Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Theology

This course guides participants through a process of surveying an area of interest, identifying, and refining a specific question that they want to answer, and considering which of a range of research approaches and methods would best serve their purpose. By the conclusion of the course each student will have designed a research project and presented it in the form of a full Research Proposal. The participants support each other through the course as they develop as researchers and discover both the excitement and the challenges of research as discipleship and service.

(30 credits)

God is flourishing in itself and shares that flourishing life with creation–not because God needs to create, but in some sense, God wants to create. In creating, God ordered all creation toward its full flourishing. While, that flourishing has also been thwarted, God has still provided means for this to be restored and even deepened. This course will focus especially on human flourishing, assuming this is what God intends for humankind. To inform what is meant by flourishing, we will look at biblical, theological, and psychological perspectives on the flourishing life. This will entail looking back to understand that which impedes us from flourishing and looking forward as we envisage what flourishing may look like in the future.

(30 credits)

This course asks why various models of leadership found in the biblical text may have been helpful to the church in their ancient socio-historical contexts and how they may provide insights into contemporary ministry leadership. Students will engage the writings of Luke-Acts and the letter to the Philippians and the models of leadership they present. These models of leadership will be explored in the socio-historical milieu of the New Testament and interpreted in the crowded marketplace of classical ideas about leadership. The course will exegete New Testament texts and classical Graeco-Roman sources to critically compare their various approaches to leadership. The insights gained from studying biblical approaches to leadership in their ancient setting will enable students to critically reflect on competing modern ideas about leadership and recalibrate their approaches to leadership in Aotearoa.

(30 credits)

The Research Essay provides students with an opportunity to undertake an in-depth study of a topic or issue in Applied Theology under the guidance of a supervisor. The topic will normally be in an area that the student wishes to explore but is outside the scope of available courses in the academic programme. The student will acquire specialist knowledge of a specific field of Applied Theological study and develop skills in research, the evaluation of evidence and the articulation of ideas.

The Research Essay is a maximum length of 12,000 words including footnotes and excluding bibliography.

(30 credits)

The full impact of COVID-19 upon global and local economies is not yet known, but we do know it will have a significant financial impact upon churches, organisations and nations. This course will provide a rigorous exploration of Old and New Testament biblical texts that address theological economics, and explore a selection of contemporary economic theories, in order to shape our imaginations for economic decision making. We will also sit at the table with Christian leaders and entrepreneurs to learn from those who lead creatively and courageously. The aim is to resource you and your church to form creative and courageous responses to the current crisis.

(30 credits)

The rise of the #blacklivesmatter movement and protests about racism around the world raise important issues for theology and the church, not least because of the church’s entanglement in the construction of the modern racial condition. This course examines historical and contemporary misappropriations of theology in the development of current racial issues, and explores the biblical and theological possibilities for a gospel-centred account of the church’s anti-racial witness to God’s kingdom. The aim is to understand contemporary global and national issues, and examine possibilities for the church’s faithful witness to God in the face of racism.

(30 credits)

It is often said that if you get the gospel wrong, you get everything wrong. In conversation with N.T. Wright we will ask: What, then, is the gospel? Likewise, in conversation with Dietrich Bonhoeffer we will be asking: What are the measures of discipleship? And in conversation with John Wesley we will ask: How then can we design churches to produce people who embody kingdom holiness, where holiness is in part love of neighbour and neighbourhood? The aim is to retool Christian leaders, churches and their wider communities for the revolution that Jesus began.

(30 credits)

Public theology is “the church reflectively engaging with those within and outside its institutions on issues of common interest and for the common good” (Day and Kim). This course explores the church’s biblical, theological, and historical resources for the task of public theology and public witness to the gospel. We will critically examine models of public theology and a range of cases studies that will equip us to engage theologically with contemporary issues in society. Students will examine current social issues such as climate change, extremism and terrorism, sexual abuse, racism, modern slavery, and COVID-19 and produce theological responses that serve the church and the public good.

(30 credits)