MASTER OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN MISSIONAL LEADERSHIP

Congregational leaders today can no longer assume that “if we build it, they will come.” Things have changed. Often, church leaders are doing everything they’ve been trained to do, better than they’ve ever done it before, but with diminishing impact. The emerging ministry situation we find ourselves will require nimble congregations, imaginative leaders, and new ways of preparing women and men for the ministry. The MRE in missional leadership is Rochester University’s attempt to bring a different approach to training ministers for Christian communities in a new missional era.

Ministry challenges in a new missional era don’t always come with obvious solutions. Therefore, leaders must be able to interpret their own cultural settings, recognize new opportunities to experience the hospitality of God on terms other than their own, and equip themselves and others with the spiritual practices necessary to experiment in the midst of ambiguity and anxiety. These are challenging times, but they’re also exciting times for those who have a sense of adventure and are willing to trust the leading of a living God into a new future.