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Major · Theology and Religious Vocations

Train to launch new Christian congregations — one of the rarest majors in the field

Church Planting is a highly specialized program offered at just 4 colleges nationwide, with only 1 completion recorded in the most recent year. The curriculum covers church multiplication strategies, church leadership, discipleship, and community outreach for individuals preparing to establish new churches.

Schools offering
4
Annual completions
1
Typical degree level
Associate's
Median earnings (5yr)
$40k

About this major

Church Planting is the formal name for training to launch new Christian congregations. The CIP definition describes a program covering models of church planting, church multiplication strategies, church leadership, discipleship, evangelism, and community outreach. Coursework combines biblical and theological foundations with applied content on forming small groups, mobilizing lay leaders, cross-cultural ministry, fundraising for new works, and the practical logistics of sustaining a new congregation through its first years.

The major is exceptionally small. Just 4 institutions — Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Ozark Christian College, Criswell College, and Valor Christian College — report any students in the CIP, and only 1 completion was recorded in the most recent year. All four are associate's-level programs at evangelical institutions. The most direct occupational destination tracked by BLS is Religious workers, all other (median wage $45,120; projected growth 0.6%), a broad category for non-clergy religious staff.

In practice, almost no student who plans to plant a church stops at this major. The more common path is to major in a broader field like Bible/Biblical Studies (1,765 annual completions), Divinity/Ministry (705), or Pastoral Studies/Counseling (394), then pursue church-planting coursework as an elective concentration or at the seminary level. The degree exists primarily as a confessional signal inside a handful of denominationally focused institutions, not as a nationally scaled pathway.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Religious workers, all other $45k +0.6% Bachelor's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$40k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$41k

Bachelor's

$39k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you are already embedded in a church-planting movement or denomination that uses this credential as part of its pipeline, you want an associate's-level program that is explicitly confessional and applied, you plan to continue with further ministry training at a seminary or divinity school after completing the associate's, you accept that the direct occupational destination (Religious workers, all other) has a median wage of $45,120 with slow projected growth of 0.6%, and you see the degree as one step inside a longer ministry-formation process rather than a complete academic credential on its own.

Think twice if you're trying to pick a major with strong portability — this field has just 4 programs and 1 annual completion, and credits and terminology may transfer unevenly to other schools. Think twice if you want bachelor's-level religious studies, since the bachelor's split here is $39,317 against a broader Divinity/Ministry bachelor's median of $47,414. And think twice if you are not already inside an evangelical tradition where church planting is an institutional priority — in most other denominational contexts, new congregations are launched by already-ordained clergy trained through broader theology or divinity programs instead.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Church Planting

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Oklahoma Wesleyan University Bartlesville, OK 1 0 1
Ozark Christian College Joplin, MO 0 0 0
Criswell College Dallas, TX 0 0 0
Valor Christian College Canal Winchester, OH 0 0 0
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Bible/Biblical Studies

1,765 completions/yr

Theology/Theological Studies

938 completions/yr

Divinity/Ministry

705 completions/yr

Religious Education

608 completions/yr

Missions/Missionary Studies

285 completions/yr

Religious/Sacred Music

245 completions/yr

Worship Ministry

64 completions/yr

Religious Music and Worship, Other

5 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Church Planting majors actually study?
The CIP definition centers the curriculum on models of church planting, church multiplication strategies, church leadership, discipleship, evangelism, and community outreach. In practice, programs blend biblical and theological foundations with applied coursework in small-group formation, cross-cultural ministry, fundraising for new works, and the logistics of launching and sustaining a congregation. Because the field sits inside broader ministry departments, most students also take core theology, Bible, and pastoral coursework.
How many schools actually offer this major?
Only 4 institutions award a Church Planting credential: Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OK), Ozark Christian College (MO), Criswell College (TX), and Valor Christian College (OH). Total annual completions in the most recent reporting year are just 1, making this one of the smallest majors in all of IPEDS. The degree is offered at the associate's level in this data — students seeking a bachelor's-level credential typically major in a broader field like Divinity/Ministry, Pastoral Studies/Counseling, or Bible/Biblical Studies instead.
What jobs do graduates typically pursue?
The primary occupation tied to this major is Religious workers, all other (median wage $45,120; projected growth 0.6%) — a catch-all BLS category for religious staff who are not clergy, directors of religious activities, or religious educators. Many graduates go on to further study at a seminary or divinity school before actually launching a church, since most denominations expect ordained clergy to lead new congregations. Associate's-level completers report median earnings of about $41,003 at five years.
Is Church Planting a realistic standalone major choice?
For most students, no. With only 4 programs and 1 annual completion, the major is better treated as a specialized concentration within a broader ministry or theology program than as a standalone national pathway. Students genuinely called to plant churches commonly pick a larger and more transferable major — Bible/Biblical Studies (1,765 completions), Theology/Theological Studies (938), or Divinity/Ministry (705) — then take church-planting electives or pursue the specialty at the seminary level.
How do earnings compare to related majors?
Median five-year earnings across completers in this major run about $39,799, with associate's at $41,003 and bachelor's at $39,317 — an unusual inversion where the associate's-level figure is slightly higher, likely reflecting very small sample sizes. Broader adjacent majors show similar ranges: Bible/Biblical Studies at $45,268 (bachelor's) and Divinity/Ministry at $47,414 (bachelor's). Earnings ceilings in this vocational cluster are modest across the board.