Field Education at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary provides an opportunity for students to learn about the practice of ministry through direct involvement in the life of congregations and in other settings including institutions, organizations, chaplaincies, and other agencies.
Welcome to a rich journey of exploration!
Through this experience, students should have opportunities to become acquainted with a wide variety of ministry activities (worship and preaching, pastoral care, education, mission, and administration), learn about the dynamics of pastoral relationships, and become aware of the varying social contexts for ministry. Learn more.
The Role of Field Education at Pittsburgh Seminary
A carefully planned and faithfully executed Field Education experience puts flesh and bones, faces and stories, on the words of the Seminary's mission to equip people for ministries familiar and yet to unfold and communities present and yet to be gathered. The scholarship and intellectual inquiry of classroom lectures and book learning come alive through the prayer and worship, witness, reconciliation, justice, evangelism, and service that students observe and engage in over the course of their field education placements.
Through relationships, tasks, projects, and events – all the elements which compose the pattern of ministry at field education sites – students gain real world experience of participating in God’s ongoing mission in the world. Their understanding of the community of Christ is deepened and enlarged as they work side by side and reflect theologically with supervisors, peers, and others in ministries. The transformation students undergo over the course of their field education program resources them practically, skillfully, formationally, and theologically for the contextually engaged ministries that await them amidst the complex realities of the world that God loves.
Contact the Field Ed Office
The Field Education staff will
- coordinate the placement and evaluation processes;
- assess placement opportunities for the breadth of experience offered and the opportunities for a student's personal and professional development;
- evaluate learning agreements and evaluation forms in light of established learning goals and the student's development of a pastoral identity; and
- provide resources and guidance to students and supervisors, as needed.
Contact us:
Cathy Brall
cbrall@pts.edu
Director of Field Education
412-924-1404
Holly McKelvey
hmckelvey@pts.edu
Administrative Assistant
412-924-1415
