Pastoral Leadership
B.A./M.A. in Pastoral Leadership
The Pastoral Leadership program is a five-year dual-degree in which students may earn both a B.A. and M.A. from Loyola University Chicago.
This program is ideal for adults currently serving as lay ministers or seeking employment as pastoral caregivers, spiritual directors, social justice advocates, or educators in organizations whose mission focuses on social justice or religious education. The program may also be beneficial for those working directly with social service or faith-based organizations or looking to broaden their foundation of managerial knowledge and skills.
Graduates of this program will:
- Refine their immediate and long-range career goals within faith-based institutions and develop an attainable plan to meet those goals
- Begin to create new networks of like-minded professionals in similar orgaizations to draw upon for encouragement and support
- Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to solve common issues in their community
- Gain increased insight into how an individual's personal and professional experiences contribute to an organization and community as a whole
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of common business applications, effective communication, team building, and ethical leadership skills
- Impact organizational goals through effective project management strategies
Students complete their BA through Loyola’s School of Continuing & Professional Studies, where they will develop core management skills such as team-building, project management and leadership, and organizational communication, and learn how these skills directly apply in the workplace. The BA also provides a strong intellectual and spiritual framework as students continue on to the MA portion of the program at Loyola’s Institute of Pastoral Studies. Both the B.A. and M.A. can be pursued on a part- or full-time basis.
Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Leadership
The BA in Pastoral Leadership is designed to prepare working adult students to excel as valued and effective managers in today’s complex work environments. Its accelerated format allows students to gain comprehensive understanding of management rooted in ethical leadership, critical thinking, and applied skills while continuing to work in their chosen field.
As the first degree in the five-year Pastoral Leadership program, the BA helps students gain the applied skills to lead and manage in a pastoral setting and enter into continued studies at Loyola’s Institute for Pastoral Studies.
The Pastoral Leadership concentration consists of 6 courses (18 credit hours) within the full BA curriculum (120 hours). The first three courses in the concentration are:
- PSYC 338 - Psychology of Personality
- COMM 231 - Communication and Conflict Management
- IPS 570 - Introduction to Theology and Ministry
The remaining 3 courses can be chosen from the list below:
- IPS 610 - Social Justice Foundations
- IPS 620 - Diversity and Equity
- IPS 660 - Leadership in Social Justice Organizations
- IPS 416 - Christian Origins: An Exploration of the New Testament
- IPS 417 - Literature of Ancient Israel
- IPS 402 - The Church and Its Mission
The final three IPS courses feed directly into the MA programs through the Institute of Pastoral Studies and students can choose from the following two MA tracks:
Master of Arts in Social Justice and Community Development
The MA in Social Justice and Community Development degree is an interfaith program that engages students through a values-based perspective. The degree is designed for those aspiring to affect social transformation in local communities as well as to those committed to restoring economic equity, social justice, and ecological health on a national or global scale.
Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies
The MA in Pastoral Studies embraces four areas of development - intellectual, ministerial, human, and spiritual. In addition to a ministerial heart, effective pastoral ministers embody personal and spiritual maturity, knowledge of theology and other disciplines, and pastoral skill. This degree provides a uniquely systematic and in-depth education in pastoral ministry's knowledge base and methodologies; it provides ministers a broad and deep foundation in religious thought, and lays the groundwork for an effective and well-informed pastoral practice.
