I am indeed very grateful to God for opening the door for me to study at PAThS. For me, PAThS is an answer to prayer and God's perfect will for me at this point in my life. I feel that I am in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing! Program Information
Pan-Africa Theological Seminary is a doctoral-level ministry training program that offers a Ph.D. in Strategic Ministries. This program of study is intentionally broad-based in design to promote the development of ministry leadership in multiple areas of strategic concern. The doctoral students are encouraged to select from one of four separate areas of ministry emphasis, which provides twelve hours of additional courses designed to be relevant and applicable to each student's particular ministry context. These four areas of emphasis or concentration are:
- Hermeneutics
- Biblical Theology
- Leadership
- Missions
- Education
Program Purpose and Mission
Pan-Africa Theological Seminary exists to prepare servant leaders to equip the Church of Africa to fulfill God's Mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, the training priorities of this seminary are intentionally Pentecostal in orientation, missional in emphasis, and contextual in application. It is the conviction of the leadership of this seminary that God has a great plan for the Church in Africa to fulfill through fully participating in the Missio Dei to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Nations of the Earth. Pan-Africa Theological seminary exists to help train the trainers and leaders of the African Church who will in turn prepare those 11th hour laborers to fulfill their God given destiny.
Program Description and Design
The PAThS Ph.D. program of study requires one month of residence on the campus twice each year for a total of six sessions of course work during a two and one-half year period. The first 21 hours of the program is a required component of core courses that the entire intake will pursue simultaneously as a cohort.
The next phase of the program is the elective component in which students will select 12 additional hours of course work from the existing elective courses. During the elective component phase, the Dr. John V. York Missio Dei Lecture Series will also be presented which is designed to enrich and empower students' lives and ministries through exposing them to scholars and accomplished practitioners of note who will lecture on cutting-edge topics that are relevant to successful participation in the mission of God.
The elective phase of the program will be followed by the concentration component in which students will be required to declare an area of concentration from among one of four areas of ministry emphasis, i.e., Hermeneutics/Biblical Theology, Leadership, Missions, and Education. During the concentration phase, students will complete an additional 12 hours of course work to help facilitate concentrated studies in their specific area of ministry emphasis.
The final 12 hours of course work is comprised of the research component of the doctoral program which includes a written Comprehensive Exam, the Research & Dissertation Design course, and the formal written Dissertation. Students must receive a minimum passing grade on the Comprehensive Exam in order to qualify for entry into the dissertation writing phase of the program. Once the Research & Dissertation Design course has been completed and the Dissertation thesis/project proposal has been approved, the student may officially begin the dissertation writing phase in consultation with the project advisor. The actual time required to complete the dissertation phase will be contingent on the pace of the research and writing progress achieved by the individual student. Residency at the WAAST campus is not required during this time period.
The total number of credit hours for the PAThS Ph.D. program is 60 credit hours.
The program consists of:
Required Core courses - 21 credit hours
Elective Courses - 12 credit hours
Lecture Series - 03 credit hours
Concentration/Emphasis Courses - 12 credit hours
Research Component Courses - 12 credit hours
Written Comprehensive Exam
Research & Dissertation Design
Dissertation
Total Program Credit Hours: 60 credit hours
The curriculum for this Ph.D. program has been intentionally designed to provide doctoral-level Church leadership training that is cutting edge in its approach and academically strong in its organization and structure.