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Master of Arts in
Christian Counseling
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Wall Street Journal ranks Cornerstone University as one of America's best colleges 2025.

ATS
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Transfer up to 65% of your program credits

Deepen your ministry skills with a Master’s in Christian Counseling Online Degree

Are you called to guide others through life’s challenges and want to offer counseling support from a Christian perspective? The M.A. in Christian Counseling at Cornerstone Theological Seminary equips pastors, lay leaders, and ministry professionals with effective counseling tools that connect mental and emotional health to spiritual health. While non-licensure, this program blends ministry and counseling foundations to help you disciple individuals and families toward Christ-centered wholeness. Offered 100% online for flexibility and accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), you’ll gain new capabilities to help the hurting find healing.

Develop Market-Ready Skills with a Christian Counseling Master’s Degree

Taught by experienced ministry and counseling faculty, our 36-credit-hour curriculum is designed to help busy ministry professionals pursue advanced skills to enhance their impact and expand their career opportunities.

*Please note that the Master of Arts in Christian Counseling is not designed to fulfill any requirements for state-licensed professional counseling. You can view Cornerstone University’s licensure-track Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree for more information about counseling licensure.

Develop Ministry-Ready Skills with an M.A. in Christian Counseling

With a master’s in Christian Counseling, you can build strong resume skills, including:

Theological Integration in Counseling – Integrate Christian theology and spiritual principles into counseling sessions to provide holistic care.

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Christian Counseling Techniques – Blend Biblical approaches, sound therapeutic methods, and effective communication to address spiritual and emotional concerns.

Marriage and Family Counseling – Apply counseling techniques to support and guide couples and families through relational and emotional challenges.

Human Growth and Development – Understand psychological development across the lifespan, applying developmental theory to counseling practice.

Cultural Competence – Navigate and address the cultural and social factors that impact an individual’s well-being and mental health.

Group Counseling Techniques – Facilitate group therapy and support groups to foster healing and growth within a community context.

Spiritual Formation – Develop and apply spiritual practices to support personal growth and guide others in their Christ-centered healing journey.

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Crisis Intervention – Assess and manage crises in non-clinical settings, offering counseling support and long-term strategies for recovery.

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Integration of a Christian Worldview – Apply a Biblically-grounded approach to counseling and decision-making that fosters healing and guides counseling practices within complex moral dilemmas.

Courses

Cornerstone is ready to help you expand your career opportunities. The courses below reflect the focused courses in our 36-credit-hour program.

Counseling

CTS-500: Christian Counseling Philosophy

Develop a comprehensive philosophy of counseling as discipleship through a Christian worldview, focusing on personal beliefs, counselor-client roles, and ethical and legal standards in pastoral settings.

COU-525: Social & Cultural Foundations in Counseling

Examine counseling dynamics across diverse cultures, emphasizing cultural awareness and personality theory to improve sensitivity and reduce barriers.

COU-531: Introduction to Marriage and Family

Explore contemporary marital and family issues through a theological lens, including family roles, lifespan development, parenting, singleness, courtship, and family health influences.

COU-612: Group Techniques

Learn group counseling theories, dynamics, and leadership, with hands-on experience in group formation, therapeutic factors, and effective leadership techniques.

COU-620: Christian Counseling Technique

Identify counselor characteristics and micro skills that shape the Christian counseling process, focusing on non-clinical strategies for working with individuals, couples, families, and groups in church settings.

COU-662: Human Growth & Development

Explore human development across the lifespan, focusing on individual and family developmental psychology, multicultural contexts, and factors that impact optimal growth and thriving.

Ministry/Theology

MIN-500: Christian Spiritual Formation

Examine biblical Christianity and its connection to faith and practice, with a focus on spiritual growth within contemporary, cultural, and community contexts.

BBL-501: Biblical Hermeneutics

Learn to determine the original meaning and contemporary significance of biblical texts.

BBL-514: Old Testament Foundations

Discover historical and cultural contexts, literary features, and theological themes of each Old Testament book.

BBL-515: New Testament Foundations

Explore historical and cultural contexts, literary features, and theological themes of each New Testament book.

THE-550: Theology for Counseling I

Discover key concepts of the Christian worldview and how to integrate them into counseling, focusing on the doctrines of Scripture, God, and humanity.

THE-551: Theology for Counseling II

Apply doctrines of sin, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the church, salvation, and the last things — death, judgment, heaven, and hell — to counseling scenarios.

Influential Careers with a Master’s in Christian Counseling Degree

Obtaining your Christian Counseling degree will prepare you to work in a variety of non-licensure career settings, as well as prepare you to pursue the Christian Mental Health Counseling degree program at Cornerstone Theological Seminary.

  • Christian Counselor
  • Pastoral Counselor
  • Chaplain (hospital, military, prison)
  • Christian Ministry Leader
  • Christian Counseling Educator
  • Nonprofit Program Director

Tuition

Online

$3,090 per semester for full-time students

Through the gifts of generous donors, students have access to multiple Cornerstone Theological Seminary scholarships, with many scholarships covering up to 50% of tuition. To apply for a variety of seminary scholarships, click on the link below. Monthly payment options are also available.

ScholarshipsFile the FAFSA

Your Next Steps

Review application requirements and take the first step to apply to Cornerstone Theological Seminary today.

  1. Submit your program application.
    Choose the Speciality Master’s degree application.
    No GRE is required.
  2. Submit your transcripts.
    Request your undergraduate transcripts directly from the institution. A minimum 2.5 GPA from an accredited undergraduate college or university is required.
  3. Submit a Letter of Recommendation.
    Submit one letter of recommendation from a ministry leader or mentor.

Cornerstone University

Hours

MON - FRI: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
SAT & SUN: Closed

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