Mentoring for Ministry

In the early Fall of each academic year, Duke staff and faculty gather with students who are preparing to meet with their Board of Ordained Ministry who will examine their prepared written papers as well as engage them orally to assess their readiness for ministry. Coursework throughout the M. Div. curriculum is foundational in this preparation, but these final written and oral examinations are more about total readiness for ministry than they are about the finer details of theological information. This seminar is open to Duke Divinity School students, but it is also open to other United Methodist students who wish to prepare in a highly intentional way for their day of interview.

In the Fall of each academic year, the Duke staff and faculty partner with clergy representatives from several United Methodist Annual Conferences in a day-long event that helps prepare divinity students for the first official comprehensive review in the ordination process by their Board of Ordained Ministry. Through teaching devices that vary from brief lectures to role-playing and Question and Answer sessions, students gain insight into the 'do' and 'don't' of the commissioning process.