M.A. in Pastoral Ministry

• Students will be grounded in the wisdom of the Catholic Church.  The curriculum is divided into two parts.  The first part exposes students to the depths of the deposit of faith.  The second part exposes students to ministerial formation for practical application.  A grounding in both the doctrinal and the ministerial is essential for any lay minister.  Doctrine must always be in service to the People of God, and ministry must always be anchored in the Church’s teaching.  

• The online M.A. in Pastoral Ministry Program exceeds the curricular guidelines established by the USCCB’s document Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: A Resource for Guiding the Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry.  The curriculum (12 Courses for 36 Hours) consists of:
  • The Old Testament and Its Interpretation
  • The New Testament and Its Interpretation
  • Dogmatic Theology
  • Church History
  • Moral Theology
  • Catholic Social Teaching
  • Pastoral Ministry in Theory and Practice
  • Liturgical and Sacramental Theology
  • Spiritual Theology and Practice
  • The Nature and Order of the Church
  • Pastoral Care for Marriage and Families
  • Practicum

Application process

• Students will read and discuss the best texts that the Catholic Tradition has to offer, including St. Augustine’s Confessions, St. Francis De Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life, documents from Vatican II, St. John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, and many others.
• Students will watch video lectures.  A studio with professional video, audio, and lighting equipment has been built to produce visually stunning content by our world-class faculty.