Master of Divinity (MDiv)
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. Our MDiv tracks are as follows:
Pastoral Ministry Track
Plan of Study
Master of Divinity Core (32 credits)
- Intro to Christian Traditions (3 credits) and Christianity Engaging Modernity (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- Intro to Hebrew Bible (3 credits) and Intro to New Testament (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- First year formation (1 credit), Spiritual Companioning Group (1 credit), and Practicing Faith option (3 credits) in the first fall semester
- Any Social Ethics class (3 credits) – student’s choice, any semester
- A Church History II option (3 credits) and a Theology II Option (3 credits) – second or third year
- Year-long Contextual Education internship in a congregational site (6 credits), usually in the second year
Pastoral Ministry Track Electives (27 credits)
- A New Testament II option (3 credits) and a Hebrew Bible II option (3 credits)
- Intro to Preaching (3 credits) and Christian Worship (3 credits)
- Five additional track electives (15 credits) – student’s choice from among pastoral ministry options
Free Electives (15 credits)
Global and Community Engagement Track
(The “In-Service” option is currently on hold)Global and Community Engagement Track, Part-time “In-Service” option: Regional students already embedded in a religious leadership setting may choose to pursue our MDiv part-time through the “in-service” option. This spreads the MDiv curriculum over five years of part-time study, instead of the traditional 3 years of full-time study. Students in the in-service cohort meet together online in a seminar each semester, which helps those for whom commuting to BU is a challenge more than one or two days per week. Beyond the online seminar, the rest of the in-service track curriculum is the same as the traditional Global and Community Engagement track.
Plan of Study
Master of Divinity Core (32 credits)
- Intro to Christian Traditions (3 credits) and Christianity Engaging Modernity (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- Intro to Hebrew Bible (3 credits) and Intro to New Testament (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- First year formation (1 credit), Spiritual Companioning Group (1 credit), and Practicing Faith option (3 credits) in the first fall semester
- Any Social Ethics class (3 credits) – student’s choice, any semester
- A Church History II option (3 credits) and a Theology II Option (3 credits) – second or third year
- Year-long Contextual Education internship (6 credits), usually in the second year
Global and Community Engagement Track Electives (27 credits)
- A New Testament II option (3 credits) and a Hebrew Bible II option (3 credits)
- Seven track elective courses – student’s choice from among a wide range of global and community engagement options
Free Electives (15 credits)
Religion and the Academy Track
Plan of Study
Master of Divinity Core (32 credits)
- Intro to Christian Traditions (3 credits) and Christianity Engaging Modernity (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- Intro to Hebrew Bible (3 credits) and Intro to New Testament (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- First year formation (1 credit), Spiritual Companioning Group (1 credit), and Practicing Faith option (3 credits) in the first fall semester
- Any Social Ethics class (3 credits) – student’s choice, any semester
- A Church History II option (3 credits) and a Theology II Option (3 credits) – second or third year
- Year-long Contextual Education internship in a site appropriate to a religion and academy vocation (6 credits), usually in the second year
Religion and the Academy Track Electives (27 credits)
- A New Testament II option (3 credits) and a Hebrew Bible II option (3 credits)
- Seven track elective courses – student’s choice in consultation with advisor in a particular field of study or designed to prepare students for further academic study
Free Electives (15 credits)
Organizational Management Track
Plan of Study
Master of Divinity Core (32 credits)
- Intro to Christian Traditions (3 credits) and Christianity Engaging Modernity (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- Intro to Hebrew Bible (3 credits) and Intro to New Testament (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- First year formation (1 credit), Spiritual Companioning Group (1 credit), and Practicing Faith option (3 credits) in the first fall semester
- Any Social Ethics class (3 credits) – student’s choice, any semester
- A Church History II option (3 credits) and a Theology II Option (3 credits) – second or third year
- Year-long Contextual Education internship (6 credits), usually in the second year
Organizational Management Track Electives (27 credits)
- A New Testament II option (3 credits) and a Hebrew Bible II option (3 credits)
- Any two courses from Cluster 1, chosen with advisor. One course may be taken outside STH within BU or the BTI (6 cr)
- SHA HF 762 Hospitality Marketing and Branding (4 cr)
- SHA HF 711 Hospitality Financial Management (4 cr)
- SHA HF 733 Hospitality Organizational Leadership (4 cr)
- Track-Specific Elective – student’s choice in consultation with advisor from among non-profit management and fundraising options across the University (list of approved courses are on plans of study; others may be petitioned)
Free Electives (15 credits)
Chaplaincy Track
Plan of Study
Master of Divinity Core (32 credits)
- Intro to Christian Traditions (3 credits) and Christianity Engaging Modernity (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- Intro to Hebrew Bible (3 credits) and Intro to New Testament (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- First year formation (1 credit), Spiritual Companioning Group (1 credit), and Practicing Faith option (3 credits) in the first fall semester
- Any Social Ethics class (3 credits) – student’s choice, any semester
- A Church History II option (3 credits) and a Theology II Option (3 credits) – second or third year
- Year-long Contextual Education internship (6 credits), usually in the second year
Chaplaincy Track Electives (27 credits)
- A New Testament II option (3 credits) and a Hebrew Bible II option (3 credits)
- A course in World Religions, Inter-Religious Dialogue, Ecumenism, Evangelism, or Mission Studies (3 credits)
- Spiritual Care (3 credits) and Intro to Christian Worship (3 credits)
- Introduction to Chaplaincy (3 credits)
- Three additional track elective courses – student’s choice in consultation with advisor focused on chaplaincy preparation
Free Electives (15 credits)
Interfaith Leadership Track
Plan of Study
Master of Divinity Core (32 credits)
- Intro to Christian Traditions (3 credits) and Christianity Engaging Modernity (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- Intro to Hebrew Bible (3 credits) and Intro to New Testament (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- First year formation (1 credit), Spiritual Companioning Group (1 credit), and Practicing Faith option (3 credits) in the first fall semester
- Any Social Ethics class (3 credits) – student’s choice, any semester
- A Church History II option (3 credits) and a Theology II Option (3 credits) – second or third year
- Year-long Contextual Education internship (6 credits), usually in the second year
Interfaith Leadership Track Electives (27 credits)
- A New Testament II option (3 credits) and a Hebrew Bible II option (3 credits) – note one of these can be substituted with a scripture course from some other world religion
- Seven track elective courses – student’s choice in consultation with advisor focused on Interfaith dialogue and leadership
Free Electives (15 credits)
Theology and the Arts Track
Plan of Study
Master of Divinity Core (32 credits)
- Intro to Christian Traditions (3 credits) and Christianity Engaging Modernity (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- Intro to Hebrew Bible (3 credits) and Intro to New Testament (3 credits) – year-long sequence
- First year formation (1 credit), Spiritual Companioning Group (1 credit), and Practicing Faith option (3 credits) in the first fall semester
- Any Social Ethics class (3 credits) – student’s choice, any semester
- A Church History II option (3 credits) and a Theology II Option (3 credits) – second or third year
- Year-long Contextual Education internship (6 credits), usually in the second year
Theology and the Arts Track Electives (27 credits)
- A New Testament II option (3 credits) and a Hebrew Bible II option (3 credits)
- Seven track elective courses – student’s choice in consultation with advisor focused on theology and the Arts
Free Electives (15 credits)
Dual Degree: Theology and Social Work Track
Dual Degree: Theology and Education Track
The Master of Arts in Teaching degree program in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development is designed for college graduates who want to continue their studies in an academic field, and at the same time secure initial licensure to teach at the secondary level. Currently, the School of Education offers MAT degrees in English Education, Mathematics Education, Modern Foreign Language Education, Science Education, and Social Studies Education. While the MAT program requires students to possess an undergraduate degree, or equivalent amount of coursework, in the intended area of study, the program does not presume students have completed coursework in education. The MAT program leads to licensure as a middle or high school teacher in all states and in the District of Columbia through reciprocal licensure agreements. (Individual states may have other requirements).
- MDiv/MAT Dual Degree (Fall 2019)
MDiv Learning Outcomes
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.
The primary learning outcomes of the MDiv include:
- a critical appreciation and broad, operative understanding of the Christian tradition in relation to other religious and cultural traditions, including:
- the broader heritage of the Christian tradition and its legacies, and the more specific character of particular Christian traditions and communities in relation to other faith traditions and socio-cultural contexts;
- the ways in which traditions can transcend particular social and cultural settings, and the ways in which they come to unique expressions in them; and
- the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, the historical development and contemporary articulation of the doctrinal and theological traditions of Christian communities of faith, the social and institutional histories of those communities, and the mutual influence of those distinctive traditions within diverse social contexts.
- a critical understanding of, and creative engagement with, the cultural realities and structures within which the church and other religious communities exist and carry out their missions, including:
- contemporary cultural and social issues and their significance for diverse linguistic and cultural contexts of ministry; and
- the global character of the church, as well as ministry in the multifaith and multicultural contexts of contemporary society.
- growth in personal faith, emotional maturity, moral integrity, and public witness
- growth in prophetic ministerial and professional leadership, including:
- ministerial and public leadership skills to address social issues in transformative ways;
- the use of theological and other scholarly resources in the service of social justice;
- professional and ministerial ethics;
- a developed sense of vocational direction;
- a critical awareness of one’s own theology, both lived and conceptualized;
- the ability to think theologically about the practice of ministry; and
- the cultivation of habits of lifelong learning.
- growth in one’s capacity for robust embrace of, and engagement with, social and theological diversity and one’s capacity to relate across differences
MDiv Assessment
Master of Divinity students participate in several assessment opportunities throughout their degree program, the most significant of which is the “Mid-Degree Assessment” in the fourth semester. Students submit a number of documents in preparation for their mid-degree assessment such as their original personal statement, one paper/project/presentation with one-paragraph rationale, contextual education evaluations, and a mid-degree assessment survey. The student then has an assessment conversation with their faculty advisor and at least one other mentor (pastor, another faculty member, etc.). Instructions for the Assessment Team can be found here.
In the final semester of study, MDiv students complete a final assessment survey online.