Partners in pilgrimage: Inside Abbey Weaver’s dissertation journey

For many Doctor of Ministry students, the dissertation process quickly evolves from an academic requirement to a deeply personal journey shaped by ministry and lived experience. For Abbey Weaver, who graduated from Perkins in May 2026, that journey centered on a question she encountered every week in youth ministry: How can the Church walk alongside adolescents facing overwhelming cultural pressure while helping them discover their identity in Christ?

Director of Youth Ministries at First United Methodist Church Rockwall, Weaver’s dissertation, Partners in Pilgrimage, emerged directly from conversations with students from her ministry navigating academic expectations, extracurricular demands and fears of failure. Again and again, she encountered teenagers who were gifted and faithful but quietly exhausted by the pressure to perform.

Real-world observations

Weaver’s research explores adolescence as a sacred season of formation. Drawing from her ministry experiences with suburban teenagers, the project examines how achievement-driven culture can overshadow spiritual identity and leave young people without a theological framework for understanding their lives.

“What I have seen is that these narratives can overshadow their spiritual identity and leave them without a framework for understanding where God is in the midst of their daily lives,” Weaver says. “That gap created within me a desire for deeper pastoral wisdom,” she says. “How can the Church speak meaningfully into the realities these teens are living?”

14 months of discipline

While the final dissertation focused on spiritual formation and ministry practice, the process behind the project required consistent commitment to reflection and practice.

For 14 months, Weaver’s mornings followed a steady rhythm: Wake up, make tea or coffee, spend time in prayer and devotion, then write for 45 minutes before the day fully began. Some mornings produced an entire page. Others resulted in only a few usable sentences – or paragraphs later moved into a separate document simply titled “Scraps.”

“Breaking the work into smaller pieces helped me stay focused and avoided the overwhelm of tackling large, undefined tasks,” Weaver says. “As deadlines approached, I occasionally added evening or weekend writing sessions, but I made a concerted effort to avoid last-minute rushes.”

Staying spiritually grounded during the process also became essential. Throughout the coursework and dissertation phases, Weaver continually returned to questions of calling and purpose: Why did this work matter? Why had she begun the program? How was God present in the process?

“Reflecting on these questions grounded me in a deeper awareness of Divine presence in my life,” she says. “It reminded me of God’s love that sustained me each day.”

Unexpected development

Like many doctoral students, Weaver also encountered moments of uncertainty. One of the most difficult sections involved research-heavy analysis of data related to adolescent achievement culture and societal pressures – work that stretched beyond her expertise.

When she felt stuck, Weaver relied on brainstorming exercises, conversations with mentors and a constant return to the broader purpose of the project. Faculty support at Perkins also played a critical role throughout the process. Advisors, readers, cohort peers and staff members provided guidance, accountability and encouragement from the earliest proposal stages through the final defense.

The dissertation itself evolved significantly over time. Chapters were restructured, practical applications were rewritten and several ideas that once seemed central became smaller supporting points in the final draft.

“That evolution was an important part of the process,” Weaver says, “allowing the project to become more focused, integrated and reflective of what I ultimately wanted to communicate.”

A steady conclusion

Even the dissertation defense challenged some common assumptions about doctoral work. Rather than focusing solely on proving expertise, the D.Min. defense emphasized ministry application, formation and the practical implications of the research for the Church.

Unexpectedly, the moment she anticipated most, defending years of work before her committee, became one of the calmest parts of the entire journey.

“I felt completely calm,” Weaver says. “I attribute that sense of peace to the presence of God’s Spirit, the many hours I had spent in prayer, and the confidence that came from the hard work and dedication I had invested throughout the process.”

Looking back, her advice for future D.Min. students is rooted in the same themes that shaped both her ministry and her dissertation: Trust, community and grace.

“Hold on to your sense of calling and keep your goals in front of you,” Weaver said. “Lean into your community and truly receive their encouragement; you were not meant to do this alone.”