Focus areas group courses based on specific areas of ministry and religious education. Students reflect upon their ministry and religious education in relation to current literature in the field.
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Christian Spirituality for Ministry
The focus area in Christian spirituality recognizes that theological reflection and ministry are rooted in and foster the minister’s lived relationship with God. The focus area introduces students to the history of Christian spirituality, to the rich variety and diverse forms of people’s search for God. It also invites reflection on the theological foundations and practices of the Christian life and on the integration of religious experience and ministry. As a preparation for spiritual ministry, theological principles and spiritual practices are examined that enable students to be more effective in planning and facilitating days of prayer, retreats, and group prayer sessions. It also assists those who are ministering to others as faith companions as they listen to and dialogue with those desiring to grow in their relationship with God.
Courses in the focus area are:
Catholic, and pastoral ministers are increasingly being called upon to minister in faith communities that reflect this diversity. This focus area introduces students, non-Hispanic and Hispanic, to the growing literature on Hispanic/Latino/Latina theology arising from the U.S. Hispanic context, and from the Latin American experience. The courses offer a multicultural perspective on the varieties of Hispanic cultures. The courses assist pastoral ministers in developing a cultural sensitivity to and awareness of the pastoral challenges that U.S. Hispanic communities face and aid them in developing pastoral strategies for ministry in the particular Hispanic communities in which they live.
Courses in the focus area are
Pope John Paul II in several encyclicals (On Human Work and Christifedelis Laici), the U.S. Catholic Bishops (Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium), as well as the growing body of Catholic social teaching, have all affirmed the importance of the laity bringing Christian values to every sector of society. Organization and communities may be viewed as sacred fields of human energy in which the primary work of envisioning and structuring the life of our global community takes place. The ministerial praxis of those who engage others in work places, neighborhoods, and volunteer associations and organizations involves acting as leaven for the reign of God in the midst of those social and ecological systems. Ministers in the “marketplace” are “church sent.” They participate in the evangelization of social systems to bring about more just and caring communities and organizations. The courses of the Marketplace Ministry focus area assist students in reflecting upon the spirituality of work in its various manifestations. Students then explore the meaning and avenues for Christian praxis in the midst of organizational settings that are not specifically ecclesial in identity.
Courses in the focus area are
Pastoral Life and Administration
Competent, educated lay ecclesial ministers are being called by today’s Church to facilitate the pastoral and administrative life of parishes and dioceses. The focus area in pastoral life and administration helps prepare pastoral leaders for ministry in the growing number of parishes without a resident pastor or to serve as pastoral associates on parish teams. This circumstance provides the laity, religious, and deacons with increasing opportunities to share their gifts and talents with the parish and diocesan church. LIM seeks to help students discover and claim these gifts and talents and prepares students with skills in pastoral administration.
Courses in the focus area are
The goal of this focus area is to offer students an opportunity to work out an integration of their faith tradition and their experience of the natural world — bringing the perspectives and resources of both to bear on their lives and their work. We have a new sense of the systemic nature of life — its interrelatedness and interdependence. We have a new story of the universe and deeper appreciation for the uniqueness and richness of the planet Earth. We grapple with the implications of the most revolutionary paradigm in human historical consciousness, one that asserts the human as a subsystem within the larger life context. This shift in perspective and awakened consciousness introduces the need to set our social concerns and efforts in larger perspective. We cannot address the needs of humans without addressing the needs of the context that bestows and sustains their existence.
Courses in the focus area are
Both church and culture continue to invest their hopes for a better world in education. This vocation is viewed as the means through which we achieve and understanding of life and how it should be lived. Religious educators are especially attentive to this mission. They work both within and alongside religious tradition to promote within their students a sense of identity, reverence, and responsibility for life and the sacred. The degree in religious education provides religious educators with a broad and in-depth exploration of the field. The coursework combines the development of confidence and creativity in working out curricula and gives practice in crafting effective learning processes. It provides educators with a set of multi-disciplinary perspectives and methodologies to enrich their practice.
Courses in the focus area are
Small Christian Community Formation
There is a powerful new movement afoot throughout the Christian world. It goes by multiple names: basic Christian communities, basic ecclesial communities, small church communities, and small Christian communities. By whatever name, they are a way of being in the world that harkens back to the models and fervor of the early church. As the U.S. Bishops have said in their document, Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium, “Small church communities not only foster the faith of individuals, they are living cells which build up the body of Christ.” They bring life to parishes and credibility to Christian faith across continents. The focus area in small Christian community formation provides pastoral agents with a broad theological and historical understanding of this movement, with a familiarity with the movement in the U.S. church, and with skills for forming and nurturing intentional Christian communities in parishes, religious communities, schools, and other grassroots settings.
Courses in the focus area are
Parish and youth ministry is a relatively new concept and new style of ministry in the U.S. Catholic Church. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) issued a landmark statement, in 1997, called Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry. In it, the Bishops called for dynamic and effective forms of leadership education to prepare both adults and youth (peer ministers) who minister with youth and who are called to empower young people for their mission in the world. This focus area introduces students to the dynamic foundations of youth ministry — with an emphasis on the developmental needs of adolescents, the lived experience of contemporary youth ministers, and ministry models and practices that promote healthy Christian development in youth during these challenging times. It also gives students an opportunity to explore in depth the phenomenon of adolescent spiritual development, the ministry methods and strategies that promote it, and the impact that an effective youth ministry can have on the mission of local churches, the whole Church, and the wider community in which youth and their family members live and work.
Courses in the focus area are
Opportunities for providing pastoral care come with the territory of prison, hospice, hospital, and nursing home ministry, as well as ministry in social service agencies. This focus area offers a solid background and working knowledge of skills for women and men who work in pastoral care settings, which require them to initiate and sustain relationships with others in which a high degree of support and challenge are offered. This focus area does not lead to licensure as a professional pastoral counselor. Rather, it equips pastoral ministers with a set of basic skills, along with the accompanying conceptual and experimental background, to respond well during the everyday pastoral care demands of their ministries. Graduates of this focus area may complete additional units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and become eligible for certification as a chaplain through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC).
Students interested in pastoral counseling or counseling as a profession should seek out degree programs ending in licensure. Loyola University New Orleans has a unique on-campus program leading to a dual master’s degree in pastoral studies (M.P.S.) and a master’s degree in counseling (M.S.).
This focus choice may not be feasible for all online students because 1.) students need to come on-campus for a two-week summer session to complete the Introduction to Pastoral Care and Counseling course, and 2) students need to be able to complete the equivalent of the two required counseling courses (Counseling Theories and Counseling Practice) from an accredited graduate program in their local area, if on-campus work at Loyola University New Orleans is not possible for them during a regular fall semester. The fourth course in this focus area requires one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education from an accredited site. (Available accredited sites for CPE may be found through the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, ACPE).
Courses in the focus area are:
If you are interested in the Pastoral Care focus area, please explore the following:
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