Master of Arts

Description

The Master of Arts program provides theological grounding if you are:

Curious and want to understand your faith more deeply
Pursuing ministry in the world as part of either your vocation or avocation
Looking for a flexible curriculum

It also allows you to self-design a degree plan for specialized studies such as:

Faith and politics
Faith and health
Prison ministry
Multicultural ministry

Most students will normally complete the degree in three-to-four semesters.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Arts degree is customizable to your needs. You will complete 36 credit hours of course work in the regular curriculum. Only one course (IS-100) is required. You will complete this course your final semester and it includes a final project.

The only other coursework limitation is when courses require prerequisites.

Curricular Design Options

The faculty advisor is available to help guide you through the process of designing your M.A. degree.

Additionally, below are suggested outlines to help you design a flexible curriculum within the 36 credit hours.

These are suggested templates; these are not lists of required courses.
The options below do not count as specializations or certificate programs unless specifically labeled as such.

Professional Degree Goals and Objectives

I. Religious Heritage
Goal: Students will cultivate deep roots in the foundational biblical and theological traditions of the Christian faith.
Objectives: Students will demonstrate:
A. Knowledge of biblical and historical foundations of Christian theology and practice;
B. Critical understanding of methodological issues in interpreting these traditions for contemporary faith and practice;
C. Engagement with the diversity of the Christian heritage and imaginative expression in liturgy, writing and the arts.

II. Cultural Context
Goal: Students will engage diverse cultural contexts sensitively, critically and constructively.
Objectives: Students will demonstrate:
A. Ability to enter into diverse cultural communities with an openness to encountering, contributing to, and learning from different cultural perspectives;
B. Critical use of methods for identifying and analyzing cultural patterns, social structures, and economic forces impacting human communities and their lived faith;
C. Constructive engagement in collaborative ministry with others in ways that are culturally informed.

III. Ministerial and Public Leadership
Goal: Students will hone their own skills for ministry and enable the ministry and leadership of others.
Objectives: Students will demonstrate:
A. Skill in practicing the arts of ministry and church leadership;
B. Ability to work effectively with others to facilitate their gifts for service and leadership in the church, in community organization, and in the public square;
C. Fruitful approaches toward innovation to help others face new challenges and opportunities for creative and faithful ministry and mission.

IV. Personal and Spiritual Formation
Goal: Students will strive toward deeper integration intellectually, morally, emotionally and spiritually.
Objectives: Students will demonstrate:
A. Committed discipleship as faithful individuals and as persons of moral character within community;
B. Responsibility for directing their learning for more effective engagement;
C. Self-awareness, especially of their own emotional processes in interaction with others.

Denominational Requirements

To be ordained as a deacon in The United Methodist Church, you must take these.
These are church requirements for ordination and not a seminary requirement.
These can be taken as electives or at some point apart from the degree work.

History and Doctrine in Methodist Traditions (4 credit hours) ST-460 and -461, ST-462, or ST-463 and -464
Polity of the United Methodist Church (2 credit hours) CM-251
Evangelism (2 or 3 credit hours) CM-270 or other courses as offered