With a broad understanding of the church as the people of God, the Ministry specialization prepares students for new expressions of missional, formational, and worshiping communities that transform. The Ministry specialization is designed to guide you into responsive, contextual, and courageous approaches to ministry at a time when faith practices are being redefined and expressions of church are being reimagined for the future.

This specialization focuses on gathering within local contexts so as to discover God’s liberative hope for their place and all its inhabitants. Students study, explore, and practice convening expressions of church in everyday spaces and realms.

You will learn practical tools for deep listening to the particular needs and laments of place and community and discerning the formative work of convening missional groups unto the ultimate goal of flourishing for all.

Most importantly, this educational experience is profoundly formative, preparing and daring leaders to attend to God’s active presence in their own lives and the work of God in their local communities and contexts.

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Serve with faithful presence

Upon successful completion of the Master of Arts in Theology & Culture: Ministry program, you will be able to:

Articulate insight into one’s formative stories in the context of identities, cultures, places, and people, in order to embody a way of being and vocation as an expression of their understanding of God, self, and neighbor.
Develop, cultivate, and apply approaches to scripture and theology that attend to a diversity of possible perspectives and that lead to courage, imagination, and action.
Listen deeply, appreciatively, and with cultural responsiveness to the natural and human communities they seek to serve, to discern the ongoing movement of God in those contexts.
Catalyze innovative, grassroots expressions of faith community and collective witness
Inspire faith-based organizations and churches to live as expressions of God’s presence in their communities

“If you desire to lead or collaborate in forming a faith community that welcomes all as God in Christ welcomes us, then this degree is for you.”
Dwight J. Freisen, DMin
Associate Professor of Practical Theology Meet Our Core Faculty

Curriculum

Common Curriculum

A significant distinctive of the graduate degrees at The Seattle School is that they share one Common Curriculum.

Studying in community with future counselors, pastors, artists, and activists allows you to engage your learning from a range of perspectives. Our formation is expanded by these conversations. The Common Curriculum also invites you to become a better listener and a more self-aware, curious, and compassionate member of your particular community.

This series of seven interdisciplinary courses is completed in your first year of study, integrating the study of theology, biblical studies, psychology, anthropology, and culture in order to provide you with a foundation for integrative learning through the remainder of your program. Visit the Common Curriculum webpage to learn more.

MATC Core Curriculum

The MATC is academically rigorous, interculturally engaged, and globally aware.

Building on the foundation of the Common Curriculum, the MATC core curriculum includes courses on the biblical text, critical and contextual reading, Christian history, constructive theology, spiritual formation, mission, and transformational leadership. Our MATC core courses are taught in deeply contextual ways, by paying attention to the local and attending to the ways that meaning and context shape one another.

This curriculum is designed to prepare students to engage their particular vocational context with robust theological thinking skills, contextual understandings of the scriptures and the world, and a hopeful imagination for serving God and neighbor through transforming relationships. Using an integrative approach, you will engage the MATC core coursework alongside colleagues across the three specializations but with specific assignments that allow you to deepen your knowledge and apply learning in your chosen field and vocational pathway. Our students and classrooms go beyond traditional learning. Students at The Seattle School not only have permission, but are encouraged to rethink, challenge, create, and recreate in their goals to reimagine ministry vocations and communities.

Specialized Coursework

The Ministry specialization includes three courses particular to the specialization, providing training in convening gatherings, spiritual care, and practical training in the Apprenticeship.

The program also includes:

Opportunities to explore ministry theory and praxis through assignments in the MATC core courses
Apprenticeship and Integrative Project experiences that are embedded within Ministry specialization courses
Tools to equip spiritual leaders to listen deeply to themselves, their group, and their place
Creative opportunities to generate new forms of ministry that anticipate the future, challenge the status quo, and inspire faith-based organizations and churches to live as expressions of God’s presence in their communities

“I felt like [the Common Curriculum] was a good way to learn about each other, practice active listening, and dive deep into our cultural contexts.”
MATC Student Explore MATC Voices

Ready for the next step?

Connect with us! Request more information or apply today, and we’ll send you everything you need to know in order to begin your journey.

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Master of Arts in Theology & Culture: Ministry