Learn to Lead the Church with a Bachelor’s in Pastoral Leadership
Has God called you to a life of ministry and leadership in the Church? We want to provide you with the education, skills, and resources you need for a rewarding career as a pastor. With our pastoral leadership degree, you will receive the foundational training you need to be successful.
Pursue our pastoral leadership degree, and you will be well equipped to serve God and others in a position of leadership within the Church. Take the next step in living out God’s calling on your life today.
Award-Winning Campus
At Liberty, you’ll find an affordable, high-quality education that equips students like you for the real world. Our commitment to excellence helped us rank among Niche.com’s Top 3 college campuses in America. Earning your degree from a nonprofit university with state-of-the-art resources like ours can help set you apart from your peers.
Why Choose Liberty’s Pastoral Leadership Degree?
We are prepared to equip you with everything you need to be successful in your program and start pursuing a life of ministry. With our pastoral leadership degree, you’ll get all the resources and mentorship you need to succeed.
You want an education. And we want to provide a quality and affordable education to you. As a teaching university, we have made sure our professors are in the classroom with you every week to educate, support, and mentor you throughout your program. Most of our divinity professors have pastored churches of their own, and they are excited to pass along their experiential wisdom to you.
You need resources. Our School of Divinity, housed in the Freedom Tower on campus, has all the state-of-the-art resources you need for a fruitful training experience. Our Scriptorium holds our rare book collection with a 16th century Torah, and we have a new homiletics lab so you can record and dissect your sermons.
Experience is crucial to pastoring a church. We have made sure that you have internships available to you locally, nationally, and abroad. And we have partnered with churches, parachurches, and nonprofit organizations to give you the connections you need to choose the internship that is right for you.
What Will You Learn in Our Pastoral Leadership Degree?
In the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, we make sure our students have the biblical foundation needed to succeed in any ministry field. You’ll take courses like inductive Bible study, hermeneutics, and Old and New Testament theology.
With a degree in pastoral leadership, you’ll get all the valuable training you need to succeed as a pastor. Some of your coursework will be on topics like church planting and development, family ministry, and pastoral duties.
Additionally, you’ll receive real hands-on experience before you graduate! You can take advantage of practicums in the following areas: small groups, outreach, and leadership. Plus, you’ll intern with a church to find out what it’s really like to work as a pastor.
Review the Degree Completion Plan, and check out our featured courses below to learn more about what you’ll be studying.
Featured Courses
BIBL 324 – Pastoral Epistles and Leadership Development
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- An expositional study of I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus with emphasis on themes pertaining to the local church
- Attention given to current issues that relate to selected controversial passages
BIBL 480 – Hermeneutics
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- A study of the nature, methods, and issues of biblical interpretation
- Demonstration of the crucial importance of hermeneutics and the role genre plays in interpretation
- Students will develop their own hermeneutical method
PLED 201 – Foundation to Pastoral Leadership
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Theological foundations of pastoral ministries
- Pastoral leadership qualifications
- Teaching/learning role of the church
- Various ministries available in the field
- Special attention given to mission statement development and program strategy
PLED 251 – Church Planting and Development
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- An introduction to the skills and knowledge needed to plant a New Testament church “in culture”
- A survey given of the various schools of church planting with an evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses
- Special attention given to a study in evangelism and church growth principles, stressing the biblical and theological basis of evangelism as reflected in and through the local church
Highlights of Our Pastoral Leadership Degree
- John W. Rawlings School of Divinity professors are active in the classroom, as well as in research and publishing original works.
- Our School of Divinity is committed to the authority of Scripture and conservative evangelical theology.
- Benefit from the teaching and professor involvement of a small bible college with the experience and amenities of a university.
- Internship opportunities with churches and parachurches locally, nationally, and globally.
- The Freedom Tower, where our School of Divinity is located, houses a 7-projector immersive classroom, an interactive classroom that utilizes teleconferencing capabilities, and a state-of-the-art homiletics teaching lab.
- The Rawlings Foundation’s rare book collection is valued at over $1 million dollars and contains a 111-foot long Torah scroll dating back to the 16th century and a functioning Gutenberg Printing Press replica.
Pastoral Leadership Degree Information
- Residential
- 120 total credit hours
- Transfer in up to 75% of your total degree
- This program falls under the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity
- View the Degree Completion Plan
- View our course catalog
Career Opportunities for Pastoral Leadership Graduates
- Administrative pastor
- Children’s pastor
- Christian education director
- Church recreation director
- Evangelist
- Missions pastor
- Senior/associate pastor
- Young adults minister
Admission Requirements for Undergraduate Degrees
Every application is reviewed by the admission committee on a case-by-case basis, meaning there are no set minimums for acceptance. However, all applicants must submit the following documents* for admission:
- Admission application
- Official high school transcripts
- Official college transcripts (if applicable)
- Results from the CLT, SAT, or ACT are not required for admission, but may be used in consideration for merit-based aid.
- Admission essay
*Note that additional documentation may be requested by the admission committee after your application has been received.
