Some of the first questions one must ask to a ministry or to a local church are: “What are you doing?” and “Why are you doing what you are doing?” I am aware that all ministries are doing something. But I am not sure if ministries know why they are doing what they are doing! Now, if one does not know why they are doing what they are doing, it can easily give birth to a problem, that is, one may not be doing the right things. 

In the field of Christian Education, ministry practitioners and professors are first asked to write a philosophy of ministry for Christian education. The reason is simple. They want to provide a framework within which theological, philosophical, and empirical convictions can be identified, integrated together, and then extrapolated as concrete practices.

In navigational terms, one may be going somewhere, but the issue is, do you know where you are going? 

Initially, there was a problem with the name of this course. Why? Today, the purpose of philosophy for many ministers is no longer clear, especially with the negative connotations that developed through the years. This is especially true among Filipinos. The tag, “Pilosopo Tasio” is not really positive. Some view philosophy as irrelevant, and to a certain degree, even evil in the ministry. Others view philosophy as helpful and enriching in terms of education, preaching, counseling, and other ministry expressions, to churches and their ministers.

This course on the Philosophy of Ministry will address this issue on why we are doing what we are doing. It will question our priorities.

Leadership has often been envisioned as a solo act. Effective and Transformative Leadership is called for as the key to the future growth and fulfillment of the purpose of the church. Evaluations of leadership are often focused on a designated leader. Neither in secular organizations, nor (especially in ecclesiastical communities) is this either the most appropriate or even possible vision of leadership. Individuals may be catalysts, articulate shepherds, role models or skilled planners and strategists. However, the model of leadership that is evident at the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus is to call together a team, an intimate community of disciples, an assembly of gifted and limited folk to lead the emerging mission and ministry of the church. The focus of this course is to collect the biblical images and purposes of leadership, and appropriate their lessons to the ministry of the student in context.

Meaning: The student will focus on knowing the biblical and key contemporary thinking around the theme of leadership.

The student will focus on their current appropriation of being a leader and the place (or lack of place) of teams in their specific ecclesiastical organization and positing the future possibilities of establishing and/or enhancing the team approach to ministry in context. And, envisioning contemplating steps that would engage in doing the transformative work of leadership in a team context.

By the completion of this course, students will:

1. Focus on the importance and appropriate place of teams in the work of leadership in a church or ecclesiastical organization.

2. Describe the student’s own use of the teams or possible enhancement of teams in their leadership work. This will include a reflection on the student’s own place within the ecology of teams and the relationship of leading and following within the teams they have experienced.

3. Chart a plan for their current context within which the student exercises ministry through teams to live into the mission and make the vision of the organization more dynamic. The student will describe how this approach to ministry might enhance the practice of the core values of the organization and enhance the participant’s life of Christian discipleship in terms of spiritual description and actual team practices.