ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Ministry in Intercultural Ministry
D.Min. credential
Serve well across cultural difference at home or abroad, through a professional doctorate in intercultural ministry.
Doctor of Ministry in Intercultural 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
$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 intercultural ministry is for leaders of congregations where more than one culture must belong. In most multicultural congregations one culture is the unmarked default and everyone else is accommodating. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University pathway names that: gospel and culture, intercultural communication, power and privilege inside a congregation, leading so that more than one culture genuinely belongs, language access, conflict across differing norms, and assessing intercultural competence.
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 Intercultural 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
- Doctor of Ministry: Intercultural Ministry - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Intercultural 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 inquiry and ministry judgment in service to the church and its mission
Recognise majority culture operating as an unmarked default
Lead so that more than one culture genuinely belongs
Mediate conflict without privileging one cultural style
Develop intercultural competence in yourself and in leaders
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Audit a congregation for where majority culture functions as default
Design worship and governance for genuine multicultural belonging
Mediate a cross-cultural conflict and document the approach
Complete a doctoral project evidencing increased intercultural belonging
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Multicultural church pastor
Intercultural ministry director
Diaspora ministry leader
Intercultural trainer
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
Reading Scripture in a congregation where several cultures hear the same passage differently, and treating that as a resource.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament on the stranger within the community, and the legal provision made for people who were not from there.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament's table controversies, where the question of who eats with whom was a theological question.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrine of the one body composed of those who would not otherwise associate, which is the point at issue.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Gospel and Culture
Gospel and culture, covering the theological account of their relation and the impossibility of a culture-free presentation.
Doctoral Seminar: Intercultural Communication
Intercultural communication, covering worldview, context, honour and shame, and the misreadings that recur in multicultural congregations.
Doctoral Seminar: Power, Privilege, and Ministry
Power, privilege, and ministry, covering the asymmetries inside a multicultural church and the ways majority culture operates as default.
Doctoral Seminar: Leading Multicultural Congregations
Leading multicultural congregations, covering worship, leadership representation, decision norms, and the difference between diversity and belonging.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Language Access and Translation
Language access and translation, covering interpretation in worship, translated materials, and the cost of doing it badly.
Doctoral Seminar: Conflict Across Cultural Difference
Conflict across cultural difference, covering differing conflict norms and mediation that does not privilege one style.
Doctoral Seminar: Assessing Intercultural Competence
Assessing intercultural competence, covering the instruments available, their limits, and development pathways for leaders.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctoral Intercultural Ministry Project
The doctoral intercultural ministry project, covering design, intervention, evaluation, and the written argument.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The leader's own cultural formation, usually invisible to them and obvious to everyone else.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A doctoral intercultural project auditing default culture and evaluating change in actual belonging.
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 Intercultural 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.