At the end of July, I announced to the Northland church of Christ that I was beginning my Doctorate of Ministry (D.Min.) journey in August of 2024. In an effort to include you in my journey, this monthly blog exists to reflect why I’m doing this, what I’m learning, and how this will impact our church.
Each month I’ll break things down into three sections: The Road Behind, The Present Road, and The Road Ahead.
The Road Behind
In 2010, I was a junior in high school. I had my eyes set on law, business management, some career in the world that would make me money and give me fame. Politics were very much a possibility. I involved myself in Mock Trial competitions, where I practiced being a lawyer and examining a case. I competed in Speech and Debate competitions, including a mock Congress where you practice writing and defending or attacking bills. I had a plan. Then God gave me a calling.
At the Winterfest youth rally, a church of Christ gathering in Gatlinburg, TN, I heard preacher David Skidmore make a statement along the lines of, “If you’re a young man of God with the ability to speak, the church desperately needs you.” It struck me then that I was planning on using my gifts and talents selfishly, for money and fame. I submitted to God’s call to ministry…mostly. I put things in God’s hands (sort of…). I made a “deal” with God: after I take my ACT, if it was good enough to go to Harvard or Yale, I would go there. If not, I’d attend a church of Christ university and pursue ministry. I got the score needed for Harvard and Yale, but failed to read I needed to take the optional portion for the ACT as well, and the next scheduled time was after submissions closed. So, I decided to attend a church of Christ university (with a fall back plan that if I hated my first year I’d transfer and focus on law, politics, or business at a state school).
I ended up attending Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg, WV because they offered me a full tuition scholarship. And I fell in love with ministry after the first two months. By the end of my first year, I was involved in nearly every spiritual/devotional activity on campus, had even started my own singing time, and was loving the plan God had laid out for me. But “high school” Caleb still existed. I was still nerdy, with big hopes and dreams. And I earned the nickname “Doctor” for always having right answers, going the extra step, sharing how I liked most homework assignments, and challenging professors in the middle of class when I disagreed.
As graduation neared, the question constantly came up: what’s next? Multiple mentors pushed for graduate school. When I finally agreed, the next question was, what kind of degree? There are masters in Old Testament, New Testament, Christian Ministry, Church history, etc. I settled on the Masters of Divinity for two reasons. First, there was scholarship available for that route (it is over double the length of all the other masters). Second, it provided the most options for the future. A Masters of Divinity better equips you for choosing a Doctorate of Ministry or a Ph.D. and is the required masters to ever serve as a chaplain. I wanted more options, and scholarship, so I choose the Masters of Divinity at Harding School of Theology in Memphis, TN (now relocated to Searcy, Arkansas).
My first semester introduced me to Dr. Gupton, who taught Ministry Call and Context, a class designed to open your eyes to all the various paths of ministry and explore your gifts and what you are called to do. That class gave me a love for graduate school, as it dove deeper into theology and ministry than any undergraduate class. It also settled in my mind, if I ever went for a Doctorate level degree, it would be the Doctorate of Ministry (D.Min.), not a PH.D. That is what better fit my purpose and passion.
Over the next three years, I took more classes with Dr. Gupton: Managing Conflict in Ministry, Spiritual Formation for Ministry, and the Practicum (the final piece to the Masters of Divinity program, where you tutor under someone and reflect on that experience). I graduated with my Masters of Divinity in December, 2018 and started full time preaching with Northland just a few weeks later.
Over the last five years, I’ve revisited education a couple times. As a graduate, I could audit classes for a significantly reduced price. I did that in the summer of 2021, taking African American Stone Campbell History, which explores the role of Black leaders and churches in church of Christ history. In the fall of 2021, I joined a cohort of ministers who met online once a month to work with the Vice President of Harding School of Theology through a semester long experience on “Ministry and Anxiety”, which Dr. Martin led in part due to the amount of anxiety that ministers had to face through the pandemic. Outside those experiences, I took the personal time to read dozens of ministry related books over the last few years, and attend several conferences and workshops to encourage ministers.
In December 2023, Dr. Gupton reached out and shared that he was now the head of the Doctorate of Ministry program at Lipscomb University, and he wanted me to join the 2024 cohort. I talked with him further in January 2024 and was convinced this was something I’d like to do. From January through June, I had repeated meetings and conversations with the elders to discuss questions like: How would this benefit me? How would it benefit Northland? Could I handle the workload? What changes would happen? How could we involve the church? That last question in particular is what led to the creation of this blog.
Going forward, this section of the blog will primarily reflect on what I learned/did in the previous month.
The Present Road
It is now August 2024. Classes officially begin, as does homework. The classes for this first semester are D.Min. Orientation (1 credit hour), Missional Ecclesiology (3 credit hours), and Justice, Mission, and the Kingdom of God (3 credit hours). Each class will meet on zoom about once a month, and have various books to read and papers to write and assignments to complete throughout the semester. For the month of August, I’ll be reading Generous Justice by Timothy Keller, The Justice Calling by Bethany Hanke Hoang and Kristen Deede Johnson, and A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story by Michael Goheen. I’ll also be taking the DISC leadership/personality profile (which I took and loved in 2015 with Dr. Gupton).
On average, I’ll be reading about 30-40 pages a day. But I balanced my homework assignments so that any day I need to write or research will be scheduled on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday (days of the week I regularly avoid my usual church workload – Sunday service and weekend activities aside). I also made sure I didn’t double stack reading and writing on most days. I’ll either read OR write.
The Road Ahead
The first week of August was rather easy – just reading, and very encouraging and informational reading at that! But I have a book review to write this month on one of the first two books listed, and the DISC profile to complete and some videos and articles associated with that to view and reflect on. I also have my first assignment for the Missional Ecclesiology class due the first week of September, which involved the book A Light to the Nations. My plan is to read it this month and use the first few days of September to write the assignment.
September and October will be the heaviest parts of the semester. August is pretty light, just being introduced to the course work and material. November and the first week of December are relatively light, wrapping up everything I’ve learned. But September and October will have increased reading and writing, and I’ll be traveling in October to Nashville for 10 days of intense study and formation with my cohort and professors.
At the end of each semester, I’ll use the Road Ahead section to highlight the upcoming courses (as they have a map for the entire program, so I know exactly what I’ll be taking over the next two years).
Far down the road is the D.Min. project. Instead of the Ph.D. dissertation, the D.Min. utilizes a project for the culmination of all I’ve learned. I’ll be putting things into practice at Northland and writing about the whole process. This semester should help with the formation of ideas for that project. I’ll offer my current hope now: something to do with multicultural ministry in an urban environment. We’ll see how close my hope is to what I actually do in Fall 2026!
For now, I ask you keep me in your prayers and offer anything you hope will encourage me on this journey. I hope to share so much with you all through this process, and pray that God transforms me beyond my wildest imagination. Thank you.