If you had sat down with one of my grade school teachers, predicting that I would eventually get my Master’s degree on the financial backing of academic scholarships, that teacher would have keeled over in laughter. They might have even demanded that you not tell such lies. Who knows what they would do with the knowledge that I’m starting a doctoral program in August!
In my upper 30’s, pastoring a vibrant church, with two kids in elementary school, one might ask why now to start a doctoral program. This is the question I have been asking myself for over a decade, while many of my colleagues were jumping to start Doctor of Ministry degrees.
I believe that the church universal finds itself in an unfamiliar place. Never before has the Western Church faced the uncertainty of what the future holds while living holding up the structural and programmatic paradigm of the past. Then, compound these facts with how the COVID-19 crisis has shaken our familiarity with what comes next.
I believe what the church needs now, more than ever, is adaptive leadership. This is why I have zeroed in on Portland Seminary’s Doctor of Leadership and Global Perspective program.
Each week, I will have the opportunity to sit down with a cohort of diverse leadership settings, studying the latest resources, conversing about what all this means, and seeking to apply it to my role at UBC.
The wonder of technology allows program participants to learn from afar while serving where they are.
The program is designed to cater to your current role, enhancing and coaching your leadership, rather than creating a separate workload.
If everything goes as planned, I will wrap up the program in 2023, receiving a Doctor of Education, and enriching my work within our faith community.
While you can still call me Andy, I have informed my two daughters, Madison and Aubrey-Anna, that they will need to call me Dr. Daddy.
Please join me in prayer as I begin this program next month.
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