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January 28, 2025
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This course is part of Church Administration: Human Resources Specialization
Instructor: Rae Cho
2,887 already enrolled
Included with
(23 reviews)
Recommended experience
Beginner level
This course is for both professional and voluntary leaders of Christian churches.
(23 reviews)
Recommended experience
Beginner level
This course is for both professional and voluntary leaders of Christian churches.
Explain why church administration must be approached from a theological perspective.
Elucidate how Christian ethics and pastoral leadership inform a theology and practice of church admin.
Develop a time stewardship plan.
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As church pastors and leaders, how should you manage Christian church administration? Shouldn’t Christian theology matter in church administration? If so, how? At the same time, how should you utilize management principles and techniques to make your church a more faithful church, rather than turning it into a secular enterprise?
In this Duke Divinity+ non-credit course for church pastors and leaders, you will learn the importance of approaching church administration theologically. More specifically, you will engage church admin as church practices whose theological goals are discipleship, formation, witness, and worship. As such, church administration should be a critically important component of pastoral leadership and competence. Given such a theological understanding of church administration, we will draw upon and appropriate management excellence and know-how to serve as tools for these theological goals. As the first course in the Duke Divinity+ Church Administration Specialization series, this course will focus on developing a theology of church administration and then applying it to time management—a huge, ongoing challenge for pastors and church leaders alike–in such a way as to reshape classic time management principles and practices into a robust Christian stewardship of time. If you are a pastor or ministry professional in need of Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits for your professional development, CEU credits are available for this course. Please share your Coursera course certificate and a copy of the course description with your church denomination or employer as recognition of your earned 1.5 CEUs. This course qualifies for 1.5 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits. Completion of all three courses in the "Church Administration: Human Resources" specialization qualifies for a total of 4.5 CEU credits.
What’s distinctive about church administration? We will examine this crucial question by establishing why theology should matter in church admin. First, we will introduce the course by delineating our overall theological approach to church administration, namely, appropriating management tools as a means to achieving theological ends of church admin. Then, we will draw upon Stanley Hauerwas’s insights on Christian ethics to unpack why church admin constitutes church practices and what this means for its theological goals and stewardship. Closer to home, you’ll poll people in your church to discover their perceptions of “theology” and “church administration.” In doing so, you will better appreciate why Hauerwas’s critiques and insights are relevant for your church. Lastly, we’ll take some time to make sure you have a clear picture of how this course works and where it fits in the Church Administration Specialization.
6 videos10 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
How important should church admin be to your pastoral role and leadership? To address this question, we will begin by looking at the wisdom of the early church to glean what characterized effective church leadership. We will then examine why church admin is critical to pastoral leadership and competence and, therefore, why it’s crucial for your pastoral credibility, trust, and authority. As an important course assignment, you will identify your key pastoral priorities as the basis for a clear, shared understanding with your church leadership team.
4 videos5 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Given the theological foundations of church admin from Weeks 1 and 2, we turn to a concrete application of your time management. Time is one of the most precious resources we have, and in particular for pastors (and lay leaders), time management perennially ranks as a top ministry challenge. This week, you will learn key time management principles, a theology of time stewardship, and how these principles can be used as a tool for stewardship of time. Correlatively, you will examine how you actually spend your time and develop a plan to better steward the time God has given you.
5 videos4 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Now that you’ve developed a plan to steward your time according to your theological convictions and your pastoral priorities, the challenge is to follow through and align your schedule with the intentions expressed in your plan. This week, you’ll develop the skills you’ll need to get and stay on track by exploring the power of “no,” the art of delegation, and principles of meeting stewardship.
6 videos7 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
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Reviewed on Nov 14, 2023
I learned so much in such a short time! The professor was absolutely great! I looked forward to my classwork and stayed engaged throughout the entire course.
Reviewed on Mar 26, 2023
excellent course with clarity and precision very beneficial
Reviewed on Apr 20, 2024
Good course to help set the foundation on Church Administration.
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For pastors and other ministry professionals in need of Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits for their professional development, CEU credits are available for this course. Upon successful completion of this course, you will have earned 1.5 CEU credits from this course. You can provide your course certificate and the course description to your church denomination or employer as proof of your earned CEU credits.
By auditing the course, you will have access to all course materials and will be able to preview the quizzes. However, you will only be able to submit the quizzes for grading if you enroll for a Certificate.
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
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