Ministry courses are available for both ordained and lay people.
Postgraduate courses in ministry are one way in which a person may engage in lifelong learning. They are designed for those who view their life from the perspective of discipleship of Jesus Christ. They are for those who believe they are called by God to participate in the ministry of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, whether this be in ordained ministry or as laypersons in the context of their everyday lives. This postgraduate study will be done intentionally in the context of one's ministry praxis.
While Theology courses offer critical study of the church's rich tradition of Scripture, Theology, Church History and Philosophy, Ministry courses bring this living Christian tradition into critical conversation with the practice of ministry in particular contexts. Such reflection on one's ministry will raise questions about, and sharpen one's theological perspectives and their interaction with the practice of ministry. Such dialogue takes place between the Christian tradition and reflection on the practical experience of ministry in a specific cultural context. It is much more than applying the theology learned from the study of the Christian faith to one's practice of ministry. It is also letting the experiences of ministry - the engagement with God and others in the daily living out of our faith - speak to the Christian tradition as we have come to understand it. One's ministry experience becomes a core text to be 'read', 'studied' and 'reflected upon' as a standard adult learning process. By this critical conversation, students' theology of ministry will be developed and enriched to embrace the issues they face in their ministries. Their assumptions about the meaning of the Christian faith and the foundations of ministry will come under scrutiny, and at times, be strongly questioned, leading on to a better dialogue between one's appreciation of the Christian tradition and one's practice of ministry. There will be a stronger integration between one's theology and one's praxis, resulting in more substantial ministry with more intentionality.
In many disciplines and professions, the foundational training is via a Bachelor's degree. Those training for ministry and those seeking some broad competence in theology will complete a Bachelor of Theology degree.
Postgraduate ministry students will engage in deeper, more sustained reflection than in their undergraduate training. They will work with a greater range and complexity of ideas. In utilising critical analysis, they will be asked for deeper and more sustained reflection upon their practice of ministry in the light of the Christian tradition. They will be expected to respond to the important questions that arise for them out of their ministry praxis. These courses are cohesively structured according to cutting-edge experiential learning theory leading to integration of the Christian tradition and ministry praxis.
The Graduate Certificate in Ministry offers non-theology graduates the space to reflect critically on the practice of their ministry aimed at enhancing their ministry. Theology graduates have the opportunity of further learning enabling them to develop their ministry praxis. Both lay and ordained persons may sample what postgraduate education means for them.
The Graduate Diploma in Ministry aims to develop competence in the practice of ministry. While the Graduate Certificate allows the development of facets of one's ministry, the Graduate Diploma is more comprehensive, encouraging reflection on the whole of one's ministry, especially through participation in the four practica.
The Master of Ministry is focused on the study of the practice of ministry. There is still reflection on one's ministry practice, so that the dialogue partner of ministry experience continues to be heard. However, the conversation is directed towards an integrated perspective on ministry. The focus is on learnings about ministry in the light of the whole Christian tradition, and the goal is mastery of what Christian ministry is.
Central to the Ministry suite of programs are two core units, Mission of the Church and Communication and Processes within Groups. These set the appropriate foundations upon which the competent practice of ministry is built. Mission of the Church sees the 'project of church' as primarily God's mission of transforming people and the world, in partnership with the Christian faithful. Communication and Processes within Groups clarifies that the person of the minister, and that person's interaction with others, constitutes the primary 'tool' of ministry. Other coursework electives allow the student latitude to explore and develop further aspects of their practice in ministry.
While some students may enrol in a postgraduate course in ministry for their own personal development, and others may enrol to enhance their voluntary engagement in such ministries as teaching religious education in schools or in-hospital visitation, still others may be pursuing a career path or a vocation. Among these vocationally-oriented students, those who are progressing towards ordination under the sponsorship of their church will find that their postgraduate studies in ministry contribute significantly to their formation as ministers or pastors or priests. Other graduates may be employed as youth workers (e.g., in churches or in the community), or as chaplains (e.g., in schools, in industry, in the armed services, or in the health sector). There may also be opportunities for employment in religious publishing and website development.