1. Ministry Experience Statement
2. Focus Statement
3. Writing Sample Assignment

1.  Ministry Experience Statement

Please describe your ministry/mission experience, demonstrating your years of experience and engagement as related to your proposed project.

If fluent in a language other than English, please list the language(s), your level of proficiency, and your experience in using the language(s) in a cross-cultural setting.

2.  Focus Statement

The DGL is a cohort-based, applied-research doctoral degree program designed for in-service leaders. The program assists students in conducting missiological research that will address a problem or opportunity arising within their context of ministry with the intent of applying their research to effect change. Students’ research should be collected from relevant literature, their communities, and their organizations, and applied-research dissertations designed and written to propose practical and concrete application steps to accomplish positive change in their respective organizations, ministries, or churches.

Please provide a 500-word Focus Statement describing what you seek to address through the DGL program. The Focus Statement should include the following seven (7) items:

1. Proposed title of your dissertation
2. Concrete problem or opportunity arising from within your context of ministry that you will seek to impact via your doctoral program
3. Location where the doctoral field research would be conducted
4. Main people group that you would be studying for this project and your relationship to them
5. Envisioned application intended to address the problem or opportunity described in #2 above
6. Description of the degree to which your experience connects to your research interests and the application that will flow from this research
7. Description of your position, platform, and/or role that would enable you to implement the application you have in mind

3.  Writing Sample Assignment

Applicants are expected to demonstrate graduate-level writing competence via a writing sample of English work that is 15-30 pages in length and demonstrates an applicant’s ability to:

• Write clearly and concisely, in a formal, academic manner, using appropriate citations and bibliography
• Sustain an argument or discussion, integrate ideas, critique relevant literature, and suggest conclusions
• Reflect on the missiological and theological relevance of the chosen topic

Ideally, the writing sample should reflect current writing and interests. It may include one of the following:

• MA-level writing project
• MA- or ThM-level thesis
• Published book
• Published articles
• Doctoral dissertation in another field