Parish Focus

The Parish Focus is an opportunity for growth, challenge, study, and community with peers and faculty. Such a program is a gift of time for sufficient disengagement from the day-to-day responsibilities of ministry thereby facilitating collegiality and community and offering access and use of the total resources of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Through a series of two-week seminars, and the completion of an applied research project that addresses both the theory and practice of ministry, pastors and those engaged in specialized ministry are able to:

•      integrate experience,
•      step back and reflect in new ways,
•      examine and deepen vocational and personal identity,
•      form lasting collegial relationships, and
•      develop a new level of insight, depth, and set of restorative practices.

Learn to lead relevant ministries for a rapidly changing world.

While most candidates who elect the Parish Focus serve congregations, others with specialized ministries have found it a flexible vehicle adaptable to their own situations. These have included denominational posts, ecumenical agencies, prison work, and various school ministries. Involvement of the local congregation or agency is a necessary and valuable component of the Doctor of Ministry Program in ongoing course work and in the design and implementation of a Final Project.

Classes meet for two weeks in January and June for two years. This program is 36 credits and is to be completed in three years. Applications are accepted on a continual basis. Apply now to reserve your space in the next group, which begins in June 2018, is specifically geared to leaders serving Latin American communities, and will be held on the campus of Eckerd College in Florida.

Focus groups meet in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Phoenix, Ariz.; St. Petersburg, Fla., and Charleston, S.C.

Courses Include

• Introduction to the Doctor of Ministry Degree Program and Pastoral Leadership

• Theology of Church and Ministry

• Pastoral Care

• Homiletics

• Education

• Congregational and Community Issues