Diploma in Practical Ministry: NQF Level 6 – 360 credits

The Diploma in Practical Ministry is a three (3) year full time residential study programme, registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and is accredited with the Council of Higher Education (CHE). It covers the following key subject areas:

Biblical Studies

Objective: To provide seminarians with a thorough knowledge of the world in which the biblical texts were composed through introducing them to the history, sociology, and ideas of that world. Seminarians are expected to study both biblical languages as an integral part of this. This provides the basis for the seminarians to develop skills in exegesis or interpretation of the Bible, learning to read the text at many levels. The courses on biblical hermeneutics and social issues seek to enable seminarians to relate the biblical texts to the situations they encounter and to use them with integrity as a source for doing theology.

Theological Studies

Objective: To introduce seminarians to the central  doctrines of the Christian faith as these have evolved in Christian history, their interrelationships, and their implications for society and the life and ministry of the church; To challenge seminarians to examine the implications of Christian Doctrine for Africa and/or any other context; To develop the seminarians’ capacity for considering ethical issues, and making ethical judgments and decisions in tune with their respective faith convictions and biblical / theological values.

History of Christianity

Objective: To present seminarians with a survey of the development of the Christian church from the Apostolic period to the present by examining significant events in the development of the Christian church; To equip them to critically evaluate the past through the lens of the present, and the present through the lens of the past; To encourage an awareness of the church as a living community whose past developments have continual relevance for today.

Practice of Christian Ministry and Mission

Objective: To equip seminarians to understand and respond to the mission imperative; to give theological focus to the history, methodologies, ideologies, and concepts of expansion, outreach, and frontier-crossing that have shaped the church across centuries and continents; to equip seminarians to bear authentic, sensitive, inclusive and holistic witness to the essential faith convictions of Christianity; to prepare seminarians to live out their faith in the secular realm with proper regard to diversity, multi-cultural and inter-faith relations.

Fundamental Studies

Objective: To provide a framework for fundamental courses and electives that expose seminarians to subjects that equip them for study, instill passion for study, and which relate theological and church studies to the broader social context in which seminarians for the ministry of the church may be appointed to serve.

Total credits required: 360