Diocese and Villanova partner to offer church management degree

A signing ceremony to formalize the partnership between the Diocese of Camden’s Office of Lifelong Faith Formation and the Villanova School of Business to provide a church management degree program for parish leaders and managers will take place:

Thursday, March 31, 2011
11:00 AM
Camden Diocesan Center
631 Market Street
Camden, NJ 08102

The 30-credit master of science degree in church management, part of the diocese’s Lay Ministry Formation Program, will teach business skills and professional ethics to pastors, parish business managers, diocesan department heads, and those managing church-related social service ministries.

Bishop Joseph A. Galante of Camden called the upcoming partnership “a very exciting time for us in the Diocese of Camden as we form the partnership with Villanova University. This master’s degree in church administration will be of inestimable benefit to laity and clergy as they serve our parishes and institutions.”

Calling the program a “faith-focused business curriculum,” Charles Zech, director of the Center for the Study of Church Management at the Villanova School of Business, noted that the program is “uniquely positioned to provide the very best in faith-based managerial education, enabling church leaders to apply sound business approaches” to pastoral issues and decision making.

Courses include “Civil Law and Church Law for Church Administrators,” “Stewardship and Development,” “Human Resource Management in a Ministry Setting,” and “Pastoral Strategic Planning.”

Applications are being accepted for May. All courses are offered online and can be completed in two years of part-time study. Candidates accepted into the program pay one-third of the discounted tuition cost; parishes and the diocese pay the remaining cost of tuition.

For more information about this program and other Lay Ministry Formation programs, call Linda Robinson at 856-583-6116 or email linda.k.robinson@camdendiocese.org.

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