Educational Opportunities

Master of Arts: Youth Ministry

Mark Holcomb, M.R.E., Coordinator

Core Values
Program Format
Admission Requirements
Graduation Requirements
Curriculum

The Master of Arts in Youth Ministry at Olivet Nazarene University provides a broad and powerful education for specialized ministry to young people in the local church, but also for other ministries as well. With your M.A. in Youth Ministry, you will be ready to serve as a guide to young people and to take your part in the ministry of the church.

The M.A. in Youth Ministry focuses on ministry to students and their families in today's culture in a local church context. It integrates theory and praxis, reflection and life. It is a two-year program. The first year provides a traditional classroom-based education. During the second year, the student engages in a mentored ministry to youth, coming back to Olivet for several one-week intensive courses, called modules. The mentor is a seasoned professional.

The M.A. in Youth Ministry draws strength from leading experts in the field of youth ministry who come to campus for face-to-face teaching, encounters, networking, and learning with our students. Currently the likes of Duffy Robbins, Tony Jones, and Chap Clark serve as adjunct faculty in youth ministry courses.  The combination of those experts with our own residential faculty, who total over 40 years of highly successful experience in youth ministry, makes Olivet's M.A. in Youth Ministry a powerful educational experience that will get the student involved in a dialogue between the best in scholarship and the realities of hands-on ministry, and will launch the student into a satisfying career of Christ-centered service to the youth of the 21^st century.

Core Values Motivating the M.A. in Youth Ministry Program

• Integration. We seek to help you integrate what you learn in the classroom and from books with what you do in the practice of ministry with real people.
• Intentionality. Our goal is to show you clearly how each aspect of your education in this master's program relates, academically, spiritually, and practically, to youth ministry.
• Theological reflection. We believe that there are right ways and wrong ways to speak about God in youth ministry, and our goal is to help you think through the theological implications of every aspect of your ministry.
• Multiple voices. You will find it valuable to hear from a variety of voices, but at the same time we want to keep your interaction with the professor at a premium. That is why we have structured our program with modules, blocks, and semester courses, enabling us to bring in the complementary voices that we appreciate and you deserve to hear.
• Mentoring. We believe that mentoring goes far beyond formal programs, and we believe that throughout your life, you will draw on your experience in the Youth Ministry Master's Program, as you yourself become a mentor and as you draw on the wisdom of others of your own choosing to serve as your mentors and accountability partners.
• Lifelong learner. We seek to give you the tools and desire to commit yourself to becoming a lifelong student of the ever-changing climate of our global community.

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Program Format

More than most master's degree programs, the M.A. in Youth Ministry uses a wide assortment of course formats and teaching methods: intensive modules, half-semester courses, full-semester courses, lecturing, mentoring, internships, seminars, papers, and projects.

A modular course meets for one week, normally Monday through Friday, normally on Olivet's campus. A modular course requires appropriate non-campus study before that week and additional off-campus study after that week. To complete the work done before and after the module, the student must have computer access to the internet. While students in the M.A. in Youth Ministry program take a few modular courses during their first year, they take all their courses as modules during their second year. This allows second-year students to engage in their mentored youth ministry experience on a full-time basis and gives them the option to do that mentored experience at locations quite distant from Olivet's campus in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The modular courses are offered in August, January, and May. The program culminates in an Integrated Seminar during the final August of the second year, where the students present their projects and bring all the facets of their Olivet education in Youth Ministry into a coherent whole.

During the first year, the student takes 30 hours of course work. During the second year, the students take only 18 hours, thus allowing the second-year student to focus on the mentored experience in youth ministry. The total program is 48 hours.

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Admission Requirements

Olivet Nazarene University carefully assesses applicants for the M.A. in Youth Ministry program on the basis of evidence provided in all application materials. Therefore, while a personal interview is not required, application materials must be prepared thoroughly, thoughtfully, and professionally for full consideration. Applications will be processed upon receipt of all required materials.

To be admitted into Olivet Nazarene University's Master of Arts degree in Youth Ministry program, an applicant must meet these prerequisites:

1. Submit a completed Olivet Nazarene University application form.
2. Submit a $25 application fee.
3. Submit an official transcript* of the student's undergraduate college work and of any graduate work being used to support the application for admission. *Note that official transcripts bear the registrar's seal from the institution granting credit and are sent directly to Olivet Nazarene University, School of Theology and Christian Ministry, Attn: Graduate Program Specialist, One University Avenue Box 6048, Bourbonnais, IL 60914-2345. If needed, you may use this form to request official transcripts from other institutions.
4. Submit three recommendations that evidence the ability to succeed as a graduate student in Olivet's Master of Arts in Youth Ministry program. One should be from a person able to address the applicant's academic ability; one from a pastor or other person who can speak to the applicant's Christian life, testifying to a moral character consistent with attendance at a Christian university; and one that is personal. The personal recommendation may be a second academic reference, or it may be a reference from a work or ministry supervisor. If the person making the pastoral reference is not also a supervisor, then a reference from a supervisor is especially appropriate. Click here to access the recommendation form.
5. Possess a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university, with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.7 (on a 4.0 scale).
6. The applicant should have completed at least 15 semester hours of undergraduate courses including at least 3 hours each of biblical hermeneutics, homiletics or preaching equivalent, and pastoral care and counseling, and at least 6 hours of systematic theology. Students whose undergraduate preparation is deficient in these areas may apply for conditional admission, if they satisfy the other requirements. Rules and deadlines for making up the deficiency will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
7. Demonstrate the ability and discipline necessary to pursue rigorous graduate-level studies.

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Time Limits

A student is allowed four years from beginning the first graduate course to complete the entire program in the M.A in Youth Ministry. Coursework beyond four years is evaluated by the Program Coordinator for the M.A. in Youth Ministry, the Director of Graduate Studies, or the Dean of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry. Students granted permission for more than four years may be expected to meet current program requirements, and that may mean retaking one or more courses.

Graduation Requirements

To graduate, students must meet the following requirements.

1. Successful completion of the approved curriculum for the Master of Arts in Youth Ministries, with a minimum of 48 graduate semester hours of coursework. A course may be repeated if it carries a different subtitle.
2. A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. None of the 48 credit hours submitted for graduation may carry a grade of less than B-.
3. Fulfill all general graduation requirements of the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies.
4. Fulfill the curriculum requirements listed below.

 
Curriculum

First Year: Emphasis on the Classroom

 Second Year: Emphasis on the Practicum

For additional information about the M.A. in Youth Ministry, please contact the School of Theology and Christian Ministry at onugradreligion@olivet.edu or 815-928-5670

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