My Journey to the Doctor of Ministry

 This last Friday, May 20th, I had the pleasure of receiving my Doctor of Ministry degree. I had begun work on the Doctor of Ministry degree in 2012, returning to the classroom and academic studies after 25 years of not being in the classroom. It was a challenge, but thanks be to God I received the guidance from the Lord, and support from Penny and my family, and also St. Paul's, Troy, IL and St. John, Clarinda, IA. It was a long and difficult journey, but here I am, having completed the journey and received the degree of Doctor of Ministry. 

Yes, it was great. I enjoyed it. Did I enjoy all the work - um, maybe...ok, yes it was good, and yet it was challenging. To do the work that was necessary was not easy. Penny kept encouraging me when I was ready to give in and cry "uncle." So I ended up writing my Major Applied Project (MAP), which is the "dissertation" of the Doctor of Ministry program, "In Search of the Best Practices in Preaching Christian Stewardship." 

Why did I go into the program? On day I was attending a Symposium on Homiletics at Concordia Seminary (when I was serving in Troy, IL I was within 45 minutes of the Seminary so I took advantage of the continuing education options available), and I began to think about my preaching (that is what homiletics is, the art of preaching). How as I doing with it. It had been over 20 years that I had been in the ministry and I begin to think about how my preaching was doing. I looked around at the various examples of preaching that I saw in different places and I was not really thrilled. I saw a real issue with most preaching - it was shallow, did not offer much, was not done well, etc. I know, sounds judgmental. But there is poor preaching in the world today. Too often, the pastor is afraid to offend anyone so he ends up saying nothing worthwhile. The Gospel is watered down. Or the Law is preached with no Gospel application at all. Or it is just an awful sermon. I thought, "Am I like that? Is my preaching getting shallow, or worse, is it getting worthless or awful?" 

So I began to think that I needed to work on my preaching. I needed to improve (still do, by the way) my preaching. But I also know myself. To try to do that on my own, meant that I would start, get busy with parish life, and not get around to finishing that which I began. Contrary to what some folks think, the pastor works more than just one or two hours a week. You get busy with congregation life and don't make time for continued independent study. 

So I thought maybe I would look into the Doctor of Ministry program, with the focus being homiletics. As I looked into it, thought about it, prayed about it, I finally thought I would bring the topic up to Penny. I figured she would be the voice of reason in this whole process and would tell me all the reasons I should not do it. We talked and she said, "I think you should do it." I was floored. I told her I thought she would be the one to talk me out of this tomfoolery. Yet she said to go for it. So I thought, ok, maybe I should see what my kids thought. I asked both Rachael and Matthew what they thought. And they both said to go for it. Really? I was not expecting that. 

So I approached the congregation (St. Paul's, Troy, IL) elders and talked with them. They also agreed it was a good idea. So I applied. I began my first class in nearly 25 years in January 2012. From there I would take classes each winter and summer. At first they were 2 weeks residental class. Then it became 1 week residental classes. I finished all the course work by summer 2018, which was right at the time I was starting to serve as the national LWML pastoral counselor (2017-2021). All I had left was the MAP. That is all. 

I started and stopped on the research and writing of the MAP several times. I even almost dropped out of the program because I was not sure if I could write the MAP. But when I found out that if I dropped out, I would have to do all the coursework again if I reapplied, and with Penny telling me to get it finished and not drop out, and encrouagement from my children, I stayed in the program. In March of 2019, I took the call to St. John, Clarinda, IA. Covid hit. I had cataract surgery, 2 knee replacments and I finished my service as LWML pastoral counselor (in June 2021). So I returned to writing in earnest, and by the end of August 2021, I had the MAP written, sent to my advisor, made corrections, sent it back (I had sent each chapter to Dr. Peter, my advisor, as I was writing), and by October 2021, I had the MAP completed. I defended my MAP in November of 2021, and I was done. Completed. Finished. No more work on it. nearly 10 years after I started, I was done. I began the journey in January 2012 and by January 2022, I was finished. Praise be to God!

Did it help me? I believe it did. It challenged me to think about my preaching. It showed me different ways to preach. It helped me to see how to bring the Word of God into the lives of the hearers. It assisted me to become a better preacher and a better pastor. It also helped me define and develop my understanding of stewardship and how to apply that into sermons. I am still working on that. I think there is much that I can do to continue to improve in both my preaching and in my application of stewardship, but having gone through the Doctor of Ministry program helped me greatly. 

That is a little of the journey that I took. A ten year journey through hills and valleys, over mountains and through tunnels, finally arriving at the place where I walked across the platform to receive my degree as the picture shows. 

Was I happy? 

 What do you think? 

Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement. Penny was my biggest supporter and encourager. My family was supportive and encouraging. The congregations I served, St. Paul, Troy, IL and St. John, Clarinda, IA were very supportive. I received finacial support from individuals, the Southern Illinois District LWML, and St. John, Clarinda. I greatly appreciate all that support. 

Now, let's get going on preaching God's Word and living the life of a Christian steward.