Master of Arts (M.A.) in Pastoral Counseling – Leadership
Faculty and Internships
Increase Your Ministry Potential with Liberty’s M.A. in Pastoral Counseling – Leadership Degree
Your passions and abilities can be used by God right where you are. Earning a graduate degree in pastoral counseling is an excellent way to capitalize on your current education while expanding your ministry potential. Whether you are looking to become a lay leader, non-licensed counselor, or youth pastor, Liberty’s M.A. in Pastoral Counseling – Leadership degree can train you for the career and ministry God has called you to pursue.
Our pastoral counseling graduate degrees can provide you with the proper skill set to help believers and nonbelievers alike as they experience life’s challenges. This degree is a great option if you are looking to work in church, hospital, or community settings that do not require clinical counseling licensure. In fact, as a non-licensure track, the entire graduate degree in pastoral counseling can be completed in as little as 1 year!
Pursue Your Degree with Confidence
- Liberty University is accredited by SACSCOC, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
- You will have the opportunity to earn several certificates from the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). These certificates include Crisis Response, Life Coaching, and Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts (SYMBIS).
- Gain invaluable hands-on, face-to-face counseling experience in individual, relationship, and group therapy as you complete your internship.
What Will You Learn?
- Dynamics of marriage and family relationships
- Fundamentals of the therapeutic relationship
- Instances of leadership in the Old and New Testaments
- Leadership from a biblical and theological perspective
- Selected theories of counseling and psychotherapy
- The lives of great leaders throughout history
- The process of interpreting leadership from a distinctively organizational perspective
Career Opportunities for Pastoral Counseling – Leadership Graduates
- Associate pastor
- Human services specialist
- Lay leader
- Non-licensed counselor
- Teaching pastor
- Youth pastor
Admission Requirements for Our M.A. in Pastoral Counseling
Every application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and all applicants must submit the following documents and meet the minimum requirements for admission:
- Admission application
- Official bachelor’s degree transcripts with a 2.0 GPA or higher
- Self-certification form (for students who are in the final term of their bachelor’s degree)
- John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Questionnaire
- Contact information for 1 pastoral recommender
- Current Liberty undergraduate students seeking preliminary acceptance into a graduate program must complete a degree completion application through their ASIST account
Faculty and Internships Available to Pastoral Counseling – Leadership Students
- Complete a 225-hour internship in an approved, related setting.
- Gain invaluable hands-on, face-to-face counseling experience in individual, relationship, and group therapy.
- Our residential graduate students enjoy an 6:1 student to professor ratio.
- Our faculty care deeply for their students, praying for and with them throughout their academic journey.
These rates are reflective of academic year 2024-2025. Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.
Credit Hours
Available On Campus
Class Type
Residential
Transfer Credits
Transfer in up to 50% of the degree total
Next Start Date
Aug 18, 2025
Accreditation
Liberty University is accredited by SACSCOC
