Assessment

Pastoral Practice 60% + Placement supervised visit 20% + Assessment by TRG Facilitator 20%

Module Aims

This module lies at the intersection of academic study and placement education through the practice of ministry in a given context. It offers theological and professional preparation for ministry. It provides a unique opportunity for students to engage directly with pastoral practice as part of their ministerial formation, in supervised ministry placements. It strives to integrate the activities of thinking and acting theologically, while trusting that theology informs pastoral practice and lived practice informs theology. Theological Reflection within peer groups is a concomitant process with pastoral practice, where students analyse and reflect on encounters, events, and experiences from the pastoral placement.

Placement Education consists of the following:

• A minimum of 10-12/19 hours contact time (depending on the module level) per week of ‘placement’ ministry in a Teaching Pastoral Context.
• Support and dialogue with an on-site Placement Contact Person, or his/her Designated Alternate.
• Two supervised visits from an assigned Pastoral Placement Supervisor.
• Engagement in personal ongoing planning and reflection, facilitating immersion in ministry placement.
• Ongoing consultation meetings with an assigned SPPU staff mentor.

Three periods of Block Placement are scheduled during the year: during the January semester, at the beginning of Lent, and during Holy Week. These block placements extend the hours of contact time to 16-18/22-25 hours per week. The purpose of these block placements is:

• To facilitate a fuller immersion in the context;
• To gain an understanding of the weekly shape and rhythm of life within the placement setting;
• To provide the opportunity to have experiences not normally available to the student when in class on Thursdays and Fridays.

Theological Reflection Group (TRG) consists of the following:

• Small peer support groups guided by experienced TRG facilitators.
• Students present a Teaching Placement Profile within their group, to provide peers with suitable context for understanding one another’s placement experiences.
• In each week of classes, one student prepares a written reflection on an experience from his/her placement and presents it within his/her group for the purpose of peer reflection.
• Each student presents a minimum of three reflections, using each of the following methods of reflection at least once: critical incident, verbatim, and case study.

Indicative Syllabus:

• The process and methodology of theological reflection: critical incident, verbatim, and case study.
• Exploration of ministry, theological reflection, and supervision.
• Issues arising: self-awareness, ministerial identity, integrity, boundaries, effective communication.
• Evaluation processes of self and peer group.

Learning Outcomes

• — By the end of the module, students will:
• — 1) articulate a grounded view of the reality of pastoral ministry and discern the social, cultural and ethical issues at play in specific pastoral contexts.
• — 2) demonstrate professional competency and skills for ministry, using own initiative and creativity, exercising appropriate leadership skills while recognising and affirming the gift of others.
• — 3) demonstrate competence in using the processes and methodology of theological reflection exhibiting awareness of own strengths and developmental needs, understanding of personal reactions and emotional responses to ministerial events; show capacity to critique own assumptions and biases and recognise insights gained from engagement in specific ministerial activities while naming the significance and meaning s/he attaches to ministerial encounters and events.
• — 4) bring experiences in ministry into critical dialogue with scripture and theological sources and connect theory and practice from other disciplines (e.g. human sciences, systemic theory etc.) to concrete situations in ministry.
• — 5) Integrate and assimilate different learning experiences in ministry with his/her human and spiritual formation and articulate an understanding of learner’s own ministerial identity
• — 6) discern and name the presence of God in pastoral encounters and situations and relate the Gospel to the life and situation of self and others.

Bibliography

• — Coll, Regina. Supervision of Ministry Students. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1992.
• — Collins, Raymond F. Models of Theological Reflection. Lanham: University Press of America, 1984.
• — Graham, Elaine, Heather Walton, and Frances Ward. Theological Reflection: Methods. London: SCM Press, 2005.
• — ---. Theological Reflection: Sources. London: SCM Press, 2005.
• — Killen, Patricia O’Connell and John De Beer. The Art of Theological Reflection. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2006.
• — Kinast, Robert L. Let Ministry Teach. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1996.
• — ---. What Are They Saying About Theological Reflection? New York: Paulist Press, 2000.
• — Nash, Sally and Paul Nash. Tools for Reflective Ministry. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2009.
• — Paver, John E. Theological Reflection and Education for Ministry: The Search for Integration in Theology. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publications, 2006.
• — Stone, Howard W. and James O. Duke. How to Think Theologically. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996.
• — Thompson, Judith, with Stephen Pattison and Ross Thompson. SCM Studyguide to Theological Reflection. London: SCM Press, 2008.
• — Van der Ven, Johannes. Education for Reflective Ministry. Louvain: Peeters Press, 1998.
• — Ward Frances. Lifelong Learning: Theological Education and Supervision. London: SCM Press, 2005.
• — Whitehead, James D. and Evelyn Eaton Whitehead. Method in Ministry: Theological Reflection and Christian Ministry. Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, 1995.