L5 Modules
Christian Mission and Ministry Degree Modules for BA in Biblical and Intercultural Studies.
Level 5’s Seven Compulsory Core Modules
Find out more about the Level 5 compulsory core modules below.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module supports your spiritual maturity and personal development. It will increase your understanding of the process of spiritual formation, from a Christian perspective, to increase your understanding of elemental spirits. The module will teach you how to nurture your own development more effectively, while expanding your range of practical skills to use in various settings in the future.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
The Ministry Internship module is a three-week cross-cultural ministry placement, often completed during the summer holidays. This practical experience is an important part of our ‘head, heart, hands’ ethos of learning. Here you can turn theories learned in the classroom into practice to see how what you have learned makes you more effective when you’re working as part of a supervised team. This module helps to prepare you for your future Christian ministry or mission.
In an assignment, you will record the things you have learned, then describe your understanding of your placement organisation’s activities and how biblical and world views have shaped it.
If you have spent at least six months working in such a setting within the past five years, this should fulfil this module’s requirements. Please ask your course tutor about this.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This is a much shorter placement that takes place on a weekly basis during term time, in your chosen church or charity. We have a selection of local organisations for you to choose from. Like the Ministry Internship, it includes an assignment about what you have learned, to help you in the future.
Ensuring you put what you learn into practice is a vital element of our ‘head, heart and hands’ learning approach.
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15 credits/7.5 ECTS
This module emphasises the social processes that affect people around the world, incorporating contrasting societies in settings such as traditional villages and modern cities. You will learn about unfamiliar contexts, and be given tools to help you explore unfamiliar ways of life. This should prove useful for your future career.
The coursework gives you the opportunity to select a community from anywhere in the world to study.
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15 credits/7.5 ECTS
This is a deep theological and theoretical study of world mission today. It includes different approaches to Christian mission, and their impacts on evangelism, discipleship and community ministries.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module equips you to interpret and apply biblical knowledge in cross-cultural circumstances. You will learn to discuss biblical texts in a way that is faithful to their original intended meaning, and appropriate in the context of contemporary church and world environments.
After an introduction to Pentateuch and the cultural settings within the Old Testament, classes focus on how to analyse and evaluate key texts, their interaction with historical and theological issues, and the potential implications of these on mission.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module prepares you to respond to critical analysis of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), and their implications for your Christian mission and ministry. It takes in historical, theological and literary issues alongside scholarly debate.
You will explore parts of Luke and learn about theological and critical issues, including types of Gospel criticism, the ‘synoptic problem’, and the historical Jesus.
Vocational specialisms and their elective modular options:
Explore our optional modules below.
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Acts of the Apostles
Hermeneutics and Homiletics
Leadership
New Testament Greek or Biblical Hebrew
Pastoral Care
Pauline Literature
Palms and Wisdom Literature
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Regional Missional Issues
Engaging with Islam
Islam: Faith and Practice
Missional Business
Research Paper
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Holistic Community Programme Management
Holistic Community Transformation
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Arts for a Better Future
Creative Media
Multicultural Worship
Performing Arts in Education
Visual and Western Culture
Modules within the Theology and Ministry specialism
Explore modules with the Theology and Ministry specialism below.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module will teach you analytical and evaluative skills to help you interpret biblical texts and apply deeper biblical knowledge and understanding in cross-cultural environments. It will allow you to use Bible passages in a way that is faithful to their original meaning, yet appropriate in the modern world.
Classes focus on key texts, investigating historical and theological issues and looking at themes that are relevant for today’s Christian missions, ministries and churches.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
You will study various approaches to delivering sermons to modern audiences around the world. This module helps to increase the effectiveness of your preaching. It’s an incredibly powerful topic to study.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module provides you with a thorough grounding in the leadership theories and styles, to help you assess your own gifts and calling. It incorporates both secular and Christian perspectives.
You will explore God’s call to leadership, the role from a biblical perspective, the importance of character, the cost of leading, and the misuse of power.
This is another intensely important module for anyone who thinks they might one day lead a Christian ministry or mission.
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10 or 20 credits/5 or 10 ECTS (depending on the duration of study and exams passed)
This provides a comprehensive introduction to New Testament Greek, which is vital in many key ministries. You will learn a basic vocabulary, with syntax and grammatical rules.
By the end of the module you will be able to translate sentences from the New Testament, and when you graduate you will have mastered a useful working vocabulary.
This module should not be taken in the same year as the Biblical Hebrew module. Degree students will have another opportunity to take Biblical Hebrew in their third year.
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10 or 20 credits/5 or 10 ECTS (depending on the duration of study and exams passed)
This is a fascinating alternative module to New Testament Greek that introduces you to a whole new world of thinking. By the end of it you will be able to read and understand basic texts written in biblical Hebrew.
This module should not be taken in the same year as the New Testament Greek module. Degree students will have another opportunity to take New Testament Greek in their third year.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module addresses common pastoral challenges in Christian ministry. Building on a foundation of Scripture, prayer and your gifts from the Holy Spirit, this module will develop your ability to care, your attitude, and your character.
You will gain new pastoral skills that will help you to support people in, or from, different cultures. These skills include listening, setting appropriate boundaries, and signposting or referring individuals to specialists and professionals.
It will deepen your understanding of common personal challenges such as bereavement, other types of loss, abuse, and issues relating to faith, sexuality and trauma.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
The Pauline epistles are the 13 books in the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle. They are packed with practical support for Christians working in ministry and mission.
You will study the Scriptures of Romans and 1 Corinthians to learn how they speak to modern Christian mission and ministry.
On completing this module, your new knowledge and understanding will enable you to interpret and apply the Pauline letters in cross-cultural settings, while remaining faithful to their original intended meaning.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
Understanding and applying these fascinating sections of the Bible to your Christian ministry or mission is an exciting experience, from which you will see some amazing results. These texts contain themes that are incredibly relevant to today’s missional church.
This important module will strengthen your knowledge of Psalms and wisdom literature, preparing you to confidently interpret their meaning in line with the authors’ original intent.
Modules within the Cross-cultural Mission specialism
Explore modules within the cross-cultural mission specialism below
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10 credits/5 ECTS
There are separate Regional Missional Issues modules for different areas of the world. The number of regional modules students cover each year will depend on the interests of the year’s student intake. Topics frequently covered over the years include Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.
You will learn about people’s differing world views and theology, approaches to present and past missiological issues, and their impact on engagement with Christian missions and ministries. This will support your awareness, your respect for other people, and your sensitivity to different experiences. This will make you more effective if you intend to work in the region, or with communities that have relocated from it.
You will enjoy learning about a region’s history, politics, civilisation, arts, culture and traditional religions.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This is an increasingly important module because recently Islam has attracted so much international political and media attention. Online relations and physical migration continue to facilitate more Muslim–Christian interactions and dialogue.
You will learn from more than 10 tutors and speakers with first-hand experience. The module equips you with knowledge, insight, a toolbox of sensitive and informed responses, and real-world examples of strong Christian–Muslim friendships.
Although this course is included as part of our undergraduate programme, it attracts people from many ministries and cultures who will join you on the module, taking it as a short course.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This is a good opportunity to shore up your knowledge if you are likely to work in Islamic environments. Its scope is broad: it includes the Qur’an, Hadith, the history of Islam, contemporary movements, and Islamic theology and practice.
You will compare Islam and Christian beliefs in key areas, including the nature of God, creation, humankind, Revelation, Christology, salvation and eschatology. Within the module there will be plenty of discussion about the nature of Christian mission to Muslims in the light of these comparisons.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
In secular and Christian mission and ministry, the goals of many businesses are increasingly philanthropic rather than profit-oriented. This module includes real-world case studies of entrepreneurs and stakeholders working in low- and middle-income economies.
It provides you with a practical understanding, with examples, of the challenges faced by missional businesses that operate in cross-cultural settings. You will have the chance to understand and analyse missional business, and to develop new business ideas, allowing you to experiment in a commercially safe environment.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
You will write a research paper of 2,500–3,000 words that explores a topic that directly relates to your field of study. This will develop your research and writing skills – the basis of this module’s assessment.
Your essay should have missiological relevance. Where appropriate, it may have an explicit missiological focus.
Modules within the Poverty and Justice specialism
Explore the modules within the poverty and justice specialism below
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module teaches you how to design and manage holistic community projects in a range of urban and rural environments in the global north and south.
You will learn about different holistic and transformational approaches, and the tools and techniques needed throughout project life cycles, including monitoring, evaluating, funding, and HR.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
This module will teach you how to devise community-based approaches to addressing poverty in a variety of rural and urban environments around the world. It builds on your existing knowledge, developing your biblical understanding of poverty.
You will learn about the causes of poverty, development mode triggers and how they have changed. This topic includes biblical visions of community, along with strategies for growing a community and encouraging holistic transformative change for individuals, communities and organisations. You will also study structures and systems for different scenarios.
Modules within the Arts and Mission specialism
Explore the modules within the arts and mission specialism
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10 credits/5 ECTS
You will learn how to help local communities draw on their artistic resources to respond to their spiritual, social and physical needs.
The programme leads you through researching and creating local arts with a community, and you will be able to immediately apply what you have learned.
You will learn about the CLAT (Create Local Arts Together) model. It is based on ethnographic and appreciative enquiry approaches, and gives seven steps to creating a community arts project:
1) Meet a community and its arts.
2) Specify goals.
3) Select communication genre and content.
4) Analyse the genre.
5) Spark creativity.
6) Improve new works and creative systems.
7) Integrate and celebrate for continuity.
This module is usually run as a five-day intensive course. It is popular, so our diploma and degree students are often joined by others who are taking the Arts for a Better Future module as a short course.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
If you are interested in using multimedia in your Christian ministry and mission, this module is for you. It trains you to produce culturally sensitive missional material that clearly, and powerfully, conveys your messaging.
You will learn how to use technology for ‘e-mission’ and how to produce compelling stories that engage your audience, with particular emphasis on recording movies.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
If you are going to be involved with music for worship, taking this immersive course is vital. In it you will learn about Christian worship music around the world, in monocultural and multicultural settings.
Listening and singing sessions and workshops will help you minister in a wide range of worship environments.
In this module you will also explore heart music and analyse aspects of worship and culture, lyrics, case studies, musical aesthetics, syncretism, and how to facilitate indigenous songs.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
In this practice-based module you explore social and moral issues and learn to create educational presentations for cross-cultural audiences. You will develop a deeper understanding of different educational approaches and how to apply them through performing arts.
Topics include adapting scripts and performance art techniques, and you will have plenty of opportunities to put what you learn into practice on stage.
With your fellow students, you will review, refine and modify your work to make the most of everyone’s abilities.
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10 credits/5 ECTS
In this module you will take a close look at Western culture and the relationship between visual arts and faith. It focuses on two broad topics:
1) Western culture’s modernism and postmodernism, along with some key issues in contemporary society.
2) Visual culture and the practice of contemporary artists and movie-makers. You will create your own artwork and learn how film helps to communicate messages about spiritual issues.