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Master of Arts in Children’s Ministry

The Master of Arts Children’s Ministry is designed to equip children’s ministers to understand the needs of children, explore the principles of best strategies in teaching and reaching children, and implement ministry that impacts not only the child but the family. The program provides foundations in theological, educational, and practical programming for effective children’s ministry. It combines academic training and practical ministry application that focus intentionally on the world children live in and the faith they need to follow Christ for the rest of their lives. The program consists of 18 hours of required core curriculum and 18 hours of children’s ministry curriculum, for a total of 36 hours.

In addition to previously stated admission requirements, the following program-specific requirements must be met:

  • Evidence that the student is a Christian and is compatible with DBU's mission by proven conduct in accordance with Christian standards set forth in the Bible, announced intent, and by church involvement.

  • Church Membership Requirement (for admission into the EDD in Educational Leadership—all concentrations, PHD in Leadership Studies’ Ministry Concentration, Master’s Ministry Degrees, and Advanced Ministry Certificate Programs): Within the last 12 months, the applicant must have been an active member of a Christian church that holds Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who holds solely the Old Testament and the New Testament as sacred Scripture.

Graduate School of Ministry Portfolio

Dallas Baptist University’s Ministry Degree Programs seek to provide an academic experience that enables all candidates to engage and impact Christian Ministries of the 21st century. The Portfolio is designed to be an individualized collection of documents that represent the candidate’s preparation for future ministry positions, demonstrating the candidate’s ongoing knowledge, skills, and ministry experiences.   

The Graduate School of Ministry provides candidates the opportunity for self-reflection through the compilation of documents in an electronic Portfolio. Documents in the Portfolio may include Signature Assignments, Resume, and Philosophy of Ministry among others.  

Throughout the program, the candidate will collect designated documents and upload them to the Portfolio within Blackboard. The Portfolio will be used to assess development as the candidate proceeds through their designated ministry program.  It is the candidate’s responsibility to meet with their GSOM Program Director to discuss the Portfolio required documents prior to graduation.

REQUISITES

  • Old Testament Survey

  • New Testament Survey

Requisites may be met with equivalent courses from another institution or from a passing grade on the GSOM Old Testament and New Testament equivalency exams and do not count toward degree completion.

course

Credit hours

Core Courses

18

MINS 5302 - Ministry Research and Writing Across Media

MINS 5303 - Foundations of Spiritual Life

MINS 6305 - Ministry Mentorship (S-L)

THEO 5313 - Applied Hermeneutics

THEO 6305 - Christian History and Heritage

THEO 6306 - Systematic Theology

Program Specific Courses

9

MACH 5312 - Ministry with Children

MACH 6311 - Early Childhood Ministry

MACH 6351 - Children and the Christian Faith*

Concentrations

9

General Concentration

MACH 6352 - Advanced Childhood Ministry* (S-L)

And select two of the following:

MACH 6315 - Ministry to Children with Special Needs

MACH 6350 - Ministry in Church Weekday Education Ministries

MACH 6354 - Research: Faith Formation in Childhood** (S-L)

MAFM 6353 - Ministry to Families


Special Needs Children’s Ministry Concentration

MACH 6315 - Ministry to Children with Special Needs

MACH 6316 - Advanced Ministry to Children with Special Needs (S-L)

Select one of the following:

EDUC 6304 - Improvement of Instruction

EDUC 6308 - The School and Multicultural Society

MACH 5313 - Disability and Suffering

MAFM 6353 - Ministry to Families

SPED 5310 - Introduction to Exceptional Learners

SPED 5350 - Teaching Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities

Total Credit Hours Required

36

  *Requisites MACH 5312 and MACH 6311

**Requisites MACH 5312, MACH 6311, MACH 6351, MAFM 6353

(S-L)=Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Find course descriptions by category under the Graduate Course Descriptions section in the navigation panel.