Abstract
This essay explores two significant expressions of what it means to engage the process of "becoming transformed” in the middle of a theological journey aimed at educating an advanced leader at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, Georgia. The first expression of such transformation learning occurs at the institutional programmatic level, and the second at the personal level of the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) learner. For persons involved in D.Min. teaching and learning, assessing and planning according to the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) standards, the academic journey toward offering and obtaining the D.Min. degree is a challenging one. Advancing the practice of ministry through leadership education at the D.Min. level rather than the more familiar Ph.D. requirements, is but one of the many challenging facing US theological education today. Institutions unable to meet those challenges then fail to produce the leaders necessary to help congregations, denominations, and community agencies thrive.