Theological Leadership Program Information

This Certificate in Theological Leadership program is tailored for ministry professionals, laypeople seeking spiritual growth, and recent college graduates considering seminary. 

Program Features

  • Courses are taught in a hybrid format blending in-person and online elements. Each semester begins with a 3-day academic and spiritual retreat in beautiful Santa Barbara, California.
  • The program’s one-course-at-a-time format enables working adults to complete their certificate in three semesters of part-time coursework.
  • Earn the certificate in just one year over a fall, spring and summer term.

Designed For

  • Church and ministry professionals seeking to deepen their theological grounding and expand their ministry skills.
  • Lay professionals seeking to grow spiritually and strengthen the theological and biblical foundations for their professional work.
  • Recent college graduates considering a career in full-time Christian ministry.
  • Partnerships with leading evangelical seminaries enable graduates to go on to a Master’s degree with at least one year of academic credit.

Curriculum for Certificate in Theological Leadership

Fall Semester

  • An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Wisdom of the Ancients — Sandra Richter, Ph.D., Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies
  • Theological Ethics & Leadership — Gayle D. Beebe, Ph.D., President; & Telford Work, Ph.D., Professor of Theology

Spring Semester

  • Reading the New Testament for Wisdom — Holly Beers, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Religious Studies
  • Theology for Discipleship — Telford Work, Ph.D., Professor of Theology

Summer Semester

  • World Christianity: Leadership in Global Context — Faculty T.B.D.
  • Culture and Theology: Thinking Missionally — Faculty T.B.D.