ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Canon Law in Church Governance
J.C.D. credential
Explore the decisions, stewardship, and responsibilities that help a church care for its people and stay faithful to its mission.
Doctor of Canon Law in Church Governance: 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 Church Governance is for executive pastors and denominational officers. Administration is where a congregation's stated values meet its actual decisions about money, employment, property and risk. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program treats it as ministry: finance and reserves, governance and polity, employment law, facilities, safeguarding policy, data protection, and the teaching and organisation of generosity.
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 Canon Law in Church Governance 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
- Church Governance - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D.) in Church Governance
- 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
Treat administration as stewardship rather than as distraction from ministry
Maintain finances and records that would withstand external scrutiny
Meet employment, safeguarding, and data protection duties properly
Teach and organise generosity without manipulation
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Produce a church budget with reserves and restricted fund policies
Draft the mandatory policy set for a congregation and a plan to embed it
Conduct a risk assessment covering property, people, and finance
Design a giving programme with clear teaching and transparent reporting
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Church administrator
Executive pastor
Ministry operations director
Denominational finance officer
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 on money and possessions, which a congregation hears from whoever presents the budget as much as from the pulpit.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's law on property, debt, gleaning and jubilee, and what a serious doctrine of stewardship inherits from it.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament's collection, its accounting, and Paul's evident care to be above suspicion in handling other people's money.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrine of stewardship and trusteeship, which makes administration a theological matter rather than an overhead.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Stewardship
Stewardship as a theological category, covering ownership, trusteeship, and the claim that administration is ministry rather than its overhead.
Doctoral Seminar: Church Finance and Budgeting
Church finance, covering budgeting, restricted funds, reserves, reporting, independent examination, and the specific requirements for charities.
Doctoral Seminar: Governance and Polity
Governance and polity, covering the main church polities, trustee and officer duties, constitutions, and the resolution of authority disputes.
Doctoral Seminar: Staff Management and Employment
Employment and staff management, covering contracts, recruitment, performance, grievance and disciplinary process, and the law's requirements.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Facilities and Property
Facilities and property, covering maintenance planning, listed building constraints, lettings, utilities, and capital projects.
Doctoral Seminar: Risk, Insurance, and Safeguarding Policy
Risk, insurance, and safeguarding policy, covering assessment, mandatory policies, training, and the difference between a policy and a practice.
Doctoral Seminar: Systems, Data, and Records
Systems, data, and records, covering membership databases, data protection duties, retention, and secure handling of pastoral information.
Doctoral Seminar: Generosity and Fundraising
Generosity and fundraising, covering teaching on giving, gift aid and equivalents, appeals, legacies, and the ethics of asking.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The spiritual life of a role that is mostly invisible, and the integrity required when nobody is checking.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A governance or finance project: policy, budget or risk framework, implemented and reviewed against external standards.
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 Canon Law
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 Church Governance 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.