Religious Leadership and Ministry (Minor)

The Religious Leadership and Ministry Minor is offered to students of all faiths and backgrounds with a focus on interdisciplinary preparation for religious leadership in various types of career settings. The minor allows for students to explore leadership styles in a religiously diverse world, to learn about serving organizations and their various structures, and to prepare for more formal training in their respective institutions or seminaries. The minor also develops the student’s critical ability to identify the ways that faith, religion, and worldviews help to structure one’s sense of a meaningful and purposeful life and vocation.

Note: Other courses appropriate for the major and/or to the career plans of the student may be chosen and substituted for the below with the approval of the director. Directed inquiries and teaching assistantships are available on an individual basis.

Carpenter Preparation for Ministry Program

This unique program provides a bridge between the intellectual rigor of the classroom

and the living of faith in the world. The program is not only for those students preparing for a religious vocation, but for those with any major or career plans who are interested in integrating faith and life. Both internships and volunteer opportunities are also available.

Carpenter Quest Program

Conducted by the chaplain as part of the Carpenter Preparation for Ministry Program,this unique program helps students integrate religious commitment, intellectual development, and service. The program includes two years of spiritual direction, academic courses, and enrichment activities that support individual efforts to make sense of life, learning, and faith. When students fulfill all the requirements of Quest, including engaging in 100 hours of community service, they are inducted into The Carpenter Society in their junior or senior year.