Specialized Certificates
Admission to the Program | Coursework | Formats
The Loyola Pastoral Life Center, a continuing education division of the Loyola Institute for Ministry, through its specialized certificates seeks to serve those who are already engaged in the church’s work of pastoral ministry and catechesis by providing continuing education to adult learners to increase their knowledge and competencies in a specific area of ministry.
The Loyola Pastoral Life Center seeks also to serve the many people who are currently engaged in ministries in the marketplace and the wider world and who have been called by their pastoral leaders to seek the formation necessary to engage in pastoral ministry and catechetical roles in local church communities.
The Loyola Pastoral Life Center offers the following specialized certificates.
- Specialized Certificate in Catechetical Leadership
- Specialized Certificate in Christian Spirituality
- Specialized Certificate in Parish Life and Administration
The specialized certificate programs lead participants toward 12 continuing education credit hours (CEU) or six courses of specialty-level ministry studies. Successful completion of the program results in the student’s being granted a Specialized Certificate awarded by the Loyola Pastoral Life Center (LPLC), in conjunction with the Loyola Institute for Ministry, at Loyola University New Orleans.
Admission to the Program
Four criteria exist for formal admission to the specialized certificate program. Admission requires a learner to have at least one of the following:
- a Master’s degree, preferably in pastoral studies, religious studies, religious education, theology, or a closely related field of study; or
- a Certificate awarded by the on-campus or the on-site (extension) program (C.P.S. or C.R.E.), of the Loyola Institute for Ministry of Loyola University New Orleans; or
- a B.A. or B.S. degree, plus at least three years of documentable ministry leadership experience; or
- no academic degree, but at least five years of documentable ministry leadership experience.
Applicants for the certificate program are evaluated in light of the current academic expectations placed on adult continuing education (ceu) students by Loyola University’s Institute for Ministry (LIM).
Coursework
Each specialized certificate is composed of six (6) continuing education courses. Ordinarily, each of these distance education courses is presented over two days in a seminar (or workshop) format by a member of the LPLC’s instruction team. These two days of presentation are then followed by a 45-day period devoted to required readings pertinent to the topic of the course and completion of several short, written summaries of what one has learned. So, to successfully complete each course in the specialized certificate curriculum (via distance education), a course participant must ordinarily:
- attend and actively participate in all class sessions (usually 15 contact/class hours, often taught over a two-day schedule),
- complete a post-class, directed reading assignment,
- complete a brief written response to the readings she/he has completed, and
- turn in written work in a timely manner.
Successful completion of a certificate program course, by a properly enrolled continuing education student, will result in the reception of two (2) continuing education units (ceus).
In the specialized certificate extension program, twenty (20) contact hours per course — the equivalent of 2 ceus — will normally be calculated by combining fifteen (15) contact/class hours, plus five (5) contact hours for supervised, self-directed study through reading assignments and written responses.
Formats
The specialized certificate can be done in a distance-education format based on interest from a local sponsoring agency. An on-campus format is available subject to local interest.