Michael Milton

Michael Milton and Faith for Living, Inc.

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Resources for Doctoral Research and Writing

“A Scholar in His Study.” Ludwig Gloss (Wiener Neustadt 1851-1903).

Preface

Welcome to the Doctor of Ministry supervisor page for Dr. Michael A. Milton. I am delighted you have joined us.
The purpose of this document is to provide resources for your DMIN journey. I also want to share what I expect of our students and what you should expect from me.

Your Doctoral Journey

Your Supervisor

Your Dissertation

Bible Software

Logos (free to all Erskine Seminary students): https://seminary.erskine.edu/academics/logos-bible-software/

Writing Resources

The Chapters

The following resources represent support for writing your dissertation with an emphasis on chapter flow.

  1. Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Question (or Project)
  2. Chapter 2: Literature Review
    1. Structure: https://gradcoach.com/literature-review-structure/
    2. Overview: https://youtu.be/lw8HPXJP1VA
    3. Common Mistakes: https://youtu.be/-MVvRcgaBRI
  3. Chapter 3: Biblical and Theological Issues
  4. Chapter 4 Methodology
  5. Chapter 5: Conclusion with Recommendations for Further Research

Editing Services

Should you desire to have an outside editor review your work, I recommend the following:

Your Supervisor and You

  • The Doctoral Candidate
    • Coordinate your plans through the Registrar and DMin, as well as myself and my assistant.
    • Consult your Style Guide and Manual before submitting.
    • Note the style guide. Work from a template with presets that match the manual of style.
    • Edit or use an outside editor before submitting your work (I focus on content, logical flow of ideas, dialogical reasoning, critical thinking, and theological reflection, not copy editing).
    • Within the Erskine system, you may consider Dr. Jerdone Davis, Dr. Rebecca Rine,. or Mr. John Michael Milton. All are editors. all also support others in their regular responsibilities. Editing DMin material (or other papers) is their own respective contract work. If you have a family member who is an editor that is the vest. Though I don’t proof for grammar, I will provide some Turabian spotting.
    • Other editing services recommend, e.g., Papertrue.com.
  • The Supervisor/Advisor
    • My goal is to return commentary or guidance of chapters within three to four weeks. Please consider this fact in your proposed timetable.
    • I seek to help you work to a logical flow through each chapter: “The Golden Thread.” What is the “Golden Thread” of a dissertation? The research question or project proposal should be addressed in each of the standard dissertation chapters (viz., Introduction, Literature Review, etc.) as if answering a question: (1) What is this proposal and why? The conclusion will transition into the next question. For example, moving from chapter one (Introduction) to chapter two (literature review), the close to chapter one might be, “What scholarly work has been accomplished on this topic? Was there a consensus? Contrast? Is there a gap in the literature for my contribution?” Such is the “Golden Thread’ that unites the chapters into a cohesive whole.
    • I am here to support you in prayer and personal encouragement.
  • Process
    • The DMIN student has 7 active files for the “dissertation writing stage:”
      • (1) Draft chapters
      • (2) Advisor Edits
      • (3) Revised chapters
      • (4) Final Draft for Supervisor
      • (5) Final Advisor Edits
      • (6) Reader Final, and
      • (7) Final.
        • Draft Chapters:” Your first draft. This goes to your advisor.
        • “Advisor Edits.” I will comment and form and content. Unless there are major structural amendments needed, the student will correct and move that corrected file to
        • “Revised Chapters.” Once your advisor has returned all of the chapters you will collate them according to the manual, adding a table of contents and other necessary front material, and send this “final draft” to the advisor.
        • “Final draft for Supervisor.“
        • “Final Advisor Edits.” This is the document that the supervisor/advisor returns to you. You will correct this final advisor draft and produce a
        • “Reader Final.” The reader final will go to the director’s office for assignment to an internal or an external reader or both (this is a “double-blind” review, i.e., neither party knows the identity of the other). Once you correct the “reader final draft“ you will have your “final.”
        • “Final.” The reader may or may not desire to have your amended version returned to them. Once the dialogue with the reader is completed your “final” should be prepared according to the manual for final submission.
The Windmill (1641).
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) 1606–1669, Dutch

Special Services and “Grad Coach Videos”

If your needed services are based on a disability there may be funding for you from various nonprofits.

Grad Coach is an organization that focuses on supporting doctoral students, whether they are in the PhD, doctor of education, doctor of ministry, or other doctoral thesis or dissertation. Well not all of the material that they provide is apropos for the doctor of ministry at Erskine – your Erskine Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry Manual is priority — grant coach, nevertheless, provides solid general information about each part of a dissertation. Use these as you think best. There are other resources out there that you will find. I happen to like these. Students are responsible for the cost of a

Video Guidance on General Principles of Writing a Dissertation: https://youtube.com/c/GradCoach

  1. Introduction (the problem or the research question): https://youtu.be/x8mzfnWIoy4
    1. Common Mistakes in the Introduction: https://youtu.be/corypEHaNVQ
    2. Another Grad Coach Introduction: https://youtu.be/x8mzfnWIoy4
  2. Literature Review: https://gradcoach.com/how-to-write-a-literature-review/
  3. Research Methodology: https://youtu.be/W0vNS1VafXA
  4. The project or findings (“The Discussion Chapter”}: https://youtu.be/PiEk4cI1I3w
  5. Results and Evaluation: https://youtu.be/OOltSkcl-qY
  6. Conclusion: https://youtu.be/OOltSkcl-qY

Commencement Service

Erskine College and Theological Seminary holds a single commencement service in May of each year to honor students whose degrees are being conferred at that time or have been conferred the previous September or January. All students are encouraged to participate in the service.

Master level students (MDiv, MAPM, MATS, and MACC) who expect to receive their degrees in September and wish to participate in the preceding May commencement service must have no more than six credit hours remaining at the end of the spring semester and are able to complete the remaining work by August 31.

ThM and DMin students may participate in May’s commencement service only if final, corrected copies of their theses or dissertations have been submitted by April 15. ThM and DMin students whose degrees are conferred in September or January may participate in the following May’s commencement service.

Courses

Please consult the Doctor of Ministry Manual and current catalog for the course schedule.

Reformed and Evangelical Links:

Michael Milton List of Resources: https://michaelmilton.org/reformed-and-evangelical-links/

Registrar

For issues on course planning, grades, and more: https://seminary.erskine.edu/academics/office-of-the-registrar/

Manuals of Style

Style Guides for Theology and Religious Studies

Turabian 9th Edition online: https://kennedyinstitute.net/Turabian9
Chicago Manual of Style: https://kennedyinstitute.net/Chicago17

Manuals of Style at Several Seminaries

Erskine Style (8/22): https://kennedyinstitute.net/Style-Erskine
SBTS: https://kennedyinstitute.net/Style-SBTS
WTS: https://kennedyinstitute.net/Style-WTS
CTS: https://kennedyinstitute.net/Style-CTS
DTS: https://kennedyinstitute.net/Style-DTS

Dr. Milton’s Links for Research and Writing

Resources for Online Teaching and Learning

Articles, Broadcasts, Books, Sermons

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) 1606–1669, Dutch.