Patria

Patria is the leadership development program, Real Life’s vocational education for ministry. It brings students and ministers into coached encounters with ministry. Out of an intense involvement with ministry, and the feedback from peers and teachers, students develop new awareness of themselves as persons and of the needs of those to whom they minister. From theological reflection on specific human situations, they gain a new understanding of ministry. Within the interdisciplinary team process of leadership development, they develop skills in interpersonal relationships, with the ultimate goal of the multiplication of ministry.

What do the essential elements of Patria include?

· The actual practice of ministry to persons.

· Detailed reporting and evaluation of that practice.

· Pastoral coaching.

· A process conception of learning.

· A theoretical perspective on all elements of the program.

· A small group of peers in a common learning experience.

· A specific time period.

· An individual contract for learning.