Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
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MA in CMC

Master of Arts in Chaplaincy and Ministry Care

The local church can reach to places it otherwise couldn’t through the ministry of chaplains. Chaplains serve in hospitals, retirement homes, prisons, hospice facilities, fire and police services, sports organizations, and corporate settings.

In every chaplain is a pastor, a missionary, a teacher, a counselor, and a front-lines witness, and our MA in Chaplaincy and Ministry Care gives you the tools and spiritual formation needed to minister with excellence.

If you are interested in military chaplaincy, an MDiv is required, though our Chaplaincy degree is an ideal supplement and can be completed alongside your MDiv at TEDS.

Master of Arts in Chaplaincy and Ministry Care

Where can this degree take me?

The Master of Arts in Chaplaincy and Ministry Care (MA in CMC) is designed to develop pastoral and spiritual life counseling skills. This degree has three prime applications:

  • As a stand-alone degree, it offers excellent preparation for those who will serve in local churches in a direct helping ministries or in public settings as a chaplain.
  • It combines easily with additional theological coursework for those who desire to serve in the role of chaplain (i.e. spiritual care provider) in ministry, healthcare, first-responder, church or business organization.
  • If you are interested in military chaplaincy, an MDiv is required, though our Chaplaincy degree is an ideal supplement and can be completed alongside your MDiv at TEDS.

The emphasis of the MA in CMC is on direct, interpersonal communication and face-to-face engagement with those seeking spiritual care. The variety of counseling training options available at Trinity requires careful assessment prior to beginning a program of study. In addition to the MA in CMC, students will also want to consider the Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling*, since the MA in CMC degree recipient is not eligible for a license as a mental health counselor. However, credentials as a professional chaplain are obtainable with this degree as a foundation (i.e. Association of Professional Chaplains). Board certification requires 72 hours from a graduate theological institution and is feasible by combining the MA in CMC degree with further theological coursework (i.e. Master of Arts in Theological Studies or Master of Divinity). For board certification the graduate will need to secure three additional units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and obtain formal endorsement or ordination from your church community or denomination.

* The MA in CMC replaces our former Master of Arts in Counseling Ministry. Our admissions team is happy to provide detailed information on the programs we currently have available to help students select the one most appropriate for their career path.

What will I study?

Courses you’ll take include the following:

  • Biblical and Theological Studies - 12 hours

    Required:

    ID 5000 Biblical Theology and Interpretation 3 hours
    ST 5201 Theology I: The God of the Gospel 3 hours
    ST 5202 Theology II: The Gospel of God 3 hours
    CO 6710 Counseling and Theological Worldview 3 hours

     

  • Pastoral Duties and Care - 7 hours

    Required

    HM 6200 Theology and Methodology of Biblical Preaching 2 hours
    PT 6300 Introduction to Chaplain Ministries 2 hours
    PT 7250 Christian Worship and Pastoral Practices 3 hours

     

  • Counseling Courses - 16 hours

    Required:

    CM 5000 Introduction to Counseling Ministries 2 hours
    CM 6572 Pastoral Counseling for Marriage and Family 3 hours
    CO 5210 Counseling Skills Training 3 hours
    CO 6130 Group Counseling 3 hours
    CO 6650 Multicultural Issues in Counseling 3 hours
    CO 7140 Crisis Counseling 2 hours

     

  • Formation Group and Counseling Capstone - 2 hours

    Formation Group

    ID 5080 Formation Group (two semesters) 0 hours

    Counseling Capstone (2 hours)

    CM 7940 (Community-Based Clinical Pastoral Education) –or–
    CM 7478 (Fieldwork Project — permission required) 2 hours

     

  • Electives - 10-12 hours

    Suggested Counseling Electives (4-5 hours)

    CM 6000 Issues in Counseling Ministry 1-3 hour
    CO 6120 Addiction Counseling 3 hour
    CO 6530 Child and Adolescent Counseling 2-3 hours
    CO 6610 Human Sexuality –or–
    Other applied Counseling courses 3 hours

    Suggested Non-Counseling Electives (6-7 hours)

    ST 7200 Theological Ethics 3 hours
    PR 5600 Christian Faith and Contemporary Challenges 2 hours
    PT 5100 Spiritual Formation for Ministry 2 hours
    EM 5510 Christian Formation & Journey 2 hours
    Bioethics courses (BE) 2 hours

MA in CMC Faculty

You’ll take some biblical and theological studies courses in other departments, but most of your coursework will take place with our Counseling and Pastoral Theology departments:

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What are the prerequisites for admission to this program?

In addition to the requirements for general admission, you’ll need the following:

  • An undergraduate major that prepares you for the program.
  • An undergrad GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
  • Scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT) may be required if your GPA is less than 3.0 or if the Admissions Office requests them.

MA in CMC and Multiple Masters Degree Options

A student may desire to complete a second TEDS degree program with his or her MA in CMC degree, such as a Master of Arts/Theological Studies, Master of Arts/Intercultural Studies, or Master of Divinity. In such cases, an overlap of program requirements up to 50 percent of the shorter degree is permissible. For example, a student combining the MA in CMC and MA/TS degree could overlap up to 21 semester hours (50 percent of the 42 semester hours required for the MA/TS). Such course work would need to be carefully planned to ensure that the specific program requirements of each program are met. Consult the “Degree Combinations” section of the Catalog and the Counseling Department program planning guides for details.