Provide Spiritual Support and Guidance with an MDiv in Community Chaplaincy
Chaplains serve as a source of comfort, guidance, and spiritual care for those in need, offering support in diverse settings such as healthcare, prisons, corporations, schools, and the military. As a community chaplain, you may counsel offenders and their families during reentry into society or provide emotional and spiritual care to patients and loved ones in hospice or hospital environments.
In this role, you may encounter individuals facing grief, trauma, or significant life challenges. Whether you’re looking to comfort those who have lost a loved one, endured the hardships of war, or survived a crisis, you can develop the skills needed to offer meaningful support through Liberty’s Master of Divinity (MDiv) in Community Chaplaincy. This program can help provide a strong biblical and theological foundation while equipping you to minister effectively in a variety of settings.
Through this program, you can learn to offer emotional and spiritual care to both believers and non-believers, sharing the love of Christ with those who are hurting. With the right training and preparation, you can step into chaplaincy with confidence, ready to serve and provide hope where it is needed most.
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 seminary 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.
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 as the #4 Best College Campus in America by Niche.com. 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 the Liberty Theological Seminary’s Master of Divinity in Community Chaplaincy?
Liberty University’s MDiv in Community Chaplaincy is designed to help equip you for chaplaincy roles in both Christian and secular settings. Whether you are called to serve in hospitals, college campuses, sports organizations, emergency response teams, or correctional facilities, this degree can help provide the theological and pastoral training needed to bring spiritual guidance to those in need.
Our seminary faculty bring years of ministry experience to the classroom, helping you develop the skills to support the spiritual well-being of others. Liberty also partners with local churches and parachurch organizations to offer hands-on ministry training, which is embedded directly into the program. If you are pursuing community chaplaincy, our Academic Advisors can assist you in applying for endorsement through the Liberty Baptist Fellowship.
If you have previous ministry experience or seminary education, you may be eligible for transfer credit or Institutional Challenge Exams, allowing you to maximize your prior learning. Through this program, you can pursue the knowledge and training to serve as a chaplain, offering pastoral care and biblical guidance to individuals in diverse settings.
What Will You Study in Our MDiv in Community Chaplaincy?
Liberty’s Master of Divinity in Community Chaplaincy is designed to help equip you for the diverse responsibilities of a community chaplain. This program can help provide the training and professional development needed to serve in secular, pluralistic, and faith-based settings, including healthcare, social services, and public institutions. You can learn how to navigate different cultural and religious contexts while developing essential biblical language and interpretation skills.
As a chaplain, you may encounter individuals facing crises, trauma, and emotional distress on a daily basis. This program can help you develop resiliency skills, both for yourself and those you serve, using a biblical model for counseling and spiritual care. You’ll also explore leadership principles that can help prepare you to minister effectively in diverse community environments, offering guidance and hope to those in need.
To further enhance your chaplaincy training, this program offers the opportunity to complete 2 units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) under the supervision of a Liberty-trained mentor. This hands-on experience allows you to refine your pastoral care skills within your Christian faith tradition. Our goal is to help equip you to step into chaplaincy with the confidence, knowledge, and spiritual foundation needed to make a meaningful impact.
Review the Degree Completion Plan (coming soon) and check out our featured courses below to learn more about what you’ll be studying!
Featured Courses
CHPL 645 – Chaplain Resilient Leaders
CHPL 655 – Chaplain Evangelism and Discipleship
CRIS 682 – Community Chaplaincy
PACO 604 – Crisis Intervention in Pastoral Counseling
Highlights of Our MDiv in Community Chaplaincy Degree
- We have a state-of-the-art homiletics/teaching lab in our School of Divinity building.
- Study under theologians and missionaries with real-world experience.
- Institutional Challenge Exams (ICE) are available to test out of foundational biblical and theological studies content for the M.Div. program.
- Our Scriptorium houses the Rawlings Foundation rare books collection valued at over $1 million, a 111-foot-long Torah scroll that dates back to the 16thcentury, and a functioning replica of the Gutenberg Printing Press.
- You will complete 2 units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) as part of your program.
- Local church ministry training is embedded within our programs.
- We provide experiential learning opportunities through church and parachurch ministries.
Master of Divinity Degree Information
- Residential
- 90 total credit hours
- Transfer in up to 50% of your credits
- This program falls under the Liberty Theological Seminary
- View the Degree Completion Plan (coming soon)
- View our course catalog
Potential Career Opportunities for Master of Divinity in Community Chaplaincy Graduates
Liberty University’s MDiv with a specialization in community chaplaincy can help prepare you for the following occupations:
- Community chaplain
- Corporate chaplain
- First responder chaplain
- Healthcare chaplain
- Hospice chaplain
- Law enforcement chaplain
- Pastoral counselor
- School chaplain
- Senior pastor
- Spiritual care coordinator
- Spiritual care director
- Sports chaplain
- Visitation pastor
Admission Requirements for Our MDiv in Community Chaplaincy Degree
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
- John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Questionnaire
- Pastoral recommender contact information
- Self-certification form (for students in the final term of their bachelor’s degree)
- Current Liberty undergraduate students seeking preliminary acceptance into a graduate program must complete a degree completion application through their ASIST account
