OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM

The Master of Arts in Religion and Leadership (MARL) prepares students for dynamic leadership roles in settings beyond traditional religious contexts.  Students in the MARL include those seeking to serve as religious educators, non-profit leaders, community organizers, and others who are doing ministry work in non-traditional pulpits and/or entrepreneurial settings. The degree seeks to prepare students for the growing ministry opportunities outside of congregational contexts, especially spiritual entrepreneurship. By “spiritual entrepreneurship,” we mean the capacity to cultivate communities of spiritual practice and belonging beyond the traditional form of the congregation. This involves starting not just new communities, but new kinds of communities. In focusing on spiritual entrepreneurship, this program creates space for people to design leadership for communities that do not yet exist. The degree supports students’ own projects of making a meaningful life. It provides resources and direction to explore questions about God, the world, and personal and communal identities. The MARL honors and supports those projects and provides tools needed to ground students’ work and leadership skills for them to thrive within their platforms. Students who complete the MARL will be able to:

• create and provide leadership in contexts outside of traditional congregations or ministry roles;

• conduct social analysis of their religious and leadership context(s) and engage in practices appropriate to that context;

• build collaborative ecumenical, intercultural, and interreligious relationships outside their own circles;

• relate their leadership practice to relevant texts, traditions, and practices in their religious context.