Nations University's to Unveil DMin in 2024

I've had the pleasure of serving as an adjunct at NationsU teaching biblical Greek for the past year. NationsU will offer a Doctor of Ministry with a concentration in evangelism. While NationsU teaches from the perspective of non-denominational evangelicalism, it is historically affiliated with the Church of Christ. The school recently had its DEAC accreditation renewed until 2028.

 

Good for them.

 

That's good. I'm still undecided on whether or not I should finish their accredited MTS degree which requires 18 credit hours of electives to top up my non-accredited MRS degree from NationsU despite no longer being a believer.

 

Well... as one non-believer to another, it couldn't hurt.

 

.... And welcome t' the good ship Disbelief. Arr, matey - 'tis a rough sea, but a good life. Keep yer pistols primed and yer cutlass by yer side. We set sail for Valparaiso in th' marnin'. Come below -- we'll 'ave some rum and I'll tell ye some filthy stories t'pass the time...

 

Any updates on this?

 

Update:

Link: https://nationsu.edu/doctorate/

Unlike other programs at NationsUniversity, the Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Evangelism is not tuition-exempt. Students enrolled in this program are required to pay tuition fees. This ensures that the program can offer advanced resources, personalized support, and specialized coursework necessary for the rigorous academic and spiritual training of ministry leaders. The tuition fees contribute to maintaining the high quality and integrity of the doctoral program.

Tuition & Fee Structure:

• $600/term tuition
• $100/term for books, technology, or Logos fees (Not needed for all terms.)

Sample

• 9 terms* x $600/term $5,400
• 6 terms x $100/term for books $600
• 3 Annual Campaigns** $7,000
• Total for on-time degree: $13,000

• Completion of all 30 hours of coursework with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
• Successful completion of a professional ministry project and paper (100-page minimum).
• Successful oral defense of the project.
• Fulfillment of all financial obligations to the university.

Components
Ministry Care (2 hours):
DMIN 912 The Evangelist’s Life, Work, and Development (2 hours)
Ministry Core (18 hours)
DMIN 910 Theology of the Evangelist and Evangelism (3 hours)
DMIN 914 The Evangelist as Communicator (3 hours)
DMIN 916 The Evangelist in Historical Context (3 hours)
DMIN 918 The Evangelist as Apologist (3 hours)
DMIN 920 The Evangelist as Equipper (3 hours)
DMIN 922 The Evangelist as Leader (3 hours)
Ministry Experience (4 hours)
DMIN 930 Observation and Participation (1 hour)
DMIN 932 Planning and Participation (1 hour)
DMIN 934 Leadership and Development (2 hours)
Research & Writing (6 credits)
DMIN 901 Research Methods in Ministry (1 hour)
DMIN 903 Research Project I (2 hours)
DMIN 904 Research Project II (3 hours)

 

It looks like a decent program. It's not as inexpensive as I would have thought, but I am sure folks will benefit from it.

 

I agree - It is a fair program and fits with the school's prime focus. When you consider the super low tuition for the MTS and MDiv at NationsU it is more pricey than anticipated but certainly not high in comparison with others.

Understandably, the school developed a tightly packaged program that eliminated variables, which could have hit a snag in the accrediting process.

Now that NationsU is accredited to issue the DMin, it would be nice to see additional tracks be added to their offerings.

 

If this DMin program were catered more towards Chaplaincy, I would consider it. As someone who is considering becoming a Humanist Chaplain, I'm more interested in programs and/or coursework that focus less on evangelism and more on philosophy and psychology. The good thing though is becoming a Board Certified Chaplain now has several paths to the equivalency to an MDiv requirement. I contacted the credentialing people over the board certification program and they said that my non-accredited MRS from Nations could still be considered for a small fee through an evaluation or by having Nations send a letter stating that the MRS degree would meet accreditation requirements before them receiving accreditation as my degree was awarded in 2013 and Nations got accredited in 2015. With the approval of the MRS, I would have already met the MDiv equivalency requirement which means no additional coursework besides the field work and CPE if I go this route.

 

@cacoleman1983

To your knowledge are there recognized humanist endorsers for federal chaplaincies? I know to a certain extent entities like Unitarian Universalists and Unity could fill that role. But I wondered if there's a specifically proved humanist entity.

 

American Humanist Association is one of them. Another one I learned about just a few weeks ago is the Religious Naturalist Association.

 

Is it possible for a Catholic or Orthodox person to pursue this program?

 

When I wrote Nations years ago, they were very much open to Catholic and Orthodox Christians studying with them. Having said so, they would naturally be focused on their own, wider Protestant perspective on things, rather than something more liturgical, patristic, etc.

 

Yes, they are open to any student wishing to study with them. As Messdiener mentioned, the courses will be taught with a Protestant Evangelical. Church of Christ informed, perspective.

 

Do you mean The Humanist Society, which is affiliated with the American Humanist Association? The Humanist Society will accept a secular degree, but they warn that it might not be accepted for board certification.

Possible equivalencies: MA Religion/Religious Studies, MA Theology/Theological Studies, Masters of Social Work, MA or MS Psychology, MA Leadership Studies
Applicants who hold other graduate degrees that they believe to be equivalent to an MDiv may request approval within the endorsement application

 

While The Humanist Society is recognized for board certification, the military still does not recognize humanist chaplains. They don't see the point in having atheist chaplains when they have licensed mental health professionals. The best option is to just become endorsed by UU, but they require an MDiv. A local church might make an exception; technically, you're ordained locally. I noticed that one of the ministers at the Church of the Larger Fellowship only mentions having an MSW.

 

Because the military, within the United States, has chaplains for the purpose of ensuring the "Exercise Clause" - ensuring "the free exercise of religion" - of the 1st Amendment is facilitated when members of service are in situations in which they cannot freely exercise their religion due to mission requirements (training, deployments, etc). It is the ensuring of the free exercise of religion that a federal court determined to be of great enough importance to overcome the obstacle of any appearance of violation of the "establishment clause."

Without a specific "enable the religious mission" - which means conducting religious services, providing rites and sacraments of the faith, etc - the military chaplaincy would not be constitutionally sound.

If a person wants to be a "Humanist Chaplain" in the military they should investigate becoming an MFLC (Military and Family Life Counselor), typically filled by those with a Master's in counseling or an MSW.

 

I have great news! I do not need to complete 18 graduate credits for the Master of Theological Studies degree because Nations did send me a letter approving that my MRS is practically an approved accredited equivalent during its pre-accrediation phase.