GST-Contextual Education

About Contextual Education

Real Training for Real Ministry

Ministry never takes place in a vacuum. It always occurs among real people in real places within real situations — in other words, it takes place in a context. This means that training and formation for ministry has to be as real as the ministry you undertake.

That is why contextual education is at the center of the Graduate School of Theology’s vision of theological education. As the Graduate School of Theology seeks to equip men and women for effective missional leadership for ministry, we do so with a commitment to the contextual and the particular, to help you foster the dispositions and develop the skills for faithful ministry in the real world.

The Contextual Education program within the Graduate School of Theology operates with four central aims that shape the program and its connection to the rest of the curriculum.

Vocation, Calling & Formation

The kind of minister we are grows out of our sense of identity and who we understand ourselves to be before God. The Contextual Education program is designed to give you the space and opportunities to discern and live into God’s unique calling on your life and the form of ministry that calling takes.

Theology of Ministry

What we believe and what we do are intimately connected, so the Contextual Education program aims to help you fund more meaningful and authentic connections between your beliefs, convictions and actions in ministry.

Skills & Practices Competency

The practice of ministry involves understanding both why we engage in particular practices and how to engage in those practices most effectively. That is why the Contextual Education program provides opportunities to connect the why and how of your ministry, giving you a clear sense of purpose and practice.

Theological and Ministerial Integration

Ministry done well calls on us to make connections between our experiences, context and the theological resources of the Christian tradition (scripture, doctrines, practices, etc.). That is why the Contextual Education program seeks to help you develop these integrative capacities for your ministry, so that you can discern how the various parts fit together and how to design faithful and effective interventions.

Pieces of the Contextual Education Program

The Contextual Education program has several aspects that stretch across a student’s degree program to provide a holistic approach to the connection between a student’s ministry context and their theological education.

Formal Curriculum

Students move through the Contextual Education course sequence to explore the foundational aspects of thinking contextually in theology and ministry, the tools for deep listening in their ministry context and the skills for leading faithful ministerial interventions.

Integrative Assignments

Students engage in assignments in every GST course that helps them make connections between their ministry context and what they experience in their coursework. These required Pathways Assignments help students perceive the difference every GST course makes for their ministerial practice.

Student Mentoring

Students participate in the various mentoring programs of the Graduate School of Theology. These programs form a community between students and faculty that provides students with the space and opportunity to reflect on questions of calling and vocation as well as what they experience in their education.

Co-Curricular Events

Throughout the year, Contextual Education offers a number of opportunities for students to engage with faculty, working ministers and other experts through a variety of co-curricular programs and activities that give students the chance to think with others about important issues and questions for ministry.

Internship Opportunities

The Office of Contextual Education works with ministers and congregations locally and nationally to develop internship opportunities for students. In some cases, students can earn as many as 3-6 credit hours towards their degrees in these internships.

Meet Our Director

Mason Lee, PhD

Mason came to the Graduate School of Theology in the Fall of 2020 after completing his PhD in Practical Theology and Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary. He serves as the Director of Contextual Education and is an Assistant Professor of Practical Theology. While his primary appointment is in the School of Theology, Mason also enjoys the opportunities he gets to teach courses for the Department of Bible, Missions, and Ministry. In addition to his teaching and administrative roles at ACU, Mason works with the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry as a member of their Looking Team.

Contact the Director