Founded in 1983, the Graduate Programs in Pastoral Ministries offers small classes in both face-to-face and online blended formats tailored to our students’ ministry goals. The programs provide a strong theological foundation to an international body of students.
The Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministries is currently offered in dioceses across California and Washington. Through our online program, students also join us from locations across the US and abroad.
We offer an online blended Master's Degree in Pastoral Ministries alongside the predominantly face-to-face program on campus in the Diocese of San José. Courses are taught through a combination of face-to-face, video conferencing and online experiences. We believe that training in ministry is a personal journey that must involve personal interactions. Some courses, therefore, provide live video conferencing with the professor and other students, and three all-day classes held face-to-face at diocesan sites.
Classes in adjacent dioceses are offered on staggered weekends when possible to allow students some flexibility in completing their curriculum more quickly by taking courses outside their cohort.
Delivery of Classes
Classes are delivered in three modes in the Graduate Programs in Pastoral Ministries.
- First, classes are offered in the traditional face-to-face classroom experience. Students meet once a week in the evening for ten weeks in an assigned classroom.
- Second, classes are offered in a blended format. On three Saturdays during the ten weeks of the course, students meet for an all day session in the traditional face-to-face classroom experience. For the remaining seven weeks, the students meet with the professor online in a live session (synchronous video conferencing) once a week. These courses take place in the individual homes or other chosen location of the participants.
- Third, some classes are offered fully online, in a synchronous video conferencing mode.
