A Doctor of Ministry Comparison

I'd be interested to hear your informed reflections on the comparison between the DMin offerings (e.g., structure, perceived rigor, requirements, et al.) between Liberty University (RA/ATS) and Birmingham Theological Seminary (ARTS-yet unrecognized, CHEA applicant). Their respective DMin handbooks may be found here and here.

 

I would never consider an unaccredited program for any reason. Well, depends.. If it lacks programmatic accreditation but is RA or NA, I would do it. If there's no institutional accreditation (RA or NA), it's a no from me. Rigor, structure, and requirements mean nothing to me unless the program will be recognized by future employers.

 

Understood. However, for churchmen who answer to a local church, presbytery, denomination, parachurch organization, or even their particular sector of culture, accreditation may not preclude employment. It certainly didn't for me.

 

That's a great point. I actually was gonna mention church after my last sentence. I know it's customary for religious schools to be exempt from seeking accreditation or something of that sort. Hence, it is also acceptable for churches to accept such degrees. You have a lot of Rev. Drs. with unaccredited doctorates.

 

The point I was making is that I can live without programmatic accreditation. Some people would not pursue a clinical psychology doctorate without APA accreditation or a master's in counseling without CACREP accreditation. When it said "it depends", I meant whether it's a lack of programmatic accreditation or institutional.

 

New Geneva Theological Seminary is another DMin program that is ARTS "accredited"

 

No. New Geneva is an affiliate institution.

 

The non government accredited member institutions of the Association of Reformed Theological Seminaries (ARTS) might be suitable for someone on the ordination pathway. However, the Reformed/Presbyterian denominations typically only require an MDiv degree for that purpose. What would be the specific purpose for applying to the follow-up DMin degree at a non government accredited ARTS seminary? As for teaching opportunities, you would be mostly limited to other non-accredited seminaries. So, what is the point of getting a doctorate at this type of a theological school? That’s the more important question.

 

Aside from the fact that ARTS is an applicant for CHEA recognition, I suppose one would pursue a DMin from an ARTS institution in order to receive an education. Again, the utility of that degree in teaching heavily depends upon one's circumstances and cultural sector.

 

The Graduate Theological Foundation (unaccredited) has a D.Min. that is recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs as meeting their educational requirements to be employed in the VA system as a chaplain.

Unaccredited does not always mean useless.

 

They are rare but they are out there. Not all unaccredited programs are equal and not all accredited programs are equal or have equal utility. That said obviously you get a great boost in utility and perception from an accredited program (there are one or two accredited schools that get eye rolls and may cause you to be excluded from certain things).

You could graduate from an unaccredited school like The Graduate Theological Foundation that is well perceived in certain circles. What if your PhD was in Pastoral Psychology (or whatever their label is) and your doctoral advisor was the legendary Irvin Yalom, MD or the now deceased (2021) Aaron Beck, MD (father of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). Would that add significant enough clout to your PhD from GTF to overcome the lack of accreditation? If it did it could be a very individual thing (an exception).

CalSouthern has a Regionally Accredited PsyD. Not APA. On the Student Doctor forum the program is often met with derision (not necessarily indicative of anything). Dr. Jeff Zeig has taught for them (expert on Milton Erickson, MD). Would having Zeig as your doctoral advisor and studying Ericksonian Psychotherapy add value to your degree?

 

Both programs will be good. Because of my theological and philosophy of ministry bent I think BTS may give more solid grounding. Both will have good faculty, Liberty with full-time profs, BTS with boots on the ground professionals with doctorates. The question to ask with any product, including degrees, is will this product get me what I want? BTS is good quality and significantly cheaper; however, it does not yet have a CHEA recognized accreditation. Liberty is more expensive but has RA accreditation. For me personally it's RA or nothing, as it is not just the money but also the time and effort put into a degree and I want it to do everything that it can do with the most utility. I know some will disagree but RA is more important to me than ATS or any other accreditor. That said, knowing the school and the program, I would not look down on someone who completed a BTS DMin. Another option is to look into Anderson University SC, they have a really good quality, practical DMin program that is relatively inexpensive with RA. Once again, it really depends on what you want to do with the degree. If you know what you want from it, and want to deepen ministry skills, BTS can give that at a far cheaper price than other options, but if you need current accreditation it will be lacking that.