Northwest Nazarene University’s Master of Arts: Pastoral Ministry program is designed to provide theological education to those preparing for vocational Christian ministry today. The degree approaches ministry from a Wesleyan-Arminian theological perspective and emphasizes leadership practices for effectiveness in Christian ministry.

Adult learners in NNU’s MAPM program remain in their present ministry contexts without having to relocate for graduate study. Students work with a pastoral mentor from one course to the next, participate in an online learning community with other pastors and leaders, develop a strong biblical and theological foundation for ministry, and graduate in just 28 months. When combined with an additional supervised ministry course in the summer, our MAPM program has also been validated as meeting the educational requirements for ordination as elders in the Church of the Nazarene*. Our faculty members hold doctoral degrees in their areas of specialization and include pastors with extensive experience as leading-edge practitioners, not to mention scholars with wide-ranging teaching experience, including a number with proficiency in cross-cultural teaching contexts.

Students in NNU’s MAPM program begin their studies with a one-credit online orientation, followed by twelve three-credit courses lasting six weeks each. This 37-credit program covers the breadth of ministerial studies, with courses in Christian education, missiology, pastoral leadership, spiritual formation, preaching and worship, Bible, church history, theology, and philosophy, as shown in the chart above.