Master of Divinity/Master of Business Administration Joint Degree (M.Div./MBA)

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Purpose and Outcomes

The Master of Divinity/Master of Business Administration is awarded jointly by the School of Ministry and the Rinker School of Business. The goal of the M.Div./M.B.A. Joint Degree is to educate students to assume responsibilities as executive and administrative ministers for churches or para-church organizations. The program is directed toward providing didactic and experiential education to students that will allow them to:

develop the biblical, theological and historical knowledge to assist leading and administering a church or para-church organization; and,
design and implement strategies and policies that produce effective management practices within a ministry context.

Course Schedule/Structure

There are a variety of scheduling options for successfully completing the M.Div./M.B.A. Joint-Degree coursework. The time required will depend upon the student’s initiative in scheduling business courses while still completing M.Div. courses, either during summer sessions or during a fall or spring semester.

To increase the likelihood of success and preventing students from overextending themselves academically, each student will be required to design a complete course sequence for both M.Div. and business courses by the end of his/her first semester. This plan must be formulated in consultation with and authorized by the student’s M.Div. advisors and the Director of the M.B.A. program.

Admission Requirements

Admissions requirements for the Master of Divinity/Master of Business Administration Joint Degree may be found in the Admissions section of the Graduate and Pharmacy Catalog.

Degree Requirements

A total of 82 credit hours are required. As part of the Joint Degree, students must successfully complete include 52 credit hours of M.Div. coursework, 27 credit hours of graduate business coursework, and 3 credit hours of integrated graduate coursework. When completed separately, the traditional M.Div. program at PBA requires 72 credit hours and the M.BA. program at PBA requires 48 credit hours.

Upon admission to the joint- degree program, students are able to enroll in both M.Div. and M.B.A. courses during the same semester as time and schedules permit. No degree is awarded until the student completes the entire program and meets all requirements of the M.Div./M.B.A. Joint Degree.

Students with a bachelor’s degree in a non-ministry major are required to complete up to 24 hours of specific pre-requisite coursework on the undergraduate level before beginning graduate coursework. Pre-requisite courses in which grades below “C-” have been earned are unacceptable. Prerequisite courses for the M.Div. degree: Biblical Hermeneutics, Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey, Systematic Theology, Spiritual Formation, Evangelism and Apologetics, History of Christianity, and one practical ministry elective.

Students are limited to no more than seven (7) total credit hours of Directed and Independent Study coursework over the course of their degree program.

Curriculum Requirements

82 Credit Hours

Master of Divinity Required Courses - 52 Credit Hours

BIB 5212 - Genesis 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5462 - The Book of the Twelve 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5632 - First and Second Samuel 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5812 - The Psalter 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5512 - Acts of the Apostles 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5722 - First Corinthians 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5912 - Gospel of John 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5922 - Gospel of Matthew 2 Credit Hours
BIB 5233 - Life and Faith in the Early Church 3 Credit Hours
BIB 5243 - Life and Faith of the European Reformers 3 Credit Hours
BIB 5803 - Life and Faith in Global Christianity 3 Credit Hours
BIB 6603 - Christian Ethics 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5313 - Proclaiming the Gospel Message 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5513 - The Church and the Mission of God 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5713 - Caring, Leading and Developing a Church to Maturity 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5903 - Forming a Worshiping and Discipling Community 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5203 - Apprenticeship in Preaching and Teaching 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5403 - Apprenticeship in Outreach and Mission 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5603 - Apprenticeship in Leadership and Ministerial Care 3 Credit Hours
MLS 5803 - Apprenticeship in Worship and Spiritual Formation 3 Credit Hours

Master of Business Administration Required Courses - 27 Credit Hours

ACG 5153 - Financial Statement Analysis 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5043 - Quantitative Methods 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5053 - Marketing Management 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5063 - Corporate Finance 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5093 - Corporate Strategies 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5103 - International Business 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5293 - Managerial Economics 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5313 - Legal Environment of Business 3 Credit Hours
BUS 5403 - Operations Management 3 Credit Hours

Integrative Course - 3 Credit Hours

MLS 6003 - Faith, Work and Economics 3 Credit Hours

Program Learning Outcomes

“Expected student learning outcomes specify the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes students are expected to attain in courses or in a program.” Page 69. Resource Manual for the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), 2018.

1. Evaluate and synthesize interpretive methods and traditions, and apply exegetical method to the interpretation of a biblical text.

2. Analyze and evaluate the broader heritage of the Christian tradition, the more specific character of particular Christian traditions and communities, the ways these traditions transcend particular social and cultural settings, and the ways they come to unique expressions within such settings.

3. Analyze spheres of contemporary culture and society from a biblical and theological perspective and articulate a Christian response.

4. Develop the capacities for personal faith, emotional maturity and moral integrity that are requisite to a life of ministerial leadership.

5. Cultivate the capacities for ministerial leadership within both the congregation and the broader public context.

Sample Degree Plan

Master of Divinity/Master of Business Administration Degree Plan