Application Process
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In accordance with the new standards for Doctor of Ministry programs, the admission requirements have been adapted as follows:
• “An accredited master’s degree in ministry-related area”*
• “Significant Ministry experience”*
• A context for sustained preaching to a community
Students without an accredited Master of Divinity degree may be admitted subject to specific admissions criteria specified by the seminary through whom the student is being admitted to the program.
(*Directly quoted from the 2020 ATS Standards of Accreditation)
Applicants should submit completed forms and a non-refundable application fee of $50.00 to the school through which they wish to enroll.
The application deadline for the 2023 Cohort is January 31.
The residency dates for the next three years are:
June 5 – 23, 2023
June 3 – 21, 2024
June 2 – 20, 2025
The ACTS D.Min in Preaching Program has moved.
The new address is 2121 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201.
Contact the Program Office at the new email address, actsdmin@garrett.edu.
The office is being staffed remotely Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST.
The Application Process
Candidates may choose to apply to one of the six participating seminaries:
Bexley Seabury Seminary, Chicago Theological Seminary, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, McCormick Theological Seminary, or North Park Theological Seminary. Applications are approved by the admissions committee of the seminary to which the candidate applies.
Since the program asks participants to work closely with ministry groups on sermon formation and feedback experiences, participants need the informed support and cooperation of congregational members or in the case of those in non-congregational ministry sites, a group of persons who are connected with their ministry, to successfully complete the program requirements. In their review of applications, the schools assess the level of support from one’s ministry setting.
The Program Committee seeks to cultivate and maintain a diverse student body and endeavors to honor the following criteria in the admissions process:
• Each class will represent a diversity of social, cultural and geographic locations.
• Persons who are involved in non-parish settings but who preach regularly may be accepted into the program.
• Those accepted into the program express strong motivation for the continued growth and for engaging their preaching for the advancement of their ministry.
The program is located in the Christian environment but is open to non -Christian clerics who preach regularly.
Applicants are notified in a timely manner depending on when their complete application is processed. However, normally all applicants are notified by the beginning of March of the action taken on their application. Normally, participants who are admitted and who plan to participate in the program are required to submit a $250 non -refundable enrollment deposit within three weeks of being informed of their admission into the Program. This deposit will signal their intention to enroll and will be credited toward the tuition due for the year.