The Department of Practical Theology prepares Christian leaders to serve with intelligence and integrity in ministries that span from congregation to classroom, from spiritual practices to public service. As future pastors, teachers, and civic leaders, students learn to think deeply and broadly about the Christian faith and its relationship to church and world.
The department is made up of three areas, which are designed to help students develop a theologically informed and skillful future ministry. Training in speech, communication, preaching, and worship prepares students to preach and teach with sensitivity and grace. Creative Christian education offerings push students to plan a curriculum and imagine new ministry programming. Pastoral care courses expand students' world-views and deepen their listening skills, and classes in congregational ministry help students understand the culture behind the churches they serve while reimagining the future.
The coursework covers a wide-range of subjects, like contemplative prayer, death and dying, preaching and the sacraments, evangelism, pastoral care of men, pedagogy, and youth ministry.
Drawn from a broad spectrum of Christian traditions, the faculty share a commitment to teaching and forming students for ministry. Students will be sharpened academically and grounded biblically, as they learn from some of the world’s most respected theological scholars and influencers.
“At Princeton, we had precept groups—we’d engage text and debate. That gave me confidence to have those conversations anywhere.”