Masters Capstone: Theology and Ministry (XP9005L)

Content

This unit offers students the opportunity to draw together the various elements of their masters award and to articulate their insights on the Church’s faith and its implications for ministry in contemporary settings. Students work with a faculty mentor as well as engage in seminar conversations to identify a topic and thesis as the basis for their research. Students complete a substantial research-based project that integrates key aspects of biblical studies and systematic theology, or ministry studies, in the Lutheran tradition.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Course relationship: A capstone unit in postgraduate theology and ministry course

Prerequisites: Only permitted in the final two semesters of the course

Pedagogy

The key teaching role is akin to supervision. Weekly meetings for first four weeks, then mentored student supervision to negotiate a topic which satisfies the learning outcomes, followed by self-paced research and writing. It is anticipated that the student will meet or in some way interact with a supervisor for an average of an hour per week (calculated on the basis of 12 teaching weeks). Approved variation from normative Unit Policy 4.3.3 (36 hours engagement and 164 hours study).

Indicative Bibliography

• Bloomquist, Karen L., and John R. Stumme, eds. The promise of Lutheran ethics. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1998.
• Braaten, Carl E. Principles of Lutheran Theology. 2nd ed. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007.
• Havea, Jione, ed. *Theological and Hermeneutical Explorations from Australia : Horizons of Contextuality.*Decolonizing Theology. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books/ Fortress Academic, 2021.
• Kääriäinen Jukka Antero. Mission Shaped by Promise : Lutheran Missiology Confronts the Challenge of Religious Pluralism. Dissertation, Pickwick Publications, 2012.
• Root, Andrew. The pastor in a secular age: ministry to people who no longer need a God. Ada, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2019.
• Senkbeil, Harold L. The care of souls: cultivating a pastor’s heart. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019.
• Stjerna, Kirsi, and Brooks Schramm, eds. Spirituality: towards a 21st century Lutheran understanding. Rev. ed. Minneapolis, MN: Lutheran University Press, 2004.
• Stone, Howard W., and James O. Duke. How to Think Theologically. Third Edition. 1517 Media, 2013.
• Wengert, Timothy. A formula for parish practice: using the Formula of Concord in congregations. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006.
• Yaghjian, L. Writing theology well: a rhetoric for theological and biblical writers. 2nd ed. New York: Continuum, 2015.

Assessment