Fr. Clyde F. Crews, PhD; Fr. George Kilcourse, PhD (Co-founder and first program director); Paul Pearson, PhD; J. Milburn Thompson, PhD; The Rev. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, PhD; The Rev. Martha Gilliss, PhD; Gregory K. Hillis
Faculty from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
The Rev. Christopher Elwood, PhD; Susan Garrett, PhD; The Rev. David Hester, PhD; Kathryn Johnson, PhD; The Rev. W. Eugene March, PhD; The Rev. Dianne Reistroffer, PhD (Co-founder of the program); The Rev. J. Bradley Wigger, PhD
In partnership with The Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Bellarmine University offers the Master of Arts in Spirituality. The degree requires 30 graduate credits and is offered in a cohort model over a two year period. In June of each year, a new cohort of 12 matriculated students begins the program with a 4 credit “Introductory Seminar in Spirituality.” A 4 credit “ Practicum in Spirituality” and a 4 credit “Integrating Seminar in Spirituality” are also integral and required for the degree. The remaining 18 credits are elected from the selection of 3 credit courses. Courses are taught by faculty from the Theology Department at Bellarmine University and from The Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary; courses meet on both campuses, which are conveniently located about one mile apart. Students are expected to complete the 30 credit degree in two years with studies on a part-time basis.
While some students may pursue the M.A. in Spirituality as a professional degree or professional development program, many students from a variety of backgrounds will undertake the degree for personal enhancement and lifelong education.
The theological principles that guide Bellarmine’s M.A. in Spirituality are:
• With the ecumenical tradition, we affirm the anthropology of the unquiet heart, summed up in Augustine’s well-known prayer: “You have made us for Your self and our heart finds no rest until it rests in You.” What is most fundamental about human persons is their need and desire for God.
• Faith enacted in prayer has public social consequences.
• In both the shaping of our character and in our outward behavior in the public world, Christian Spirituality is a sign of the Kingdom of God.
The purpose of the degree program is to provide an ecumenical and collaborative teachinglearning experience that focuses on Christian Spirituality. What is Spirituality? Sandra Schneiders defines spirituality as “the experience of consciously striving to integrate one’s life in terms not of isolation and self-absorption, but of self-transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives.” She adds, “If the ultimate concern is God revealed in Jesus Christ and experienced through the gift of the Holy Spirit within the life of the Church, one is dealing with Christian Spirituality.” Students in the program come from Catholic and Protestant communities of faith and are lay persons and clergy engaged in a variety of ministries.
