The Doctoral Project is a translation into practice of the insights, values and creative concerns developed during the course of the units of interactive learning and the intervening periods of reading, reflection, and application. The project should directly relate the implications of the evolving relationships within the actual life of congregations or communities of faith and worship.

 

The Doctoral Project is a demonstration of praxis. Its structure, focus and content, therefore, allows for a wide range of differing forms appropriate to the actual area of the practice of ministry addressed. The form may range, for example, from an original musical score or liturgy to a research manuscript or instructional video. A note about the length of the project is impractical when speaking of video and audio cassettes, workbooks and manuals, as well as other hands-on praxis-based projects. For manuscript-style doctoral projects, the length should be 35,000-40,000 words (140-160 pages), double-spaced, footnoted, and with significant bibliographical references of at least 35 sources. It is also a recommendation for the bibliography to include an annotated listing of the 10-12 sources that were key to the development of the project.

 

In keeping with the nature of the entire Doctoral Program as an open interaction with fellow professionals, the project is a demonstration of practice, an exploration of applied reflections, or creative work rather than a test submitted to prove competency. One copy of the Doctoral Project, in its final form, must be submitted to the GTF by March 1 prior to graduation.