현장 목회자 양성을 위한 신대원 MDiv 교육과정 개정방안

We have to clarify the purpose of M.Div. education in the seminary for the proper curriculum revision, first of all. Is it to produce scholars with classroom teaching abilities or to develop ministers who are able to build up churches? If the latter is the one, shift from education for delivering theological knowledge to minister formation approach is needed. M.Div. education in the seminary is to form ministry professionals, similar to the disciplines for raising medical doctors and lawyers; not theorists. To raise effective church ministers, secondly we have to get the picture of final products in M.Div. education. Graduates of our M.Div. program should be 1. ministers with theological discernment and reflection, 2. experts in Bible, 3. shepherds with spirituality and honorable characters, 4. Spiritual Leadership with capacities in spiritual guidance and 5. skillful professionals in diverse church ministries. For this purpose, 1. functional elements of ministry, 2. theological education, and 3. basics of christian leadership should be considered and redefined. It is different from the traditional seminary education approach which is built up according to the subjects of dogmatic systems and theological categories in theological schools. Major functional elements of Christian ministry are such as shepherding for the pastoral care, various communication abilities for mission competency, and community and relationship building capacities. Not only considering these macro levels in M.Div. curriculum revision, but also micro level revision like changing education or training methods in each course by redesign of course description is important. Each courses in M.Div. curriculum must be clearly rewritten for any professors to educate students primarily for building pastors with local church ministry abilities. To achieve above goals, in addition to various practical suggestions I exposed current problems in M.Div. education, for example: separation of practice and theory in theological education, fragmented departmental education system, theoretical education of theological concepts and knowledge, lack of relevance to culture and diverse local church settings and too heavy loads caused by too many courses caused by 2 credit hours systems in some seminaries. And I emphasized the importance of spiritual formation and Christian character building as well as theological curriculum revision. Finally adding supervised ministry program into requirement courses is highlighted to complete the whole process of M.Div. curriculum revision to ensure developing pastors with effective ministry competencies.