Doctor of Ministry | DMin in Pastoral Counseling Online

Prepare to Lead in Christian Counseling with Our Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Pastoral Counseling Degree

Our 100% online Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Pastoral Counseling degree is designed to help equip you to advance your ministry. This program can help you gain practical, gospel-centered ministry skills. Our online doctorate in pastoral counseling seeks to provide advanced training in Christian counseling and pastoral care. This training can help you incorporate biblical counseling practices into your ministry.

If you want to be better equipped to minister to the spiritual and mental health of your congregation, our DMin in Pastoral Counseling degree can help provide you with the skills and knowledge you need.

Accreditation

Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). Your divinity degree is approved by ATS and has met rigorous accreditation standards, so you can feel confident that your degree is both academically excellent and well-respected among churches, ministries, and nonprofit organizations.

What is the difference between pastoral care and pastoral counseling?

Can a pastor be a counselor?

How much do pastoral counselors make?

What are the benefits of earning Liberty’s online Doctor of Ministry (DMin)?

Why Choose Liberty’s Online DMin in Counseling Degree?

Our online Doctor of Ministry degree program is focused on practical ministry training. This is so you can gain the skills and knowledge you need for use in your specific ministry context. If you are already a ministry professional and want to help people struggling with spiritual and mental health crises, our program can help provide you with the foundation of knowledge you need.

Throughout this Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling program, you can focus on understanding practical solutions to ministry challenges in addition to theoretical research. This helps ensure that you can use the skills and knowledge you will gain to solve real-world problems.

This program is designed to build on your ministry experience in support of Christian counseling and pastoral care as well as provide you with important ministry-specific counseling skills. If you want to branch out into a Christian counseling role, the field-specific training and biblical counseling techniques in this pastoral counseling doctoral degree can help equip you with valuable tools for a variety of ministry settings.

Military Tuition Discount
Lead your field with the doctoral degree you want — at a price you’ve earned. As a thank-you for your military service, Liberty University offers current and former service members like you or your spouse multiple pathways to earn a doctoral degree for only $275/credit hour. Find out how you can take advantage of this unique opportunity and reach the pinnacle of your profession — for less.

What Will You Learn in Our Doctor of Ministry – Pastoral Counseling?

The core content of our online Doctorate in Biblical counseling (DMin) provides the basis for advanced doctoral-level academic research and writing. These skills can impact the rest of the ministry-specific curriculum and directly apply to your portfolio project or thesis. In your doctorate degree in pastoral counseling, you can learn advanced biblical counseling techniques and explore current issues in society as they relate to counseling. Your online pastoral counseling classes will provide diverse training that will allow you to address many different modern-day problems.

All of the courses in the DMin degree program are designed and delivered in a way to help you develop your research for the final thesis project. Your thesis will focus on a ministry topic of your choice.

Featured Courses

Highlights

Degree Information

Military Benefits

Careers

Admission Requirements

Doctorate in Pastoral Care and Counseling Degree Information

This D.Min. program falls under the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity.
Download and review the Degree Completion Plan for this program.
View the Graduate Divinity Course Guides (login required).
You will have a choice between completing a 15-credit-hour thesis project or a 15-credit-hour portfolio.

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Potential Career Options with a Doctor of Clinical Pastoral Counseling

You may be qualified to pursue a variety of positions with our Doctor of Pastoral Counseling

Christian university professor
Church counselor
Church planter
Community chaplain
Counselor at a Christian practice
Evangelist

Lead/associate pastor
Senior church administrator
Senior pastor
Worship leader
Youth pastor

Please note: Many clinical counseling roles will require individual state licensure.

Highlights of Liberty University’s Doctor of Ministry – Pastoral Counseling Doctoral Degree

We are recognized by multiple institutions for our academic quality, affordability, and accessibility. Our commitment to excellence also helped us rank in the top 10% of Niche.com’s best online schools in America. Earning your online DMin in pastoral counseling from a nonprofit university with this kind of recognition can help set you apart from others in your field.
To continue our mission of providing affordable education, electronic textbooks are included for all divinity courses* at no cost to you. As a full-time student, this could save you an estimated $800-2,000 per year on textbooks!
You can complete this online DMin program in pastoral counseling in as little as 2 years.
Our online seminary programs within the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity are led by experienced Christian counselors and ministry professionals who teach practical ministry skills while imparting deep theological knowledge.
Learn from content developed by renowned biblical studies scholars in Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, such as Dr. Elmer L. Towns and Dr. Gary R. Habermas.
Develop broad experience in Christian counseling and pastoral care to address mental and spiritual health issues in your biblical counseling practice.

*Electronic textbooks are not provided for courses that fall under departments outside the School of Divinity.

Admission Requirements for Our Online DMin in Pastoral Counseling Degree

Applicants must have a regionally or nationally accredited master’s degree with at least a 3.0 GPA for admission in good standing. Please visit our admission requirements page for more detailed admissions-related information.

All applicants must submit the following:

Admission application
Application fee*
School of Divinity Questionnaire
Official transcripts
Previous education showing at least 18 graduate hours of Bible/Theology or ministry-related courses
Ecclesiastical endorsement
Statement of purpose
Professional vita
Proof of English proficiency (for applicants whose native language is other than English)

*There is no upfront application fee; however, a deferred $50 application fee will be assessed during Financial Check-In. This fee is waived for qualifying service members, veterans, and military spouses – documentation verifying military status is required.

Military Benefits for our Doctorate in Christian Counseling

Liberty University is dedicated to providing world-class educational experiences to military students across the globe. Whether you are a current service member, discharged or retired from service, or the spouse of a service member or veteran, we are here to support you every step of the journey.

As a thank-you for your dedication and service to our country, Liberty is honored to serve and support you in your pursuit of online education by offering the following benefits:

The discounted tuition rate of $275 per credit hour for part-time enrollment
Discounted divinity block rate: $1,925 per semester – only $130/credit at 15 credit hours*
Additional discount for veterans who serve in a civilian capacity as a First Responder (less than $625 per course)

*Credits taken below 7 and above 15 credit hours for the Doctor of Ministry – Pastoral Counseling online are charged at the part-time rate.