ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Ministry
D.Min. credential
Explore the calling to care for a congregation, share Scripture, guide disciples, and help a local church flourish.
Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral 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
Doctoral study in Pastoral Ministry is for senior ministers researching their own practice. The job is preaching, visiting, leading and administering, all in the same week, for years, among people who will see you at your worst. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program prepares for that whole shape rather than its most visible part, including the governance, safeguarding and conflict nobody enters ministry hoping to do.
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 Pastoral 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
- Pastoral Ministry - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Pastoral 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
Articulate a pastoral theology that can sustain a long ministry
Carry the weekly disciplines of preaching, care, and leadership together
Lead congregational change at a pace a congregation can actually absorb
Handle conflict without either avoiding it or being consumed by it
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Plan a preaching, care, and leadership rhythm that is sustainable over years
Conduct a pastoral visit and judge accurately when to refer
Lead a congregational decision process that is fair and transparent
Analyse a congregational conflict and propose a realistic path through it
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Pastor
Associate pastor
Ministry director
Church planter
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
Handling Scripture as a working pastor: the weekly discipline, the shortcuts that become permanent, and the difference between preparing to preach and reading for yourself.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament a congregation actually needs — its prayers for the suffering, its law for the confused, its prophets for the comfortable.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament on the church: its order, its ministers, its discipline, and the letters written to congregations with recognisable problems.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
The doctrine a pastor teaches whether or not they mean to, set out so that what the congregation absorbs over a decade is something you chose.
Doctoral Seminar: Pastoral Theology
What a pastor is for. The biblical images of shepherd, overseer, and servant, the theology of ordination and call, and the shape of a sustainable ministerial identity.
Doctoral Seminar: Preaching and Homiletics
Sermon preparation and delivery as a weekly discipline, covering text selection, exegetical work, structure, and the realities of preaching to the same people for years.
Doctoral Seminar: Pastoral Care
The pastoral visit, the crisis call, and the long accompaniment: listening, presence, prayer, and the judgement about when care becomes referral.
Doctoral Seminar: Congregational Leadership
Vision, elders and boards, meetings, volunteers, and decision-making, with attention to how a congregation actually changes and who has to agree.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Church Administration
Budgets, buildings, employment, safeguarding, and compliance, treated as pastoral responsibilities rather than distractions from ministry.
Doctoral Seminar: Discipleship and Small Groups
Forming disciples through groups: curriculum, leader development, group life cycles, and the gap between attendance and formation.
Doctoral Seminar: Weddings, Funerals, and Pastoral Rites
Marriage preparation, wedding and funeral practice, baptism, and the pastoral occasions that reach people who never otherwise come.
Doctoral Seminar: Conflict Transformation
Conflict as a normal feature of congregational life: its sources, its escalation, mediation practice, and the pastor's own conduct within it.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The minister's own soul over a long ministry: prayer when it is your job, sabbath, and the reasons people leave the work.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A ministry question researched in your own setting and written up as a piece of practical theology with evidence behind it.
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 Pastoral 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.