Master of Arts in Pastoral & Spiritual Care (MAPSC)

The Master of Arts in Pastoral and Spiritual Care is a professional master's degree for students who are specializing in pastoral and spiritual care within religious communities or other organizations like hospitals, hospice, and military organizations. The curriculum is designed to meet the needs of those preparing for the specialized vocation of pastoral and spiritual care. Students take courses in pastoral and spiritual care that implement an intercultural approach to spiritual care, integrating contextual understandings of religious truth with a social justice orientation. Clinical pastoral education provides intense group learning and supervision of the practice of pastoral and spiritual care in clinical settings. Students also take courses in the core curriculum. Each area has a thematic focus, and courses within each area cohere in directing students and their teacher to think more critically about their assumptions and to develop theological perspectives necessary for becoming responsible pastoral and spiritual caregivers in a changing world. The personal and professional courses ground students in an understanding of their vocation, and help them integrate their personal theologies of spiritual care with public theologies using a social justice orientation.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Students must meet the requirements as specified in the Master’s Student Handbook (of their year of matriculation) to graduate. The MAPSC degree requires at least 80 quarter with a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better. In addition, all required courses below (60 of the 80 credits), must be completed with a letter grade of C or better (or with a Pass, when no letter grade is offered).

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First Year Interdisciplinary Course (4 credits): This course is team-taught and limited to 25 students per section. This course will introduce students to terminology, reading of primary texts and how to write academic papers as well as expose them to the complexity and significance of theological reflection. Some examples of possible topics may be: Theodicy/Suffering and War, Food, Eating, Environmental Justice and Hospitality, etc.

Core Courses (28 Credits):

Comparative Religious Traditions (CR) (8 credits: one breadth and one depth course)

Sacred Texts/Contextual Analysis (TX) (4 credits)

Social/Contextual Analysis (AN) (4 credits)

Historical Development and Expressions of Religious Traditions (HI) (4 credits)

Constructive Theology (TH) (4 credits)

Theology and Religious Practices (PR) required course:Intro to Pastoral Theology and Care (4 credits)

Pastoral and Spiritual Care Electives (16 credits)

Personal and Professional Formation (13 credits) Required courses:

Consultation & Formation (0 credits): to be completed during the first quarter of classes at Iliff School of Theology

Vocation and Orientation (2 credits)

Identity, Power, and Difference (2 credits)

Clinical Pastoral Education (8 credits): students may add another 8 (for a total of 16)

CPE Integration Praxis (1 credit)

Other Courses (19 credits)

Total for Master of Art in Pastoral and Spiritual Care: 80 credits

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This degree meets some of the requirements currently set by the Association of Professional Chaplains for two forms of certification:

1.AN ASSOCIATE CERTIFIED CHAPLAIN

A person who has demonstrated professional excellence as a chaplain, meeting all eligibility requirements including a bachelor’s degree, a 48 semester-hour (72 quarter-hour) graduate theological degree from an accredited school, two units of clinical pastoral education (CPE), ordination or commissioning to function in a ministry of pastoral care, and ecclesiastical endorsement by a recognized faith group, is recommended by a Certification Committee, approved by the Commission on Certification, and ratified by the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc. Board of Directors.

2.A BOARD CERTIFIED CHAPLAIN

A person who has demonstrated professional excellence as a chaplain, meeting all eligibility requirements including a Bachelor’s Degree, a 72 semester-hour (108 quarter-hour) graduate theological degree from an accredited school, four units of clinical pastoral education (CPE), ordination or commissioning to function in a ministry of pastoral care, and ecclesiastical endorsement by a recognized faith group, is recommended by a Certification Committee, approved by the Commission on Certification, and ratified by the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc. Board of Directors.

Length of Study

Students who average 40 quarter credits a year (13-14 credits each quarter of the academic year) will complete the course work for the Master of Arts in Pastoral and Spiritual Care degree in two years. Students may, however, elect to complete their course work over a longer period of time. All requirements for the degree must be completed within seven calendar years from the date of the first course taken in the program.

Student Assessment Process

To insure the breadth and depth of the educational experience,students will be required to participate in Iliff’s outcomes assessment process as they approach graduation. Students must enroll in Master's Recital (offered in multiple formats throughout the year) as a way to reflect on and provide feedback about their Iliff education. Further information is available from the Dean's Office or from the student's academic advisor.

MAPSC Degree Learning Goals

Comparative Religious Traditions (CR): demonstrate basic awareness of a range of religious traditions and an emerging capacity to engage in comparative analysis between traditions around a particular topic.

Sacred Texts (TX): demonstrate an informed understanding of sacred texts as historically-situated; utilize various methodologies for responsible interpretation of these texts to contemporary audiences.

Social/Contextual Analysis (AN): identify and critically evaluate the symbolic systems, power structures, ideologies, values, and religious meanings at play in events and interactions, institutional structures, ethical judgments, and living communities, and articulate and enact a vision for increased social justice in these contexts.

Historical Development/ Expressions of Religious Traditions (HI): demonstrate awareness of religious traditions as historically-situated movements that interacted and changed in relationship to their surrounding cultures and subcultures over time, resulting in various expressions located within and influenced by social structures and institutions, historical events, and ethnic and cultural ideologies.

Constructive Theology (TH): critically engage historical and contemporary theological expressions of religious traditions and articulate one’s own constructive theological position in relation to contemporary events and/or situations.

Theology and Religious Practices (PR): engage in analysis of contemporary religious traditions and institutions in order to assess, design, and perform meaningful leadership practices with sensitivity to contextual realities and relationships.

Personal and Professional Formation (PPF): develop strategies for spiritual formation and self-care, demonstrate an awareness of the importance of social location for self-understanding and professional presence, and enact self-aware and collaborative leadership within a specific vocational context.

MAPSC: Demonstrate a complex interdisciplinary understanding of the human person in social context, develop and demonstrate an intercultural approach to pastoral and spiritual care, and demonstrate personal and professional competencies needed by effective caregivers.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

40 CREDIT MAPSC

The MAPSC degree may be completed in 40 quarter credits if the student has previously completed an MDIV degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution. A minimum grade point average of 2.0 is necessary. In addition, all required courses must be completed with a letter grade of C or better (or with a Pass, when no letter grade is offered).

These degree requirements include:

16 credits in pastoral and spiritual care electives (“Pastoral Theology and Care” must be included for students without an MDIV from Iliff)

2 credits for Identity, Power, and Difference (IPD)

8 credits of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

1 credit for CPE Integration Praxis

13 elective credits (a course in Comparative Religious Traditions must be included for students without an MDIV from Iliff)

A minimum of 14 credits must be completed residentially (see the Residential Requirements section of this Handbook).

Students in the 40 hour MAPSC are required to take one unit of CPE followed by the CPE Integration Praxis (1 credit). An additional unit of CPE (for up to a total of 16 credit hours of CPE) may be taken if it is determined in consultation with the advising center, Office of Professional Formation, and the Pastoral Care faculty that their education background and professional goals justify this decision. If an additional 8 credits of CPE are approved, they will be in addition to the 16 credits in pastoral and spiritual care electives.

Specific requirements may be negotiated based on prior educational experience. The consultation and formation requirements, as well as the courses in Vocation and Orientation and Identity, Power, and Difference which are required in the 80 credit MAPSC, will be waived since similar evaluations and assessments in the process of acquiring an MDIV.

Overview of degree requirements:

Degree Components	Descriptions	For students without an MDIV from Iliff	For students with an MDIV from Iliff
Concentration courses	Pastoral and spiritual care courses: at least 16 credits (including “Introduction to Pastoral Theology and Care” as a required class)	16 or more credits	16 or more credits
IPD	Identity, Power & Difference	2 credits	Waived
CPE	1 Unit (waived if student has done CPE recently)	8 credits	8 credits
CPE Praxis	CPE Integration Praxis	1 credit	1 credit
Special Requirements	Any course in Comparative Religious Traditions	4 credits	Waived
General electives	Optional general electives (may include a second unit of CPE if approved)	Up to 9 credits	Up to 15 credits
Total		40 credits	40 credits

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

40 CREDIT MAPSC FOR MILITARY CHAPLAINCY MINISTRY

This degree program for military chaplaincy ministry gives military chaplains or those preparing to be military chaplains the opportunity to further their theological education in a program which allows them to concentrate on pastoral care courses at Iliff, and to consider courses in psychology, counseling, and social work at The University of Denver, and also allows chaplains to include courses (like comparative religions) most relevant to their work.

The MAPSC degree for military chaplains can be completed in 40 quarter credits if chaplains have previously completed a MDIV degree from an accredited institution prior to enrollment at Iliff. Vocation and Orientation and Consultation & Formation are waived for the 40 quarter credit MAPSC military chaplaincy program. This professional degree draws on courses from across the theological curriculum and allows for a degree of specialization. The chaplains are integrated into courses with other theological students and have the possibility of petitioning to complete their degree with a final four or eight credit summative project focused on spiritual health, fitness, resiliency, and strength in the military.

Specific requirements may be negotiated based on prior educational experience, so that a customized plan of study can be developed with the program director. A minimum grade point average of 2.75 is necessary for admission. A minimum of 14 credits must be completed residentially (see the Residential Requirements section of this Handbook). Students who average 40 quarter credits a year (13-14 credits each quarter of the academic year, or 10 credits each quarter, for four quarters that include the summer quarter) will complete the coursework for the MAPSC in one year.

Concentration Courses (16 credits)

The following is a sample of courses that could be used in a customized plan of study

Self-Care: Theological and Psychological Perspectives (4 credits); Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Pastoral, Psychological, and Theological Responses (4 credits); Ethical Perspectives on War and Peace (4 credits);

Impact of War on Pastoral Care and Theology (4 credits); Crisis Care in Pastoral Theology (4 credits); Spiritual Care in Pluralistic Contexts (4 credits); Moral Stress, Resilience, and Spiritual Integration (4 credits); a course in Comparative Religious Traditions(4 credits). If any required course is not available in any academic year when a student needs to take it, suitable alternatives will be made.

Elective Courses (13 credits)

In addition to these required courses (16 credits) which will be offered annually, chaplains will choose from pastoral care or general electives that are offered at Iliff, or psychological and social work courses offered at The University of Denver during the year they are enrolled. There may also be pastoral counseling courses offered at Denver Seminary that are relevant to their plan of study.

IST 1001 Identity, Power, and Difference (IPD)

This course focuses on the implications of social location and professional identity formation within the cultural matrices of identity, power, and difference. The class aligns formational work with Iliff’s commitments to diversity across the curriculum. 2 credits, pass/fail.

IST 4004 - Clinical Pastoral Education (8 credits)

As a degree requirement for MAPSC students, CPE is a structured form of interfaith professional education offered through an accredited Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) site and supervisor. Students register for this course and are waitlisted until their criminal background check is cleared by the Office of Professional Formation. Students register for credit in the quarter in which the CPE unit begins. 8 credits, pass/fail.

CPE Prerequisites: Identity, Power, and Difference (IPD) and a criminal background check.

IST 4005 - CPE Integration Praxis (1 credit)

The CPE Integration Praxis is a degree requirement for all students who take CPE for credit at Iliff. This course helps students integrate a completed CPE experience into their ongoing professional formation and coursework at Iliff.

Optional Summative Project

Chaplains can also do a four or eight credit summative project (registering for one or more independent studies) focused on the experience of spiritual health, fitness, resiliency, and strength in the military, which will be supervised by one of the pastoral care faculty.

Overview of degree requirements:

Required courses	Courses in the military program, like: Impact of War on Pastoral Care and Theology; Post-traumatic Stress Disorder; Crisis Care in Pastoral Theology; Spiritual Care in Pluralistic Contexts; Moral Stress, Resilience, and Spiritual Integration; a breadth course in Comparative Religious Traditions	16 credits
IPD	Identity, Power, and Difference	2 credits
CPE	1 Unit	8 credits
CPE Praxis	CPE Integration Praxis	1 credit
Electives	Pastoral/Spiritual Care electives (at least 10 credits)	13 credits
Total		40 credits