Doctor of Ministry in Faith & Cultural Engagement
At A Glance
Accreditation
ATS (Association of Theological Schools), NWCCU
Format
Hybrid (online courses with three total summit intensives in strategically selected U.S. cities)
Tuition Cost For Entire Program
$25,384* (plus cost of three summit intensives; total to be determined)
* All stated financial information is subject to change. Financial aid available.
Lead with Wisdom. Find Common Ground.
Many Christian leaders feel caught between withdrawal from public life and being pulled into culture wars. The Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Cultural Engagement offers another way.
We’ve designed a program that will strengthen your public voice and deepen your pastoral presence. Under the guidance of Leah Payne, you’ll learn to interpret culture with historical awareness and respond with humility, clarity and creativity.
The DMin in Faith and Cultural Engagement is a formative journey for leaders who view contested spaces as opportunities for promoting peace, constructive dialogue and renewal. Whether you’re preaching, leading in business, serving in public life, or organizing in your community, this degree will empower you as an agent of Christian renewal in the 21st century.
What Will I Experience?
The Doctor of Ministry in Faith and Cultural Engagement prepares pastors and Christian leaders to embody the gospel faithfully in a polarized and complex world. Here’s what you can count on throughout your time here:
- A Format That Fits Your Life
Stay rooted in your ministry while pursuing doctoral studies. We blend online learning with three in-person summits, giving you the flexibility you need. - A Cohort That ‘Gets’ You
Doctoral work at George Fox is never a solo journey. You’ll walk with your classmates in supportive, 12- to 18-person cohorts that provide encouragement, accountability and lifelong relationships. - Accomplished & Accessible Faculty
Connect deeply with nationally recognized scholars journalists, artists and public Christian leaders. Our faculty lead invites subject matter experts and trusted voices in conversations about faith and culture.
Program Focus
The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree integrates advanced theological reflection, cultural insight, media-savvy communication and faithful Christian leadership practices. You’ll explore:
- How Christian belief and practice shape public witness
- How to speak with clarity and pastoral sensitivity in contested settings
- How media, storytelling and communication shape ministry today
- How to guide communities in ways rooted in Scripture and sustained by spiritual maturity
Instead of a traditional dissertation, you’ll complete a Project Portfolio that addresses a need, problem or opportunity in your ministry context.
In-Person Summits in Dynamic Locations
At Portland Seminary, you won’t just be part of a program – you’ll be part of a community. You’ll participate in three in-person summits in Portland, Oregon, Nashville, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., broadening your perspectives through immersive learning with faculty and guest leaders.
These intensives will stretch your thinking through on-the-ground engagement with storytellers and leaders in ministry, public service, journalism, media, the arts and the academy. These and other experts will help students craft faithful responses to critical questions facing Christian communities.
Meet Your Faculty Lead
Leah Payne is an award-winning historian whose teaching approach emphasizes thoughtful interpretation of culture, patient discernment, and leadership shaped by Scripture and spiritual practice. She serves as professor of American religious history and principal investigator for the Center for Thriving at Portland Seminary.
Payne earned her PhD in religion from Vanderbilt University. Her research explores how Christian communities express faith in conversation with politics, media and popular culture. She is the author of God Gave Rock & Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music (Oxford University Press, 2024), which was named Christianity Today’s 2024 Book of the Year in history and biography.
In addition to her scholarship, Payne connects academic insight to ministry practice through her podcasts – Rock That Doesn’t Roll (PRX), Spirit & Power (Axis Mundi Media) and Weird Religion – which explore how contemporary believers live, worship and witness in a rapidly changing world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Economist, Christianity Today, Religion News Service, NBC News, BBC Radio and Harper’s Magazine.
Project Portfolio
In the Project Portfolio research sequence, you’ll journey through a series of milestone assignments and utilize collaborative design to develop a doctoral project for your professional context. Whether you’re launching a media initiative that supports ministry outreach, producing a teaching series that forms your congregation, or creating curated spaces for discussion in a business or nonprofit, the work you do will bring your vision to life.
Project Faculty
You'll be paired with a project faculty member for three years. Project faculty join students at the first and third summits and meet regularly online to guide them in their research.
Also Consider These Programs
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Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Spiritual Formation
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Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives
Develops confident Christian leaders who make a difference in an interconnected world. Face-to-face intensives meet in Cape Town, Oxford and Berlin.
Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives
Questions?
Haley Holman
Admissions Counselor, Portland Seminary
George Fox University is required to make cost of attendance (COA) information publicly available on this website.