MASTER OF ARTS IN THEOLOGY CHURCH LEADERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION (MTLA)
| Module Code | Module Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MTLA500 | Theology, Hope and Reconciliation (Optional) | The Module is designed to be a sequel to theology, reconciliation and peace-building. The module locates peace and conflict within the groove of life’s experiences and configures whether it is within the jurisprudence of the Religious Institutions to engage in reconciliation, peace-building and conflict resolution issues of the day. The module approaches the issue of reconciliation and peace-building from historical, clinical and theological perspectives. The module affirms that Religion has the potential to cause conflict and yet at the same time it has the potential to cause peace. It has within it both seeds of conflict and peace – a fact that is grounded in the history of religions. The module demonstrates how the positive side of religion particularly in the context of theology, can be harnessed for reconciliation and peace in any society. |
| MTLA501 | Christianity And Social Transformation (Optional) Block | This module focuses on the impact of the Christian Church in society in its early developmental period. The module follows an historical critical analysis methodology for the purposes of locating the contours that can help the modern Church to learn from history. The interaction of Church and Society serves as a reference point in the role played by Christianity in the transformation of all sectors of society. The modules will cover the following courses; Christian faith and Social transformation, Christianity and Civilization in historical perspectives as well as Christianity and Globalisation. |
| MTLA506 | Religion, Gender And Ecology (Optional) Block 3 | This module focuses on the intersection between religion, gender and ecology. The issue of gender is an important aspect to consider in the contemporary discourse of climate change. Indeed, gender balance is important to consider if development to an all-inclusive and all-encompassing approach to issues relating to the environment. As such, the module on Religion, Gender Studies and Ecology deals with the intersection between religious conceptions of Gender and development in society |
| MTLA502 | The Bible, Leadership And Social Transformation (Core) | This module links the bible, politics and governance to explore and illuminate the bible’s role in international, African and domestic political and governance contexts while investigating how contemporary approaches to appropriating the bible are shaped by political, ideological, historical and cultural trends. The relation between the bible, politics and governance continues to be an important subject matter because the bible makes strong claims on the allegiance of a significant proportion of the world’s population. The module will explore governing ideologies and political ideas such as imperialism, globalism, power, freedom, coloniality, post-coloniality, democracy, conflict, legitimacy and accountability in relation to the bible as it investigates the complex relationships between the bible, politics and governance. Because biblical notions often intersect with governance and political ideation and processes the module will explore theoretical, historical and practical problems that are raised by this intersection. It provides newer ways of understanding the larger subject matter on the role of religion in politics and governance as it focuses on the bible and its historical and contemporary appropriations in this matrix. |
| MTLA503 | Church Leadership And Management (Core) | This module investigates principles, challenges, and practices of Christian leadership, emphasizing the trends that view the centrality of Christian leadership in any society as a critical component for human development. The module encompasses theological and practical components of Church Leadership and which is informed by scientific models of Church Administration and management in the practice of Christian Ministry. The module focuses on the development of administrative skills for effective Church management in a way that informs the quality of the Church’s pastoral programmes and underscores the need for the use of professional principles and practices in Church management. The module further identifies the management challenges faced by the pastors and explores the extent to which administrative skills are being developed for pastoral programmes and looks into alternative management practices which could be adopted by the Church for the effectiveness of its mission / agenda. |
| MTLA504 | Theology, Society And Human Development (Optional) Block 2 | This Module is earmarked to help learners to appreciate the groundwork issues of/in Theology, Society and Human development as central drivers of community and social development. Central to the Module will be an appreciation of how Theology is and can be a transforming discourse in Societal and Human Development through an exploration of Theology’s engagement with daily issues of human existence in a liberative and empowering nature from a broad context of human dialogue with issues of life. The module will thus explore a variety of theologies that have a salvific thrust and are critical for human ‘salvation’ from a vast of social evils running across space and time. Course under this module will include Theological ideas and ideals in modernity and postmodernity, as well as social transforming theologies in Africa, Asia and Latin America |
| MTLA 505 | Theology And Peace Studies (Optional) | The Module is designed to be a sequel to religion, peace and conflict management. The module locates peace and conflict within the groove of life’s experiences and configures whether it is within the jurisprudence of the Religious Institutions to engage in peace-building and conflict resolution issues of the day. The module approaches the issue of peace-building and conflict resolution from historical, clinical and theological perspectives. The module affirms that Religion has the potential to cause war and yet at the same time it has the potential to cause peace. It has within it both seeds of conflict and peace – a fact that is grounded in the history of religions. The module demonstrates how the positive side of religion particularly in the context of theology, can be harnessed for peace and reconciliation in any society. |
| MIDAH501 | Digital Skills for Masters | The Information and Digital Skills module for Postgraduate students introduces students to the tenets of conducting scientific research in alignment with the current scholarly communication landscape. Module aims to conduct effective literature searches and synthesise evidence, understand academic integrity and reference management, navigate the academic publishing landscape, effectively manage research data, collaborate in research and identify funding opportunities, and communicate research findings and track research impact. |
| MTLA513 | Theology And Land In Developing Countries (Optional) | Land refers to the inhabited space. Theologically, the land is God’s gift for the good of creation. The Land issue is a central theme both in the Bible and in African communities. The need for a proper theological reflection on the Land learns from the fact that human beings get their food from the land and their daily existence is in the land. The land issue in African communities is a complex issue that has resulted in wars because of the colonial legacies which left many African people landless. Course to be explored in this module will include; Theology of land in historical perspectives, land reform and theology of development as well as a theology of development and masculinities. |
| MTLA508 | Religion Health & Environment (Optional) | The module deals with a very important aspect of people’s lives. It explores the role played by religion in the health and wellbeing of a nation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) discerns four dimensions of health, namely physical, social, mental, and spiritual health. Having religious beliefs may have both positive and negative impacts on health and morbidity. From this perspective, this module explores the most contemporary modes of religious and spiritual thought with particular emphasis on their relevance to current health and environment related challenges in society. Taking an eclectic approach to the study of human values, health, and emotional welfare, this module deals with mental and physical health in relation to religion and spirituality of all kinds. The module is designed to empower students with the capacity to utilize religious knowledge in dealing with people affected by Disability, HIV/Aids pandemic, Cancer among other challenges. In essence, the module examines the contribution of religion to issues relating to health and wellbeing from ancient to modern times. |
| MTLA512 | Community Project (Core) | This is Masters engagement in a chosen community where each student identifies an area of need and does work with the local community to proffer a possible solution |
| MTLA514 | Christian Leadership And Community Development(Core) | Leadership crisis is a topical issue in the global politics. Religion forms an important and deepest identity tag for the majority of people and Zimbabwe is a testimony to that effect. Religion shapes the values and principles of individuals at any level of the society and leaders are not an exception. Some of the models of leadership are drawn from religious tenants and this module examines the interaction between religion and leadership. The module is premised on the fundamental reality that success and innovative development in any community can only become a reality with the guidance and counsel of well informed and grounded leadership that has the respect of the people and society in general. |
| MTLA515 |
The Bible and Social Development (Optional) |
Social Transformation Studies can be understood as the analysis of transnational connectedness and the way this affects national societies, local communities and individuals. It refers to the manner in which society grows due to economic growth, science, technological innovations and political changes as well as to processes of extensive developmental changes in different interdependent areas of society (subsystems) such as production and consumption patterns, legal concepts, types of social institutions, cultural practices and beliefs. While social change can be viewed as gradual or incremental social change occurring over a period of time triggered by external influences that modify actions, social transformation may be referred to as fundamental shorter term social change triggered by modifying beliefs that drive natural actions thereby achieving desired developmental results. The gospels, Apocalyptic Literature and the Theology of Hope have been key drivers of the origins of social transformation globally and historically. These three elements, intricately interconnected to religion and culture, have also been key sources of notions towards the ideation of original and final situations of social transformation processes. This module will explore the linkages between social transformation theories on one hand and the gospels, apocalyptic literature and the theology of Hope on the other, as shapers of cultural, political and economic notions and systems that have often functioned both as mechanisms of social transformation and pointers to the direction it should take |
| MTLA 570 | Dissertation | Students are given an opportunity to carry out an academic research project on a topic of their choice as a way of showing their innovative understanding and application of issues they have studied. With the guidance from a member of the academic staff as supervisor, the learners plan and design an independent research project. The research Project must be between 15000 to 20000 words (excluding references) in the Times New Roman size 12 and including double-spacing. |
