The Doctor of Education (EdD) in Pastoral Community
Counseling program is based on the fundamental belief that
religious/spiritual communities provide a unique opportunity
for human growth and development. The program is designed to prepare leaders within religious communities with an opportunity for personal and professional development, directed toward making a significant contribution to their community and to society. With this in mind, the program integrates the engagement of knowledge, the development of skills, reflective practice, and research in a manner that prepares the pastoral counselor to address individual and communal development in an ethically responsible fashion.

The Pastoral Community Counseling program is committed to
the concept of community. In this regard, the learners participate with one another and with faculty in a virtual community. This provides a means of support and interaction that exceeds the boundaries imposed by geographical definition, and utilizes technology for the purposes of individual, community, and societal development.

The program is designed to afford working professionals the
opportunity to pursue doctoral study while maintaining active
participation in their professional endeavors. Also, in concert with its emphasis on the religious/spiritual community, the program is offered in a modified cohort format.

Courses in this program may be taken as electives by students in
other EdD programs, and course substitutions may be approved
by the program coordinator.