ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Master of Arts in Diaspora Ministry
M.A. credential
Explore Christian hospitality and ministry with refugees, migrants, and families building a home and community in a new place.
Master of Arts in Diaspora Ministry: Your Grant Price
Applications are free. Eligible applicants receive their admission and Grant decision before any one-time program fee is requested.
Published tuition
$14,900.00
$599.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$99
Master's 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
The M.A. in Diaspora Ministry works on trauma, advocacy and diaspora church formation. People arrive with paperwork problems, language difficulty, trauma and often a church of their own. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program covers migration theologically, the asylum and immigration systems as they actually operate, hospitality that confers dignity rather than dependence, trauma among the displaced, and diaspora congregations as churches rather than as projects.
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 Master of Arts in Diaspora Ministry 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
- Diaspora Ministry - Master Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Master of Arts (M.A.) in Diaspora Ministry
- 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 study, spiritual maturity, and ministry wisdom for Christian leadership
Reason theologically about migration from the biblical material on sojourn
Understand asylum and immigration systems well enough to accompany people through them
Practise hospitality in ways that confer dignity rather than dependence
Support diaspora congregations as churches rather than as projects
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize advanced biblical and theological evidence for clear teaching, leadership, and ministry judgment
Map the systems a newly arrived family must navigate and plan accompaniment
Design a congregational welcome that is practical and non-condescending
Respond to trauma among displaced people in culturally appropriate ways
Build a partnership between a host congregation and a diaspora church
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Diaspora ministry leader
Refugee services director
Intercultural pastor
Christian relief agency staff
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.
Advanced Biblical Interpretation
Reading Scripture across a language barrier, with interpreters, and in congregations where three languages are present at once.
Advanced Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's law for the sojourner and its narratives of exile, which are the church's primary theological resource here.
Advanced New Testament Theology
The New Testament's scattered churches and the theology of a people who are resident aliens by definition.
Advanced Christian Doctrine
Doctrine held by people who have lost almost everything else, and the questions displacement forces about providence and belonging.
Advanced Theology of Migration and Sojourn
Migration in Scripture, covering exile, sojourn, and the treatment of the stranger, and the theological claims those texts make on receiving communities.
Advanced Refugee Realities and Systems
How the systems actually work, covering asylum processes, status, entitlement, detention, and the practical realities facing a displaced family.
Advanced Hospitality as Christian Practice
Hospitality as a Christian practice rather than a programme, covering its history, its demands, and the ways it can be offered without condescension.
Advanced Language and Cultural Adjustment
Language acquisition and cultural adjustment, covering the stages, the losses involved, and congregational practice that helps and hinders.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Advanced Trauma Among the Displaced
Trauma among displaced people, covering pre-flight, flight, and resettlement stressors, and culturally appropriate responses.
Advanced Diaspora Church Formation
How diaspora congregations form and develop, covering language, generational tension, leadership, and relationship with host churches.
Advanced Advocacy and Legal Partnership
Advocacy and legal partnership, covering the limits of untrained advice, working with practitioners, and accompaniment through a process.
Advanced Reverse Mission and Global Networks
Mission moving in every direction, covering diaspora churches as senders and the networks that link congregations across continents.
Advanced Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Hospitality as a spiritual discipline with limits, and the formation required to keep offering it without burning out.
Advanced Integrative Theology and Ministry
A diaspora ministry project in partnership with a displaced community, evaluated for whose priorities it actually served.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official transcripts showing preparation appropriate to graduate theological study
- Statement of theological, academic, and ministry goals
- Current resume or curriculum vitae
- Two ministry, professional, or academic recommendations
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Master of Arts
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 36 graduate semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every graduate-core, specialization, elective, and comprehensive 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 graduate theological understanding and ministry judgment through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, recognizing advanced learning developed through prior study and service.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate Core | 21 | 7 courses. Required advanced theory, methods, and professional competencies of the discipline. |
| Graduate Specialization | 9 | 3 courses. Focused graduate study in an approved concentration or practice area. |
| Graduate Elective | 3 | 1 course. Any master-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated graduate theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 36 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
36 credit hours
Up to 18 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
12 courses
Across 4 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Master
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Diaspora Ministry 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.