Published on December 5, 2024 by Neal Embry  
Jernigan

When Dustin Jernigan graduates this week from Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School, he’ll be the school’s last Doctor of Ministry (DMin) graduate.

The faculty at Beeson decided to end the program in 2020 to give attention to other academic program possibilities, which has since given rise to the new PhD in Theology for the Church, the Master of Theology and the Master of Arts in Christian Counseling. Students who were in the DMin program at the time were allowed to finish their degree.

Jernigan said thoughts of quitting came, but he knew that wasn’t an option, given his focus on virtue for his doctoral dissertation.

“If my doctoral dissertation is going to be on Christian virtues like diligence, it wouldn’t be right for me to quit,” Jernigan said.

Jernigan, who serves as lead pastor for Jacksonville Presbyterian Church in southern Oregon, found his way to Beeson around the same time he moved to Oregon. With family in Birmingham and a respect for Beeson’s reputation, the school made sense for him.

“I would say they’ve helped me immensely,” Jernigan said. “In some ways, I went to a fairly strict seminary for my Master of Divinity. My time at Beeson was a healing experience.”

Jernigan said professors were kind and gracious as he plunged into the depths of studying theology and church history. He formed relationships with professors like Robert Smith Jr., Tyshawn Gardner, Mike Pasquarello and Doug Webster. The latter had him over to his house one day for lectures, which Jernigan called a very “meaningful experience.”

Beeson taught Jernigan to preach, he said, with a focus on preaching through the text and preaching the text itself.

“Before, I would have felt a lot of nervousness around the pulpit,” Jernigan said. “Now, I just have a greater sense of joy in the pulpit. I enjoy preaching in the full sense of that word better than ever.”

Jernigan said he has developed a better understanding of what preaching is in the life of the church and of the necessity of the virtuous life of the pastor, which became the topic of his dissertation.

After graduating, Jernigan said he’s excited to have a break from school for the first time in his life.

Jernigan is married to Caroline, and they have six children.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.