Northwind Theological Seminary
Leadership
&
Specialized Ministry
Robert J. Duncan, Jr, D.Min, ThD
Founder & President Nortwind Consortia
Senior Faculty
Professor of Leadership & Specialized Ministry
Dr. Duncan is a retired ordained United Methodist Minister with over 40 years of ministry experience which includes pastoral ministry, pastoral counseling, planned giving, and higher education.
Rob is currently serving as the Founding President and Professor of Leadership & Specialized Ministry at Northwind Theological Seminary. He is also Affiliate Faculty at Kairos University.
Robert J. Duncan, Jr, D.Min, ThD
Founder & President Nortwind Consortia
Senior Faculty
Professor of Leadership & Specialized Ministry
Dr. Duncan is a retired ordained United Methodist Minister with over 40 years of ministry experience which includes pastoral ministry, pastoral counseling, planned giving, and higher education.
Rob is currently serving as the Founding President and Professor of Leadership & Specialized Ministry at Northwind Theological Seminary. He is also Affiliate Faculty at Kairos University.
He previously served as the Director of Institutional Advancement, Director of Admissions, and Doctor of Ministry Core Faculty at the Drew University Theological School. While at Drew, he received the Doctor of Ministry Directors Award, the Hispanic Institute of Theology Award, and a named Prize in the Doctor of Ministry Program.
Rob also served as President and Professor of Religion at Bacone College from 2002 to 2013. Bacone is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and has a historical educational mission with native people. While at Bacone, he received awards from the Oklahoma State Legislature, NCCA Student Chapter, several Tribal Colleges, American Indian Chamber of Commerce, NAIA, EIIA, and Daughters of the American Revolution.
He continues to serve as the Executive Director of Certified Temperament Life Coaching for the Sarasota Academy and is a Clinical Supervisor for the National Christian Counselors Association. In 2009, he received the Drs. Richard & Phyllis Arno Temperament Award at the National Christian Counselors Association Annual Conference. In 2020, he joined the NCCA Board of Directors.
Rob is a published author of articles, chapters, and several books, including Circuit Rider Magazine articles, a chapter in Equipping the Saints (Abingdon,2000), Trajectory (Indian University Press, 2006), and Christian Futuring (Indian University Press, 2012).
He has been a frequent speaker at national conferences, presenting ways to connect technology, distance education, and ministry.
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Metamodern Ministry
Metamodern Ministry is a form of Christian ministry that integrates the insights of the Modern era (e.g., faith in progress, individual merit) and the Postmodern era (e.g., critique of grand narratives, deconstruction) to form a cohesive and robust spiritual life. It seeks to move beyond the nihilism of postmodernism by finding coherence among worldviews, embracing a developmental perspective of oscillation where the new integrates the strengths of the old while acknowledging their differences.
Our approach aims to reconcile intellectual understanding with devotional practices, integrate scientific and religious wisdom, and offer a new spiritual model for a changing world by fostering authentic community and exploring universal transcendent ideas creatively. Offered in two concentrations.
Metamodern Faith-Based Leadership
Blend the spiritual conviction and ethical grounding of traditional faith with the critical awareness, nuance, and sincerity characteristic of the metamodern cultural paradigm. Our approach moves beyond postmodernism's cynicism and relativism by embracing both hope and skepticism simultaneously, using modern grand narratives with an "informed naivety".
This form of leadership is not just about having faith, but about how to lead with that faith in a complex, pluralistic, and ever-changing world.
Metamodern Specialized Ministry
Discover new emerging forms of religious or spiritual practice that address the current techno-cultural era.
Our approach combines the sincerity and purpose of modernism with the self-awareness and pluralism of postmodernism and defines the oscillation between the two previous eras. Metamodern Specialized Ministry helps individuals and communities navigate our complex, uncertain world without resorting to either naive idealism or cynical deconstruction.
Doctor in Theology & Ministry
36 Credits
A certified degree delivered
in an accelerated format.
Course of Study
YEAR ONE:
Starting Well Experience
Foundations of
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Contextualization of
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Readings I in
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
YEAR TWO:
Readings II in
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Readings III in
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Dissertation & Defense
Continuing Well Experience
Prerequisite: Master's Degree
Leadership or Specialized Ministry|PATH program provides a path for those engaged in ministry to complete a Master's Degree concurrently in the first year of the DThM Degree. REQUEST a proposal.
Students who graduate will receive a
CPCA Commission certified degree from NTS.
Doctor of Theology
42 Credits
An accredited degree delivered
in an accelerated format.
Course of Study
YEAR ONE:
Starting Well
Foundations of
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Contextualization of
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Readings I in
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
YEAR TWO:
Readings II in
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Readings III in
Leadership or Specialized Ministry
Comprehensive Exam
Dissertation
Defense
Continuing Well Experience
Prerequisite: Master's Degree from an accredited institution.
NTS Courses have been mapped onto Kairos University degree requirements.
Students who graduate will receive an ATS-accredited degree from Kairos University.
Students in this degree apply to NTS and are officially enrolled and admitted to both institutions.
Publish Your Doctoral Project
During the Project Experience, students will complete a Manuscript as their Doctoral Treatise Paper.
During the Defense Advance, students defend their Manuscript to their fellow students and visiting faculty.
Following a successful Defense, students will have the opportunity to publish their peer-reviewed Manuscripts.
Program Outcomes
With a focus on rich theological reflection on ministry practice, the Doctor of Theology will help you develop and deepen your knowledge of theological content, be more fully formed in Christian character, and generate new understandings of the craft of ministry. Through the program, you will develop and demonstrate proficiency in its eight outcomes: Starting Well, Specialized Inquiry: Literature and History, Specialized Inquiry: Concepts and Models, Specialized Inquiry: Practices and Methods, Integration: Macro Context, Integration: Micro Context, Generative Learning, and Continuing Well.
Dissertation
As part of the Doctor of Theology program, you will be invited to generate for dissemination high-level scholarly research within a specialized theological field of inquiry toward the improvement of ministry praxis. You will work alongside a mentor team crafted around your specialized field of inquiry, and your entire learning experience may be individualized and contextualized as much as possible toward exploring your degree concentration and research focus.
Customized Learning Experiences
Learning experiences in Kairos are built around an invitation for students to explore some aspect of their vocation, Christian thought and practice, or the human experience. As a Doctor of Theology student, you will be able to engage in individualized and guided learning experiences that encourage deep theological reflection on ministry practice within your context and tradition.