Upon admission into the Graduate School, each new student is matched with a mentor with whom an effective mentoring relationship will be established. Students are expected to meet with their mentors bi-weekly each semester for the duration of their academic experience. Mentors will be asked to hold students accountable for their spiritual formation, educational assignments and personal ministry while teaching principles of mentoring. Students must register for this course each semester that they are matriculated, with the first semester taken for 2 credits and subsequent semesters taken for 0 credits that also carry a course fee. Students will develop an understanding of historical developments relevant to ministry practice, and will reflect on the relationship between theology and the practice of ministry.
Students consider programming principles in relation to the person-focused priorities of scripture.
In addition, students review their ministry programs with the goal of designing a healthy balance between winning people to Christ, building them in Christ, and equipping them for service to Christ. Students learn how to clarify both the desired outcomes and the value-driven processes of their ministries. They also come to understand important elements of any research design, including sampling, data collection, data analysis, validity and reliability. A feature of this course requires students to design and implement ministry assessment strategies that help them lead others through ministry evaluation. This course is a guided seminar, helping students to build or enhance a specific ministry around the intersection of biblical principles and empirical evidence of effectiveness.