Mentored Ministries

The Mentored Ministries Office oversees the following formation programs: Vocational Mentors, Mentoring Groups, and Internships. It also connects with key formational courses.

Vocational Mentors & Local Church Involvement

Vocational mentors are pastors or ministry leaders who meet with students regularly to provide support and nurture. Many vocational mentors are from the local churches that students attend and help to bridge the world of church and the world of seminary.

Student’s local churches are also the settings in which they develop ministry practice experience while they are studying at the seminary. Through relationships with a local church and a vocational mentor, students develop not only ministry skills but also a holistic sense of identity as persons called to ministry on behalf of Christ.

Third-year student, 2007: "A lot of my progress in the ministry practices came from my work in the local church, where I could practice what I was learning in class. It was through the local church that I received affirmation about my calling to ministry."

Mentoring Groups

Mentoring Groups are faculty-led or pastor-led groups of 6 to 8 students that meet regularly throughout students’ seminary training. M.Div. groups meet together for three years and M.A. groups for two years. In Mentoring Groups, students and leaders form one another for ministry by practicing spiritual disciplines and theological reflection together. Mentoring Groups provide students with a community of trust and reflection where all parts of their education and formation for ministry can be integrated.

• M.Div. - 6 semesters (6 credits)
• M.A.- 4 semesters (4 credits)

Credits include mentoring group activities, vocational mentor meetings, local church involvement, and personal spiritual formation

Internships - M.Div. (6 credit hours)

M.Div. Internships provide an intriguing range of opportunities for students to practice and reflect on ministry in various contexts, facilitating an integration of theology with ministry, a maturing pastoral identity, and growth of ministry practice skills.

M.Div. students also have meaningful engagement with congregational ministry in the course of their overall Mentored Ministries program. The Mentored Ministries Office and the student’s Mentoring Group leader along with the student discern the components of an internship program that will be most beneficial for the student.

Students complete two of the following three options:

1. Cross-cultural Internships provide opportunities to explore the contextual nature of ministry and are typically completed in the summer after students’ first year of seminary as a five-week, full-time ministry assignment. 200 hours, 2 credits
2. Congregation-based Internships provide ministry leadership experiences in a congregation in which students are able to deepen pastoral identity and develop ministry practices, and are typically completed in the summer after students’ second year of seminary as a ten-week, full-time ministry assignment. 400 hours, 4 credits
3. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) provides ministry opportunities in approved institutional or church settings together with professional supervision and intensive peer group reflection. CPE can be completed concurrently during the school year or over the course of a summer. Credit hours vary

Although the opportunities listed above are standard for the internship program, several variations are available for the student.

• Full-Year Internships are full-time pastoral ministry experiences that typically take place over the course of a full year, though the length is negotiable. Similar to Congregation-based Internships, the primary goal of these internships is for students to have ministry leadership experiences in which they are able to deepen pastoral identity and develop ministry practices. These internships may take place in a variety of settings (e.g. campus ministry, chaplaincy, church plant, community development ministry, congregation, educational ministry, or international mission), and generally replace the Congregation-based Internship in students’ programs. 4 credit hours
  • Full-Year Internships can also be chosen by students who have already completed two summer internships but desire additional ministry experience. No additional credit hours.

Internships - M.A. (2 credit hours)

M.A. internships assist students in understanding how God is molding them spiritually, personally and professionally through their seminary studies, work of ministry, and area of specialization.

The primary consideration in the selection of an internship is the student’s area of specialization (worship, missions, education, pastoral care, etc.) The seminary assists students in finding an internship experience that matches their vocational interests and provides them with significant leadership experience.

The 200 hours of supervised ministry experience can be completed in a full-time five-week internship, or concurrently over a period of time. 200 hours, 2 credits

Course Connections

The following courses are intentionally interdisciplinary, teaching students to draw on their work in a variety of fields when they approach particular ministry challenges. These courses intersect with the Mentored Ministries program in mutually enriching ways.

"This class offered me chances to think about practical ministry questions and situations through the glasses of church history, systematic theology, and Scripture itself. The professor also helped us realize just how much we have learned in these last three years." Third-year Student, 2007

• Theological Education as Formation for Ministry establishes the integral relation between the “thinking” and “doing” of theology. Students investigate habits developed through theological education that are critical to healthy life-long ministry practices, and write a Rule of Life. The classic spiritual disciplines are studied and practiced. M.Div., M.A.
• Introduction to Ministry introduces students to theological reflection, and to basic tasks of pastoral care and a variety of ministry practices within the context of parish ministry. M.Div
• Service Learning Course requires students to serve 100 hours through a ministry in their local congregation or through some other ecclesiastical or parachurch organization. Students' learning through service to unchurched, poor, or oppressed populations is integrated with their learning in other parts of the curriculum. M.Div.
• Reading Congregations provides students with basic perspectives and tools for analyzing a congregation and serving as its pastor. Students are prepared to discern a call to a specific ministry setting and to minister wisely in that context. M.Div.
• Pastoral Leadership equips students to provide effective pastoral leadership in forming communities of disciples. It integrates a biblical theology of leadership with personal reflection, discernment of contexts, and practical leadership skills. M.Div.