the M.Div. degree program:
    1. Three credit hours of philosophy (preferably historical or introductory courses or logic).
    2. Twelve credit hours of English (especially courses that include grammar, composition and creative writing).
    3. Three credit hours of history.
    4. Three credit hours of social science.
    5. Thirty-nine additional hours of liberal arts.

The following are considered highly desirable for admission to the M.Div. degree program:

  • Three credit hours of a natural science or mathematics.
  • Six credit hours of a foreign language.
  • Six credit hours in religion (such as Bible, church history, history of religions, theology or ethics).
  1. A reasonable program of financial support that will enable the student to be devoted properly to the main business of his or her theological training.

Persons who have already graduated from college or who are considering the ministry as a second career are given special consideration by the admissions committee, especially with regard to the adequacy of their pretheological curriculum.

Beyond the evidence of ability furnished by transcripts, applicants may be asked to demonstrate their preparation for theological study by adequate performance on either the GRE graduate school entry exam or the Miller Analogies Test.

To supplement the data furnished by transcripts, letters of reference and other written material, a personal interview with the director of student services or with a person designated by the director may be required of the applicant.

Requirements for Graduation

Course Requirements

The M.A.M. degree requires 49 credit hours of academic credit, which includes 42 credit hours of coursework and six credit hours in a supervised internship in a setting appropriate to the area of specialization. Students are also required to participate in a spiritual formation group for two terms, normally beginning during the first year of study, for one credit hour of credit earned in the spring term.

The required 49 credit hours are distributed as follows:

Required Courses

Core Courses

Total: 22 Credit Hours

Concentration Courses

Electives

  • 15 credit hours of concentration-specific courses
  • 12 credit hours of unrestricted electives

Total: 27 Credit Hours

Total: 49 Credit Hours

Note: The Custom Concentration must be planned out at the beginning of the student’s career necessitating academic advising upon entry into the program.

Spiritual Formation

All students completing the M.A.M. degree are required to register for the program in spiritual formation. Students are required to attend a daylong orientation held in conjunction with the new student orientation program and are then enrolled in formation groups. These groups meet weekly throughout the fall and spring terms during the first year of the program.

Led by facilitators in groups of five to 10, students share in a formative experience designed to provide them with the framework of a common experience, emphasizing the following:

  • The opportunity to explore the vital connection between spiritual formation and ministry.
  • Opportunities to explore the central genius of spiritual traditions.
  • The development of a critical capacity that will allow the student to evaluate those traditions theologically.
  • Broad-based exposure to a variety of spiritual disciplines.
  • Experience in prayer and devotion.

Students are evaluated and given credit by the group facilitators on the basis of attendance and engagement with the subject matter of the formation process. Students should register in both the fall and spring of the first year. Exceptions to this rule must be requested in writing from the director of spiritual life and formation.

Internship

The M.A.M. program requires the satisfactory completion of a supervised internship in a church or agency setting appropriate to the student’s area of specialization. The internship is nine months long, over the fall and spring terms of one academic year, and it carries six credit hours of academic credit. While the student registers for three hours of internship course credit during each of the two consecutive terms, the internship degree requirement is satisfied only upon completion of the six credit hours.

The following courses are recommended in preparation for the internship course: XS 6310 - The Church in Its Social Context , two courses in biblical studies, spiritual formation and at least one of the foundational courses for the student’s specialized degree concentration.

All internships are coordinated through the Perkins Intern Office.  The placement process begins in September when a prospective intern is invited to apply for an internship that would begin in August of the following year.  A student completes an application and interviews with the intern faculty who will determine throughout the placement process the student’s readiness for internship.  If at any point during the placement process, the student exhibits patterns of behavior that suggests that the student needs further preparation prior to participating in an internship, the intern faculty may conclude that a student is not ready for an internship.  The intern faculty will engage in a consultative process to determine appropriate measures to help the student become prepared for internship. 

If a student declines two faculty-approved intern placements in a year, the Intern Program will remove the student from the placement process for that year.  A student who is removed from the placement process is encouraged to re-apply for an internship the following year; however, the student must accept a subsequent faculty approved intern placement. 

A student demonstrating readiness for an internship is encouraged to pursue placement possibilities for discussion in the initial interview with the intern faculty.  Internship placements include church, agency and hospital chaplaincy settings.  During the placement process serious consideration is given to the student’s denominational preference. 

The M.A.M. internship is part-time, requiring 20 hours per week (inclusive of the internship seminar) of work in the internship setting. All interns receive a stipend.

During the internship course, students do ministry under supervision and reflect theologically on their experiences. As the interns become more competent and self-confident in carrying out the tasks of ministry and gain theological, emotional and spiritual maturity in their understanding of it, they prepare themselves to provide resourceful, faithful Christian leadership in the world.

The design of the Perkins Intern Program assumes interns to be adult learners who can assess and value their past experiences and vocational goals and build on these creatively and systematically in pursuing the learning opportunities offered at their particular internship site. To that end, the internship course curriculum specifies a set of required competencies under each of three categories (be aware, think theologically and lead faithfully), tailored to the student’s particular degree concentration.

The Perkins Intern Program faculty partners with staff and laity at congregations and agencies and with mental health professionals experienced in church family systems to provide supportive supervision for students during internship. The mentor pastor and lay teaching committee assigned to each intern receive orientation and training as part of the intern program.

A student’s internship begins with a required two-day Intern Orientation conducted in August by the intern faculty.

Grade Requirements

A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 is required for graduation. The same average is required for continuation in the program beyond the first year.

Admission to Candidacy

M.A.M. students will be reviewed for admission to formal candidacy for the degree in the fall term following the completion of 18 credit hours of academic work. A student will be admitted to candidacy provided that he or she is not on probation and is not disqualified for having given insufficient evidence of fitness for ministry (described in the Fitness for Ministry section below). Admission to formal candidacy signifies that the student is proceeding satisfactorily in her or his work and may be considered for the degree upon completion of all the requirements, but does not obligate the seminary to grant the degree.

Fitness for Ministry

Beyond the formal academic requirements, each student is expected to show evidence of personal fitness for ministry. This fitness may be defined positively as the presence of emotional, moral and spiritual qualities requisite for the profession of ministry. A lack of fitness for ministry may be demonstrated by patterns of personal behavior that inhibit effective ministry. Examples of such patterns include irresponsibility in social and/or professional relations and emotional instability. Formally, the presence of patterns of personal behavior tending to be seriously disabling to ministry may be grounds for the faculty to disqualify a student from graduation with the M.A.M. degree, or, if the prognosis justifies it, to defer awarding the degree until such time as the disabling pattern is overcome.

It is to be emphasized that personal fitness for ministry is not defined narrowly in terms of a particular form of piety or style of personal behavior. Nor does Perkins assume the role that belongs properly to those agencies of the church that evaluate candidates for ordination or for professional service to the church. When asked, it assists such agencies in their evaluation of candidates.

Time Limit

All requirements for the M.A.M. degree must be completed within five calendar years from the time of initial registration.

Ordination Requirements

Students preparing for ordination should become aware as early as possible of any specific educational requirements their denomination or judicatory may expect them to satisfy in the course of their M.A.M. work. They should explore, with their academic advisers, how best to deal with these expectations. Students who are preparing for ordination as deacons in the United Methodist Church should take as their electives HX 7365 - United Methodist History , ST 7034 - United Methodist Doctrine , CA 7013 - United Methodist Polity , WO 6313 - Introduction to Christian Worship , and EV 7307 - The Theory and Practice of Evangelism .