Graduate Handbook 2023-2024

MRE in Missional Leadership Program

Program Learning Outcomes 

The curriculum of the MREML is structured around six competencies: 

  1. Missional leaders serve in the mission of God in relation to a God-centered identity. They lead, in other words, out of a clear and cultivated sense of calling, or vocation, and not in relation to their role. They cultivate habits and practices that help them to better discern and participate in the life of God. 
  2. Missional leaders center the margins, locating their lives and communities among the suffering with the belief that hearing the experiences and perspectives of the powerless deepens compassion, ignites works of justice, and helps communities more fully embody the eschatological vision of the kingdom of God. 
  3. Missional leaders interpret local contexts culturally, using the tools of ethnography. By attending deeply to a congregation and its immediate context, the missional leader provides thick descriptions that serve the task of doing local theology. 
  4. Missional leaders enable congregations to interpret their shared life in light of the global and historical story of Christianity, including theological themes that have been central to understanding God’s work in the world. 
  5. Missional leaders practice hospitality as they convene and lead groups for the sake of discerning and joining the mission of God. They do this primarily around rhythms of action, reflection, and articulation. 
  6. Missional leaders maintain environments that allow congregations to develop a shared, biblical imagination for mission. This includes teaching and preaching, but also necessitates slow, communal readings embodied in practices like Dwelling in the Word. 

Requirements for the MRE in Missional Leadership

Course Requirements

BIB 5143Missional Hermeneutics

BIB 5173Prophetic Critique and Vision for Renewal

BIB 5303Jesus and the Life of the Church

BIB 5313Early Christianity and the Gentile Mission

MIN 5813Leading the Missional Congregation

MIN 5833Gospel and Cultures

MIN 5843Hospitality as Leadership

MIN 5853Joining God's Mission

THL 5843God. New Creation, and the Church

THL 5863Salvation and Human Identity

THL 5873The Holy Spirit, Leadership, and Missional Communities

THL 5893Missio Dei - The Christian Story of Mission

REL 6200Portfolio Defense - Missional Leadership