ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Ministry in Youth Ministry
D.Min. credential
Lead a youth ministry that lasts beyond graduation, through a professional doctorate in youth ministry.
Doctor of Ministry in Youth 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 youth ministry is for experienced leaders building ministry that holds young people into adulthood. The longitudinal research on why young people leave has been available for years and has changed very little youth ministry. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University pathway starts there: adolescent development and faith, what the retention evidence actually shows, teaching doctrine to teenagers, safeguarding as a culture, volunteer teams, and building the transition into adult membership.
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 Youth 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: Youth Ministry - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Youth 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
Plan youth ministry from the evidence on retention rather than from assumption
Teach doctrine to teenagers with full intellectual seriousness
Make safeguarding a culture rather than a policy document
Build transition into adult membership rather than retention alone
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Analyse retention evidence and redesign a ministry in the light of it
Produce a doctrinal teaching plan for adolescents that takes doubt seriously
Audit and strengthen a safeguarding culture beyond its written policy
Complete a doctoral project evidencing improved transition into adult membership
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Lead youth pastor
Denominational youth director
Youth ministry trainer
Camp and campus ministry leader
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
Teaching Scripture to adolescents at full intellectual weight, including the texts they raise as objections and are rarely answered on.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's hard material, which young people ask about directly and which evasion permanently discredits.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament taught to people forming an identity, and the difference between inherited and owned faith.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrinal thinness that the evidence links to later disengagement, audited across a whole youth programme.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Youth Ministry
A theology of youth ministry, covering the young person's standing as a present member of the church rather than a future one.
Doctoral Seminar: Adolescent Development and Faith
Adolescent development and faith, covering identity formation, cognitive change, and the developmental account of doubt.
Doctoral Seminar: Why Young People Leave the Church
Why young people leave, covering the longitudinal evidence, the factors that actually predict retention, and the explanations that do not survive the data.
Doctoral Seminar: Teaching Doctrine to Teenagers
Teaching doctrine to teenagers, covering intellectual seriousness, the handling of hard questions, and the cost of a thin theological diet.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Safeguarding and Duty of Care
Safeguarding and duty of care, covering policy, safer recruitment, supervision, recognition, reporting, and the culture that makes policy real.
Doctoral Seminar: Volunteers and Leadership Teams
Volunteers and leadership teams, covering recruitment, training, retention, supervision, and realistic expectation of volunteer capacity.
Doctoral Seminar: Transition Into Adult Membership
Transition into adult membership, covering the eighteen-year cliff, the practices that carry young people across it, and intergenerational relationship.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctoral Youth Ministry Project
The doctoral youth ministry project, covering design, intervention, evaluation, and the written argument.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Formation for young people and for the leaders who burn out around them, and the practices that outlast the youth group.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A doctoral youth ministry project on transition or retention, with evidence, intervention and honest evaluation.
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 Youth 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.