{"id":5559,"date":"2017-05-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2017\/05\/01\/contextual-learning-giving-theology-hands\/"},"modified":"2021-10-18T18:25:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T18:25:42","slug":"contextual-learning-giving-theology-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2017\/05\/01\/contextual-learning-giving-theology-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Contextual learning: Giving theology hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Luther Seminary, students receive a rigorous and practical theological education based on classroom study and reflection about what it means to be a leader in today\u2019s church. <\/strong><\/p>\n

As a critical adjunct to that, students also receive experience through work done in \u201ccontext,\u201d where they put their classroom insights into practice in real-world settings.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, the seminary has both strengthened its existing contextual learning opportunities and created new ones in order to reach and support students earlier in their education as they develop the skills they need to lead effectively.<\/p>\n

The Contextual Learning department at Luther Seminary, led by Director Rev. Tim Coltvet, oversees three separate contextual learning programs\u2014the Christian Public Leader (CPL) program, the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program and internships.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our favorite phrases here comes from theologian Fernando Arzola,\u201d says Coltvet. \u201cHe says \u2018Contextualization gives theology hands.\u2019 That sums up what we seek to do, to provide a dynamic partnership between the classroom experience and on-the-ground ministry encounters where the activity of God is alive and well in faith communities. Essentially we are shifting contextual learning from a \u2018theory-application\u2019 approach to a \u2018reflective practitioner\u2019 approach, and we value our ministry partner sites as powerful extensions of the theological education classroom experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Christian Public Leader (CPL) program<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luther Seminary\u2019s CPL courses were introduced as part of a curriculum revision that began in 2013. The goal was to reach students very early in their theological education in order to support them as they work to become effective leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a strong desire to be able to explore with students their own sense of call and discernment while they\u2019re beginning their seminary journey,\u201d says Coltvet. \u201cWe want to help set their trajectory for their experience here and we also want to help them discover more about themselves as a leader in context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through CPL, students engage with communities of faith for a minimum of five hours a week from the moment they enter the seminary. This volunteering may take the form of visitations, hospital visits, reading as liturgist in worship or working with youth in ministry.<\/p>\n

Both M.Div. and M.A. students take CPL classes their first two semesters. M.A. students then take another two semesters of the CPL course, and M.Div. students may take them as electives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn each of the CPL units, we invite students to share their call stories early on and to get to know each other in a small group in concert with a leader,\u201d says Coltvet. \u201cWe help them to know their own strengths more fully and learn how their strengths might be engaged with others. We engage them in learning more about emotional intelligence, and how that will help them know themselves more fully and how they show up in relational ministry. In the second semester, students move on to asking bigger questions that are relevant today, in particular, \u2018What does it mean to be a public leader in the public church?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the coursework, students also meet together in small precept groups twice a month, either in person or virtually, to discuss key questions regarding scenarios they may encounter during ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary engine or template for those precept groups comes from Richard Osmer\u2019s hermeneutical spiral\u2014or action\/reflection loop,\u201d says Coltvet. \u201cThat consists of essentially four questions: \u2018What happened, why did it happen, what should be happening and what do I do next?\u2019 Our students find just having those questions in front of them while they\u2019re a leader in context is invaluable, because it allows them to reflect both practically and theologically on everyday scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Osmer\u2019s book, \u201cHermeneutics and Empirical Research in Practical Theology,\u201d offers more details about the questions and how they relate to practical theology.]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Another contextual learning requirement at Luther Seminary is Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).<\/p>\n

Under the revised 2013 curriculum, all M.Div. students must have 400 hours of pastoral care experience at a certified site\u2014usually a health-care or faith-based setting\u2014under a trained CPE supervisor in order to graduate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf the 400 hours that our students will spend in hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, and other creative, parish-based entities, it\u2019s 300 hours of face-to-face work with a patient in a care setting, and 100 hours spent in didactics or teaching and learning with a peer group,\u201d says Coltvet. \u201cThey will be informed on a variety of topics, from family systems to grief and loss and pastoral care techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with CPL students, CPE students meet together in small groups as they engage with their communities. And as part of that group reflection, students share \u201cverbatims\u201d of their various encounters with individuals so they can learn from each other and reflect together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a vital aspect of strengthening our students in their own self-awareness and how to be a strong and rooted leader as they engage vulnerable populations,\u201d Coltvet says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Internships <\/strong><\/p>\n

At Luther Seminary, all M.Div. students spend the equivalent of a year working as an intern within a congregational setting before graduating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have two primary goals for that, in that pastoral identity will be formed and that multiple leadership competencies will be developed along the way,\u201d Coltvet says.<\/p>\n

During a student\u2019s internship, they serve in a congregation and participate in every activity that any pastor would when ministering to his or her congregants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a long history of vital partnerships across the church in terms of pastors and congregations who are committed to providing training for future leaders of the church, and we continue to be indebted to them,\u201d Coltvet says. \u201cIt accounts for roughly 25 percent of their seminary experience which is a significant portion of the curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coltvet says that for students, the opportunity to interact directly with a church and parishioners remains a very rich and rewarding one.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongregations provide a place of \u2018sheltered trying\u2019 for students as they find their voice in public leadership \u2026 but they also have the freedom to fail, even though there\u2019s really no such thing as failure when it comes to contextual learning, only the failure to learn,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Luther Seminary, students receive a rigorous and practical theological education based on classroom study and reflection about what it means to be a leader in today\u2019s church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-listen-campaign","8":"issue-spring-summer-2017","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nContextual learning: Giving theology hands - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2017\/05\/01\/contextual-learning-giving-theology-hands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contextual learning: Giving theology hands - 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