ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Ministry in Christian Leadership
D.Min. credential
Raise up leaders whose character matches their competence, through a professional doctorate in Christian leadership.
Doctor of Ministry in Christian Leadership: 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 Christian leadership is for senior leaders forming character in those they lead. Character in leaders is formed or it is not, and hoping for it has a poor record. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University pathway covers the theology of Christian leadership, how character is actually formed, mentoring and apprenticeship, authority and its accountability, leadership failure and when restoration is even appropriate, and building a pipeline that produces leaders.
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 Christian Leadership 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: Christian Leadership - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Christian Leadership
- 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
Form character in leaders deliberately rather than hoping for it
Hold ministerial power accountably and build safeguards in advance
Handle leadership failure with the harmed party's interests first
Build a pipeline that produces leaders rather than recruiting them
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Design a leader formation pathway with stages and assessment points
Draft accountability safeguards covering power, money, and conduct
Produce a policy for responding to leadership failure that centres those harmed
Complete a doctoral project evidencing leader formation over time
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Senior pastor
Leadership development director
Denominational leader
Ministry leadership coach
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
Exegesis of the character and calling texts, done carefully enough to resist the leadership-literature reading of them.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's leaders with their failures intact, and what the narrative declines to excuse in David, Solomon and the rest.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament's qualifications for office, which are almost entirely about character rather than competence.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrine of sin as it applies to leaders specifically, and the safeguards a serious account of it requires.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Christian Leadership
A theology of Christian leadership, covering the account of authority it presupposes and its difference from leadership in other institutions.
Doctoral Seminar: Character Formation in Leaders
How character is actually formed in leaders, covering habit, community, testing, and the evidence against character as an innate trait.
Doctoral Seminar: Mentoring and Apprenticeship
Mentoring and apprenticeship, covering structure, duration, modelling, feedback, and why apprenticeship outperforms curriculum in leader formation.
Doctoral Seminar: Authority, Power, and Accountability
Authority, power, and accountability, covering the sources of ministerial power, its abuse, and the safeguards that must precede a crisis.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Leadership Failure and Restoration
Leadership failure and restoration, covering disqualification, process, the interests of those harmed, and the conditions under which restoration is even appropriate.
Doctoral Seminar: Building Leadership Pipelines
Building leadership pipelines, covering identification, development stages, and the institutional habits that produce leaders rather than importing them.
Doctoral Seminar: Assessing Leader Readiness
Assessing readiness, covering competence, character, and the instruments and processes used to judge both.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctoral Christian Leadership Project
The doctoral project in Christian leadership, covering design, intervention, evaluation, and the written argument.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The leader's interior life, where character is actually formed or lost, and the accountability that makes it visible.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A doctoral project in leader formation: a pipeline or apprenticeship designed, run, and evaluated over time.
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 Christian Leadership 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.