M.A. in Youth Ministry

Overview

The purpose of the Master of Arts in Youth Ministry is to prepare students for a vocation of evangelizing, teaching, discipling and counseling youth during a season of life characterized by pivotal developmental changes— physical, emotional, intellectual, social, moral and spiritual. Students will be equipped to establish and develop ministries— for middle school through high school and the college years—that draw youth to Jesus, nurture them in Christian obedience and faith, and empower them in ministry for Christ.

Program Goals

• Articulate a practical theology of youth ministry that is grounded in the Biblical narrative and orthodox theology and informed by human sciences, historical insights, and life experience.
• Demonstrate competency in practices of leadership, teaching, evangelism, and nurture to and with adolescents in order to equip congregations and organizations in the making of lifelong disciples.
• Analyze cultural settings in order to contextualize the Christian faith for the purpose of communicating the Gospel.
• Demonstrate enhanced understanding and commitment to personal and social holiness through practices of moral, personal, and spiritual formation, in a context of accountability to a community of faith, and dependence on the Spirit of Christ.