DPAST
Diploma in Pastoral Ministry
Department of Pastoral Ministry · 2 years · 12 courses · 100% online
About this programme
People bring you their marriages, their grief and their debts, and they bring them on a Tuesday night when you are tired. On Sunday you climb into the pulpit and hope the sermon lands. Nobody sat you down and showed you how any of it is done, because the person who led before you was never shown either.
Preaching is treated here as a craft that can be learned, from the preparation of a sermon to its delivery, so that the text is heard rather than decorated. The care of people runs alongside it, through the foundations of biblical counselling and the particular work of preparing couples for marriage and helping those already in one. Both rest on a survey of the Bible, its interpretation and Christian doctrine, with the practical running of a church studied as part of the same calling.
You will leave able to preach a text faithfully, sit with a hurting family without fear, and keep the affairs of a congregation in order. Think of the Tuesday night visit and the Sunday sermon, both met with training behind you. If you are already carrying that load, put your name forward.
12 courses across 4 semesters, about 2 years of study.
Who it is for
Those who want more than a certificate gives: a broader foundation across the subject, taken at a steady pace. It is a natural route towards degree study later.
What you will be able to do
Handle the subject with real competence, teach it to others, and carry responsibility in a local church with a foundation under you.
How you will study
Every course here runs the same way, so you always know where you are.
- Six study modules a course, each with a handout you can read on screen or download.
- Video and audio of the same teaching, for studying while you travel or work.
- A short refresher quiz to open each course. It is not scored, and you may retake it.
- Two tests along the way, then a final examination. The pass mark is 50%.
- Results appear as soon as you submit.
Study is entirely online and at your own pace. Everything works on a phone, and handouts can be downloaded to read without data.
Entry requirements
Open to all. No previous study is required. You must be at least 14 years old.
Fees
Your fees are set out in the admission letter issued to you.
What you will study
12 courses across 4 semesters, drawn from these areas.
- Department of Biblical Studies
- Department of Pastoral Ministry
- Department of Theology
The full course schedule is issued when you are admitted.