Master of Arts in Family Ministry

The Master of Arts in Family Ministry was designed with you in mind!

Grounded in the mission of the Church, this program will prepare students for professional leadership in today’s diverse and complex church environment in a broad range of ministries, or for professional work with families in social service agencies. The design of this program meets the needs of persons with work and family commitments, by combining rigorous coursework in theology and ministry with flexible scheduling. The on-campus summer intensive, coupled with online study, make it possible for students living at a distance to participate. The three summer intensives are designed to create a faith/learning community, and they provide the foundations for the courses of that year, emphasizing prayer, experiential learning, community building, communication skills, and sharing of faith. This experience creates a community of learners who will support and challenge one another during the academic year and honors the life commitments of adult learners.When you begin your degree, you become part of a three-year cohort. Each July, your cohort will meet on campus for nine days. As you build community with your cohort during these yearly sessions, you’ll work with a broad range of issues – from the global to the personal.

Students will be challenged to create opportunities for guiding others in the search for the presence of God in the everyday experiences of family, friendship, and other communal settings. While the program is grounded in the Catholic tradition, it also serves the ministry formation needs of other denominations and religious traditions. The program takes advantage of Chicago as a classroom in order to contextualize the coursework in a variety of settings such as parishes, agencies, museums and city events that involve, affect, and support family and community life.

 

  • Year One “Faith and Family – Personal Perspectives”- offers an orientation retreat, personal reflection, communication skills and community-building activities.
  • Year Two “Faith and Family – Social Perspectives”- investigates the connection between family, church and culture, and how the structures in culture affect family life. The theology and spirituality of family life and collaborative leadership skills will be part of the coursework.
  • Year Three “Faith and Family – Global Perspectives”- provides opportunities to explore global and culture issues for ministry, family as agent of justice, ecumenism, and global problems of violence and unequal distribution of goods.

Summer courses are four credits each; courses during the school year are three credits each. One course will be offered each fall, two each spring, for a total of 13 credits each year.

Each course builds on your previous courses. The program culminates in a capstone course that gives you the opportunity to synthesize your particular ministry and interests in a project, a major paper and a video presentation.