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GRADUATE STUDIES AT RIVENDELL

Rivendell College offers Master of Arts degrees featuring core required courses and selected areas of inquiry, designed to help students acquire a greater understanding of the Christian tradition, gain a graduate-level mastery of an academic discipline and its methods of scholarship, and prepare for further graduate work, vocation, and a lifetime of effective leadership.

Rivendell has a special interest in training a new generation of campus ministers and Study Center directors who are equipped to meet the challenges and opportunities of student ministry in the 21st century. We envision Rivendell graduates finishing their work with us with:

  • a strong biblical and theological foundation,
  • an awareness of their unique place in the flow of history,
  • critical thinking skills,
  • a rationally credible and winsome faith,
  • and a well-developed practice of spiritual disciplines that will enable them to be transformational leaders in the contemporary world.

For students in our residential program in Boulder, practical experience is available through Rivendell's partnership with Dayspring Center for Christian Studies, and churches and para-church ministries with a presence at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  Students who do their coursework online or at an affiliate Study Center site will partner with ministries in their own community.

Majors

  1. Christian Studies, with residential and distance learning options (see erivendell.org for more information)
  2. Christianity and Culture (see creativeculturalengagement.org)
  3. Spiritual Formation (click here for a pdf.)

M.A. Degree in Christian Studies

The Master of Arts in Christian Studies is Rivendell’s most flexible graduate program, consisting of M.A. core courses and graduate-level electives selected from Rivendell’s academic departments.  Christian Studies majors may choose an area of concentration, or shape their own curriculum across disciplines to fit their particular interests and needs.  This program is ideal for students who bring with them life questions and interests from previous work or education that motivate and shape their research interests, and for those who anticipate working in the marketplace, or in some form of remunerated ministry that does not require an ordination track.  Note: Language courses are optional.

Successful completion of the M.A. in Christian Studies learning outcomes should enable students to:

  1. Identify and understand the basic content of the Old and New Testaments.
  2. Comprehend and articulate the basic tenants of Christian theology.
  3. Understand and interact with the evidence for and against the Christian worldview.
  4. Articulate the philosophical assumptions of the Christian worldview.
  5. Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of a chosen field of study within the Christian worldview.
  6. Gain skills for research, writing and critical thinking in a special area of interest within the Christian worldview

The program consists of the following:

  • M.A. Degree Core Courses: 21 credits
  • Christian Studies Electives: 15 credits

M.A. Degree in Christianity and Culture

The Master of Arts in Christianity and Culture is designed for those who want to understand how God has used his people to engage their world from biblical times to the present, who want to become the kind of people whom God can use to change the world today, and who want to be equipped with a set of skills that enable them to live a life of creative and critical influence.

Successful completion of the M.A. in Christianity and Culture learning outcomes should enable students to:

  1. Gain insight into God’s story and the way he engages his creation, using the frames of the Bible and Christian thought through the ages.
  2. Understand the nature of human development, the care of the soul, God’s call in their lives, and how to move forward in spiritual formation.
  3. Develop an understanding of contemporary culture through the study of worldviews and social movement theory.
  4. Gain critical thinking and communication skills and become equipped to be an agent of influence and change.

The program consists of the following:

  • Cultural Engagement and the Old Testament (3)
  • Cultural Engagement in the New Testament (3)
  • Christian Thought and Culture I & II (3, 3)
  • Soul Care and Spiritual Formation  (3)
  • Human Development and Spiritual Formation (3
  • Social Movement and Culture  (3)
  • Critical Thinking and Belief (3)
  • Structures of Communication (3)
  • Creative Engagement (3)
  • Stewarding Influence (3)
  • Capstone Project (3)

 

M.A. Degree in Spiritual Formation

This is a “personal degree” for those who desire a deeper understanding and grounding of their own ongoing transformation into the imago Christi. It is also a “practitioner’s degree” which draws on the paradigms of the ancients and moderns for the skills, character, and habits necessary to facilitate and encourage spiritual formation in others. Students in this major are enfolded into the “Rhythms of Rivendell” where they join a community, made up of fellow students, faculty, and administration who are pursuing their own spiritual formation and maturity. Those who complete this degree will gain a biblical, theological, and cultural foundation from which to develop their own philosophy of spiritual formation. The program includes the following beyond the M.A. Core:

M.A. Degree in Spiritual Formation Courses: 24 credits

  • SPFM 5102 Personal Formation 2 (3)
  • SPFM 5103 Ancient Spiritual Formation (3)
  • SPFM 5105 Contemporary Spiritual Formation (3)
  • SPFM 5101 Human Development and Spiritual Formation (3)
  • SPFM 547 Theology of Suffering, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Blessing (3)
  • SPFM 5031 Retreats and Spiritual Formation (3)
  • SPFM 6001 Art of Spiritual Direction (3)
  • SPFM 6101 Personal Formation Retreat (3)

Graduate Certificate in Christian Studies

The Graduate Certificate in Christian Studies is a 30-semester credit program that may be completed in residence, through eRivendell, or a combination of both.  Students in this program are required to take core courses, and may complete the remainder of the program with graduate-level electives based upon their personal interests and schedule.  Required core courses are as follows:

RLST 5200 Survey of the Old Testament (3)

RLST 5300 Survey of the New Testament (3)

RLST 5400 Survey of Church History (3)

RLST 5510 Survey of Christian Theology (3)