The Church and Community Ministries
Certificate Program
Faith And The City, Candler School of Theology

The program of Faith And The City seeks to prepare students to have the theological and practical skills needed to engage congregations in critical public discourse and community leadership. It also hopes to help shape the church's public presence in our towns and cities, shape our Christian ministries with those in deepest need, inspire prophetic voices which can address the systemic and institutional structures of your common life, and encourage ministries of racial and religious reconciliation.

The Church and Community Ministries Certificate enhances Candler's mission to "educate -- through scholarship, teaching and service -- faithful and creative leaders for the church's ministries in the world." The program also enhances our commitments to -- "the interaction of theoretical and practical learning in the classroom, in the church and in other public settings, and -- the preparation of leaders to participate in ministries of justice and reconciliation."

Through participation in this program (classes, internships, community events, contextual education track), students can learn the methodologies of church-community partnerships and the tools for developing reconciling ministries. While tracking legislation through city, state and federal governments, students can also renew their understanding of the legislative process. They will learn how to inspire collaborations with their congregations and foundations, local government, non-profit agencies, and other community organizations in order to effect social change.

Because this program draws on the enormous resources of other Emory departments, other Atlanta-area universities, the Interdenominational Theological Center, and Columbia Theological Seminary, students have the opportunity to converse with a broad range of scholars and colleagues. Much of this work occurs in particular communities in metropolitan Atlanta so students can learn firsthand from local leadership how to identify concerns and the local resources to address them.

This program is open to students in the M.Div. program as well as those wishing to have this concentration in the MTS program.

Enrollment: A student wishing to enroll in the CCM Certificate Program submits a declaration of intent and covenant agreement that describes the student's purposes and learning goals for the program. This can be done any time prior to the student's second year of study.

Requirements:

1. Attend at least one Candler retreat for students enrolled in the certificate program.

2. Participate in at least one year of directed contextual education placement in an approved setting which will satisfy requirements for contextual education. For students accepted for the CCM Certificate before their first semester at Candler, both the first and second year of contextual education placements can be arranged.

3. Required Courses:

• The Church and Community Leadership. This is the basic introduction to the ecclesiology of public church ministries, to the relationship of social justice to the liturgical and sacramental life of the church, and to theologies of local mission. Focusing on local communities, the course offers an overview of public issues and religious responses. This course also offers an introduction to research methods, community organizing, asset-based community development, capacity building, and neighborhood revitalization, as well as skills in forming collaborations among congregations, local government, non-profits, and foundations. 3 credit hours. It may be possible to substitute The Church and Community Ministries for this course.

• The Church and Public Policy. This weekly, spring-semester course is required of all third-year CCM students and will follow the Georgia legislative session. We will learn the skills of lobbying and advocacy, study church-state relations (as they also relate to local and community government), study faith-based initiatives and charitable choice programs. It will also be the setting in which the student's portfolio is finalized and presented to the seminar. 3 credit hours.

4. Elective Courses: Six credit hours in related and approved courses must also be completed. These courses can be taken outside of Candler with the approval of the teaching professor, Candler's registrar, and the director of the CCM program.

5. Completion of a CCM portfolio which will focus the student's attention on either one public issue or one particular Atlanta community. The portfolio might chronicle a congregation's involvement in a neighborhood or the recommendations and strategies for that involvement. It could also include biographies and oral histories, sermons, web sites and resources, confirmation class designs, liturgies, reports from conferences, and "best practices" from elsewhere in the country.

Because this program is intended to develop the skills needed to lead congregations in rural, urban, and suburban settings, several tracks within the program can evolve. For instance, students in the Teaching Parish program could also enroll in this CCM certificate program and learn to apply these theological and methodological tools to the rural setting.