August 20, 2024
Providing rigorous training for today’s Christian leaders, pastors, and scholars.
Today’s Christian leaders need biblically faithful training that is culturally savvy and globally connected. With its long tradition of preparing Christian evangelists, pastors, scholars, missionaries, and other ministry leaders, the Wheaton College Graduate School has restructured its programs and faculty to meet those needs, launching the newly named A. Duane Litfin Divinity School.
The Litfin Divinity School merges two areas of historic strength at Wheaton College: its excellent graduate programs in biblical and theological studies and its programs in ministry, leadership, and evangelism. By leveraging biblical scholarship, ministry leadership, and cultural engagement in this way, the Divinity School prepares students to navigate the challenges of Christian leadership in an increasingly complex world.
The Doctor of Ministry offers a great example of the benefits of integration through its newest concentration, “Communicating Christ in Skeptical Times” (Summer 2025), led by international evangelist and scholar Dr. John Dickson. This concentration provides advanced training to Christian leaders who want to share the gospel in any cultural context by equipping them with the necessary biblical, theological, and cultural expertise.
“As a pastor-theologian, I’m so grateful for the foundation that I received from the Wheaton Ph.D. program,” said Jeremy Treat Ph.D. ’13, Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Reality LA. “Beyond learning how to do serious scholarship, I built a lasting community of friends and mentors from a variety of disciplines and gained an appreciation for global theology. I look back on my time at Wheaton as digging a deep well, from which I draw every day as a disciple and as a pastor. I praise God for the Liftin Divinity School!”
Vicki Gray M.A. ’25, Executive Director of Spiritual Formation at Transformation Church (Charlotte, NC), said, “I chose Wheaton Graduate School and the M.A. in Ministry Leadership as the place God was directing me to grow and strengthen in my leadership as the co-founder of our church. The theologically and biblically sound program led by godly men and women of different ages and ethnicities was exactly what was needed to prepare me to lead into the future.”
Already serving students from more than 40 countries, the Divinity School is excited to announce the expansion of its flexible learning format to all master’s-level Bible and theology programs, which can now be completed from anywhere in the world with just a few trips to campus. The Divinity School will continue to have residential students on campus, but this new format allows a global audience to access the entire Divinity School.
“Leaders from around the world come to the Litfin Divinity School for a rigorous education that is grounded in scripture and focused on the needs of the global church,” said Divinity School Dean Dr. Marc Cortez. “If you want to invest in your ministry skills or your scholarship for a lifetime of effective leadership, the Litfin Divinity School is a great place to be.”
“Christian leaders face a world of modern challenges every day,” said Wheaton College President Philip Ryken ’88. “Wheaton is pleased to launch this unique platform of biblical scholarship and cutting-edge skill preparation for our rising ministers, missionaries, scholars, and other church professionals.”
Learn more about how to start your journey at the Litfin Divinity School.