Assessment

Pastoral Practice Portfolio 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 learners analyse and reflect on encounters, events, and experiences from the pastoral placement.

Indicative Syllabus

Orientation: Learners participate in a pre-placement orientation; undertake a Formation Workshop: Safeguarding Children & Vulnerable Adults facilitated by the National Office for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church; reflect on their placement context from a social, socio-economic, and cultural perspective, and complete an initial appraisal of their personal, pastoral, and professional goals for their placement experience.

Pastoral Practice: Learners commit to a placement education experience from September to April. There are eight-ten periods of placement in Semester One, an extended three-week block placement in the January Semester, and six-eight periods of placement in Semester Two with two further weeks of block placement. Within ‘Teaching Parishes’, the basic areas of ministerial practice for learners are: primary school catechesis; second-level chaplaincy and/or catechesis; parish ministry (pastoral/liturgical/sacramental/faith formation). Within ‘Teaching Hospitals’, the basic areas of ministerial practice are: integrated pastoral care ministry serving patients and their families, as appropriate within the clinical setting. This may include critical and emergency care, and end-of-life and palliative care; spiritual care, including leading or participating in hospital liturgies and services in the chapel, mortuary, ward, or bedside; professional relationship building and pastoral care of staff, strengthening the pastoral care department and advocating for pastoral care within the clinical setting. Within ‘Teaching Youth Sites’, the basic areas of ministerial practice are: catechesis in school and/or community contexts, including leading faith-based youth programmes and projects; spiritual accompaniment and care of young people, fostering their growth in discipleship; relationship building and pastoral care of parents and families.

Theological Reflection: Learners participate in weekly Theological Reflection Groups to reflect on encounters, events, and experiences from their pastoral placements, in light of their theological learning, in a peer-group setting guided by an experienced facilitator. Learners present a minimum of three written reflection documents (verbatims, critical incidents, and case studies).

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE): Learners in the parish- or community-based programmes undertake a second placement through one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) or its equivalent (10-12 weeks).

Learning Outcomes

• — 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.
• — 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.