Adventist International Instititue of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) is launching a Doctor of Missiology (D.Miss)/Doctor of Intercultural Studies (DIS) program to prepare professionals for leadership roles with advanced cross-cultural mission skills.
The new professional degree is designed for pastors, teachers, mission leaders, administrators, and other ministry professionals. The purpose of this degree program is to develop culturally sensitive leaders while better equipping them to pursue the mission of the church.
“The Adventist world church has strategically recognized a great need for missions training,” said AIIAS President Stephen Guptill. “This is done through recent key administrative actions such as Mission to the Cities and Reach the World.”
In response to this need, the DMiss/DIS program will start in August 2016. This highest research degree in missiological studies will initially be offered with emphasis in urban mission. Other emphases will include world religion, intercultural studies and postmodernism & secularism.
“This new program is going to challenge the way how we are approaching mission in unentered places,” said AIIAS Seminary Dean, Dr. Ricardo González. “Moreover, it will provide the church with a new generation of leaders and church planters with a renewed understanding of the challenges and opportunities of our mission, as a special people, to the world.”
Cristian Dumitrescu, associate professor of mission and DMiss/DIS program director, notes that “this program offers the best contextualized education from a global perspective. It provides quality training embedded in the world religions context at an affordable cost.”
The DMiss/DIS program allows a student to continue their current employment while learning. They only attend four weeks in residence at the AIIAS campus each year for four years.
“Teaching takes place in the midst of the mission field, under the supervision of professors with cross-cultural experience, and networking with professionals who developed successful contextualized ministries,” continued Dr. Dumitrescu.
AIIAS is a graduate institution that offers masters and doctorate degrees in four main areas: business, education, public health, and religion. It is run by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Its mission is to develop leaders through distinctively Seventh-day Adventist graduate education, excelling in spirituality, research, instruction, and service to the church and society.
