Catholic Pastoral Leadership (PG Cert online)
Duration: 2 years|Hope Park|Start month: September 2027
International students can apply
About the Course
Applications for the September 2027 intake will be open soon.
Are you involved in any ministry in the Church? Are you interested in doing more for the Church? Do you want to expand your skills in pastoral leadership? A new online course in Catholic Pastoral Leadership might be what you are looking for.
Liverpool Hope University has partnered with several Catholic dioceses across England and Wales to help people like you to gain fresh perspectives on Scripture and Church teaching. You will look at real-world issues in the light of our tradition and consider the best ways of exploring Christian faith and life with others.
Your tutors will be drawn from Liverpool Hope's own academic staff and from experts working in pastoral settings. This will give you a rich and rounded knowledge of the field.
You will follow the course online. You will do most of the work at a time to suit yourself - with occasional synchronous sessions.
There are two options for taking this course:
Non Credit bearing option: All students will review the material presented online and complete some assessed work to finish the course.
Credit Bearing Postgraduate Certificate Option: You can also choose to take this course as a postgraduate certificate worth 60 credits. This option involves an extra cost and requires additional work.
Curriculum Overview
You will take 4 modules over 2 years:
- The Word of God
- The Synodal Church
- Dimensions of Christian Life
- The Church’s Mission in the World
Modules
Module 1: The Word of God
- The person of Christ as the unique revelation of God.
- Introduction to the Catholic understanding of revelation: Dei Verbum, Evangelii Gaudium
- Different approaches to engaging with, and sharing the scriptures: academic, liturgical, personal devotional (biblical hermeneutics)
- Introduction to the Old Testament (canon, timeline, authorship)
- Creation and ecology
- Exodus and migration
- Prophecy and discomfort
- Introduction to the New Testament
- Paul and his letters: the beginnings of Christian theology
- The Book of Acts - the early Church
- The Synoptic Gospels: Different perspectives on the person of Jesus
- John's Gospel: The relationship of the spiritual and the physical
- Ministers and ministry of the Word
Skills Developed
- Leadership skills: Enabling others to relate theology and scripture to their own lives; Facilitating the engagement of others with scripture.
- Communication Skills: Catechesis Proclamation (diaconate and stable ministries.
Module 2: The Synodal Church
- The Church in salvation and human history (Church as sacrament of Christ)
- Images of the Church at Vatican II: The Body of Christ and the People of God; the sensus fidelium
- The Church as Communion: Local and universal (incl. non-Western traditions within the Catholic Church)
- The Baptismal priesthood: discernment, vocation and charism (Sacraments of Initiation)
- The role and ministry of women in the Church
- Ordained ministry in the Church (Sacrament of Orders)
- Synodal methods
- The Church: culture and contexts Ecumenism
Skills Developed
- Leadership skills: Broadening people's perspectives on vocational opportunities in the Church; Facilitating a deepening engagement of others in the life and ministry of the Church; Understanding and negotiating the local context.
- Communication skills: Catechising with confidence; Articulating a clear understanding of the reality of the Church; Synodal methods.
Module 3: Dimensions of Christian Life
- Introduction to the Catholic understanding of Liturgy
- Ministry in prayer and liturgy
- The Eucharist
- Scripture as prayer: the psalms
- Scripture as proclamation
- Prayer and spirituality
- Forgiveness and reconciliation (Sacrament of Reconciliation)
- Disability
- The challenged and ageing body (Sacrament of the Sick)
- Marriage (Sacrament of Marriage)
- Beginning of life issues.
Skills Developed
- Leadership skills: Enabling others to explore the practical implications of the relationship between the celebration of the liturgy and the mission of the Church; Facilitating the exploration of practical ethical issues in parish life; Leading prayer and reflection.
- Communication Skills: Communicating faith in specific cultural contexts; Talking about complex and contested issues with confidence and empathy.
Module 4: The Church’s Mission in the World
- Introduction to Catholic Understanding of anthropology - Christ, the human person and society
- The Church's engagement with the world Interfaith and inter-religious dialogue.
- Catholic Social Teaching Gender and sexuality
- Care for creation
- Art and literature
- War and peace
- Global Christianity
- Evangelization (incl. secularization)
Skills Developed
- Leadership skills: Enabling others to apply Catholic Social teaching to their own contexts; Helping others to develop the appropriate attitudes for engaging with members of other faiths and religious traditions.
- Communication Skills Communicating with clarity the key concepts of Catholic social teaching; Recognising and sharing with others a hopeful understanding of the ‘signs of the times.'
Entry Requirements
Applicants for the credit-bearing programme should, as a minimum possess a Second-Class Honours degree in a relevant discipline awarded by a UK university, or an equivalent higher education qualification..
There are no minimum academic requirements for the non-credit bearing programme.
International Entry Requirements
Possess a degree from an overseas institution that is judged by the Registrar or Nominee to be equivalent to a second class honours degree from a UK University.
For students whose first language is not English there is a language requirement of IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 minimum of all components. In addition to this, we also accept a wide range of International Qualifications, for more information please visit our English Language Requirements page.
For additional information about country specific entry requirements visit the your country pages.
*Part time study is not available for Non-EU International applicants
Teaching and Research
The default teaching mode will be online, not excluding the possibility for some in-person study days.
Lectures will be pre-recorded, and made available to students together with additional learning resources ahead of each week.
In addition to watching the lecture and following the assigned reading, students will be expected to enter into a structured weekly process of online engagement with each other and the tutor. Student participation in this regular weekly pattern is a pre-requisite for completion of each module.
Students doing the course on a For-Credit basis will be offered additional tutorials focused on postgraduate research and critical thinking skills as well as preparing for assessments.
UK/Channel Island Tuition Fees
Please contact the School of Education and Social Sciences to confirm the current fees, you can email them at sess@hope.ac.uk
EU/Non EU International Tuition Fees
Please contact the School of Education and Social Sciences to confirm the current fees, you can email them at sess@hope.ac.uk
Please be aware that the UK’s departure from the EU may affect your tuition fees. Learn more about your fee status and which tuition fees are relevant to you.
Funding your studies
If you're a UK national, or have settled status in the UK, you may be eligible to apply for a Postgraduate Loan to help with course fees and living costs. Liverpool hope University also offers a number of scholarships to help fund your Postgraduate Studies. Learn more about paying for your studies.
Careers
The provision will be used in the training of several distinct groupings within the Catholic Church:
- Permanent deacons: the provision forms a key dimension in the training of permanent deacons for ordination. These men will exercise considerable pastoral responsibilities in parishes and diocesan contexts across the North of England.
- Lay pastoral associates and leaders: lay men and women to whom the responsibility for various aspects of pastoral care and leadership are assigned - usually at parish or deanery level.
- People commissioned to the permanent ministries of Reader, Acolyte and Catechist.
- People preparing to become employed chaplains (e.g., in hospitals, prisons and schools).