The Master of Arts in Christian Education degree is designed to prepare students for teaching, leading, and discipleship roles in local church and parachurch ministries.
If you love teaching people to grasp the life changing power of God’s word and seeing how the gospel can transform lives, Christian education might be right for you.
The Curriculum
The 2-year MA programs at DTS have a common core of Bible and theology coursework along with specific training in your preferred area of ministry.
Biblical Exposition
BE5101 Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics
BE5102 Old Testament History I
BE5103 Old Testament History II & Poetry
BE5104 Old Testament Prophets
BE5105 The Gospels
BE5106 Acts & Pauline Epistles
BE5107 Hebrews, General Epistles, and Revelation
BE5109 Ruth, Psalms, Jonah, and Selected Epistles
Systematic Theology
ST5101 Theological Method and Bibliology
ST5102 Trinitarianism
ST5103 Angelology, Anthropology, and Hamartiology
ST5104 Soteriology
ST5105 Sanctification and Ecclesiology
ST5106 Eschatology
Educational Ministry and Leadership
EML5101 Designing and Leading Effective Ministries
EML5105 Teaching Process and Media Presentations
EML5110 History & Philosophy of Christian Education
INT5160 MACE Ministry Formation Internship
Electives and Spiritual Formation
Electives – 12 credits
PM5101 Christian Life and Witness
SF5100 Spiritual Formation
Immersive Learning
See the many ways students are prepared for a lifetime of fruitful ministry.
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Financial Aid
Through our donors and Foundation, we are able to offer hundreds of scholarships to students every year.
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Ministry Residency
Qualifying MACE students may complete a ministry residency at a local church, which includes two week-long intensives on the Dallas campus. This replaces the internship requirement.
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Doctor of Ministry / Educational Ministry
The MACE degree, plus three years of experience, can lead right into the DMin or DEdMin programs.
Stories from our community
God has placed our graduates in a variety of ministry settings including churches, classical schools, seminaries, and global parachurch ministries.
DTS Grad Kat Armstrong Creates Ministry for Young Professional Women
Nate Bearfield’s Journey From The Kitchen to the Classroom
DTS Graduate Jana Thompson Coaches DC Students
Program Details
MACE Concentrations
Children's Ministry
Students completing this ministry concentration should be able to create, implement, lead, and evaluate a local church or parachurch ministry to children, including partnering with volunteers, staff, and parents to effectively disciple children.
EML5405 Early Faith Foundations
EML5410 Effective Ministry with Children
EML5412 Ministry to Children at Risk
EML5xxx EML Elective
Marriage and Family Ministry
Students completing this ministry concentration should be able to lead, develop, and direct a church or parachurch program of family life education, including marriage and family classes, counseling, and discipling relationships.
EML5410 Effective Ministry with Children
EML5501 The Christian Home: Dynamics of Marriage
EML5502 The Christian Home: Communication and Conflict Resolution
EML5503 The Christian Home: Dynamics of a Christian Family
EML5515 Family Life Education
EML5xxx EML Elective
Ministry with Women
Students completing this ministry concentration learn to understand women as an audience and learners and will be equipped to teach, lead, mentor, shepherd, and care for women in various ministry contexts.
EML5435 Effective Ministry with Women
EML5450 Women Teaching Women
PM5351 Theological and Biblical Views of Women in Ministry Leadership
EML5xxx EML elective
Spiritual Formation and Disciplemaking
Students completing this ministry concentration should be able to design, implement, and oversee a biblical ministry incorporating elements of spiritual formation and discipleship in a church or parachurch setting.
EML5705 Principles and Practice of Disciplemaking
EML5730 Spiritual Formation in Historical Perspective
EML5740 Spiritual Formation in Contemporary Culture
OR
EML5750 Spiritual Disciplines
EML5xxx EML elective
Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Students completing this ministry concentration should be able to lead, create, implement, and evaluate an effective church or parachurch ministry program at the junior-high, high-school, or college levels.
EML5415 Effective Ministry with Youth
OR
EML5445 Effective Ministry with Young Adults
EML5430 Ministry Strategies for Youth and Young Adults
EML5615 Applied Skills for Ministry Staff
EML5xxx EML elective
Common Goals for Professional MA Programs
Students in all of the professional MA programs at DTS will be able to:
- demonstrate a general knowledge of the Bible, including a synthetic understanding of the major books;
- evidence an understanding of the historical development of theology, a knowledge of premillennial theology, and an ability to support their theological views and apply them to contemporary issues; and
- evidence an increasing likeness to Christ as manifested in love for God, love for others, and the fruit of the Spirit.
Goals for MA in Christian Education
In addition to the goals common to all professional degree programs at the seminary, students in this program will be able to:
- develop a biblical philosophy of Christian education;
- demonstrate knowledge and needs of at least one ministry population, state biblical goals for that ministry, and apply appropriate educational principles to that ministry;
- organize, administer, and evaluate an educational program based on stated goals and objectives, working successfully with people from a variety of ministry situations; and
- communicate effectively in a Christian education ministry setting.
Course Requirements
Sixty-six semester hours of coursework are required as a minimum for graduation. Of those hours, 22 are in prescribed Bible Exposition courses, 18 are in prescribed Systematic Theology courses, 3 are in the Christian Life and Witness course, 9 are in prescribed Educational Ministries and Leadership courses, 12 are elective Educational Ministries and Leadership hours, and 2 hours are in the MACE Ministry Formation internship (INT5160 MACE Ministry Formation Internship). No thesis is required.
All students in the MA in Christian Education degree program are required to take EML5101 Introduction to Educational Ministries and Leadership, EML5110 History and Philosophy of Christian Education, EML5105 Teaching Process and Media Presentations, and INT5160 MACE Ministry Formation Internship. In addition, each student must select 12 hours from one of the 10 available ministry concentrations. Concentration courses will be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor.
Students in the MA in Christian Education (MACE) program are required to take MinistrySafe’s Sexual Abuse Awareness Training.
Spiritual Formation
Because DTS values Christlike character and spiritual maturity, MACE students are required to register for and participate in Spiritual Formation groups for four consecutive fall and spring semesters at the Dallas, Houston, or Washington DC campus. (MACE students who are not planning to be in residence in Dallas, Houston, or Washington DC for four consecutive fall and spring semesters must contact the Spiritual Formation Office concerning how to meet their Spiritual Formation requirement.)
In the Spiritual Formation curriculum, small groups of five to seven students focus on identity, community, integrity, and fidelity. The groups also provide an atmosphere for prayer, fellowship, and the integration of learning with life and ministry.
Because students participate with the same group during four consecutive semesters, they should plan their schedules so they may meet on the same day and at the same time each semester. Spiritual Formation is a noncredit, transcripted experience. Internship prerequisites include successful completion of SF5100-1, EML5110, and completion of half of their DTS course work.
Additional Spiritual Formation courses focusing on leadership may be taken as electives.