In his grace he chose me by the plan of the Father, bought me by the blood of the Son, and worked in me by the power of the Holy Ghost. Fourth, the support and encouragement of my partners in ministry at Shepherds Theological Seminary and The Shepherd's Church, and especially Pastor Stephen Davey, has meant so much to me in this work. Fifth, I have relied heavily on the wisdom and support of various members of the academic community.
Ronald Thompson of the Frontier School of the Bible has mentored me in pastoral ministry since I was twenty years old, a lifelong relationship that has greatly informed my philosophy of pastoral ministry.
INTRODUCTION
Newton and Mark Dever, Elders in the Life of the Church: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for Church Leadership, rev. This word didaskalia is in the Pastoral Letters, where Paul uses it fourteen of the twenty-one times it is used in the New Testament. 26. Paul uses pastoral language to describe the role of faithful elders in the life of the church.
The many nuances of the Greek words used in the context of pastoral competencies show the wide range of meanings associated with pastoral competencies as presented in the New Testament. In his interpretation of the project data, the then Associate Director of the ATS in the United States and Canada, David S. Based on the data presented in Chapter 4, a conclusion will be made about the appropriate number of pastoral competencies to be included in the proposed revision of the Pastoral Theology Department theological seminary.
Evaluate Seminaries’ Pastoral Theology Departments
After analyzing all course offerings, required courses, course descriptions, curricula, and textbooks at the fifteen seminaries under study, several major themes began to emerge that seemed to define essential competencies for a man preparing for pastoral ministry. However, in all fifteen seminaries, I also observed that three essential curricular components are offered by departments other than the pastoral theology department: (1) biblical content and theology, (2) biblical languages, and (3) hermeneutics. These three core curricular components are extremely important to the training of pastors, but are covered elsewhere in the curriculum of these seminaries, not in pastoral theology departments.
The first goal of the project was considered successful when this list of core curricular components was identified in the study of fifteen other seminars.
Determine STS Pastoral Competencies
All seven participants in the study were white, between the ages of 41 and 71. To prepare for the group interview, I familiarized myself with what Kreuger claims is the role of the researcher in a focus group study: "The researcher performs several functions in a focus group: facilitator, listener, observer, and ultimately analyst."3 I'm right thus noted that Leedy and Ormrod cautioned the moderator not to "put words in people's mouths,"4 nor should the moderator guide participants toward desired responses "that suggest they are giving a certain answer."5. The semi-structured interview was conducted in person and lasted one hour and forty-nine minutes.8 The interview was recorded using the Zoom videoconferencing platform, which also created an initial written record of the interview.
During the group interview, 95 separate answers were given, with 44 character traits mentioned and 51 abilities mentioned.10 Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data collected during the interview, which involved a careful study of the transcribed answers for analysis. Based on my thoughtful decisions, I synthesized the data gathered from the focus group interview with my analysis of the New Testament instructions on pastoral competencies (chap. All of this research data was used to design a focused survey that was conducted among nineteen STS faculty members to establish their understanding of pastoral competences.11.
The STS Faculty Perceptions of Pastoral Competency Survey contained forty competency statements for church pastors, and each faculty member was asked to indicate the level of importance they would place on each of the competency items. The accuracy of the survey depended on the interviewees' willingness to be honest about their understanding of pastoral competencies. Fifteen out of nineteen professors responded to the survey (78.95%).12 When interpreting the results of this survey, it must be acknowledged that the sample of responses (fifteen responses out of nineteen surveys sent) was relatively small.
12 See Appendix 13 for survey results, where individual survey questions and mean and median scores are presented. This list of six core pastoral competencies and thirty-six micro-competencies is presented in Table 2 and served as an instrument to inform the revision of the STS Department of Pastoral Theology.
Identify and Articulate PLOs for the STS Pastoral Theology Department STS Pastoral Theology Department
In the ATS Commission on Accrediting Self-Study Handbook, ten educational principles are articulated that provide a broad basis for better understanding the standards of accreditation.16 Two of the ten educational principles articulated by the ATS. Postgraduate theological education demonstrates sound pedagogy and appropriate student learning outcomes in the context of a coherent curriculum, and sees formation, even transformation, as central to students' educational experience and to their professional vocation. 17. The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes is a study group established by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris, an intergovernmental forum with 38 member countries, established in 1961, and designed to.
16 ATS Commission on Accrediting, Self-Study Handbook (Pittsburgh: The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. Learning outcomes are indeed the key to meaningful education, and focusing on learning outcomes is essential to diagnose and improve teaching processes and student learning These terms are often used interchangeably and are related to the teaching and learning that is expected to take place in the classroom.
However, the difference between objectives and results lies in the emphasis on who will carry out the activities. 20 Karine Tremblay, Diane Lalancette and Deborah Roseveare, Report on the Feasibility Study of Higher Education Learning Outcomes Assessment (Paris: OECD Directorate for Education), 9. 21 DePaul University, Teaching Commons, “Teaching Guides: Course Objectives & Learning Outcomes,” accessed 20 August 2022, https://resources.depaul.edu/teaching-commons/teaching-guides/course-design/Pages/course-objectives-learning-outcomes.aspx.
This synthesis became the basis for the articulation of the STS PLOs for the Pastoral Theology department, which are as follows. At the end of the STS Pastoral Theology program, the student will understand the core pastoral competencies and micro-competencies associated with the following PLOs.
Develop the STS Program Revision Proposal
The third step in implementing the project was described by summarizing the process involved in identifying and articulating the PLOs for the Pastoral Theology program at STS. The purpose of this project was to review the Pastoral Theology program at Shepherds Theological Seminary in Cary, North Carolina. Second, the faculty had not identified or articulated what the PLOs should be for the Pastoral Theology program.
Second, as part of my project, PLOs were proposed for the Pastoral Theology program at STS. The PLOs then became the basis for developing a revised curriculum plan, including course titles, descriptions, and sequence for the Pastoral Theology program. This project achieved its goal of revising the Pastoral Theology program at Shepherds Theological Seminary.
The first goal was to evaluate the pastoral theology programs of other seminaries that would be considered peers of STS. The second goal was to determine key pastoral competencies as defined by the STS faculty to identify and articulate what the program learning outcomes should be for the Pastoral Theology program at STS. The third goal was to develop a proposal for a program review documenting program learning outcomes for the Pastoral Theology program at STS and a curriculum plan.
The first goal of the project was to evaluate the pastoral theology programs of fifteen other seminaries that would be considered peers to STS. Three of the nine core curriculum components (biblical content and theology, biblical language, and hermeneutics) are not offered through the pastoral theology departments of the seminaries studied.
The expert panel used a rubric to measure the clarity, biblical justification, and pedagogical coherence of the PLOs. The third goal of the project was considered successful when the proposal was submitted to the provost of STS. Therefore, after submitting the proposal to the provost, the third goal of the project was successfully achieved.
A third strength of this project was the careful study of the pastoral theology departments of fifteen other seminaries. At the end of the project, the expert committee of three seminar professors gave me great encouragement on a personal level and provided a professional and essential assessment of PRP. I assumed in Chapter 1 that I would not be able to obtain syllabi from the pastoral theology departments of all fifteen selected seminaries, and this was stated as one of the limitations of the project in Chapter 1.
Therefore, this aspect of the project was limited to a survey of syllabi from those seminaries that provided a syllabi for the project's study or that posted the relevant syllabi online. It really proved difficult to receive these syllabi, especially since that aspect of the project was implemented during the summer months when many faculty members were on break. However, one of the limitations of the project in Chapter 1 was that this project was limited to a twenty week time frame.
It is a weakness of the project that only one focus group was used in the research. The third known weakness of the project involves the sample size of the STS Faculty Survey on Perceptions of Pastoral Competencies.
Would Do Differently
What are the most important abilities you look for in a pastor?
I think I can do it!” don't make them feel they are not capable of studying the Scriptures like you QUESTION 4/5: Describe what you think the Bible says is most important.
What character qualities does Scripture prioritize for a pastor?
Ability to tactfully challenge views that contradict what the Bible says. Ability to achieve and learn. Ability to maintain personal spiritual vitality Ability to balance work and family Strong marriage and family. Ability to control resources, personal and congregational Ability to improvise, adapt and problem solve.
Ability to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's table Ability to build an effective ministry team. Ability to develop spiritual vitality in others Ability to inspire and lead in corporate prayer. Ability to exercise church discipline, from gentle questioning and confrontation all the way to excommunication.
