Grace Theological Seminary Adds Worship Leadership Concentration to its Master of Arts in Christian Ministry

The 48-credit hour degree, formerly called Master of Arts in Local Church Ministry, will also continue to offer concentrations in chaplaincy, intercultural studies, local church ministry, and women’s leadership.

“Changing the name allows us to introduce more concentrations that expand beyond the umbrella of local church ministry,” said Dr. Mark Bowald the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry program director at Grace Seminary. “Each of our concentrations will require the essential core classes in theology, hermeneutics, spiritual formation, and prayer but will offer a variety of specialized courses to appeal to ministry leaders in the church as well as in other areas of ministry.”

For instance, the new worship leadership concentration is being added in response to the voiced desires of undergraduate worship arts students at Grace College.

“The worship leadership concentration will benefit both undergraduate worship arts and music production majors, as well as students who already have an undergraduate degree and may want to add a master’s,” said Dr. Wally Brath, the director of the worship arts program at Grace who helped develop the curriculum for the new concentration. “We are also hoping to offer the master’s in worship leadership degree as an online option in the future.”

Through the school’s accelerated bachelor’s and master’s degree program, worship arts students will now have the opportunity to earn a worship-related bachelor’s and master’s degree in four years.

“Whether you are a current student in the School of Ministry Studies at Grace, an external candidate preparing for ministry, or a local resident already engaged in ministry, the MA in Christian Ministry is a great degree for those who want to pursue postgraduate theological study but don’t want to commit to a traditional 75-credit hour M.Div.,” said Rob Nuefer, director of seminary admissions at Grace.

The new residential degrees are now receiving applications for enrollment this fall.

For more information about these programs and Grace Theological Seminary, visit seminary@grace.edu. To learn more about the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, contact Rob Neufer at robert.neufer@grace.edu.