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Master of Arts in Discipleship/Master of Business Administration

DUAL DEGREE

The role of the church leader continues to grow in complexity as the concept of the global community expands. The pressure to operate as a business with scarce resources is a reality that cannot be ignored. Many predict that the real mission fields in the future will be through business leaders as they work in the United States, Europe, and third world countries, heightening the demand to blend theological knowledge and training with business theory and application. 

Prospective students from the ministry will pursue this dual degree to obtain and strengthen the skills and competencies needed to be effective in church leadership roles such as executive pastor, division leader, church planter, and/or global ministry. In addition, while the vast majority of students applying for admission to this unique, dual degree program may already be serving in a ministry or believe they are called to serve, there will also be students who have started a business career and subsequently sense a call to the ministry.

ADMISSION

In order to pursue a Dual Master’s Degree program, the applicant must apply to, meet the existing admission requirements for, and be accepted into each of the master’s degrees which comprise the dual degree program.

Note:  Church Membership Requirement (for admission into the EDD in Educational Leadership—all concentrations, PHD in Leadership Studies’ Ministry Concentration, Master’s Ministry Degrees, and Advanced Ministry Certificate Programs): Within the last 12 months, the applicant must have been an active member of a Christian church that holds Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who holds solely the Old Testament and the New Testament as sacred Scripture.

MA in DISCIPLESHIP PREREQUISITES

  • Old Testament Survey

  • New Testament Survey

MBA PREREQUISITES

Accounting I and II
or
ACCT 5311 - Survey of Accounting

Business and Public Law
or
MANA 51.522 - Business Legal Environment

Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
or
ECON 5311 - Managerial Economics

Financial Management
or
FINA 51.521 - Foundations of Finance

Principles of Management
or
MANA 51.521 - Management Theory

Principles of Marketing
or
MRKT 51.521 - Marketing Concepts

Statistics
or
MANA 6303 - Research and Statistics

BUAD 5301 - Orientation to American Business Techniques and Culture (for International Students only)

Prerequisites may be met with equivalent courses from another institution or from a passing grade on the GSOM Old Testament and New Testament equivalency exams and do not count toward degree completion.

PROGRAM CONTINUANCE

Continuance in the program past the first 12 hours is pending submission of a satisfactory score on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) or Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®).

MA IN DISCIPLESHIP REQUIRED CURRICULUM - 30 hours (excluding prerequisites)

course

Credit hours

Required Curriculum

30

DISC 5302 - Biblical Servant Leadership
DISC 6301 - Christian Education in the Local Church
DISC 6302 - Biblical Strategies for Discipleship
DISC 6307 - Church and Business Administration
DISC 6308 - Disciple-Making Through Evangelism and Missions
GSOM 6310 - Ministry Mentorship (S-L)*
THEO 5313 - Applied Hermeneutics
THEO 6305 - Christian History and Heritage
THEO 6306 - Systematic Theology
WORS 6303 - Spiritual Formation and Worship
Six (6) hours of the MBA Required Curriculum serve as electives for the MA in Discipleship Required Curriculum.

MBA REQUIRED CURRICULUM - 30 hours (excluding prerequisites)

course

Credit hours

Required Curriculum

30

ACCT 6321 - Managerial Accounting
FINA 6301 - Corporate Finance
MANA 6302 - Quantitative Analysis for Managers
MANA 6310 - Leadership in Management
MANA 6320 - Business Ethics
MISM 6314 - Management Information Systems
MRKT 6301 - Creative Problem Solving for Marketing Decisions (S-L)*
MANA 6341 - Strategic Management Decisions (S-L)* (Capstone course)
Select two courses from
MBA Concentrations with approval of Program Director or Academic Advisor.
Six (6) hours of the MA in Discipleship Required Curriculum serve as electives for the MBA Required Curriculum.

TOTAL HOURS

30 hours

MA in Discipleship Required Curriculum

30 hours

MBA Required Curriculum

60 hours

TOTAL Dual Degree (excluding prerequisites)

*(S-L)=Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Find course descriptions by category under the Graduate Course Descriptions section in the navigation panel.