Follow Christ, Lead the Way

Ohio Christian University has developed this unique dual major program in Business Administration and Ministry to address the needs of its constituencies. This program serves pastors who need to be a “tent-maker” or to lead in the financial aspects of their ministry, and business people who desire to fully engage in churches and ministry organizations.

Objectives:

Upon completion of the MBA/MA dual degree program, the graduate should be able to:
  • Apply management principles that coordinate with human capital and processes to optimize organizational success.
  • Develop holistic strategies that enable organizations to effectively create, communicate, deliver, and exchange offerings to create a profit in today’s global environment.
  • Evaluate business operations using qualitative and quantitative analysis to assist decision-making and problem-solving for performance improvement.
  • Analyze historical Christian theological thought and address how it compares to current theological trends.
  • Integrate biblical application to the practice of Christian ministry to help others process and grow in their faith.
  • Identify spiritual practices and disciplines that equip the ministry leader for effective ministry and spiritual growth.
  • Demonstrate skills in church administration, preaching/ teaching, developing disciples, administering sacraments and rituals, and pastoral care in the local church.
  • Conduct independent research and evaluation of biblical and theological literature and apply knowledge to enhance ministry practices.
This degree program is available in the following format:

100% Online courses in a 5-week as-you-go flexible format for busy adults featuring forum discussions and weekly assignment deadlines. Serves both undergraduate and graduate students.

PROGRAM57 Hours

  • Use of financial information in the internal operations of an organization, including approaches to management decision-making, organizational planning, and performance evaluation through internal financial information.
  • A study of modern research on the New Testament, including the origin and nature of the New Testament canon, with special attention relationships among the synoptic Gospels, the purpose and integrity of Acts, and the authorship and dates of the epistles.
  • Modern research and literary approaches to the Old Testament, with a primary focus on the Pentateuch, Isaiah, Daniel, and the Psalms.
  • An orientation to skills for graduate study, including graduate writing and research, and an introduction to management, finance, accounting, economics, and marketing. This course is the Prerequisite for the remaining courses in the program.
  • Economic theory for establishing, revising, and interpreting business policy, including identifying and interpreting economic indicators, and macroeconomic and microeconomic phenomena that aid decision-making for management. Political influences on the performance of markets, currency exchange, and economic growth.
  • This course introduces the concepts and skills for integrating analytics into the decision-making process, to assist organizations in achieving their goals. Core statistics and basic analytical concepts are introduced. The course will include an overview of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics, focusing on the ability to communicate with numbers to assist organizations in improving performance.
  • Financial theory and analytical tools, with application to management decision-making and strategy.
  • This course serves as the culmination and integration of the learning from all Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts in Ministry courses. There will be a synthesis of business administration strategies with the integration of their Personal Credo and Philosophy of Ministry in a capstone project.
    Prerequisite: Completion of major courses
  • Common operational challenges of global businesses with a focus on management, social, economic, political, and financial implications of strategic operations from a faith-based perspective. Topics include cross-cultural context, values, ethics, communication, the influence of international expansion, human resources, and faith-based business operations. Special consideration of current events related to global organizations and their impact on the business environment.
  • This course is designed to provide students with an advanced understanding of the current strategic operations management approaches, with proven analytic techniques.
  • This course is an exploration of corporate Christian worship: the acts and expressions flowing from a biblical Christian understanding of who God is, and how he has chosen to relate with people, especially those he has redeemed. It is supplemented by a review of worship’s historical development and incorporates application of these principles to planning for corporate expression of worship.
  • This course is intended to concentrate on the dual tasks of biblical exegesis and sermon delivery. Students will be expected to preach at least twice in class using various literary genres taken from both testaments. The course will give particular attention to expository preaching.
  • This course is designed to explore pastoral leadership by focusing upon the implications of the biblical servanthood model as it pertains to the pastor/leader in the practice of ministry. This course seeks to guide the student into a better understanding not only of what the pastor as leader does but also of who the pastor as leader is within the context of Christian ministry as well as to develop a more unified model of a Servanthood Theology of Ministry model.
  • This course is a study of the spiritual disciplines as they relate to the spiritual well-being and development of the minister. Students will experiment with a variety of spiritual disciplines to foster spiritual formation in the journey of faith.
  • Analyzing marketing mix variables for problem solving in both domestic and international markets, consumer behavior, digital marketing strategies, improving product management, maximizing channels, and customer-driven marketing strategies. MKT 6100 Management in Social Media and Ecommerce 3 Managing digital marketing, content marketing, and customer relations to build ecommerce platforms to cultivate lead and sales from social media relationships.
  • Formation for pastoral care givers who focus on the value of persons and their relationships, and who know the history of pastoral care, the major therapeutic models, and the application of biblical principles to pastoral care and counseling, so they can identify basic human problems and respond appropriately through pastoral care and counseling.
  • This course is designed to introduce, examine ethical principles, and challenge the thinking of the student, endeavoring to make application to the pastoral counselor and similar ministries. The student will investigate legal elements of pastoral ministry and the local church, including online exploration of lawsuits involving various ministries.
  • The development of the Church’s doctrines from the close of the Apostolic Age through the modern period with emphasis on the development of the ecumenical creeds and the distinctive doctrines of the Reformation.
  • The Wesleyan theological heritage, with emphasis on its spiritual and ideological construction at the inception of Methodism, a critical explanation and evaluation of the origins and development of Methodism’s richest resources, and encouragement toward its adequate communication in preaching, teaching, scholarship, and holy living