Faith and Leadership Courses

Faith is a verb, leadership is a calling

Courses in the Faith and Leadership concentration prepare you for leadership in faith communities, service organizations, non-profits, outdoor ministry settings, graduate study in practical theology and more. The religion major with a Faith and Leadership concentration is designed to easily pair with other majors or minors, allowing you to anticipate diverse future work settings. A significant number of Concordia graduates seek employment or volunteer positions connecting their faith convictions to social needs.

You may add the Faith and Leadership concentration to the traditional religion major; requirements include three courses in the concentration, a practicum experience and a one-credit reflection seminar. Faith and Leadership courses are open to all students regardless of your major. The concentration includes the practicum in faith and leadership, an internship for you to develop practical knowledge, skills and self-understanding in a faith and leadership setting. In sum, the Faith and Leadership program develops your capacity for resilient faith-based leadership for our changing world.

Courses in the Faith and Leadership Concentration

  • FL 201 - Offered every fall: Faith and Leadership (4 credits): This course is a study of the theory, ethics, and practice of leadership in faith-based service organizations and congregations. It considers vocational discernment, examines different religious leadership and service positions, analyzes contexts and professional standards, explores religious/denominational organizations, and considers gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation as factors in leadership practice. Prerequisite or concurrent: REL 100
  • REL 317 - Offered every fall: Making Meaning: Reading, Interpreting and Teaching the Bible (4 credits): This course provides hands-on experience reading and interpreting the Bible with attention to the Bible’s ancient and modern audiences, its public uses, its genres, cultures and themes, the social locations of its readers, methods and the ethics of drawing meaning from its content, and views of the Bible’s relationship to the sacred texts of other faith communities. Prerequisite: REL 100
  • REL 333 - Offered spring semester, odd-numbered years: Faith in Dialogue: Interfaith Leadership (4 credits): This course provides the religious literacy, skills and appreciative knowledge necessary for interfaith leadership. What makes an interfaith leader? How do we respectfully dialogue with people who belong to religious (and non-religious) traditions other than our own? How do we cooperate with people of different faith backgrounds to achieve the common good and protect pluralism? Prerequisite: REL 100.
  • FL 490: Practicum in Faith and Leadership (1 to 4 credits): supervised leadership practice in a faith-based context; demonstrating the integration of theological study and leadership responsibility and practice. Typically, 10 hours per week is expected for 4 credits, 5 hours for per week for 2 credits, and 2.5 hours per week 1 credit. Additional requirements will include reading assignments, journal activities, and attendance at group seminar meetings.
  • FL 491: Integrating Vocation, Faith, and Leadership (1 credit): Reflection, analysis, dialogue and personal discernment on vocation and preparation for faith and leadership. This course functions as the final and integrating piece in the Religion Major with a Faith and Leadership Concentration. It should be taken the semester following the 4-credit completion of FL 490 (exception: students taking FL 490 in their final semester may take it concurrently with FL 490).

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