What is a Union Learning Community?
We want to raise up a new generation of evangelical ministry leaders and pastors who love Christ and will take his gospel to the ends of the earth. Our Learning Communities provide an affordable, flexible, accessible option for in-depth theological education in the context of the local church. Our state-of-the-art, online platform and excellent mentors make this possible as never before.
Many Learning Communities have enabled pastors and churches to multiply their ministry in the local area, keeping young leaders in existing roles while they train, or planting new churches with support and funding from Union Mission.
With local and online Learning Communities operating across the world, our flexible programmes make studying as accessible as possible.
Union Learning Communities are intended to create an environment for growth: spiritual, theological, and practical. Students combine their studies with involvement in church ministry, reflecting on their practice, and learning in guided community, either in person or online.
Our desire is not simply to deposit information in the heads of our students, but to see God’s truth and love transform lives and fuel ministries. We want to nurture and equip men and women who love people because they first love God.
For some time, I’d been wanting a formal theological education, but my wife and I couldn’t move from Norwich. I explored several options, however many of them didn’t involve much, if any, face to face contact and these self-taught or distance learning programmes didn’t appeal to me. But I found that Union did offer a community-based approach through the Learning Communities, so I applied for the nearest one to me. I and many others were quick to observe the fruit of our studies. My conversations as well as preaching and teaching have been much more thoughtful and better researched. I’ve also recognised an ever-increasing joy and passion for God’s word and his truth, and a desire to share that with others which I’m really grateful for! Learning with Union has given me the words, that is the way to express coherently, what I’ve always believed and known to be true. - Ben Ladd, GDip graduate
Programmes we offer in Learning Communities
Graduate Diploma in Theology
Pitched at the level of a final year undergraduate honours degree, the GDip covers all the essential bases of a BA in Theology in just two or three years part-time (see individual LC delivery schedules on their profiles). It is the ideal vehicle for those who appreciate the vital importance of theological education but need an alternative to a traditional residential model.
Find out more about the GDip.
Master of Theology
Our MTh allows the student to study in depth a range of modules covering theological and biblical studies and ministry practice topics, reflecting the kind of balanced diet that many church leaders are looking for.
Find out more about the MTh.
Delivery
Both the GDip and MTh are available in local Learning Community groups or online.
Students gather together either in person or via Zoom for video lectures and extensive discussion/ peer-to-peer learning. All the teaching and assessment is provided by UST faculty. For more details about the content and time commitments, visit the GDip and MTh programme pages.
Each Learning Community is facilitated by a Lead Mentor. This is usually an experienced pastor/theologian who provides mentoring support to students, supplementing the primary delivery of teaching by video, and facilitates activities and discussion with the resources supplied through our Union Cloud platform.
The content, assessment and overall time commitment is the same for in-person and online groups, although the learning style is different. Some communities study the programme over 2 years and some over 3 years – for details of each Learning Community’s delivery mode, meet day and Lead Mentor, please view their individual profile page.
The quality criteria that inform delivery of programmes at Union Campus apply equally to the Learning Communities, including adherence to the National Standards Framework and the employment of subject benchmarks and other relevant quality standards.
“As a church pastor, for a number of years I've considered further theological study but had never found a vehicle for study that would fit with the demands of ministry life. The opportunity to study a part-time MTh in the context of a learning community with Union was the perfect fit for me. I'm relishing the opportunity to read more widely, to study in more depth and to be academically stretched and challenged - and all this within the supportive environment of a learning community of a small group of students who are balancing similar responsibilities. I'm finding a new rhythm of study and ministry, each enriching the other, that had previously eluded me.” – Ben Welchman, church pastor & MTh Learning Community student
Lead Mentors
All our teaching and tutoring is provided by UST lecturers. The key task of the Lead Mentor is to host and lead a Learning Community.
Lead Mentors are dedicated volunteers who, with the backing of their church, generously give time to help raise leaders for the wider church. They host a local group, facilitate theological reflection on the programme, and help students apply their learning to pastoral and missional practice on the ground.
Union Learning Communities have often proved a catalyst for identifying new leaders, planting churches, and multiplying existing ministry. Many who have hosted learning communities or gone from studying to planting have been able to access funding for their projects from Union Mission.
We provide induction and orientation for our Lead Mentors, along with comprehensive, ongoing support. We deeply value the work they do and want to bless the churches in which they serve.