ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Christian Education in Disciple Multiplication
D.C.E. credential
Discover how to help people grow in Christian faith and pass on what they learn through teaching, mentoring, and everyday example.
Doctor of Christian Education in Disciple Multiplication: Your Grant Price
Applications are free. Eligible applicants receive their admission and Grant decision before any one-time program fee is requested.
Published tuition
$24,900.00
$649.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$149
Doctoral Degree
2026 Life in Christ Grant is active
Ministry Experience, Evaluated Against Academic Standards.
Documented prior learning may be considered when it aligns with program outcomes; every credit decision follows academic review.
Program Overview
About this program
Doctoral study in Disciple Multiplication is for those directing educational ministry and writing curriculum. Attendance is not formation, and most church education measures the first while hoping for the second. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program teaches curriculum designed backwards from outcomes, the evidence on how adults and children actually learn, teacher formation, and assessment honest enough to tell you whether anything is being retained.
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Recognition of demonstrated learning in theology and ministry
Experienced ministry practitioners demonstrate competencies developed through years of service, theological study, and continuing learning. The assessment connects that learning with the published outcomes of the Doctor of Christian Education in Disciple Multiplication through biblical understanding, theological reflection, research, and ministry judgment.
70
Audited questions in this pathway bank
30
Questions drawn for each sitting
60 minutes
Time available for the knowledge component
24 hours
Interval before reassessment
Theological knowledge and degree outcomes
- Published bank title
- Disciple Multiplication - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Christian Education (D.C.E.) in Disciple Multiplication
- Question construction
- 14 pathway subject-bank sources contribute 5 questions each, producing the complete 70-question bank.
How completion is reported
- The knowledge component contributes 40% and assessed ministry experience contributes 60% to one weighted result.
- The reported result is no lower than 80%, matching the 80% degree pass mark.
- Reassessment draws a fresh question set and is included in program access, with no additional fee or limit on sittings.
- The integrated assessment covers the published degree plan; separate course assessments, a capstone paper, and a dissertation defense are not required.
Program Objectives
What you will achieve
Integrate advanced theological inquiry and ministry judgment in service to the church and its mission
Design formation that produces change rather than attendance
Teach Scripture in a way that causes learning rather than covering material
Build curriculum backwards from stated outcomes
Connect children's, youth, and adult formation into one strategy
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Design a curriculum with outcomes, sequence, and assessment
Teach a session and evaluate it against its stated learning outcomes
Build an integrated formation pathway across age groups
Adapt a course for effective delivery at a distance
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Christian education director
Discipleship pastor
Youth or family minister
Theological curriculum designer
Major Subject Areas
The fourteen subjects you study, and the ones the ministry assessment draws on
Foundational and Major-Core Subjects
Four foundations every pathway shares, then four that belong to this field.
Doctoral Seminar: Biblical Interpretation
Teaching Scripture so that learning happens rather than material is covered, which are different achievements and are regularly confused.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's own pedagogy — the festivals, the household catechesis, the stones set up so children would ask.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament on teaching and the teaching office, and the formation the first congregations actually received.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrine a curriculum carries, since what is taught across a decade is a theology whether or not anyone designed it.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Christian Education
What Christian education is for, covering formation and information, the teaching office of the church, and the ends by which a programme should be judged.
Doctoral Seminar: Teaching the Bible
Teaching Scripture to groups, covering preparation, questioning, discussion management, and the difference between covering material and causing learning.
Doctoral Seminar: Discipleship and Formation
Discipleship as a designed process rather than an accumulation of events, including practices, accountability, and measurable formation.
Doctoral Seminar: Curriculum Design for Ministry
Curriculum design from outcomes backwards, covering scope and sequence, assessment, materials selection, and adaptation to a specific congregation.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Children and Family Ministry
Ministry with children and their families, covering developmental stages, safeguarding, family partnership, and the evidence on what forms lasting faith.
Doctoral Seminar: Youth Ministry
Youth ministry within a whole-church educational strategy, covering adolescence, belonging, and transition rather than programme alone.
Doctoral Seminar: Adult Faith Formation
Adult formation, covering andragogy, the resistance adults bring, small group design, and the teaching of doctrine to people who are busy.
Doctoral Seminar: Digital Theological Education
Teaching theology at a distance, covering course design, cohort formation, assessment integrity, and what is genuinely lost and gained online.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The teacher's own formation, and the gap between knowing the material and being changed by it.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A curriculum designed with outcomes, sequence and assessment, delivered and evaluated for retention.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Master's degree in theology, ministry, or a relevant field from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official graduate transcripts demonstrating advanced academic preparation
- Research statement identifying a proposed area of theological or ministry inquiry
- Scholarly or ministry-focused writing sample
- Current curriculum vitae documenting relevant research, church, or ministry leadership experience
- Three ministry or academic recommendations and a faculty interview
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Doctor of Christian Education
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 60 doctoral semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every doctoral-core, research-methods, specialization, elective, and Competency-Based Ministry Assessment requirement group
- Integrate theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience under the published result-weighting policy
- Recognize demonstrated learning against every published degree-plan requirement
Culminating Experience
Demonstrate doctoral-level theological synthesis, research judgment, and ministry leadership through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, combining theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Doctoral Core | 24 | 8 courses. Doctoral theory, disciplinary foundations, and scholarly leadership. |
| Research Design and Methods | 12 | 4 courses. University-wide doctoral preparation in quantitative, qualitative, measurement, and research-ethics competencies. |
| Area of Specialization | 15 | 5 courses. Focused doctoral inquiry supporting the learner's research agenda. |
| Doctoral Elective | 6 | 2 courses. Any doctoral-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated doctoral theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 60 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
60 credit hours
Up to 30 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
20 courses
Across 5 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Doctorate
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Disciple Multiplication Degree?
Applying costs nothing, and the work you have already done may count. Have a look at what this pathway asks for before you decide.