Academic Catalog

Hogue (3 credits)

The work of compassion, justice, and collective liberation is integral to religious leadership in the 21st century, and for many progressive and liberal religious leaders, it is holy work. We live in a world beset by numerous moral, social, political, and spiritual challenges—a world of radical economic inequality, racial inequities, climate and environmental injustices, social acceleration, and post-truth political polarization. What role can progressive religious leaders play in relation to these challenges? What leverage do religious leaders and communities have in relation to these issues? What imaginative, theoretical, and methodological tools can aid religious workers as they seek to lead people and communities through these challenges? How and in what ways does the holy, or the divine, or God, manifest itself in and through religious social engagement? Guided by these orienting questions, this course will introduce students to ways of thinking, being, and leading that will empower them to build upon their unique gifts to creatively engage the peril and promise of the present world.

MDiv required course.

Fall Semester course

Prerequisite: Clinical Pastoral Education, Grounding, Completion of at least 18 credits

Kirk (3 credits)

This Fall semester course is linked with an approved congregational or community internship. The focus of this course is on the formation of ministerial identity. The internship site serves as a place for structured engagement and reflection on a range of topics and moves students more deeply into praxis. Students explore the roles and responsibilities of ministry including the intersections of personal, cultural, and professional identities, emotional literacy, professional boundaries, the influence of shifting trends and demographics on religious leadership, the impact of context on leadership, and public speaking, among others. Students must register for the internship separately.

MDiv required course.

Fall Semester course

Prerequisite: Vocational Studies: Formation

Robersmith and Avery (3 credits)

This Spring semester course is linked with an approved congregational or community internship. The focus of this Spring semester course is on the work of ministry in diverse communal and congregational settings. The internship site serves as a place for structured engagement and reflection on a range of topics and moves students more deeply into praxis. Students explore the roles and responsibilities of ministry including the intersections of personal, cultural, and professional identities, emotional literacy, professional boundaries, the influence of shifting trends and demographics on religious leadership, the impact of context on leadership, and public speaking, among others. Students must register for the internship separately.

MDiv required course.

Spring Semester course

Prerequisite: Clinical Pastoral Education, Grounding, Completion of at least 18 credits

(3 credits)           
2nd Year Fall Internship, to be taken concurrently with Vocational Studies: Formation.

MDiv required course.

Fall Semester course

Prerequisite: Internship 1

(3 credits)           
2nd Year Spring Internship, to be taken concurrently with Vocational Studies: Communities.

MDiv required course.

Spring Semester course

Prerequisite: Internship 2

(3 credits)           
3rd Year Fall Internship, to be taken concurrently with Leadership Studies: Formation.

MDiv required course.

Fall Semester course

Prerequisite: Internship 3

(3 credits)           
3rd Year Spring Internship, to be taken concurrently with Leadership Studies: Administration.

MDiv required course.

Spring Semester course

Prerequisite: Vocational Studies: Communities and Internship 1 and 2.

Leach (3 credits)

The Leadership Studies year affords continued learning about ministry and leadership through the prism of guided work within the internship site and on one’s Leadership Initiative. Synchronous Zoom meetings and smaller Formation Groups bolster collaborative learning and reflection.

This course explores ministerial leadership in the context of the Unitarian Universalist commitment “to transform the world through liberating Love” (UUA Bylaws). The act of transforming ourselves, our institutions, and our larger communities requires that we tap the human potential that surrounds us to build a world that nurtures our spirits and helps all of us to thrive. That is arguably the defining work of ministry in the decades to come. Beyond informing and inspiring, we are called to instigate and lead change.

The structure of learning and organizational engagement will be the same as that experienced during Vocational Studies. You will engage the day-to-day ministry of your internship site and blend academic learning with structured reflection on multiple dimensions of organizational life. You will also continue to meet monthly with your Internship Committee and weekly with your Internship Supervisor. You will also spend time implementing and reflecting upon your Leadership Initiative.

MDiv required course.

Fall Semester course

Prerequisite: Leadership Studies: Formation

House (3 credits)

The Leadership Studies year affords continued learning about ministry and leadership through the prism of guided work within the internship site and on one’s Leadership Initiative. Synchronous Zoom meetings and smaller Formation Groups bolster collaborative learning and reflection as well. This semester we’ll explore religious leadership with attention to leadership roles and responsibilities, how leadership is embodied and enacted, and characteristics of communities in this contemporary moment. We’ll give special attention to:
• Nuanced understandings of calling
• Decolonial frameworks of religious leadership
• Best practices for multiple administrative responsibilities, including discerning compensation and budgeting
• Organizational transformations – from the theological to the physical
• Expanding conceptions of care
• Blessings for liminal times

The structure of learning and organizational engagement will be the same as that experienced during Vocational Studies. You will engage the day-to-day ministry of your internship site and blend academic learning with structured reflection on multiple dimensions of organizational life. You will also continue to meet monthly with your Internship Committee and weekly with their Internship Supervisor. You will also spend time implementing and reflecting upon your Leadership Initiative.

MDiv required course.

Spring Semester course