In MN630, students select a couple books from larger bibliographies to write on. My hope is that seeing additional recommended titles -- as well as reading classmate responses to these books that they have not read -- will encourage them to pick these up and read them, most likely after graduation.
Our (admittedly limited) Continuing Education offerings encourage life-long learning.
Our endowed lectureships, especially when streamed, are one such offering.
Our Madison Learning Community courses are also open to pastors seeking continuing education, such as the fall 2024 course in Congregational Revitalization. www.madisonseminary.org
MN630 Starting Missional Communities and IN782 Gospel in Context have also been opened up with parellel Continuing Ed options in 2023 and 2024.
One of the themes in MN630 and IN782 is that our context for ministry has changed and continues to change, therefore we must be engaged in continual discernment. While the focus is on engaging the local context and people, this attention to context undergirds the need for continued, lifelong learning.
Missio Cohorts, in Madison since 2020 and soon to be in Lincoln, NE and other locations, are excellent continuing education opportunities for pastors, including reading, new relationships and experiences. www.missiocohorts.org
In MN630 I frequently remind students that the practices central to that course's are important for discipleship and ministry (two things that continue beyond the conclusion of the degree). By framing this (and I presume other class) as primarily oriented toward discipleship and ministry rather than credentialing, students are primed to see the need for lifelong learning.