The Bible is a vital document for the church, for theological reflection and for ministry within the church. The narratives, images, concepts and values of the Bible form and shape Christian practice and ministry (whether ‘professional’ or ‘lay’). Relating the Bible relevantly and appropriately to contemporary individual and community contexts requires a range of exegetical skills and hermeneutical sensitivities. Students studying on this module will be expected to develop not just exegetical skills, but a critical hermeneutical awareness of how the Bible can be appropriated in contemporary contexts. Students will also be expected to reflect critically on the factors that have influenced how they have approached and appropriated the Bible in a variety of contexts.

This module aims to:

• critically evaluate a range of exegetical/interpretive tools;

• develop a critical understanding of selected hermeneutical methods for responsible interpretation;

• critically explore the influences of the reader in the interpretation process, enabling students to develop as self-reflective and self-aware interpreters;

enable students to reflect critically on their own commitments to and understandings of the Bible and its interpretation.

The contemporary mission of the church is a debated topic, particularly as the paradigm referred to as “Christendom” diminishes in western Europe. This module offers students an opportunity to critically examine some of the current thinking about mission. Part of that analysis will be how the church of the 21st century might become a missional community able to demonstrate by word and deed the relevance of the Christian message in an increasingly globalized world. The focus for the module will be the church in Ireland - that will be the context for most of the students, but it can also function as a paradigm for students from other contexts.

This module aims to:

• critically reflect on the implications of a post-Christendom context for mission in Ireland;

• explore historical and sociological perspectives on socio-cultural change in the modern world;

• critically reflect on the history of mission in Ireland and reflect its relevance for the life and witness of Irish Christianity today;

• reflect critically on the future of the church and its mission;

• provide opportunities for students to reflect on strategies for the transformation of mission in their local contexts.

Theological questions lie at the heart of personal faith and Christian ministry practice. As culture evolves new issues arise since theology is a dynamic process of continual engagement with culture resulting in fresh theological ideas and movements. This means that different theologies emerge in different contexts. At a global level there are African, Asian, Latin American or Western theologies and each region has its own sub-theologies and movements. Contemporary Western culture, in which Ireland is squarely located, is characterised by fragmentation, uncertainty and rapid change. Forces of globalisation, mass migration, information technology, post-Christendom, pluralism, neo-liberalism and secularisation are having profound effects on culture and the environment and raise new questions for contemporary theology. A consequence is that modern theology has become ever more complex; marked by, at times, sharply opposing voices. These include various forms of liberation theologies, theologies that seek to accommodate faith to culture and others that stand in opposition. Focus on previously marginalised voices has fostered the development of new strands of theology such as disability theology and queer theology. Diversity is also increasingly evident within particular theological traditions such as evangelical theology, in which there are deep divides over core questions such as the atonement, gender, sexual ethics, and universalism to name a few examples.

This module aims to enable students, who live and work in this complex cultural environment, to:

• develop an advanced understanding of selected questions and issues of direct relevance to Christian life and ministry practice;

• analyse, explore and critically evaluate selected contemporary developments and figures in contemporary theology;

• engage with empathy, integrity and advanced critical reflection with the convictions and behaviours of others;

• critically apply knowledge and understanding to think theologically and contextually about issues arising within ministry practice and personal faith;

• develop advanced research skills to investigating new problems and ideas in contemporary theology.

The ability to reflect biblically on life and work, including Christian ministry, is central to this module, which gives students the opportunity to engage in critical reflection on the formation of their worldview and biblical-theological frameworks and how such frameworks influence and interface with professional practice.

The module aims to enable students to:

• explore the concept of ‘worldview’ and its significance, and reflect on how we come to understand and live out a biblical perspective in life and work;

• understand how a biblical worldview embraces every aspect of life and encourages students to pursue a commitment to wholeness and harmony across all domains as bound up with a vocation to love God and serve others in every area of life;

• reflect biblically and theologically on work as a crucible for discipleship and a sphere for living out a Christian vocation;

• develop wisdom to interpret and live by the stories, models, and principles of Scripture in life and work;

• reflect critically on how biblical and theological understanding is expressed in the habits and practices of spiritual life, including in the workplace.

Some of the changes in society have resulted in an increasingly fractured context for many forms of Christian ministry. Christian communities that are seeking to be biblical in their expression of shared life have significant resources at their disposal to be effective communities of care. While pastoral caring may occur ‘naturally’ as part of a Christian community, it is important in any ministry context that people who are involved in providing or facilitating pastoral caring in either a local church context or in a broader sphere reflect critically and theologically on both the theory and practice of their caring. The module gives students an opportunity to do this for the context in which they are working professionally, although the focus will usually be on church-based caring. It is also important that students think about how to enable and empower others in a variety of roles in pastoral caring.

The module aims to enable students to:

• explore and evaluate biblically and theologically various models of pastoral care used in contemporary church life and their impact on practice;

• reflect on how theological perspectives/biblical models shape pastoral care;

• stimulate students to reflect critically on their practice of pastoral care;

• develop an appropriate strategy to enhance their professional practice.

The communication of the Bible is a critical aspect of Christian practice. For most Christian communities teaching/preaching the Bible continues to be a core element in acts of worship and one of the most important means of Christian education. Being able to communicate the Bible is an important element of an applied theology. The contemporary context, however, poses some major challenges to traditional understandings and practices of communication which need to be engaged. This module encourages students to self-critically engage with both the theoretical underpinning of, and the skills required for, teaching and preaching in a ministry context.

The module aims to enable students to:

• reflect critically on the use of hermeneutical, homiletic and communication theory in teaching and preaching practice;

• reflect on biblical/theological frameworks underpinning teaching and preaching;

• evaluate the nature of teaching and preaching in the student’s own culture;

• reflect critically on their own teaching and preaching practice;

• develop appropriate strategies to enhance their practice.

This module is compulsory on the MA Transformational Leadership. It is also an elective module for the MA Applied Theology

Organisational change and development in any institution, whether a church community, a community-based organisation, a voluntary group or a commercial organisation, will depend to some degree on the nature and quality of its leadership. It is important that any leader who wishes to develop and shape the context where they exercise their leadership think critically and biblically about the range of factors that influence leadership and the way it is practised. For leadership to be transformational it also needs to develop a range of self-reflective skills and attitudes. Students who study on this module will be required to construct a self-designed leadership project which will provide a context for the implementation of and reflection on transformational leadership theory and skills. The reflective report assessments are ‘incremental’ in nature and are designed to provide feed-forward formative input. The reports will be set at the beginning, middle and end of the module. The research and reflections on the project will provide participants with a learning experience of transformational leadership in practice.

The module aims to enable students to:

• critically evaluate selected biblical patterns and frameworks of leadership;

• critically analyse selected leadership models within the Irish context (or their own context);

• develop skills and attitudes for transformational leadership;

• develop the tools to critically analyse leadership practice;

• reflect critically on their own leadership practice;

• critically reflect on the implementation of transformational leadership in their context.

This module is an elective module for the MA in Applied Theology.

Organisational change and development in any institution, whether a church community, a community-based organisation, a voluntary group or a commercial organisation, will depend to some degree on the nature and quality of its leadership. It is important that any leader who wishes to develop and shape the context where they exercise their leadership think critically and biblically about the range of factors that influence leadership and the way it is practiced. For leadership to be effective it also needs to develop a range of self-reflective skills and attitudes. Students who study on this module will be required to construct a self-designed leadership project which will provide a context for the implementation of and reflection on transformational leadership theory and skills. The reflective report assessments are ‘incremental’ in nature and are designed to provide feed-forward formative input. The reports will be set at the middle and end of the module. The research and reflections on the project will provide participants with a learning experience of transformational leadership in practice.

The module aims to enable students to:

critically evaluate selected biblical patterns and frameworks of leadership;

• critically analyse selected leadership models within the Irish context (or their own context);

• develop skills and attitudes for transformational leadership;

• develop the tools to critically analyse leadership practice;

• reflect critically on their own leadership practice;

• critically reflect on the implementation of transformational leadership in their context.

An applied theology practitioner encounters issues of ethics in a variety of contexts, such as ministry, personal ethics and virtue, ethics in the public sphere. This module is designed to enable such practitioners to think critically on issues of ethics raised by the complexity of life within contemporary Irish culture (or other contexts). The focus of the module will not be so much on specific ethics topics (they will, of necessity, be discussed), but on the modes of being and thinking that students need to adopt and inhabit in order to both live and respond ethically. Students will be enabled to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to these issues. The module will also consider how ethical values and virtues can be enhanced within Christian communities, both individually and corporately.

In the increasingly professionalised context of the modern world, Christian ministry needs to be consistently and rigorously ethical. The module will, therefore, also encourage students to explore critically their own ethical commitments and actions in ministry contexts. This will involve an exploration of the development of virtue in ministry as well as critically examining the value of ethics codes.

The module can be taken at any point on a student’s progress through the programme. If students have already studied on other modules the teaching and learning on this module will provide a means of integrating and consolidating that learning, enabling students to explore critically ways of practicing applied theology. If a student studies this module as their first module they will have a framework for engaging with and embracing the other topics they will study, a framework that emphasises the integration of ‘head, heart and hands.’

This aims of the module are to enable students to:

• critically explore biblical, theological and philosophical foundations and frameworks for approaching ethical issues;

• critically examine Christian contributions to contemporary ethical debates;

• critically explore aspects of developing character and virtue;

• critically explore how people change and how this works in a ministry context;

The dissertation allows students to demonstrate their ability to carry out a research project of their own choice through independent study. It will be focussed on a specific topic within the subject area of the award. The project may be entirely literature-based research or the collection and analysis of data using the methods of qualitative research or a combination of both. The content of the dissertation should address all four of the MA Programme Learning Outcomes.

The module aims to enable students to:

• develop further skills of research and critical analysis that integrates academic and contextual / practical learning;

• apply skills and tools gained in the rest of the programme to a specific topic;

• enhance critical awareness of a chosen research subject through research and academic writing;

• provide students with appropriate and adequate tools for their future professional practice.