It might be tempting to see these new circumstances as a loss, as something to mourn, and pine for the good old days when everyone played by a familiar set of rules or expectations. But this change of circumstances might also be interpreted as God’s leading. Is God calling congregations and their leaders into a new kind of engagement with the world? If this is God’s work, it will require bold and brave imagination from congregations and their leaders.

This shift in congregational imagination will also require new imagination related to leadership preparation. In keeping with this need, Rochester College is pleased to announce a new Master’s degree in Missional Leadership beginning this Fall. This 36 hour degree is unique in both conception and design and brings together a combination of resources we believe to be unique in the world of ministry preparation.

First, this degree assumes that the primary classroom for ministry is the congregation and its context, not the college campus. We don’t see the congregation or its context as a place where you simply dump what you learn in the classroom. We see the congregation and its context as the primary source for learning what God might be up to in the world. You can’t prepare for ministry on this new frontier apart from an immersion in a congregation.

This means, among other things, that we don’t expect students to leave their ministry context to participate in this degree. Most of the courses will be completed online. Students will be required to be on our campus two weeks each year for intensive face-to-face courses. All other courses will be offered online.

Online courses offer many advantages for this kind of ministry preparation. Because we are not limited to one location and agreed upon meeting times, we can include a greater variety of participants in the learning experience. Not only can we use non-resident faculty (more about that below), but we can include coaches, Christian leaders from around the world, who can look in on our work and provide on-the-ground wisdom. Our new cultural situation demands that we find wisdom not only from professors, but from our peers and from other practitioners in a variety of settings. We are designing an online learning experience that takes full advantage of the new ways that people collaborate online.

Rochester College has an outstanding faculty, and we are proud that many of them will participate in this program. But the design of this degree allows us to bring leading thinkers in the emerging and missional church movements as faculty and resource persons. For instance, Dr. Pat Keifert from Luther Seminary, has agreed to teach the opening seminar, “Leading Congregations in Mission.” Pat is not only an accomplished systematic theologian, but is the president of Church Innovations, an organization that has coached congregations for over 25 years. We are thrilled to have this leading voice in the Missional Church conversation leading our first seminar. We are in conversation with others about having a special role in our program. We will announce other names in the near future.

This degree will feature cohort learning. Students will work toward degree completion over a two-year period within a cohort of 15 students. Cohort learning encourages deep community and allows formation over time in ways that other education models find more challenging. We believe that formation for ministry requires far more than just good information. It necessarily involves the development of spiritual practices in community that allow leaders to discern God’s leading for themselves and others. Students will be asked to commit to practices with and for each other that go beyond sitting in classes together. These experiences will be coached by persons with training and experience in spiritual direction.

There is so much to say about the design of this degree that is unique. For now, one last item. The degree offers courses in three primary areas: Scripture, Theology, and Leadership. Many of the course titles may be similar to ones offered in other programs. The nature of the assignments, however, may look very different. Students will not take a single course that does not require them to engage a congregation and its immediate context. In fact, the leadership core moves a student in a very deliberate way through a transformational engagement with the student’s ministry context. Congregations will benefit, in essence, from a two year period of coaching and consulting from some of the leaders in the area of missional church.