ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Ministry in Missions
D.Min. credential
Turn a congregation outward into mission, through a professional doctorate in the sending work of the local church.
Doctor of Ministry in Missions: 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 missions is for leaders building a sending ministry the local church can be accountable for. A missions budget line is not a missions ministry. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University pathway covers what a sending church actually commits to: selecting and preparing senders honestly including refusal, partnership and accountability, funding that does not create dependency, short-term teams assessed on their real effects, and member care across distance and through crisis.
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 Missions 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: Missions - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Missions
- 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
Ground a congregation's missions ministry in a whole-Bible theology
Select and prepare senders honestly, including refusal
Fund mission without creating dependency
Care for those sent across distance and through crisis
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Produce a sending church policy covering selection, funding, and care
Assess a funding relationship for dependency and redesign it
Evaluate a short-term programme against evidence of its effects
Complete a doctoral project evidencing improved sending practice
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Missions pastor
Sending church director
Agency mobilization leader
Missions educator
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 that grounds a congregation's mission theology in the whole canon rather than in two commission texts.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament on the nations, which is where any adequate theology of mission has to begin.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
Acts and the Pauline letters read for the sending church's role rather than only the sent worker's.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrine that decides funding and partnership: the church's unity, and what equality between unequal partners requires.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Mission
A theology of mission adequate to a local church's sending, drawn from the whole biblical narrative.
Doctoral Seminar: The Sending Local Church
The sending local church, covering its responsibilities, the relationship with agencies, and what sending actually commits a congregation to.
Doctoral Seminar: Selecting and Preparing Senders
Selecting and preparing senders, covering assessment, character and competence, pre-field preparation, and the honest refusal of unsuitable candidates.
Doctoral Seminar: Partnership and Accountability
Partnership and accountability, covering agreements, reporting, funding conditions, and the distinction between accountability and control.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Funding Mission Responsibly
Funding mission responsibly, covering support models, the effects of foreign money on local churches, and dependency.
Doctoral Seminar: Short-Term Teams Done Well
Short-term teams, covering the evidence on their effects, the harm they can cause, and the conditions under which they help.
Doctoral Seminar: Member Care From a Distance
Member care from a distance, covering communication, crisis response, re-entry, and the sending church's continuing obligations.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctoral Missions Project
The doctoral missions project, covering design, intervention, evaluation, and the written argument.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Formation for senders as well as the sent, and the congregational spirituality that sustains a long commitment.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A doctoral missions project on sending, funding or member care, implemented and evaluated honestly.
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 Missions 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.