Becoming a Field Placement SiteWhat you learn depends upon the people with whom you learn. Paulo Freire Called TogetherAt Chicago Theological Seminary, we recognize that the call to ministry belongs to the whole church. As individuals, congregations, schools and organizations we are called by God together as a community to seek heaven on earth – to transform society towards greater justice and mercy. And so at CTS we also recognize that theological education and ministerial formation are a multi-dimensional, lifelong enterprise, that isn’t just the task and privilege of seminaries and theological schools. Congregations and other ministry contexts are essential partners in the nurturing of vocation – along with our most essential partners: the students themselves, and the Spirit of God which guides us. Together, with our students, we grow in knowledge, faith and vocation. And together, as a community, we strengthen our response to God’s call. Our ModelAll M.Div. students must complete two units of Theological Field Education:
Both CPE and field placement emphasize an action-reflection model of learning: Students gain hands on experience in ministry while also engaging in deep reflection about their own professional and personal development – with the companionship and guidance of their supervisors, peers at their sites, other members of their placement communities, and their peers and teachers at CTS. Becoming a Field Placement SiteOur students represent the rich diversity of human being and experience, and they honor many different ways to live out their calls to ministry – yet they all share a common grounding in the mission, vision and commitments the CTS learning community upholds. We welcome the same kind of diversity in our field placement sites, while we also expect that our sites will uphold a similar expression of mission, vision and commitments. While CPE must take place at specific sites that are accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., field placement may take place in a great variety of settings, according to our students’ professional and personal learning interests and needs. Toward that end, we are excited to partner in theological field education with:
We seek to foster a concept of formation that includes invitation as well as imitation – not simply imparting knowledge and imprinting certain understandings of ministry onto a new generation, but opening up the gifts that our students have to share, and creating space for new ideas, new growth, new life. Each student will work with her/his supervisor to create a Learning Covenant, which will outline the students’ role, responsibilities and learning objectives for the year. Our students’ learning objectives are framed by the categories of competency in which an M.Div. student is expected to demonstrate critical thinking, spiritual integrity and concrete skill: Facility in Religious Traditions, Capacity to address multiple Cultural Contexts, Growth in Personal and Spiritual Formation, Capacity for Transformative Leadership, and Commitment to the Increase of Justice and Mercy A parish placement will, of course, include learning goals focused around pastoral responsibilities such as worship/preaching, pastoral care, outreach and advocacy, religious education, spiritual formation, stewardship and governance, administration, etc.; while a community service or advocacy setting will involve learning objectives that are connected to the commitments and activities of that particular organization. Students’ learning goals will necessarily fit into the specific context of their field placement settings – the responsibilities and concerns particular to each site, the ways they will be expected to contribute at their sites, and the ways in which they will have room to explore, imagine and grow while serving. Yet each student’s learning objectives will also be particular to that student – each student will create goals with a focus on her/his current location on the journey of theological education and ministerial formation. Information for SupervisorsField Placement Site Supervisors are important members of our CTS learning community; they are experienced clergy, religious leaders and community leaders who have a great commitment to the ministries they serve and to transforming society to greater justice and mercy. They are guides for the journey, practical theologians, and teachers – our partners in theological education. Students meet with their supervisors on a weekly basis, for theological reflection on the work of ministry, their learning process and objectives, and their vocational and spiritual formation. Weekly supervision experiences will hopefully provide a dynamic and interactive relationship between two persons who seek to grow together in faithfulness, thought, and action. To learn more about the requirements, expectations and professional development opportunities for site supervisors please download our Theological Field Education Handbook, or contact Rev. Deb Derylak, Director of Theological Field Education at 773.896.2423, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Information for Congregations/OrganizationsIt is essential that congregations and organizations that seek to work with seminary interns have an understanding as an organization of what it means to be a teaching and learning community. There must be a sense of respect for the time the student’s supervisor must take for weekly supervision and reflection, and there must be a sense of respect for the learning process – for allowing students to spread their wings and explore, even as they are helping to serve the community’s needs; for allowing a student to stumble from time to time – and helping him/her to learn from those occasional mistakes and missteps; for allowing yourselves to learn with and from a student, who brings her/his own perspective, insight, wisdom and gifts. We strongly encourage congregations to establish Lay Intern Committees, if you are able, to offer congregationally based support and feedback in addition to the support and feedback a student will receive from her/his supervisor. A Lay Intern Committee typically has 3-5 members, who meet monthly with the student and who are able to witness the student’s work in a variety of different areas. Lay committees are not required to submit written evaluations alongside the student’s self-evaluation and the supervisor’s evaluation, but you are certainly welcome to do so if you wish. Here are some suggestions for what an intern committee might offer to a student:
Community organizations are welcome and encouraged to offer additional means of support and feedback for students as well, if possible. For example, one-on-one sessions with other staff within the organization and/or the opportunity to attend board meetings might enhance the student’s experience provide a broader perspective regarding the overall functioning of the organization and the place of the organization within the community. Do we need to provide a stipend or salary?CTS does not require that field placement sites provide stipends for student interns. However, our students (of course!) are delighted and grateful when such funds are available. In addition, the process of incorporating field placement stipends into your annual budget can be an important step in a congregation or organization’s development toward identifying as a teaching community. If you are considering the possibility of offering a stipend, any amount can be helpful. Some congregations and organizations in the Chicago area simply do what they can to assist with transportation costs, others may help a student cover some of her/his course tuition for the academic year, and some strive toward an amount that is recommended by their denominational or national body. If you need help finding funds, many denominations have small grant opportunities that can help congregations offer financial assistance to students. Rev. Derylak is glad to talk with you, as well, if you have further questions or concerns about student stipends. The role of a studentCongregations and organizations often have particular activities that they would like a student to engage in during the field placement year. You might be looking for someone to help coordinate a special community outreach program; the pastoral care committee; the children’s, youth and/or young adult ministries; an administrative project; an “alternative worship service;” your new small group meetings; etc. Such specific expectations are quite welcome, and they often help sites and students determine if they are a good fit for each other. There are, however, also times when congregations and organizations find themselves seeking to call on students to fill particular positions because those roles are difficult to fill with volunteers and the organization does not have enough funding to hire additional professional staff. During their field placement years, our students are seeking direct ministry experiences that will deepen their vocational journeys and help them move closer to achieving their professional goals. It is therefore essential for each student to have support in setting learning objectives that are of particular interest to her/him, and to have the opportunity to learn, serve and lead (as appropriately as possible) within the broad spectrum of activity and engagement at your site – even as s/he may also be asked to fill a particular role for the year. In addition, it is essential that the student’s supervisor understand and be given time and space to fulfill her/his role as mentor, guide, teacher and even pastor to an individual who is undertaking field placement as a central component of our Master of Divinity curriculum. Theological field education – as distinct from “field work” – is about ministry formation, vocational exploration, and the theological and ministerial reflection that is essential to the development of pastoral imagination and identity. The field placement experience must therefore have a certain flexibility to be as broad and deep as it can be for any given student, as you walk together down her/his path of learning, discernment, and professional formation. If you are currently seeking a seminary student to fill a vacant job at your church or organization, CTS is very glad to help you fill that role. Please visit our job postings page on our website, where have the option to post a job that is exclusively for seminarians. And if your congregation or organization is seeking to help students prepare for their vocations in ministry by becoming a teaching/learning community, then we are excited to partner with you in theological education! How do we begin?Will you partner with us, in answering God’s call and contributing to the theological education and ministerial formation of our future leaders? Please contact Rev. Deb Derylak at 773.896.2423 if you have any further questions about Theological Field Education at CTS. If you are ready to express your interest formally, please complete this Site Description Form, and email, fax or mail to Deb at: Email:
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Deb will contact you to arrange a site visit, so we can learn more about your congregation or organization, so you can learn more about CTS and our field education program, and so we can begin to imagine our partnership together! In the meantime, please feel free to download our current Theological Field Education handbook, where you can learn more about our program as a whole and about the field placement year in particular. When we have agreed to move forward in partnership, students will have access to your Site Description Form, as well as any other information you would like to provide (e.g., brochures, newsletters, etc.). Students who are interested in your site will contact you themselves. They will provide a Student Information Form, along with any other materials that you may request of them or that they might wish to share with you (such as a resume or other ministerial records). Please note that CTS cannot guarantee that we will be able to place a student intern with your congregation or agency during any given year; our placements depend as much upon our students’ own vocational interests and learning objectives as they do the availability and interest of our sites and supervisors. Our students are also aware that their interest in a particular congregation or organization does not guarantee placement at that site. Our process of matching students with sites is in some ways akin to a ministerial search or job interview – decisions must be made by congregations/organizations and students alike about what constitutes the best fit for your needs and their learning objectives. However, our partnership agreement will guarantee that your congregation or organization will receive priority consideration, as students connect each year with the Director of Field Education to begin discerning the best possible site for this important year of service learning, leadership development, vocational reflection and ministerial formation. We are grateful for your interest in Theological Field Education at Chicago Theological Seminary. Together, as a community, let us indeed strengthen our response to God’s call! |
