Class Attendance, Participation, & Lab Work – 20%

· Class and lab attendance are essential for developing skills and competencies and for building trust for everyone’s shared work. An unexcused absence is equivalent to a seven-point reduction in credit for attendance, participation, and readings. Consequently, three unexcused class absences will result in automatic failure of the course. Excused absences (serious illness, emergencies, etc.) do not affect your grade provided that you notify the instructors in advance when such circumstances arise.

· Class and lab participation, just like pastoral care, is a matter of attending, interacting, checking, and trying things out. Class time is divided into lectures with Q&A, discussion of readings, role-plays, exercises, and small groups. Class participation also includes engagement in role-plays and “real-plays,” to practice skills and get feedback. We offer 6-7 lab sessions periodically throughout the semester and students are expected to attend one lab from Series 1 (beginning Feb. 18) and one lab from Series 2 (beginning Mar. 10) to practice skills in pastoral engagement.

· Readings are not simply to be absorbed: they present skills and frameworks to be wrestled with, attempted, and practiced. Students are encouraged to choose a study partner (or two) to help engage the readings and practice skills outside of class.

Structured Log – 30%

· The structured log provides exercises and avenues for students to engage written and classroom material and practice skills. Through a series of brief self-inventories, assessment and intervention case situations, and theological integration, students will work directly with course material. In this sense, the structured log is simply an expansion of class participation and readings – but it is also a place for students to internalize and apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the course. Instructions for each of the six log assignments will be distributed in class and/or available in the <assignments> section on Blackboard. Most log assignments are completed individually; however, some are completed through group discussion on Blackboard.

· Individual logs are considered submitted for assessment only when they post in the <Instructor Dropbox> on Blackboard. Please see the instructions online for naming and submitting your files. Group discussion logs are considered submitted for assessment only when they are posted in the appropriate Group Discussion Forum. All log assignments must post by 2:00pm on the date they are due to be considered completed. One unexcused, incomplete log assignment is equivalent to a ten-point reduction in credit for content integration, skills development, and understanding. Consequently, two unexcused, incomplete log assignments will result in automatic failure of the course.

Verbatims of Pastoral Conversations – 25%

· Each student will engage in two pastoral conversations and complete two verbatims. A verbatim is a close-as-possible reconstruction of the actual dialogue – including non-verbal behaviors, inflections, and actual words said. Specific instructions for each verbatim are included below. Please see David’s sample verbatim on Blackboard for an illustration of the proper script format that you should use. In addition, at the end of each verbatim, include a summary of your assessments and appropriate comments as detailed in the instructions.

• Like other written assignments, verbatims are considered submitted for assessment only when they post in the <Instructor Dropbox> on Blackboard and must post by 2:00pm on the date they are due to be considered completed. One unexcused, incomplete verbatim assignment is equivalent to a 15-point reduction in credit for content integration, skills development, and understanding. Consequently, two unexcused, incomplete verbatims will result in automatic failure of the course.

· Verbatim #1: Peer “Life Experience” Conversation.

For this verbatim, please pair up with someone else in the class. Enter a pastoral conversation, taking the role of pastoral caregiver, inquiring about an important life experience that shaped or transformed your peer’s life. Break, jot down notes to remind yourself of points in the conversation, then switch roles. Break, jot down notes for this conversation. Write the verbatim for YOUR pastoral caregiver conversation as soon as possible after leaving, and outline some key developmental themes you heard. Later, return to the conversation and write a 1-2 page summary about your peer’s development, emergent strengths, and areas for possible continued growth. Meet once again with your peer, take turns sharing your thoughts as pastoral caregiver, and ask for response. Give each other your verbatims and allow for comment – pay attention to things you missed or possibly over-interpreted. Write a ½-page identifying your amendments, confirmations, and conflicts, and submit the completed verbatim.

· Verbatim #2: Theological (“Evangelistic”) Listening.

For this verbatim, please find someone in your congregation or community with whom you have not interacted significantly. If you are regularly attending a congregation, ask the pastor/priest if you can make a pastoral call on an elderly member, a lapsed member, a new member, or a family – or arrange to meet a teenager or other member for coffee (someplace quiet). You may not choose someone in your seminary community; however, you may ask someone from the surrounding community (e.g., university students, shop owners) if s/he would be willing to talk.

In the conversation, using your listening skills and some of the questions provided, identify theological themes (beliefs, values, practices, and communal supports and restraints) as well as basic psychological themes, using the variety of constructs from assessment readings and lectures. Write your verbatim as soon as possible after the conversation, and jot down theological themes you heard. Later, return to the conversation and write a 1-2 page summary of the theological themes you heard, identifying points of connection and discomfort for yourself (emotionally & theologically).

Group Presentation – 25%

· Group Religious Responses to Specific Pastoral Situations. There is one group teaching presentation to be done by all students, requiring each group of 5-6 to work together and prepare to teach the entire class about pastoral work in a specific situation. The situations are reflective of different challenges, issues, and transitions in the spiritual lives of individuals, families, and communities.

· Students will receive their group assignments following Spring Break. Each group will be given a topic area to explore and study together that will sharpen the group’s focus on a particular aspect of human development and experience. (Similar to “real life” in ministry, students are not given an option of which type of situation they want to focus on.) To guide and focus group exploration, students in each group are to read a book assigned for the topic purpose. Topics include vocation and life purpose, grief and bereavement, strength and stress in marital and lifetime committed relationships, resiliency and vulnerability in adolescence, challenges in addiction, and parenting and faith formation in childhood.

· Following initial study of the topic, each group will be given a real situation related to the topic and calling for multifaceted pastoral assessment and intervention over time. In discussion and role-play, each group will jointly assess the situation, reflect on the pastoral theological implications of the situation, and develop pastoral responses.

· Each group is responsible for a 40-minute teaching presentation, which should provide fellow students with an overview of critical issues and pastoral aims, at least one role-play of a pastoral response, and a summary of planned or anticipated pastoral responses in conversations, teaching and preaching, programs, systems of support, and religious ritual. In addition, each group must provide resource materials for fellow classmates that will benefit everyone. A written summary of the group’s work, including critical evaluation of self and others, is due on May 19. Successful completion of this project is equivalent to 25-points of the final course grade. Consequently, not completing this project will result in automatic failure of the course.

The Group Project provides individual students with an opportunity to demonstrate significant learning of a range of pastoral interventions and responses with individuals and groups, an ability to plan and use a variety of religious resources for pastoral situations, and a capacity for both giving and receiving feedback.

A detailed rubric for individual assessment of this project will be provided to each student with the group assignments.