Master of Arts in Ethics and Leadership

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Program Overview

The Master of Arts in Ethics and Leadership equips graduate students to become effective Christian leaders in public contexts. The MAEL degree builds on the premise that ethical leadership involves critical engagement with contemporary culture on both a theoretical and experiential level. Accordingly, this is an interdisciplinary program that combines instruction in theological and biblical foundations, critical analysis of modern culture, and the development of service and leadership practices.

This program assumes an ethical leader influences organizations, communities, and individuals through:

Developing spiritual formation practices that foster self-awareness, other-centeredness, and soul-nourishing connection to God and others;
Exploring, analyzing, and adapting to their leadership context(s) in the light of theological, cultural, and moral frameworks;
Demonstrating the moral courage and adaptive leadership skills required to foster thriving workplaces, cities, and congregations.

Johnson offers the MA in Ethics and Leadership through the Knoxville Fellows program and the Knoxville Thriving Congregations program. Both programs include three 3-credit classes and one 4.5-credit field experience per term, and a final 3-credit Capstone project for a total of 30 credit hours. See the core classes on the left sidebar for more!

The Knoxville Fellows Program
Johnson University offers the Master of Arts in Ethics and Leadership through face-to-face classes in partnership with the Knoxville Fellows program. The mission of this program is to increase God-principled leadership in Knoxville by equipping and developing the next generation of servant leaders to seek the peace of our city. Each year, 14 recent college graduates are chosen to live, learn, and serve together in downtown Knoxville. The Fellows is a residential program where students live and study at the 4 Market Square building in Knoxville, Tennessee. These courses will meet on Fridays at this location.

Interested students should first apply to the Knoxville Fellows program and, once accepted, complete their application to Johnson University.

The Knoxville Thriving Congregations Initiative
Johnson offers the Master of Arts in Ethics and Leadership in a hybrid format in partnership with the Knoxville Thriving Congregations initiative and the Three Rivers Collaborative. The mission of the Knoxville Thriving Congregations initiative is to help congregations strengthen their ministries and thrive so they can better help people deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the flourishing of their communities and the world. Thriving Congregations cohort members hold positions of leadership in churches, schools, businesses, or nonprofits in the greater Knoxville area (Chattanooga to Asheville to Nashville). A cohort of pastoral and lay leaders are chosen to study, analyze, and serve together. Courses meet weekly online and monthly face-to-face (Friday evening through Saturday afternoon).

Space is limited and contingent upon the candidate’s ability to commit to weekly attendance at Saturday classroom sessions on the Johnson University campus in South Knoxville for the duration of the ten-month program.

Interested students must be approved by the Master of Arts in Ethics and Leadership program director before submitting your application.

Final acceptance for qualified applicants requires nomination from their pastor or previous cohort member and an interview with the program director and/or admissions committee. Once accepted, applicants should complete Johnson’s graduate application form.

Click here for more information about Johnson University’s Three River Collaborative.

The Campus Ministry Initiative
Johnson University offers the Master of Arts in Leadership and Ethics in a hybrid format that combines online courses and on-campus intensives in partnership with campus ministry umbrella associations and established university-specific campus ministries. In partnership with these ministries, the program seeks to help campus ministers address the developmental, social, and spiritual needs of college students through advanced training in ethics, spiritual leadership, and campus ministry-specific courses. Courses will primarily be online along with regular week-long on-campus intensives and regional mentoring opportunities.

Interested students should apply first through their campus ministry association and, once accepted, direct their application to Johnson University.

Core Classes

Biblical Foundations of Ethics

This course has three objectives: (1) To introduce the students to the study of Scripture, especially as it relates to ethics, (2) To familiarize the students with some basic theological and biblical concepts and vocabulary, (3) To teach the students how to construct an ethical argument using the resources and skills gained through objectives #1 and #2. In order to meet these objectives, we will examine the foundational doctrines of biblical theology, particularly the Christian confession: (1) That God the Father is the creator of heaven and earth, (2) That by being fully human and fully divine, the Son was able to reconcile all creation to the Father, (3) That the church continues to live in the power of the life-giving Spirit.

Applied Ethics

This course examines the ethical relationship between the Christian Church and contemporary culture, specifically the ethical challenges that this culture makes to the Church’s life and mission and the Church’s response to these challenges. We will give special attention to the effects of Enlightenment “atheism” on Western culture, as well as the fall of modern foundationalism and its effects on post-modern culture. Since every culture uses facets of that culture, such as media, art, political structures, and educational systems to represent that culture’s fundamental picture of itself, we will first look at how contemporary American culture represents itself. We will then turn to Christianity and ask what kind of representation Christians should strive for and how Christians are trying to attain this kind of representation. The ultimate goal will be to think theologically about what it means for followers of Christ to inhabit the world in all its fullness.

Spiritual Formation of Leaders

Spiritual Formation & Leadership

Field Experience

Capstone Project

Students will design a program that addresses the concerns that arise from their study and field and service experiences in this program. The students will identify a local issue or service opportunity and produce a program that offers the possibility of addressing that concern. Students will present their program, including a workable implementation plan, to their fellow students and other interested stakeholders.

Classes for Knoxville Fellows: Bible and The City: Old Testament/New Testament

Bible and The City I: Old Testament
This course is designed to survey the Old Testament books with the intent of highlighting the ways that these texts approach questions of ethics, morality and cultural engagement. Special attention will be given to ways that Old Testament texts explore the role of the city and ethical considerations that pertain to life in the city.

Bible and The City II: New Testament
This course takes as its starting place the injunction from Jeremiah 29:7 to “seek the peace of the city.” We will examine how New Testament writers pick up and develop key themes surrounding that injunction, including a consideration of how the city becomes the centerpiece for Christian mission, the new church’s confrontation with the Roman Empire, and core questions of justice, ethics, and cultural engagement in New Testament texts. Throughout this discussion we will also consider how modern writers have developed these themes in attempts to engage “the city.” Students will be assessed on their knowledge of Biblical content, theological integration, and cultural application.

Classes for Knoxville Thriving Congregations cohort: The Ethical Leadership and Thriving Congregations I and II

Ethical Leadership and Thriving Congregations I
This course studies the nature of the church and importance of ethical and public leadership rooted in fostering thriving congregations and cities. Through readings, discussions, research, and presentations, students will explore and understand their rapidly changing social and cultural contexts, gain greater clarity about their values and mission, and draw on Christian practices from their theological and ecclesial traditions to adapt their ministries to the demands of their changing contexts.

Ethical Leadership and Thriving Congregations II
This course studies the nature of the church and importance of ethical and public leadership rooted in fostering thriving congregations and cities. Through readings, discussions, research, and presentations, students will explore and understand their rapidly changing social and cultural contexts, gain greater clarity about their values and mission, and draw on Christian practices from their theological and ecclesial traditions to adapt their ministries to the demands of their changing contexts.

Classes for the Campus Ministry Initiative Cohort: Acts/Life of Christ & Campus Ministry

Acts
A study of the text of the Acts of the Apostles with special attention to the historical, cultural, linguistic, chronological, archaeological, and theological issues crucial for understanding this book. Literary features of this text are analyzed in their relation to the message of the New Testament book.

Life of Christ & Campus Ministry
This course presents a survey of the critical events in Jesus’s life and teachings organized by their discipleship purposes. This paradigm is then applied to the unique setting of discipling students in 21st-century campus ministry.