Master of Divinity
The Master of Divinity degree is designed as a three-year program of preparation for ministry. It is the normative degree to prepare persons for ordained ministry, and it can also be used by those working towards general pastoral and religious leadership responsibilities in congregations and other settings. Postulancy—or for non-Episcopalians, the analogous formal ecclesiastical endorsement—is not a prerequisite for admission to the Master of Divinity program.
Seminary of the Southwest collaborates with diocesan authorities and follows canonical requirements in the processes of discernment and formation for ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church. These processes work best when there is good communication among applicants, their dioceses and the seminary. Episcopal applicants for the Master of Divinity degree should therefore be familiar with the policies of their own dioceses regarding seminary admission. Applicants who are not in a diocesan process leading toward ordination are urged to consider consultation with their parish or diocese. Similar advice is extended to applicants from other denominations.
The curriculum at Seminary of the Southwest follows a path focused on three areas of formation: being, knowing, and doing. The seminary’s foundational attention to academic excellence (knowing) is complemented by attention to character (being) and skill (doing). Each program seeks to produce well-rounded, thoughtful graduates who have become not only competent in a field of study but wise and charitable in its practice.
Graduates of the Master of Divinity program at Seminary of the Southwest will display integral formation in these three areas:
- Being: They will embody faithful Christian living as persons of well-formed character and generous intellect, exhibiting spiritual maturity, self-understanding, healthy relationships, and social concern.
- Knowing: They will demonstrate proficient knowledge of Scripture, History, Theology, Liturgy, Ethics, Pastoral Theology, and Contemporary Context, with particular attention to Anglican and Episcopal perspectives.
- Doing: They will be prepared to exercise leadership in the church and in the public square, bringing the tradition to bear on the challenges of the contemporary world as they proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and carry out Jesus’ ministry of healing and reconciliation.
The curriculum implements our conviction that Christian leaders are best prepared through a disciplined engagement in worship and prayer, accompanied by a knowledge of the Christian tradition that is both critically examined and effectively related to the social and historical environment in which it is to be lived and proclaimed. The faculty at Southwest seeks to immerse their students in that tradition and at the same time provide them with the critical tools for evaluating its various expressions through the ages. Because Episcopalians have received their faith and way of life as members of the Anglican Communion of churches, Southwest seeks also to immerse students in this particular tradition and in so doing makes them aware both of the ecumenical significance of Anglicanism and of the rich diversity afforded them by membership in a world-wide communion of churches.
The curriculum at Southwest is designed to foster a faith and practice in which growth in the knowledge and love of God is rooted in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. Grounded in Christ’s reconciling work, faithful disciples negotiate the boundaries that determine forms of identity, as well as divide and separate human beings. Consequently, the education we offer seeks to reach across the ethnic, racial, sexual, economic, and political boundaries that stand in the way of reconciliation. We wish our students to engage in reconciliation not just theoretically, but practically, addressing contemporary social divisions and conflicts with an intelligence and will shaped by “the mind of Christ.”
Study at Southwest is a crucial stage in formation for ministry, a process that begins with the development of Christian character before students enter seminary and continues with apprenticeship in ministry after they leave. The seminary attempts to model the kind of Christian community that the Gospel demands: a hospitable community whose common life of prayer, worship, study and work witnesses to God’s glory and serves God’s loving will.
From their participation here in study and practice, we trust students will dedicate themselves with joy and confidence to the challenging and holy calling to ministry.
A total of 90 credit hours are required for the Master of Divinity degree. The degree is normally completed in three years of full-time study; however, there is a four-year plan of study available. The sequence of courses is shown in the tables below.
Structure of Master of Divinity Curriculum
Junior Year
Fall Semester
B1310 Biblical Studies: History & Hermeneutics I…. 3
H1310 History of Christianity I………………………….. 3
L1140 Liturgical Music I…………………………………… 1.5
L1310 Liturgy I: Worship and Theology……………….3
P1130 The Craft of Ministry I…………………………….1.5
Total Credits………………………………………….12
January Term
M1320 Encuentro/Mission in Latino Contexts…..3
Total Credits……………………………………… 3
Spring Semester
B1320 Biblical Studies: History & Hermeneutics II……… 3
H1330 History of Christianity II…………………………………. 3
L1150 Liturgical Music II…………………………………………. 1.5
P1140 The Craft of Ministry II……………………………………1.5
T1310 Theology ………………………………………………………. 3
T1330 Introduction to Missiology……………………………… 3
Total Credits………………………………………………. 15
Summer Term
P1010 Clinical Pastoral Education…………………………… 0
Total Credits…………………………………………….. 0
Middler Year
Fall Semester
B2310 Biblical Studies: History & Hermeneutics III…………. 3
L2310 Preaching ………………………………………………………….. 3
P2110 Middler Parish Field Education…………………………….. 1
TE2310 Theological Ethics I…………………………………………….. 3
Elective……………………………………………………………. 3
Elective……………………………………………………………. 3
Total Credits…………………………………………………… 16
January Term
P2140 Ministry Across Cultures…………………………………….. 1
Total Credits…………………………………………………… 1
Spring Semester
L2340 Liturgy II: The Prayer Book, its History and Use………3
P2120 Middler Parish Field Education……………………………….1
P2320 Pastoral Theology I: Foundations of Pastoral Ministry….3
TE2320Theological Ethics II……………………………………………….3
Elective……………………………………………………………… 3
Elective……………………………………………………………… 3
Total Credits……………………………………………………… 16
Summer Term
Senior Year
Fall Semester
H3310 Anglican Studies………………………………………………. 3
H3330 The Episcopal Church: Past and Present……………. 3
P3310 Senior Parish Field Education……………………………..3
P3330 Pastoral Theology II: Church Leadership for Congregational Development……3
Elective…………………………………………………………. 3
Total Credits…………………………………………………. 15
January Term
Spring Semester
F3320 Introduction to Discipleship and Vocation ………… 3
L3310 Liturgical Leadership in the Episcopal Church……. 3
P3320 Senior Parish Field Education…………………………..3
Elective………………………………………………………..3
Total Credits……………………………………………….. 12
Notes: GOEs to be taken in January of the third year.
A student may choose to pursue the MDiv on a four-year track.
Students pursuing the Hispanic Church Studies concentration must take two electives in the HCS concentration available each fall and spring semester.
Students must take one Theology elective and one Preaching elective.
For students who are not on the ordination track, please review the Theological Field Education Policy.
Degree Requirements:
1. Complete satisfactorily 90 credits of required and elective courses within three years of study (a four-year plan of study is available.)
2. Full-time enrollment (12 credits or more) during the two consecutive semesters immediately preceding graduation.
3. Each candidate must fully discharge all financial obligations to the seminary.