ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Master of Arts in Worship Leadership
M.A. credential
Explore how music, Scripture, prayer, and thoughtful leadership can draw a congregation into meaningful Christian worship.
Master of Arts in Worship 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
$14,900.00
$599.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$99
Master's 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 M.A. in Worship Leadership works on planning, repertoire and worship across cultures and ages. A service teaches a theology through its shape, not only through its sermon. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program covers the biblical and historical material, the relation of word, prayer, song and table, service planning as a coherent act, congregational song people can actually sing, and worship traditions well outside the one you grew up in.
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 Master of Arts in Worship 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
- Worship Leadership - Master Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Master of Arts (M.A.) in Worship 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 study, spiritual maturity, and ministry wisdom for Christian leadership
State a theology of worship that governs planning decisions
Lead in a way that forms participants rather than an audience
Plan services whose shape carries theological meaning
Choose repertoire a congregation can genuinely sing
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize advanced biblical and theological evidence for clear teaching, leadership, and ministry judgment
Plan a service whose structure reflects a stated theology of worship
Assess a congregation's repertoire for singability and theological range
Lead a gathering that increases congregational participation
Design a seasonal plan across the Christian year
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Worship pastor
Sacred music director
Liturgical planner
Worship ministry 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.
Advanced Biblical Interpretation
Scripture in the service: reading, preaching, and the older practice of a liturgy largely composed of the text itself.
Advanced Old Testament Theology
Temple, psalm and festival as the Old Testament's worship material, and the continuities the church claimed and abandoned.
Advanced New Testament Theology
The New Testament's gathered assembly, the Lord's Supper, and the surprisingly little it prescribes about how to do any of it.
Advanced Christian Doctrine
The doctrine a service enacts, since the order of elements makes theological claims whether or not the planner intended them.
Advanced Biblical Theology of Worship
Worship in the biblical material, covering temple, synagogue, and the New Testament assembly, and the theological claims about what happens when the church gathers.
Advanced History of Christian Worship
How Christians have worshipped, covering early liturgy, medieval development, Reformation revision, and the modern movements that shaped current practice.
Advanced Pastoral Worship Leadership
Leading worship pastorally, covering the leader's role, the congregation as participant, and the difference between leading and performing.
Advanced Sacred Music and Congregational Song
Congregational song, covering repertoire, singability, theological content, and the question of what a congregation can actually sing together.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Advanced Liturgy and the Christian Year
Liturgy and the Christian year, covering structure, seasons, lectionary, and what an ordered calendar forms in a congregation over time.
Advanced Worship Planning
Planning services, covering shape, flow, the relation of word and table, and collaboration between preacher, musician, and technical team.
Advanced Technology and Worship
Technology in worship, covering amplification, projection, and streaming, and the ways each changes what the congregation does.
Advanced Global Worship Traditions
Worship traditions around the world, covering the range of practice and the questions raised by borrowing across cultures.
Advanced Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The worship leader's own prayer, which is the first casualty of making worship a professional responsibility.
Advanced Integrative Theology and Ministry
A service or season planned so every element serves one theological claim, led and then evaluated against stated criteria.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official transcripts showing preparation appropriate to graduate theological study
- Statement of theological, academic, and ministry goals
- Current resume or curriculum vitae
- Two ministry, professional, or academic recommendations
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Master of Arts
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 36 graduate semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every graduate-core, specialization, elective, and comprehensive 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 graduate theological understanding and ministry judgment through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, recognizing advanced learning developed through prior study and service.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate Core | 21 | 7 courses. Required advanced theory, methods, and professional competencies of the discipline. |
| Graduate Specialization | 9 | 3 courses. Focused graduate study in an approved concentration or practice area. |
| Graduate Elective | 3 | 1 course. Any master-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated graduate theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 36 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
36 credit hours
Up to 18 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
12 courses
Across 4 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Master
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Worship 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.