Prophetic and practical religious leaders are essential to the ongoing transformation of both the church and the world in the 21st century. STH's track-based Master of Divinity program allows current students to customize coursework with their unique vocational calling in mind. The following seven tracks can be completed in three years of full-time study and will fulfill the ordination requirements in most faith traditions.
All MDiv tracks share a common set of core courses (32 credits) in Biblical Studies, Theology and Church History, Social Ethics, Practicing Faith, and Spiritual Companioning, as well as Contextual Education internships. An additional third of the MDiv curriculum consists of track electives (27 credits). Students then have 15 free elective credits to complete the degree.
The School of Theology Bulletin is the official source for all policies and requirements of the Master of Divinity Degree. By the end of the first year of study, students must declare a particular vocational track, with its own unique plan of study.
The MDiv curriculum is shaped by the conviction that prophetic, practical, religious leaders, thoroughly grounded in the wisdom of their traditions, are essential to the work of on-going transformation of the church and the world. The degree seeks to educate religious leaders who can interpret complex and evolving local and global contexts and engage those contexts in creative and confident conversation with a full array of theological resources.
This track aims to prepare students for religious leadership within settings traditionally understood under the rubric of chaplaincy. These include prisons, the military, hospitals, hospice, retirement communities, police stations, airports, workplaces, and educational institutions such as private high schools, colleges, and universities. The design of the track assumes that students need to be equipped to minister within religiously pluralistic and secular contexts, will have the necessary skills to provide spiritual care within those settings, and will be conversant in the primary policy and advocacy discourse within the setting in which they intend to minister.
