Online Master of Divinity (OMDiv)

The School of Theology offers a Master’s of Divinity degree fully online (OMDiv), with the exception of two terms of an immersive experience to gain practical knowledge of ministry.

Learning Outcomes

The primary learning outcomes of the Online MDiv are:

• Develop competence in studying, reflecting upon, and contextualizing sacred and historical texts, including the Hebrew and Christian bibles.
• Grow in practices of spiritual formation, relational support, self-care, self-understanding, and humility, while cultivating embodied practices for sustained ministry.
• Grow in the ability to provide holistic, spiritual, relational, and communal care.
• Grow in capacities for engaging across differences (social, cultural, and religious) in ways that foster mutual understanding, learning, and/or collaboration.
• Develop competence in constructive meaning-making and the ability to think critically, creatively, and theologically in conversation with traditions, histories, and lived practices.
• Develop competencies in leading communities through practices of moral and spiritual discernment, ethical witness, and transformative engagement with conflict.
• Develop competencies in leading religious and spiritual practices, guiding rituals, and communicating effectively to address the needs of various publics (for example, public speaking, preaching, the arts, and writing).
• Develop capacities to respond to complex contemporary challenges, through careful analysis of systems, cultures, and institutional structures.
• Develop skills in creating and administering ecclesial and/or nonprofit organizations.

OMDiv Curriculum Requirements

The 72-unit Online Master of Divinity at Boston University School of Theology (STH) is shaped by a conviction that prophetic, practical religious leaders, thoroughly grounded in the wisdom of their traditions, are essential in the work of ongoing transformation of the church and the world. The curriculum seeks to educate religious leaders who can interpret complex and evolving local and global contexts and who can engage those contexts in creative and confident conversation with a full array of theological resources.

OMDiv Core

The online curriculum is built around a 31-unit core comprised of six categories, which can be completed non-sequentially during the six full-time (or their part-time equivalent) terms of the degree program. The core categories include: (1) Sacred Texts & Interpretation, (2) History of Traditions & Institutions, (3) Theology & Meaning-Making, (4) Ethics & Lived Values, (5) Spirituality, and (6) Religious Leadership Practices. A current list of core classes and the corresponding category available to students completing the degree in an online modality is found in the STH Bulletin, and the STH Registrar maintains a list of alterations to that list between Bulletin updates. In the first term of study, students will participate in the First-Year Formation course that establishes a framework for personal and spiritual formation that is integrated throughout the MDiv program.

OMDiv Format

The online format of the MDiv is comprised of online distance education courses that students can take from their home locations. All students completing the MDiv in an online format must complete at least one immersive learning experience during their time in the program. Immersive learning options may include, but are not limited to, on-site summer workshops, intensive seminar courses in January and August, STH travel seminars, or residential summer term contextual education classes. Students local to the Boston area may also enroll in residential courses at the Charles River Campus. By petition, students may complete an immersive learning experience in their local context.

OMDiv Contextual Education

All students in the Online Master of Divinity program are required to undertake a yearlong contextual education placement along with Integration of Theology and Practice (ITP) groups, designed to reflect on those placements and to integrate learning from the experience with the wider MDiv curriculum. The STH Contextual Education office assists students in securing those placements, whether in congregations or community sites. All students who serve in field placements, regardless of degree program, are required to complete a background check before their service can begin. Students undertaking a contextual education field placement should consult the Contextual Education office or its website for instructions on securing the background check prior to the beginning of their placement.

OMDiv Free Electives

Students in the Online MDiv program may choose up to 26 units of the required 72 units as free electives, thereby providing students plenty of room for exploration, customization, and specialization through coursework offered by the school, University, or the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium.

OMDiv Tracks

Recognizing that religious leadership will take place in a variety of vocational arenas, the remainder of the curriculum (15 units) is then shaped around two tracks from which students may choose: (1) the Ecclesial Ministry Track or (2) the Chaplaincy Track.

Ecclesial Ministry Track

This track provides students with the most defined curriculum for the purposes of fulfilling requirements for ordained or endorsed ministry. This track allows students preparing for ordained or endorsed ecclesial ministry to be deeply rooted in their own tradition and broadly prepared for the practice of ministry in a religious community according to their ecclesial standards.

Chaplaincy Track

This track provides students with a curriculum organized around the emerging competencies necessary for providing spiritual care within or outside of traditionally religious spaces. This track is for students preparing to be chaplains, spiritual directors, spiritual entrepreneurs, or other religious practitioners and gives them an opportunity to develop skills in culturally relevant care within the rapidly changing landscape of religious and spiritual demographics.

OMDiv Mid-Degree Assessment

All students in the Online MDiv program participate in a mid-degree assessment, typically in the spring term of the second year of their program (or the part-time equivalent). This assessment culminates in an extended advising session with the student’s faculty advisor so that the last year of the program can be tailored to the results of the assessment. The mid-degree assessment requires the creation of a portfolio, which includes a short self-assessment, examples of papers or other projects completed, and any contextual education evaluations that have been completed to that point. The assessment is as much an assessment of the curriculum and how well it has served the student as it is an assessment of how well the student has taken advantage of the curriculum in moving toward the aims of the degree program and the student’s particular track within that curriculum.

OMDiv Length of Program

The online program requires a minimum of six terms of full-time study for a total of 24 term courses (72 term units). Part-time students enrolled in 8 units per term can complete the program in 9 terms. The time limit for the degree program is five years (10 terms).

Taking (Online) Courses Outside STH

OMDiv students must complete all core requirements (31 units) within STH and are allowed to take up to a total of 18 units (one-fourth of the degree program) of track and free electives courses outside STH within Boston University or through the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium (BTI).

OMDiv Grade Minimums

No grade lower than C is acceptable for use in satisfying any course requirements for the OMDiv.

OMDiv Tuition Scholarships

OMDiv Tuition Scholarships are awarded throughout the academic year, including summer. They may be renewed each year, contingent upon the annual evaluation of the recipient’s grade point average (2.7 minimum), character, and commitment to ministerial or other religious leadership. All awards are for a maximum of three academic years of full-time MDiv study or the part-time equivalent. Awards vary by need and according to proven academic and leadership merit.

The OMDiv Plan of Study

The OMDiv consists of core requirements (31 unit hours), free electives (26 unit hours), and track requirements (15 unit hours), for a total of 72 unit hours. All students completing the MDiv in an online format must complete at least one immersive learning experience during their time in the program.

Core Requirements

Sacred Texts & Interpretation – both required: STH TN 721 OL New Testament Introduction (3 units) STH TO 704 OL Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (3 units)	6 units
History of Traditions & Institutions – choose one: STH TH 701 OL History of Christianity (3 units) STH TH 816 OL History of Abrahamic Traditions (3 units)	3 units
Theology & Meaning-Making – choose one: STH TT 810 OL Introduction to Christian Theology (3 units) STH TT 852 OL Theological Thinking for Everyday Life (3 units)	3 units
Ethics & Lived Values  STH TS 875 OL Comparative Religious Ethics (3 units)	3 units
Spirituality STH MR 710 OL Spirituality and Public Life (4 units)	4 units
Religious Leadership Practices – choose one: STH MR 701 OL Public Theology, Ministry, and Leadership (4 units) STH MR 704 OL Religion and Public Engagement Through the Arts (4 units) STH TC 715 OL Introduction to Preaching (3 units) STH TC 817 OL Introduction to Worship (3 units) STH TY 704 OL Introduction to Pastoral Care (3 units)	3 (4) units*
STH TC 801 OL Contextual Education 1 (3 units) STH TC 802 OL Contextual Education 2 (3 units)	6 units
STH TF 700 OL First-Year Formation (3 units)	3 units
Total Core Requirements	31 (32) units*
Track Electives	15 units
Free Electives	26 (25) units*
Total Minimum Degree Program Units	72 units

*If students take STH MR 701 or STH MR 704 to meet the Religious Leadership Practices core, they will take a total of 32 units of core requirements, 15 units of track electives, and 25 units of free electives to meet the minimum 72 units to graduate.

Policies pertaining to the core:

• First-Year Formation must be taken in the first two terms of study.
• Contextual Education is normally taken in the second year of study.
• Students must take at least one of the seven core category courses per term until their completion. Students may take more than one core course per term if they chose to move through the core more quickly.
• Students must take at least one Sacred Texts & Interpretation course and one History of Traditions & Institutions course by a student’s mid-degree review (which takes place in the fourth term of study, or the part-time equivalent).
• No course can ever be used to satisfy more than one requirement.
• All core courses must be taken within STH.

Free Electives (26 unit hours)

Nine courses, for a total of 26 unit hours, may be taken as free electives. Courses may be taken within the BTI as long as the total of the required 72 unit hours taken outside Boston University does not exceed 24 unit hours.

Track Electives (15 unit hours)

Students choose five track courses based on the specific requirements of their chosen Master of Divinity track. The following two tracks are available:

Changing Learning Modality

Online Students

Students enrolled in a degree program whose primary mode of instructional delivery is online may take up to one-quarter of the required units toward that degree via courses whose principal mode of instruction is in person.

Residential Students

Students enrolled in a degree program whose primary mode of instructional delivery is residential may take up to one-quarter of the required units toward that degree via courses whose principal mode of instruction is online.

Notice for All Students

STH TF 700 First Year Formation must be taken in a student’s primary modality.

In a given term, students must take at least half of their units in their primary modality. Rare exceptions may be granted by petition. Students should be aware that taking more than half of their units in an alternative modality will have implications for financial aid and billing. International students should consult the University’s International Students & Scholars Office (ISSO) and abide by their visa-specific policies on the permitted number of online courses for their degree.