B.A. B.S.Ed. Christian Education Leadership
The Christian education leadership major from Concordia University, Nebraska can help you serve Christ’s church as an LCMS Director of Christian education (DCE), faith formation director or education leader, trained and called to serve within a congregation or ministry setting. Develop and lead programs that nurture the spiritual growth and faith development of people across all age groups, from children to adults. You might also use your degree in Christian Education Leadership to serve as a Christian teacher or as a national or international missionary, enabling you to bring Christian values and leadership to God’s people in a church or school.
Concordia has a strong record of providing leaders in Christian education; over 30% of all Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod DCEs are alumni of Concordia University, Nebraska. By intentionally intersecting excellent, interdisciplinary academic experiences with a Christian faith tradition and dynamic, real-world experience, Concordia can equip you fulfill your higher purpose to help those you serve grow in their faith and live out their Christian callings.
Encourage your students to understand the world through the perspective of God’s truth, using the Bible and its teachings to help young and old to learn and live a Christian life every day.
Program Highlights
WHY STUDY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION LEADERSHIP AT CONCORDIA?
Concordia University, Nebraska prepares Christian educators who in turn equip people of all ages in congregations for their ministries in various contexts. We focus on the Christian education leader as educator, instructional leader, administer, care action minister consultant and researcher.
Graduates seek to use education to equip others to more capably live out God’s plan for their lives – essentially to "prepare God’s people for works of service so the body of Christ may be built up" (Ephesians 4:12).
Director of Christian Education Certificate
Concordia awards a DCE certificate to all LCMS graduates who have completed the DCE admission process, CEL major, foundational major, DCE certification requirements and all other graduation requirements for a baccalaureate degree. This certification entitles a graduate to receive a call as a DCE and to be placed on the Commissioned Minister Roster of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
When you complete your Christian education leadership major at Concordia University, Nebraska you will graduate with a double major. You can choose a second major in theology, psychology, behavioral science or education. All of this can be completed in four years, with a fifth year in the paid internship required for those seeking DCE certification.
Director of Christian Education: Specialist Diploma
Concordia’s director of Christian education specialist diploma program will help you learn innovative, creative ways to help young, middle-aged and adult learners see their faith journeys as relevant, real, fulfilling and fun.
Designed for those students who have completed their undergraduate coursework and are seeking DCE certification, the DCE specialist program includes a balance of theoretical and practical training so you can help people grow in their faith.
MEET OUR EXPERT FACULTY
As experts in Christian Education Leadership, our faculty and instructors bring years of experience to the classroom.
Meet our students
“Being a DCE entails creating a cradle-to-grave sequence of education. One hundred percent of people need faith 100% of the time. ”
Matthew Murphy
Colorado Springs, CO
Accreditation
Concordia University, Nebraska is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Degree Goals
A Christian education leadership graduate from Concordia University, Nebraska will be able to:
- commit to fulfilling Christian education ministries within the church.
- apply biblical, educational, historical and administrative principles to help those who are part of the priesthood of all believers to live out their Christian faith.
- create and implement programs to meet the educational needs of their church, school or organization.
- develop a biblically-based, comprehensive philosophy of Christian educational ministries that reflects sound educational theory and practice.
Career Outcomes
Director of Christian Education
- Create, implement and coordinate programs of religious education
- Work with children’s or youth ministry
- Foster and nurture Christian faith and discipleship through Sunday school, bible studies and other programs designed to assist spiritual formation
Youth Minister
- Conduct worship and provide spiritual and moral guidance and assistance
- Lead Christian education classes, Bible studies and various church programs
- Lead summer Bible camps or mission trips for youths
FAQs
What is the difference between the Christian education leadership program, director of Christian education certification and the Lutheran teacher diploma?
The Christian education leadership program at Concordia University, Nebraska is meant to be a broader educational experience that will prepare you for a career in Christian education, whatever form that may take, whether it be as a leader in a church, a Christian teacher in a classroom or as a missionary in the field.
If you are a confirmed member of The Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod and wish to serve as a rostered church worker, Concordia can help you obtain a director of Christian education (DCE) certificate, which will make you eligible for a call to a Lutheran church.
If you would like to couple your Christian education leadership major with a teaching certificate and you would like to be able to teach in a Lutheran school that is associated with The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, you may wish to receive a Lutheran Teacher Diploma along with your Christian education leadership major and your DCE certificate.
What kind of practical experience will I receive with Concordia’s Christian education leadership major?
Concordia Nebraska is committed to making sure our education students get real-world experience in classrooms, so they can be successful educational leaders once they graduate.
As a Christian education leadership major at Concordia, you will participate in more real-life, high-impact learning experiences than most programs offer. All of our students complete two field experience classes at churches of their choice. You will be assigned at a local congregation for a year-long practicum that is supervised by the pastor or DCE, and complete a year-long, full-time, paid internship that is supervised by university personnel.
What makes Concordia’s Christian education leadership major unique?
When you complete your Christian education leadership major at Concordia University, Nebraska you will graduate with a double major. You can choose a second major in theology, psychology, behavioral science or education. All of this can be completed in four years, with a fifth year in the paid internship required for those seeking DCE certification.
It is possible to obtain a bachelor’s degree with a major in Christian education leadership, a second major in education, a public teaching degree, a Lutheran Teacher Diploma and a DCE certificate in just four year plus a one year internship.
For those seeking DCE certification, we will coordinate your one-year paid internship in a congregation of the LCMS. Because our graduates serve in more districts than the graduates of any other LCMS university, our interns are placed throughout the United States and in other countries.
Related Programs
Elementary Education
As an elementary educator, you are certified to teach children in kindergarten through sixth grade. You will typically spend the day with the same group of students, teaching them foundational skills in a wide variety of subjects. The liberal arts education you will receive at Concordia University, Nebraska, along with subject-specific methodology courses in the education department, will prepare you to be an outstanding elementary school teacher.
Middle Level Education
The middle level education program at Concordia Nebraska connects theory with practice to prepare graduates to teach grades 5 through 9 in both self-contained and departmentalized classrooms. As a middle level education major, you will choose from among math, science, social sciences and language arts and have the opportunity to add a second subject from those or Spanish, physical education and ELL/ESL, allowing your passion for teaching to connect with your subject-area passions, which you can share with your students.
Theology
With a degree in theology from Concordia Nebraska, you will learn to think and read critically, speak clearly and persuasively, and better understand how religious convictions shape us ethically as members of the human community. Studying Christian theology helps you consider both historical and contemporary questions related to theological and religious thought to enhance your awareness of religious beliefs and practices among different cultures.
1 Recent graduates attending graduate school or employed within six months of graduation.
2Average Class Size for Representative Subject Most Aligned with Major, Over Last 5 Years.