Graduate Courses

Back to Graduate Theological Studies Course Listings

Theological Studies:Practical Theology

• PTH 502 Discipleship: A course designed to examine the interpersonal relationships and character development to the student and apply the principles to the process of discipleship.
• PTH 504 Church Government: An overview of historical church government with particular emphasis on the early church and government by consensus.
• PTH 512 Mentoring Dynamics: This course explores the full range of the mentoring process form a biblical, historical and individual perspective.  Emphasis is placed on studying examples of biblical partnership and mentoring relationships.
• PTH 604 Pastoral Theology: A comprehensive treatment of the practical aspects of pastoral ministry.  Subjects covered include the pastor as a divinely called servant, leader, preacher, teacher, counselor, administrator, spouse, and parent.
• PTH 605 Personal Growth: The student is lead into an evaluation of their present spiritual condition with practical instruction given on how to strengthen their walk with the Lord.  A survey of the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, bible study, meditation, journaling, etc. will be covered in this course.
• PTH 702 Principles of Administration and Organization: The foundation for purposeful administration are explored with emphasis on a model which begins with accurately recognizing needs and the subsequent steps necessary to implement plans addressing the needs and the effective methods for evaluating plans, personnel and results.
• PTH 703 Pastoral Ethics in Counseling: The dynamics of how to handle the ethical issues in the pastoral context are addressed in this course.  Included are topics such as: how to handle issues that conflict with government entities, how to deal with people form other churches which seek your counsel, what to do in relating to other pastors etc.
• PTH 704 Local Church Home Fellowships: This study will focus on how to establish and manage home fellowship within the local church for the purposes of outreach and discipleship.  Principles on how to evaluate your church to determine readiness, how to recruit and train quality leaders to lead home fellowships is covered.
• PTH 705 Urban Ministries: This course is a study to discuss the alternatives and challenges of urban ministry on both the foreign and domestic fields.  The student will survey the more prevalent problems associated with this type of ministry and explore solutions and strategies to address these needs
• PTH 706 Christian Ethics.A study of Christian ethics for the everyday life with sound Biblical principles and practical applications for the professional and problem aspects encountered in the ministry.
• PTH 707 Pastoral Counseling: This course is designed to orient the minister in Biblical models of counseling within a church setting, and examination of the philosophy behind the pastor’s role as counselor in the church in light of the Scriptures.
• PTH 716 Inner City Ministry Models: Students are introduced to various models of inner city ministry and are challenged to evaluate these models to determine their effectiveness in addressing the demands of the Great Commission.  Christian Community development, mission Churches, soup kitchens and other models will be explored.
• PTH 801 Pastor and Staff Relations: An in-depth treatment on how to assess readiness for a multiple staff situation as well as how to train and function as a multiple staff are covered in this courses. 
• PTH 802 Role of Women in Ministry:  A study of ministry to and by women, including biblical foundations for roles of women in the home, church and society.  The course is designed to aid men and women who will be responsible for various areas of ministry.
• PTH 803 Prison Ministry: This course seeks to equip the student with an understanding of the methodology and dynamics of prison ministry.  The steps of formulating a new ministry to coordinating an existing ministry are addressed.
• PTH 804 Pastor in the Urban Community: The unique setting of urban ministry is detailed for an understanding of the issues that are confronted in an urban setting.  Integrating biblical principles form an urban perspective form the basis of this course.
• PTH 805 Advanced Leadership Principles: This course is a continuation of PTH 801.  This course will build upon the students understanding of the theoretical aspects of leadership and of administrative roles within the church.  Secular and Christian ideas of leadership are examined further and applied to the local church environment.
• PTH 808/CNS 808 Conflict Management: This course is designed to equip the student in understanding the dynamics of stress, assessing the level of stress, integrating principles designed to alleviate stress personal or ministry situations.