If you want to serve God and your community, pastoral leadership is an excellent choice for your bachelor's degree studies.
Earning a B.A. in pastoral leadership will enable you to meet local, national, and global needs in ministry. You will be prepared to serve the People of God at the crossroads between culture and faith and church and society.
Why choose pastoral leadership at Marian?
Pastoral leadership prepares both women and men to serve in various roles and positions in the Christian community.
Marian's curriculum will prepare you collaborate with both ordained and lay people working in ministry, education, and secular non-profit organizations.
Two options are available:
- Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral leadership (54 credits)
- Certificate in Ministry (36 credits with ministry-specific project)
What will you study?
Marian University's B.A. in pastoral leadership emphasizes five critical areas of intentional and comprehensive study:
- Systematic theology
- Pastoral theology
- Christian ministry
- Theological reflection
- Social sciences
All five areas are interdependent, allowing you to build comprehensive, integrated connections to each of these key areas for successful careers in pastoral leadership.
Our curriculum focuses on your educational formation on four fronts: (1) human formation (2) theological formation, (3) spiritual formation, and (4) pastoral formation.
- Human formation seeks to develop the human qualities and attributes of a person by helping to foster a healthy and holistic personality and lifestyle for the sake of personal growth and ministry.
- Theological formation proposes to foster the intellectual capacities in sacred sciences: theology, church history, ecumenism Scripture, liturgy, sacraments, stewardship, and morality
- Spiritual formation aims at the call to holiness and Christian discipleship through coursework, community involvement and interactions, and personal encounters with ongoing relationships.
- Pastoral formation intends to cultivate the practical application of doing ministry with others through coursework, internships, and theological reflection.
Upon completion, you will be:
Marian University's B.A. in pastoral leadership emphasizes five critical areas of intentional and comprehensive study:
- Systematic theology
- Pastoral theology
- Christian ministry
- Theological reflection
- Social sciences
All five areas are interdependent, allowing you to build comprehensive, integrated connections to each of these key areas for successful careers in pastoral leadership.
Marian University's B.A. in pastoral leadership emphasizes five critical areas of intentional and comprehensive study:
- Systematic theology
- Pastoral theology
- Christian ministry
- Theological reflection
- Social sciences
All five areas are interdependent, allowing you to build comprehensive, integrated connections to each of these key areas for successful careers in pastoral leadership.
- Equipped with the practical skills to succeed in Christian ministry and ecclesial service.
- Empowered to provide solid theology grounded in scripture and Christian tradition.
- Engaged to become a transformative leader and catalyst in your church, society, world, and family.
- Exhorted with the knowledge, abilities, and strengths for a successful vocation and career focused on the ministry and mission of Jesus the Christ and his holy Christian church.
Read more about the pastoral leadership program at Marian University.
Sample four-year plan
What are your career paths?
There are numerous opportunities for graduates who have a B.A. in pastoral leadership. Based on your interests and gifts, some career paths you might choose include:
- Coordinator of religious education
- Parish youth minister
- Campus minister
- Theology teacher
- Parish young adult minister
- Parish pastoral associate
- Adolescent pastoral care manager
- Diocesan minister
- Not-for-profit manager
Marian's bachelor's degree curriculum will also prepare you for continued study in a graduate program focused on theology, ministry, or seminary formation leading to ordination. You might also choose to pursue a master's or doctoral degree in fields like social work, mental health counseling, education, or law.
Arthur "Art" Canales, Ph.D. is associate professor of theology. He is a leading expert in the field of Catholic youth ministry and serves as a contributing editor to the document titled the Joy of Adolescent Catechesis: A Letter to Those who Minister with Catholic Teenagers in the United States, which is a joint document for The National Initiative on Adolescent Catechesis, the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2015-16).