Doctor of Ministry degree

Ministry Leadership in the Midwest

Wesley Theological Seminary at Southwestern College

Designed to offer ministry leaders new knowledge, skills, and insight to more effectively lead church communities. With a cohort of other student leaders in the Midwest, students will explore biblical, theological, and ethical foundations of ministry in that context.

Two residential courses, each 5 days long, will be offered back-to-back on the Southwestern College campus each June and January.

These intensive, in-person courses with professors from Wesley Theological Seminary, Southwestern College, and invited guests give you practical skills and theological support for your work in a rural local church setting, while also giving you credits and moving you toward a doctor of ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary.

The Doctor of Ministry program requires 30 credit hours, typically completed within 3½ years. Students will take at least seven core and elective courses, with up to six years allowed to finish. Coursework must begin within two years of admission.

Twelve students must participate in the cohort for these courses to be hosted at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.

Classes begin June, 2027

Initial Courses

June 7-11, 2027:

Birth, Death, and Back Again: Christmas and Easter

This course explores the narratives of Jesus’ birth, trial, death, and resurrection in the NT Gospels and beyond, considering issues in the interpretation of these texts as well as their reception.

with Dr. Laura Sweat Holmes

June 14-18, 2027:

Sustaining While Disrupting

This course provides theological grounding and practical skills for leaders to sustain and strengthen foundational elements of ministries while guiding the critical innovation required to serve a radically new context.

with Dr. Lovett Weems

Application Information

Application open
June 1, 2026

Application deadline
February 15, 2027

APPLY TODAY!

Wesley Theological Seminary

Office of Admissions

(202) 885-8659

admissions@wesleyseminary.edu

www.wesleyseminary.edu

4500 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20016

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Laura Sweat Holmes

Professor of New Testament, Wesley Theological Seminary

Dr. Laura Holmes serves as Professor of New Testament at Wesley Theological Seminary. She holds a B.A. (Religious Studies and History) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.Div. and a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests include investigating how the New Testament Gospels talk about God and how their manner of speech might be instructive and challenging for theology and discipleship in the church today. Her first book, The Theological Role of Paradox in the Gospel of Mark (Bloomsbury, 2013), explored this idea. She has also completed a commentary on John 1-12 for the New Beacon Bible Commentary Series. A lifelong United Methodist, she is called to and fulfilled by teaching Scripture to and for the church.

Dr. Lovett Weems

Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership, Wesley Theological Seminary; Senior Consultant, G. Douglass Lewis Center for Church Leadership

Dr. Lovett H. Weems Jr., is distinguished professor of church leadership and senior consultant of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Lovett was the founding director of the Lewis Center in 2003, coming to the position after 18 years as president of Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. He became senior consultant in 2017. A native of Mississippi, he was a local church pastor in that state for many years. His years in local church ministry in Mississippi were marked by emphasis on both evangelism and social concerns. His work in Mississippi led the distinguished Mississippi writer Willie Morris to describe him as “one of the persons who added much to the growing civility of Mississippi.”

Institute For Discipleship