Courses

This course is conceived in the philosophy of Practical Theology. Described by John Swinton and Harriet Mowat as, “critical, theological reflection on the practices of the Church as they interact with the practices of the world, with a view to ensuring and enabling faithful participation in God’s redemptive practices in, to, and for the world.”[1] The course content draws from both pertinent literature and the instructor’s experience in both for-profit, government, and not-for profit, church and faith-based enterprises, including:

• Grace Anglican Church, Waterdown
• YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford; Hamilton Downtown Work Group
• Evangel Hall Mission, Toronto
• Mayor’s Advisory Committee on work opportunities for new graduates in Burlington, Ontario
• Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation

This course is constructed as a series of executive seminars. Taken together, these seminars are designed to assist you in preparing for, or improving, your broad leadership and administrative skills in a pastoral setting. These seminars will assist you with leading or being a member of a leadership team in a large church environment, church plant, or para-church situation.

Each of the seminars may be taken as a self-contained, focused, study in the specific topic area as an audit student, or the entire series may be taken for credit, to participate in a comprehensive study of the essential elements of leadership and administration within a faith setting.

Cumulatively, these seminars will also assist you in developing deeper engagement with the broader external communities and organizations critical to your pastoral success.

All the topic areas are prepared with a view to organizational structure and dynamics that pervade the post-modern culture that we operate in and serve, i.e. a philosophical movement that arose in the second half of the 20th century, regarding culture and identity. Timeliness of this course is, therefore, particularly valuable to those concerned with understanding more completely those postmodern perspectives that shape workplace phenomena, including church and para-church environments.

Knowing…

Embedded in a theology of stewardship, we will review and affirm all the critical elements of church leadership and sustainability.

Being…

We will explore our own responsibilities for engaging leadership for both staff and volunteers, sound financial stewardship, human capital, and governance. We will discuss how our approach should be crafted for successful outcomes.

Doing…

Class dialogue will include ‘case study’ situations that require analysis.  These discussions will provide opportunities to practice in simulated and challenging situations. The course will include a guest speaker.