Master in Pastoral Leadership and Management (M-PLM)

This program is jointly run by LST and the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI). Students admitted to the M-PLM also participate in EAPI’s Pastoral Leadership and Management for Mission Program (PLMM) as residential (live-in) students. The program aims to equip future parish priests, religious and lay leaders with the requisite knowledge, skills and practical know-how in parish management and administration. The courses delve into the pastoral management concerns, such as : personnel organization, group leadership skills, developmental planning, and parish financial management.

To get accepted to the Professional Master program, applicants must have a government-recognized (civil) bachelor’s degree with at least 12 units of undergraduate (college) theology courses. Moreover, they must have attained at least a general undergraduate average of B (2.5 or 85) with no grade of “failure” or “condition”.

This program requires at least four semesters of course work in which the student must complete suc-cessfully fifteen (15) master’s level courses. The fifteen courses must belong to the following categories:

Foundation Courses (15 units):

The five core courses: [1] Revelation-Faith (3 units); [2] Christology (3 units); [3] Ecclesiology (3 units); [4] Fundamental Moral Theology (3 units); and [5] Christian Worship (3 units).

Professional Courses (15 units):

For the M-PLM, the five professional or concentration courses are modules offered by EAPI in its Pastoral Leadership and Management for Mission Program (PLMM):

1. Church and Mission
2. Introduction to Pastoral Methods
3. Essentials of Parish Leadership
4. Conflict and Parish Management Consulting
5. Responsible Financial Management and Fund Raising

These courses are enrolled in LST with additional academic requirements after the modules are completed in EAPI.

Electives (15 units):

Five elective courses chosen from outside the student’s area of concentration. Courses in excess of the minimum requirements under Professional Courses may count as electives.

After completing his/her course work and the Capstone Project or Integrating Paper, the student must pass a two-part comprehensive examination. The student must be registered with the Ateneo de Ma-nila University to take the comprehensive examination. One cannot register for comprehensive exam-ination while still on course work or still have an incomplete grade (INC) in his/her course work.
The comprehensive examinations are scheduled once each semester and in the Intersession. Students who cannot take the comprehensive examination during the regular schedule must wait until the next examination period. Those who cannot complete the two parts of the examination at the schedule must repeat the entire comprehensive at the next examination period.
The two-part examination is given on two successive weeks. Part I, which is an oral examination29 before a panel of three examiners, covers the foundation courses (Revelation-Faith; Christology; Ec-clesiology; Fundamental Moral Theology; and Christian Worship).
The student will be examined on a set of twelve (12) thesis statements covering the five (5) founda-tion courses. Questions from the panel of professors will deal with both theological content and pasto-ral/practical application. Two (2) working days before the scheduled oral exam, the student will be informed of the composition of the panel of professors. At the oral exam itself, each of the three (3) professors will have fifteen (15) minutes to ask questions, for a maximum of forty-five (45) minutes of examination. Each professor will give his/her mark for the student’s overall performance.
Part II, a written examination usually held on the succeeding Saturday, covers the courses the student has taken in his/her area of concentration.
The two parts of the exams are graded separately. In case of failure, a student is allowed to retake the exam only once. Passing the retake exam raises the mark only up to the passing grade of B or 2.5. A student who fails the retake exam is automatically dropped from the program. In retake comprehen-sive examinations, only the parts failed need to be repeated.
An MA/Master Synthesis course is offered every semester which serves as a review course for Part I of the examination and as a general orientation for students taking the comprehensive examination.

The review matter for the comprehensive examination is distributed on a designated date after the opening of classes on the semester of the examination.

The STB dogma comprehensive examination may serve as the MA/Master comprehensive examina-tion for students taking both STB and MPAM programs simultaneously. In this case, the student must be registered with both LST and the Ateneo to be able to take the comprehensive exam.

After completing his/her course work and passing the comprehensive examination, the student prepares and submits a Capstone Project or Integrating Paper. Students enrolled in the professional masters programs must consult the VPAA for details of this requirement.