Church Administration Certification
If you’re a pastor who feels more comfortable preaching a sermon on Leviticus than crafting a budget, you may have found yourself saying “No one ever taught me how to run a church.” If you’re a lay leader wondering how to apply your management experience to the ministry team you’re leading, you may have found yourself saying something similar: “No one ever taught me how to run a church.” Our church administration courses can help you get up to speed. Divinity alumni can take the courses for free.
Upcoming Events
Institute of the Americas for Transformation and Reconciliation
The Institute of the Americas offers an opportunity for interdisciplinary theological and contextual formation around transformation and reconciliation.
Summer Institute for Reconciliation
The Summer Institute for Reconciliation will center on content with a biblical vision of reconciliation that inspires the transformation of communities and relationships. Church leaders will learn frameworks of reconciliation that are practical, contextual, and theological.
2024 Convocation on the Rural Church
The Convocation on the Rural Church is an annual opportunity for pastors from the North Carolina and Western North Carolina Conferences of the United Methodist Church to join with Duke Divinity School, The Duke Endowment, and The Parish Ministry Fund to discuss issues that are important in transforming rural churches and communities and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Upcoming Programs
Join us for guided learning opportunities, including synchronous online programs, in-person programs, and hybrid learning programs.
Course of Study
The online Course of Study is an alternate educational route for persons seeking to serve as licensed local pastors in United Methodist congregations.
Learn More about course of studyConvocation on the Rural Church
Join us Aug. 5-7, 2024 for the Convocation on the Rural Church, an opportunity for UMC pastors serving rural churches in the North Carolina to discuss issues that are important in transforming rural churches and communities and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Learn More about rural convocationConvocation & Pastors' School
The annual Convocation & Pastors’ School, taking place Oct. 13-15, 2024, is an intensive multi-day conference that offers lectures, worship, alumni gatherings, and seminars for Christian leaders of all traditions.
Learn More about CPS
Ongoing Opportunities
Join us for self-paced online courses. Many are free to Duke Divinity School alumni.
Church Administration 1
This four-week online course explains the importance of a theological approach to church administration and why viewing it as a church practice with theological goals of discipleship, formation, witness, and worship matters.
Learn More about church admin 1Church Administration 2
In this second course in the Duke Divinity+ Church Administration Specialization series for church pastors and lay leaders, you will learn how to approach strategic management theologically as strategic stewardship for your church.
Learn More about church admin 2Cultivating a Scriptural Imagination
How can Scripture expand our capacity to envision God’s presence in our time, and how can examples from Methodist history help us recognize these new possibilities? Through this course, experience a deeper grounding in the distinctive elements of Methodism.
Learn More about Cultivating a Scriptural ImaginationDuke Divinity+
Divinity+ is a new program for Duke Divinity alumni and other practitioners seeking to expand and refresh their knowledge and skills through non-degree digital courses and certificates. Divinity+ courses nurture vocational renewal, theological imagination, and practical resources for ministerial leaders and Christian professionals.