ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Ministry in Chaplaincy
D.Min. credential
Practise chaplaincy at a senior level in hospitals, forces, prisons, or workplaces, through a professional doctorate in chaplaincy.
Doctor of Ministry in Chaplaincy: 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
The Doctor of Ministry in chaplaincy is for serving chaplains leading departments and setting professional standards. A senior chaplain runs a department inside an institution that has its own priorities. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University pathway covers the theology of ministry under another authority, advanced crisis and trauma response, plural institutional settings, consent and confidentiality under institutional pressure, clinical teamwork, moral injury, and supervising a department to a professional standard.
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 Ministry in Chaplaincy 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
- Doctor of Ministry: Chaplaincy - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Chaplaincy
- 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
Minister faithfully under an authority that is not the church's
Respond competently to major incidents alongside statutory services
Lead a department to a professional standard
Address moral injury in yourself and in those you supervise
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Produce a departmental standards and supervision framework
Lead a coordinated spiritual care response to a major incident
Resolve an ethical conflict between institutional demand and pastoral duty
Complete a doctoral project evidencing improved institutional spiritual care
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Lead hospital chaplain
Senior military chaplain
Prison chaplaincy director
Chaplaincy educator and supervisor
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
Scripture used well with people of any faith or none, in settings where its use is constrained and sometimes inappropriate.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament on exile and faithful service under a foreign authority, which is the chaplain's structural position.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament on presence, service and the stranger, as the ground of ministry offered rather than requested.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
Doctrine a chaplain is asked about at three in the morning, held clearly enough to answer without retreating into vagueness.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Institutional Ministry
A theology of institutional ministry, covering the position of a minister who serves under another authority as a guest.
Doctoral Seminar: Crisis and Trauma Response
Advanced crisis and trauma response, covering major incidents, the evidence on intervention, and coordination with statutory services.
Doctoral Seminar: Ministry in Plural Institutions
Ministry in plural institutions, covering provision across traditions and none, and integrity without imposition or concealment.
Doctoral Seminar: Ethics, Consent, and Confidentiality
Ethics, consent, and confidentiality, covering institutional pressure, documentation, capacity, and the limits of pastoral privilege.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Working With Clinical Teams
Working with clinical teams, covering contribution to case discussion and translating spiritual care into terms colleagues can use.
Doctoral Seminar: Moral Injury and Chaplain Resilience
Moral injury and chaplain resilience, covering the specific harms of the role and the supervision and support that mitigate them.
Doctoral Seminar: Supervising Chaplaincy Departments
Supervising a chaplaincy department, covering recruitment, standards, training, rota, and accountability to the institution.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctoral Chaplaincy Project
The doctoral chaplaincy project, covering design, intervention in an institutional setting, evaluation, and the written argument.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Moral injury and resilience in a role that absorbs institutional trauma as a matter of routine.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A doctoral chaplaincy project in an institutional setting, with ethics approval, evaluation and a written account.
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 Ministry
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 Chaplaincy 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.