“I have worked for the ministry of the Church for 15 years and wanted formation specific to evangelization and discipleship with practical application to those who also minister in the field,” Katie Price explains. Price, director of the Office of Parish Vitality and Mission Advancement in the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, is one of approximately 100 students in the Augustine Institute’s MA in Pastoral Theology program.
The MA in Pastoral Theology program finds its mission in a response to the universal call to holiness found in Lumen Gentium, a foundational document of the Second Vatican Council.
Lumen Gentium teaches us that “all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (LG 40). In addition to the vocation to holiness, the Catechism teaches us that we are all called to evangelize (CCC, 1533). Yet while all are called to share the faith, not everyone feels adequately prepared.
This is a huge need that the Augustine Institute seeks to meet.
“The Church is relying more on lay people, rather than priests and religious, to help carry out her mission, in parishes, dioceses, schools, and ministries that are not tied to the ecclesial structure,” observed Dr. Arielle Harms, director of the MA in Pastoral Theology program and also an Assistant Professor of Theology and Catechetics.
“The laity,” she said, “need formation, intellectually, in prayer, in the virtues, and in this pastoral work, in order to be able to effectively labor in these fields that are entrusted to them.”
The Augustine Institute’s MA in Pastoral Theology provides students with exactly this sort of formation - theological, spiritual, human, and pastoral - to equip them to be leaders capable of helping others live out the universal call to holiness. They look to the tradition of the Church while also paying attention to particular needs of the people of our time.
Dr. Harms shared,
Our pastoral theology program equips students to collaborate with the hierarchy of the Church to live out the universal call to holiness and to help those entrusted to them to do the same. This can be in formal settings, such as parish or diocesan ministry, or in the home.
This is an academic program that extends way beyond the classroom. I’ve really enjoyed getting to see the work our students and graduates are doing in the apostolate. Hearing about large scale formation programs or individual conversations with OCIA [Order of Christian Initiation of Adults] participants, I get to see how our students and alumni are living out the great commission to make disciples. This happens especially through the students’ capstone projects at the end of their coursework, when we match them with an alumni mentor and have them design a new project in their own area of ministry.
Many of the students are already lay leaders, serving the Church’s mission of evangelization as directors of religious education, faith formation coordinators, youth and young adult ministers, prison ministry teachers, school campus ministers, and many more.
Price is one example of a student taking her lessons from the classroom and immediately translating them into her ministry,
My studies at the Augustine Institute have benefited my work as the Office of Parish Vitality and Mission Advancement Director in many areas. The professors are accessible and knowledgeable, not just about their course subjects but their application in the real world of ministry. The network of students from all walks of life continues to form me as I work for a diocese; when we gather together in a Zoom discussion or in person at an intensive class, it is a blessing to have their insight into ministry and listen to their suggestions and wisdom.
She finds the cohort requirement particularly helpful; this is a group with fellow students that allows for peer mentorship and support. “We touch on topics deeply related to our faith and modern society, enabling us to enter into our work as ministry professionals with a profound knowledge and eagerness to share what we have learned.”
The Augustine Institute offers a number of different theological programs. This MA in Pastoral Theology, however, is unique for how thoroughly it integrates both spiritual and human formation.
“Like students in our other theology masters programs, students receive a strong systematic theological foundation through their coursework,” Dr. Harms explained, “but they also receive human and spiritual formation through retreats, cohort seminars and other programming, and pastoral formation in classes specific to the pastoral theology program, internships, and mentoring programs.”
Price reported that she has experienced a reinvigorated love of Sacred Scriptures as well as increased understanding of culture, conversion, and evangelization - all of which have borne fruit not only in her work, but in her faith. Long story short, she shared, “I have been impressed with the challenging coursework, engaging professors, and strong network of ministers in the vineyard looking to evangelize the world!”
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Learn more about the Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology on its official website.
