MPP Courses

A course designed to take place as the student completes their MPP classes through which the student will integrate classroom learning with ministry experience. This class shall include a demonstration of significant ministry experience of at least 100 hours of ministry practice based upon 35 ministry skills as outlined in the course and an understanding for each student of ways his or her education will support ministry. The course requires a pastor-mentor relationship with someone who has had at least five years experience in the area of ministry the student is pursuing. The student will also establish a Congregational Support Team comprised of three lay leaders in his/her local church. The Pastor/Mentor and CST Members will serve as consultants and evaluators throughout the Supervised Ministry Experience.

The following learning goals will be achieved by this course:

1. To integrate and synergize academics with ministerial practice.
2. To provide practical experience under the supervision of a mentor in a variety of ministry experiences.
3. To allow students to evaluate their ministry commitments and competencies.
4. To encourage the student's personal and professional growth.
5. To provide the opportunity to enhance leadership, management, and relational skills in the establishment of an overall plan for the Supervised Ministry Experience.
6. To allow the student to compare educational and life experiences based upon 35 identifiable ministry skills as outlined in the syllabus through supervised experiential learning.
7. To provide the opportunity for the student to compose a portfolio which is not only a record of the SME, but will continue to serve as a ministry resource tool.

The following are Competencies for Ministry as outlined in the Sourcebook on Ordination USA that will be addressed in this course:

Supervised Ministry Experience Portfolio: The student is required to create a portfolio for assessing personal and professional growth. This portfolio includes periodic self-assessment and assessment by their pastor mentor and NBC course facilitator.The portfolio will be examined and graded by the pastor/mentor.  The student is advised to present their portfolio to their studies board as proof of their completion of the Supervised Ministry Experience and validation of being mentored by an experienced minister.

Ministry Skills and Competencies
Review and/or perform thirty-five ministry skills common to pastoral ministries in the local church context under the supervision of a pastor-mentor, congregational support team and an NBC course facilitator. These skills will be based upon the ministry principles learned from an approved course of study for ordination in the Church of the Nazarene as reflected in the following ability statements established by USA/Canada COSAC Sourcebook on Ordination. The student will develop a portfolio for assessing personal growth in content, competency, character and contextual ministry. This portfolio will include periodic self-assessment and assessment by significant others.

CONTENT:
These assessments would evaluate the minister in the "KNOW" categories.

• CN4 Ability to describe the historical and cultural contexts of the New Testament including an ability to Biblically affirm pastoral leadership of men and women within the Church.

• CN8 Ability to demonstrate an understanding of theological reflection, including its sources, its historical development, and its Wesleyan contemporary expressions.

• CN14 Ability to identify the directives of the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene that pertain to the organization and ministry of the local, district, and general church.

COMPETENCY:
These assessments would evaluate the minister in the "DO" categories.

• CP1 Ability to communicate publicly through multiple methods (oral, written, media, etc.) with clarity, and creativity, utilizing gender inclusive language.

• CP2 Ability to oversee ministry using management skills including servant leadership, conflict resolution, administration, and team building.

• CP3 Ability to cultivate, cast and strategically implement vision.

• CP4 Ability to lead congregations in the biblical stewardship of life resources.

• CP5 Ability to reason logically for discernment, assessment, and problem solving.

• CP6 Ability to provide pastoral and spiritual care for individuals and families, discerning when referral to professional counseling is required.

• CP7 Ability to lead evangelistically through preaching, modeling and equipping others.

• CP11 Ability to envision, order, and participate in contextualized, theologically grounded worship and to develop and lead appropriate services for special occasions (i.e. wedding, funeral, baptism, and Lord's Supper).

• CP13 Ability to develop sermons in various forms (evangelistic, pastoral care, doctrinal teaching, lectionary, etc.)

• CP14 Ability to assess the strengths and weaknesses of current homiletical models in light of enduring theological and contextual perspectives.

CHARACTER:
These assessments would evaluate the minister in the "BE" categories.

• CH1 Ability to apply theological and philosophical ethics to nurture faithful living in the Christian community.

• CH2 Ability to discern and make ethical decisions in the midst of a complex and/or paradoxical context within a Wesleyan framework.

• CH3 Ability to practice a moral pastoral leadership, informed by philosophical and theological ethics.

• CH4 Ability to pursue holy character (Christlikeness) by practicing faith formation and the classic Christian disciplines as means of grace.

• CH5 Ability to locate, understand, and use resources for individual and corporate spiritual formation.

• CH6 Ability to articulate his or her call from God to ministry as affirmed by the Church.

• CH7 Ability to demonstrate a realistic self-understanding including personal strengths, gifts, weaknesses, and areas of needed.

• CH8 Ability to practice holistic stewardship (mutual submission in gender relationships, sexual purity, marriage and family, personal finance, professional conduct, practicing Sabbath, etc.).

CONTEXT:
These assessments would evaluate the minister in the ability to contextualize ministry.

• CX3 Ability to discern sociological dynamics, (including the power dynamics of gender, age and ethnicity) and to apply that information to specific ministry settings.

• CX4 Ability to analyze and describe congregations and communities.

• CX7 Ability to understand and articulate the biblical, historical, and theological bases for Christian mission.

• CX8 Ability to describe basic missiological principles and to apply them to the development of ministry in the local church.

This is generally the last module taken. Unless given special permission, no MPP Student should be enrolled in this course until they are approaching completion of the program.