Fuller Announces a Redesigned MDiv Program

Fuller Theological Seminary is pleased to announce our redesigned Master of Divinity (MDiv) program. A flagship degree program since Fuller’s beginnings, the MDiv has been reimagined for a new generation of leaders in an ever-changing world.

A significant change to the MDiv is a new sequencing structure created in response to students asking for more guidance at the beginning of the degree. Now incoming MDiv students will complete a set of Shared Foundations courses, as well as an introduction to the program, before moving to the second phase of the MDiv and more advanced courses. Each of the five courses in this foundational first stage covers a different discipline: Bible, theology and history, missiology, psychology, and practical theology. “This approach will ensure that students put down strong roots before they tackle any other courses,” said Scott Cormode, Hugh De Pree Professor of Leadership Development.

A new feature of the redesigned MDiv are concentrations, which will be offered this fall in three areas: Biblical Studies, Leadership in Times of Change, and Chaplaincy. “Concentrations are the direct result of current MDiv students asking for a way to focus their studies to better prepare for their specific calling and vocations,” said Academic Advisor Gabriella Bontrager-Hedge. “Our hope for concentrations is that students will go deeper in their interests, gaining profound insight and essential tools and resources in the area that matters most to them.”

Further, the reimagined MDiv is committed to providing indispensable, diverse, and interdisciplinary education. “These three commitments have always been important to the MDiv,” said Dr. Cormode, “but now we have elevated them to be organizing principles.” As such, he noted, many of the course titles in the MDiv will remain the same “to the casual observer,” but the commitment to indispensable, diverse, and interdisciplinary education “will change the way we teach each course.”

To ensure the MDiv degree is indispensable to its graduates and those they serve, every course will not only teach students necessary concepts for ministry, but how to integrate those concepts into their work in real time. Regarding the commitment to diversity, the seminary’s “Strategic Approach to Inclusive Excellence” will serve as a guiding document as each course is reimagined from the ground up to address concerns and incorporate diverse voices. In order to reinforce an interdisciplinary approach, courses in missiology and psychology will now be required for MDiv students.

Learn more about Fuller’s new MDiv program and concentrations.