Academic Program
Pentecost Biblical Seminary offers one academic program: the Master of Pastoral Ministry (42 credit hours) that serves as the ministerial formation requirement for The Church of Pentecost, USA, and Canada.
Admission Requirements
Admissions Standards: The seminar admission timetable calls for applications to be filed during the Summer for Master of Pastoral Ministry applicants. Members of the admission office or admission committee retrieve applications and make decisions. After their applications are reviewed, applicants are informed of the status of their application via email. Accepted applicants are required to notify the Seminary whether they accept the offer to attend referred to as the CRD or Candidate’s Reply Date.
Regular Decision: Students apply by a specified date and receive a decision in a clearly stated period.
Rolling Admission: Institutions review applications as they are submitted and render decisions throughout the admission cycle (Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer)
- Application: The application includes simple biographical information, such as the applicant’s birthdate and address.
- Access to the Learning Management System: Applicants after enrollment are given a username and a temporary password to the instructional platform, Canvas.
- Class enrollment: Applicants are enrolled in their course and a message via email is sent to them, both from the admission office and the instructor.
To be admitted to the MPM program, applicants must have been awarded a bachelor’s degree before the starting date of the desired semester of entry. Regular admission requires at least a 2.5 cumulative grade point average; those with a lower GPA may be considered for conditional admission. Church of Pentecost students of the ministerial formation who enter the Master of Pastoral Ministry must have gone through the church’s approved procedures of calling candidates into the ministry per the constitution and practices of the church.
Admission’s Requirements: All Applicants
- Application for Admission
- Reference Forms: (1) one reference from a pastor or denominational leader, (1) one reference that is either academic or professional.
- Essay response: religious autobiography and statement of calling (minimum 500 words, maximum 1000 words)
- Official transcripts from each accredited institution of higher learning attended, documenting the awarding of a completed baccalaureate degree. Transcripts from institutions outside the US must be evaluated and put on the American standard.
- English language requirements: If your native language is not English and all of your secondary and post-secondary education was not taught in English, you will be required to demonstrate English proficiency by taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
- Application fee
PBS recognizes that there are adult learners who, for a variety of reasons, have not completed formal undergraduate education, but still possess the ability and potential to complete professional graduate level work. Under rare circumstances, this admission process provides access to formal theological education for those who meet the following requirements for the Master of Pastoral Ministry program:
Minimum Admission Requirements
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1. 15 Undergraduate credits with grades of B or better, including course work in English language and Religion or the Humanities or Social Sciences. OR Certification of attendance at a foreign educational or religious institution at the post-secondary level.
2. Statement of Purpose o A three-page statement to include how the applicant’s professional life, education, training, and experiences have prepared the student for graduate study at PBS.
3. Writing Proficiency Evaluation
• All applicants who have completed requirements one or two will be evaluated for writing proficiency. It will have three possible determinations: “Not yet ready to write at the graduate level, Able to write at the graduate level with support, Able to write at the graduate level without support.” Only students scoring at that last, highest level will be advanced to the Admissions Committee for review.
4. Evidence of ministry experience and/or competency
• This admissions process is intended for those mature adult learners who have not been able to complete their formal undergraduate education but possess significant life experience as it relates to theological education, ministry, or one’s practice of religious tradition.
Applicants who meet all of the above criteria will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee which will determine “Conditional Acceptance” or “Denial.” Applicants who receive “Conditional Acceptance” will be reviewed by the Registrar once they have completed two graded PBS courses in their first year of study
Master of Pastoral Ministry
Program Description: The Master of Pastoral Ministry (MPM) academic program is designed for new fulltime and part-time ministers and interested lay leaders who have completed a bachelor’s degree at an accredited institution. It emphasizes academic quality, social and cultural sensitivity for students, and the unequivocal commitment to the church and society as servants/leaders. This program serves as the ministerial formation requirement for The Church of Pentecost, USA, Canada and the Caribbean.
Program Learning Outcomes
Upon graduation, the student will be able to:
1. Reflect critically and theologically on their spiritual formation and missional vocation in relation to contextually relevant Pentecostal ministry.
2. Demonstrate the ability to faithfully interpret Scripture considering both its ancient and current cultural contexts.
3. Recognize and critically engage ecclesial, societal, and global issues from Pentecostal theological perspectives.
4. Apply and integrate Scripture, mission theology, church history, and social sciences to the practice and development of reflective church ministry.
5. Engage diverse cultural contexts for spiritually vital discipleship, mission, and diverse ministries.
6. Explore the depths of the Christian tradition through a Pentecostal lens by engaging in ecumenical dialogue and discussion.
Master of Pastoral Ministry Curriculum
The faculty has developed a unified curriculum for the program. A total of 42 credits are required to earn the degree.
Shared Foundations (6 credits)
● HIS 500 Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies
● HIS 501 Church History: World Christianity in Context
Bible and Missions Courses (12 credits)
● BIB 500 Exploring Biblical Hermeneutics
● BIB 501 Pentecostal Explorations of the Old Testament
● BIB 502 Pentecostal Explorations of the New Testament
● PCM 506 Biblical Foundations for Mission
Theology Courses (6 credits)
● CES 601 Christian Ethics
● THEO 634 Systematic Theology
Ministry and Mission Courses (15 credits)
● PRM 503 Pastoral Care and Counseling
● PCM 503 Intercultural Ministry in North America
● PCM 505 Intergenerational Ministry and Discipleship
● PRM 505 Homiletics: An Introduction to Pentecostal Preaching
● EVG 501 Evangelism and Church Planting
Ministry Practicum (3 credits)
● FED 500 Field Education
Master of Pastoral Ministry Course Descriptions
PCM 503 Intercultural Ministry in North America (3 Credits)
This course will help equip and prepare church leaders for ministry in multicultural, multiracial, and pluralistic North American societies. It will provide historical, sociological, and theological foundations for multiracial ministry, reviewing relevant case studies for developing multicultural approaches to ministry. Through reading, lectures, case studies, and research the course will help students deepen their cultural intelligence and develop the leadership skills necessary to lead diverse and multiracial congregations. Students will gain the necessary theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and effective strategies to sensitively respond to religiously, culturally, and ethno-racially diverse populations. Special attention will be given to barriers and opportunities in multiracial ministry specific to the ministry of African Immigrant-led congregations in North America, including analysis of maintaining core doctrines while making the church relevant in new contexts. Proposed strategies draw from biblical theological truths to address cross cultural relationships and responsibilities.
PCM 505 Intergenerational Ministry and Discipleship (3 Credits) This course seeks to understand the unique opportunities and challenges evident in the lives of youth and young adults in North America. Specifically, it explores their experiences regarding faith journeys and relationship with the church, including elements that promote or discourage belonging. The course is designed for the North American context and thus engages with sociological theories relevant to understanding the religious lives of black immigrant youth and the children of immigrants, including studies on race, ethnicity, gender, and secularism.
BIB 500 Exploring Biblical Hermeneutics (3 Credits) This introductory course integrates biblical hermeneutical theory and practice to enhance usage of Scripture in preaching, teaching, counseling, devotional reading, worship, witness, etc.
THEO 634 Systematic Theology (3 Credits) This course explores the major doctrines of the Bible from a Pentecostal perspective. Christian leaders need a settled foundation regarding the basic teachings of the Christian Faith, the skills, and the tools to continue to research during their ministry. It
provides students an opportunity to formulate and articulate their personal understanding of biblical grounds of Christian doctrines.
BIB 501 Pentecostal Explorations of the Old Testament (3 Credits) This is a study of the Old Testament in its context: history, geography, and culture; to understand its outstanding features and the key themes of each book. To know the characters and events in each book as it relates to God’s total progressive revelation.
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BIB 502 Pentecostal Explorations of the New Testament (3 Credits) This course is a survey of the New Testament in its historical and cultural context, to understand its general content, features, and the key themes of each book as it relates to the ongoing revelation of God’s plan for humankind.
PRM 503 Pastoral Care and Counseling (3 Credits) This course explores the general practices of pastoral counseling, its context, guidance, techniques, procedures, and essential information.
CES 601 Christian Ethics (3 Credits) This course is a study of the biblical and theological dimensions of Christian ethics and how it applies to various ethical problems including but unlimited to church, society, home, individuals.
PRM 505 Homiletics: An Introduction to Pentecostal Preaching (3 Credits) The course looks at sermon preparation, delivery, structure, illustrations, argumentations, pulpit manners, and ministerial lifestyle, which enhance effective preaching/teaching in the pulpit.
HIS 505 Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies (3 Credits) This course explores the significance of the Pentecost experience as an ongoing phenomenon that continues to inform and shape the face of global Christianity. It also examines the roots, beginnings, and developments of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. The course looks at spiritual, and social factors, and theological issues that undergird tensions in Pentecostal and Charismatic type of organizations and their ecclesial practices.
HIS 501 Church History: World Christianity in Context (3 Credits) This course is a survey of church history from the New Testament to the modern period, with special attention paid to the expansion of the faith beyond the West and the changing global center of Christianity. It seeks to familiarize students with the flow of that history. Furthermore, it identifies and emphasizes the main figures and events in the development of the church’s worship, teaching, and lifestyle.
PRM 506 Biblical Foundations of Mission (3 Credits) This is a general introduction to Christian missions. It seeks to root missiology in biblical theology, and to analyze missiological issues through a biblical lens. It seeks to cultivate a biblical passion for the mission God has given His people and a biblical understanding of how to fulfill that mission. It also seeks to help both those called to crosscultural ministry and those called to church ministry within their own culture know better how to advance the mission of God’s people within their context.
EVG 501 Evangelism & Church Planting (3 Credits)
This course introduces students to the ministry of church planting, growth, revitalization, and evangelism. It emphasizes training students with the biblical principles and strategies necessary for starting and developing local churches to foster spiritual, social, and cultural transformation of communities.
FED 500 Field Education (3 Credits) This is a required ministry practicum requirement. The practicum must be completed at a site relevant to the student’s area of ministry focus and approved by the student’s advisor and the director of the MPM program. This provides Pentecost Biblical Seminary students with opportunities for critical reflection on their service to the church of Jesus Christ and the world. Furthermore, it facilitates integration between what is learned in the classroom and what is experienced in the day-to-day work of ministry. The practicum includes regular meetings with a field education supervisor and mid-course and final written evaluations.