Chaplaincy Studies

Mini-Courses:

Clutter, Clutter, Clutter. The soul is confronted with sinful clutter every day. This course is about the care of the soul with special attention paid to what needs to be decluttered. Professor Henry Reyenga invites you to a place where anthropology and practical spiritual growth meet. 

Spiritual Disciplines are biblical principles that bring growth and depth to ones' faith and relationship with Christ. This mini-course will introduce several fundamental spiritual disciplines and discuss the ways they can be practiced, their biblical framework, and the impact they can have when practiced. 

Forgiveness is a powerful topic. From receiving God's forgiveness to giving and receiving forgiveness from others, it is life-changing. This mini-course can be impactful in every area of ministry. How will this course strengthen your knowledge and practice of forgiveness?

Fear. Fear seems to be everywhere! This course looks at the common fears in our world and points to Jesus Christ and his work for victory over fear! This mini-course could be used to inspire a Bible study in your church or community of influence.

The Prayer of Serenity has been used in Alcoholic Anonymous for years. In addition to this community, how can it benefit others? Learn more with Professor Steve Elzinga about each phrase of the prayer and how they can benefit your faith walk. 

What are the essential Christian teachings? What does it mean to believe the truth of Scripture? Dr. David Feddes teaches this extensive mini-course that dives into the foundation of Biblical revelation. This course is one of those essentials for the soul and pastoral care. 

In this course, you will learn how the traditions of men have obscured the meaning and practice of the most important Christian ritual. You will learn how the Lord’s Supper was originally a feast of joy,  an instrument of unity, a weekly reminder to the Lord of his promised return, and how the Agape Love Feast is, in fact, the chief reason that Christians should gather together.

Do you want more discernment skills? This mini-course teaches you the essential skill needed to be a more discerning person. This is a healthy skill for your soul. 

Skill Courses:

This course focuses on helping people to manage unchecked behaviors that lead to poor judgment, acting out, self-destructive behaviors, and feeling out of control. Instead, attitudes and behaviors can be cultivated that are conducive to long-term success and peace of mind.

Have you been asked to officiate a wedding?  This Christian Wedding Officiant Skills class is a one-credit class that gives you the skills needed to officiate a wedding. Included in the training are some teachings about the meaning of marriage from the Christian worldview perspective. 

After you complete the Christian Wedding Officiant Training Skill portion of this course you are welcome to become licensed with the Christian Leaders Alliance after you receive one recommendation.


Officiant Ministry skills are the ministry essential skills that clergy need. Whether you are the volunteer, part-time, or career ministry lane, this two-credit course will teach you ministry skills in the following areas:

  • Baptisms and Dedications
  • Funerals
  • The Lord’s Supper
  • Professions of Faith
  • Confessions of Sin
  • Forgiveness Prayers and Ceremonies
  • Anointing Ceremonies
  • Care Facilities Visits
  • Spiritual Warfare
  • Master of Ceremony

How do Christians find their life-long marriage match? This course brings the Biblical worldview to the practical need of matching couples who share a walk with Christ. Professor Kristina Lynn has spent over twenty years developing a matchmaking ministry approach. This one-credit specialization ministry class is designed for those interested in pursuing matchmaking as part of their ministry. 

Pre-Marriage Counseling Skills is a course led by Steve Elzinga with some real life examples from Abby and Mitchell Dominiak. As a branch of life coaching, students will learn how to come along side engaged-to-be-married couples and coach them through life before marriage. 

Many parents are seeking help to raise confident children. Professor Steve Elzinga presents this parenting skill course to help you if you are involved with children or if you minister to parents. This course will fulfill the requirement of the Parenting Life Coaching badge. 

Full Courses:

This course explores various kinds of chaplaincy, such as prison, military, and hospital chaplains, along with the potential for using online chat to minister as "chatplains." Students will engage in biblical and theological reflection about chaplaincy, develop personal qualities and skills, and learn basic practices for bringing Christ's healing presence into challenging situations.

MIN 210 - Pastoral Care (3 credits)

This course discusses caring for others pastorally as well as strengthening your own marriage. Whether you are married or not, this course gets at the spiritual principles of what makes a powerful kingdom partnership as a husband and wife become one spiritually, emotionally, and sexually. 

This course teaches various life skills and shows how to become healthier and stronger as a total person. Drawing upon a biblical worldview and findings in various disciplines, this course is a journey toward greater fitness in the spiritual, physical, financial, intellectual, emotional, relational, and vocational dimensions of life.

This course explores some key aspects of pastoring a church including Your Family and Ministry, Leading the Leaders, Helping People Though Grief, The Nine Facets of Training your Ministry and Small Group Volunteers (Carl George), Sharing the Gospel, Hospitality, and tools for pastors as they set up a discipleship culture in homes of those they influence. This course also offers guidance for dealing with important transitional events, such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals.

This course looks at many of the human relational dynamics that occur in most families. These insights are very helpful for Christian Leaders to lead people into God-glorifying wholeness. 

This course equips students to bring biblical peace culture to every relationship and situation. You will learn to pursue God's purposes in situations of conflict, rather than reacting in harmful ways. You will learn to depend on God's presence and reconciling power to be a peacemaker, applying PeaceSmart principles in families, organizations, and evangelism.

This course provides students with a Biblical framework for learning and developing Godly, healthy living skills that promote self-care and community support. Students will learn the foundations of the 12-step recovery process, best practices of conflict management, and how to manage one’s dark side. Students will also survey the fundamentals of healthy relationship skills in personal and professional sectors, learn and apply love languages; 

Almost 21 million Americans have at least one addiction, yet only 10% of them receive treatment. Drug overdose deaths have more than tripled since 1990. From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 Americans died from overdosing on a drug. Alcohol and drug addiction cost the U.S. economy over $600 billion every year. Source


Last modified: Monday, July 31, 2023, 4:31 PM