Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary
Austin, Texas | Affiliation: PC(USA)
Programs & Content
Degree Programs
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Master of Divinity
Theology, biblical studies, ethics, world religion, pastoral care, preaching, worship, Christian education, and mission and evangelism are combined with practical ministry experience in real-world settings.
Theology, biblical studies, ethics, world religion, pastoral care, preaching, worship, Christian education, and mission and evangelism are combined with practical ministry experience in real-world settings.
Master of Divinity & Master of Science in Social Work
This dual degree is offered in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin School of Social work. The MDiv/MSSW responds to the growing demand for social workers to be sensitive toward and proficient in their understandings of clients' religious and spiritual lives. This program equips students to work with faith-based communities to foster both individual and community well-being as they strive to alleviate critical social problems.
This dual degree is offered in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin School of Social work. The MDiv/MSSW responds to the growing demand for social workers to be sensitive toward and proficient in their understandings of clients' religious and spiritual lives. This program equips students to work with faith-based communities to foster both individual and community well-being as they strive to alleviate critical social problems.
Master of Arts in Theological Studies
Whether you are considering a career in teaching, further graduate theological education, or active lay leadership in your faith community, this two-year degree will deepen your understanding of the Christian faith and enhance your research and leadership skills. Focused around reflection and study, this degree program allows for concentrated study in a single discipline.
Whether you are considering a career in teaching, further graduate theological education, or active lay leadership in your faith community, this two-year degree will deepen your understanding of the Christian faith and enhance your research and leadership skills. Focused around reflection and study, this degree program allows for concentrated study in a single discipline.
Master of Arts in Ministry Practice
Whether you are considering a lay leadership ministry within the church, involvement in a service organization, or you are already serving in ordained ministry in your tradition, this two-year degree will equip you for Christian leadership through a combination of classroom study and practical experience. You will focus on effective communication skills, proficiency in the pastoral arts, and growth in spiritual maturity.
Whether you are considering a lay leadership ministry within the church, involvement in a service organization, or you are already serving in ordained ministry in your tradition, this two-year degree will equip you for Christian leadership through a combination of classroom study and practical experience. You will focus on effective communication skills, proficiency in the pastoral arts, and growth in spiritual maturity.
Master of Arts in Youth Ministry
This unique degree program, created in partnership with the Center for Youth Ministry Training in Nashville, Tennessee, will challenge you through intensive retreat-based master’s-level classes, immerse you in practical experience in local youth ministry settings, and nurture you through coaching and peer-to-peer interaction.
This unique degree program, created in partnership with the Center for Youth Ministry Training in Nashville, Tennessee, will challenge you through intensive retreat-based master’s-level classes, immerse you in practical experience in local youth ministry settings, and nurture you through coaching and peer-to-peer interaction.
Doctor of Ministry
Designed for ministers with three or more years of pastoral experience, the DMin program offers courses in a particular area such as Christian spirituality, preaching and worship, theology, or chaplaincy. The program culminates with a student-designed research project, undertaken with the supervision of one of Austin Seminary’s faculty members, on a topic relevant to the practice of ministry.
Designed for ministers with three or more years of pastoral experience, the DMin program offers courses in a particular area such as Christian spirituality, preaching and worship, theology, or chaplaincy. The program culminates with a student-designed research project, undertaken with the supervision of one of Austin Seminary’s faculty members, on a topic relevant to the practice of ministry.
Courses Integrating Faith and Service
Faith & Public Policy
This course explores biblical and theological understandings of the nature, purpose, and problems of pastoral leadership in community affairs. Students participate in various community and legislative processes and organizations, gaining practical experience in community organizing, lobbying, advocacy work, and building community relationships. 
Communication for Ministries of Social Justice
This course prepares students to communicate with broad audiences about issues of social justice. Examples of this type of communication include preaching about social justice in congregations comprised of diverse socio-political standpoints, writing letters to raise funds for faith-based non-profit organizations, and presenting a position informed by religious convictions within a secular forum. Students examine the challenges to communicating about faith and social justice, and practice communication models within these various contexts. |
Environmental Ethics
This course addresses climate change, distribution and accessibility of potable water, preservation of habitat, valuing and treatment of non-human animals, endangered species, genetic engineering, environmental racism, population, conservation, and wilderness. 
Education for Peace & Justice
This course explores educational approaches for mobilizing congregations for the work of peace and justice. Emphasis is given to practices that engage congregations in understanding and responding faithfully to local and global sociocultural contexts. This course assumes that these practices shape the church as an outpost of God’s Kingdom but extend to the world beyond. This course gives selective attention to practices for peace-making and justice-seeking, as well as education and community organizing as they may be adapted for the work of the church |
The Church, The Public Good, and the Borderlands
This travel seminar introduces participants to the history, landscapes, people and challenges of the Texas Borderlands. It explores issues of poverty, immigration, crime, health, and environmental concerns in South Texas. It also engages participants in theological and ethical reflection about these issues, the relationship of church and state, and the role of the faith community in creating the public good. |
Field Education Connecting Faith and Justice:
Church-Based Social Justice Outreach
Field education placements include urban congregational settings, such as Central Presbyterian Church of Austin, which has a strong outreach ministry to Austin’s homeless population, refugees, and immigrants. |
Policy Making
Texas Impact is an educational organization that connects members of the Texas Legislature with resources on issues of significance to members of religious traditions within the state. Seminary students placed there coordinate resources around issues addressed by the legislature, such as gender-related legislation. |
Travis County Correctional Center
Recent students have also served as chaplain at the Travis County Correctional Center. In this capacity, students provide pastoral care and counseling support to inmates awaiting trial or in post-sentence holding awaiting transfer to state prison. |
Student Engagement
Extra-curricular Opportunities
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- Queer Alliance: As Christians, we celebrate each of God’s children, fully inclusive of their sexual and gender identities. By creating a welcoming, supportive, and safe space within the APTS community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer persons and allies, we hope to light the path for change both in and beyond the walls of APTS.
- Students for Social and Environmental Justice: To encourage students to live out our ideals of social justice and environmental care as members of the body of Christ.
The Faith and Service cohort is a support group for students enrolled in degree programs whose path to seminary and whose vocational trajectory are non-traditional and focus on the intersections of faith and service; this group engages in discernment around vocation and call, as they engage in both theological education coursework and community service in the city of Austin.
- Post-Election Detox
- Water is Life: An Interfaith Preach-off
- Reading from the Margins (of power, race, ethnicity, money, gender, and sexuality)
- How Pastors write for Public Life
- Pastor Leadership for Public Life Cohort program
- "The Hearth" storytelling events to raise funds for Festival Beach Food Forest and Casa Marianella and Girl Forward, both non-profits for refugees
Hesed – co-sponsored by the African American Student Group and the Hispanic Student Association, this annual lecture/workshop focuses on a significant topic of social justice and engagement. The 2017 Hesed Lectures were titled “The Politics of Care,” given by Dr. Elías Ortega-Aponte, with workshops focusing on “Restorative Justice and Community,” “PTSD and the Politics of Care,” “Gentrification and the Environment,” and “Community Health: alternative models of care.”
Service-Based Scholarships
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This award was established in loving memory of Ethel W. Lance, who, with eight others, was martyred on June 17, 2015, at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, South Carolina. The award is given annually to a graduating senior who, during his or her time at Austin Seminary, demonstrates outstanding contributions to human or civil rights.
The award goes to a graduating Master of Divinity student who has made a significant contribution to cross-cultural and interracial relationships while at Austin Seminary.
The award goes to one member of the graduating class who demonstrates a significant potential to integrate faith and public policy, based on Christian character, scholarship, record of public service, and potential for leadership.
Core Commitments
Environmental Q&A: How does Austin Seminary practice and promote environmental stewardship and sustainability?
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Austin Seminary’s is one of eight theological schools in the country undergoing certification to be a “green seminary.” Our campus occupies a unique plot of land in central Austin, bisected by a creek that flows into the Colorado River, making us an oasis in a growing, vibrant city. As a Seminary in the Reformed-Presbyterian tradition, we are mindful of John Calvin’s claim that the natural world is the “theater of God’s glory,” and that we, as a people of God, are stewards of creation. Austin Seminary has been steadily increasing its commitments to better steward environmental resources and raise awareness of environmental issues in the curriculum and in our communal worship. Examples of this commitment include:
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Q: What makes Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary unique?
Social Justice Focus: Immigration and Detention
Students are able to take a number of courses focused on immigration and detention, and are encouraged to engage the topics covered in these courses outside of the classroom as well. Students often visit detainees imprisoned at the Hutto Detention Center, which is located approximately 40 miles from the campus.
The seminary often houses groups of immigrants and others who are in town to march on the State Capitol to raise awareness and lobby legislators.
Additionally, Education Beyond the Walls and the Dean's Office sponsor training for allies of immigrants, including panel discussions with legal aid.
The seminary often houses groups of immigrants and others who are in town to march on the State Capitol to raise awareness and lobby legislators.
Additionally, Education Beyond the Walls and the Dean's Office sponsor training for allies of immigrants, including panel discussions with legal aid.
AYAVA House
The AYAVA House at Austin Seminary is an intentional community for young adults engaged in a year of service. These individuals are engaged in placements with agencies that address immigration and detention issues, specifically Grassroots Leadership, Justice for our Neighbors, and Workers' Defense Project.
Careers that Change the World
Q: What are some of the innovative or non-traditional jobs/careers recent grads have landed?
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M Barclay, MDiv ’14
Director of Communications at Reconciling Ministries Network, an LGBTQ advocacy ministry of the United Methodist Church, located in Chicago, IL
Director of Communications at Reconciling Ministries Network, an LGBTQ advocacy ministry of the United Methodist Church, located in Chicago, IL
Layton Williams, MDiv ’14
Layton is the Audience Engagement Editor for Sojourners, in Washington, DC. She writes specifically about issues related to faith and national political engagement. Previously, Layton served as a Pastoral Resident at Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL.
Layton is the Audience Engagement Editor for Sojourners, in Washington, DC. She writes specifically about issues related to faith and national political engagement. Previously, Layton served as a Pastoral Resident at Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL.
Sally Wagner Wright, MDiv ’12
Associate for the Special Offerings Ambassador Program – PCUSA, Louisville, KY
Associate for the Special Offerings Ambassador Program – PCUSA, Louisville, KY
John Harrison, MDiv ’15
In addition to serving as the Pastor of Affton Presbyterian Church in the St. Louis area, John serves on the board of Prison Congregations of America, an ecumenical organization that has planted over 30 churches inside prisons across the United States.
In addition to serving as the Pastor of Affton Presbyterian Church in the St. Louis area, John serves on the board of Prison Congregations of America, an ecumenical organization that has planted over 30 churches inside prisons across the United States.
Laura Westerlage, MDiv/MSSW ’14
Manager of Casework Services at The Stewpot, Dallas, TX – a ministry to homeless and at-risk individuals, sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Dallas
Manager of Casework Services at The Stewpot, Dallas, TX – a ministry to homeless and at-risk individuals, sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Dallas
The President's Q&A
Q: How does Austin Seminary Change the World?
Theodore WardlawPresident, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
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Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is forever listening for the footsteps of those who are even now making their way toward our campus. When they arrive, we desire to introduce them to an ancient faith tradition which is also forever contemporary. While encountering the biblical and theological heroes of that faith tradition, these students are also encountering, and indeed becoming, their heirs in our time. Not only will they explore in the classroom the deep wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or Sojourner Truth, or Thomas Merton, or countless other prophets; they will also discover, next to a chapel transept, the memorial to Ethel Lance—a lifelong house-cleaner who was one of the nine martyrs of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston and the mother of one of our alumnae. Some will eventually receive, at graduation, the award in her name that will honor their commitment to human and civil rights. Others will receive the Max Sherman and Barbara Jordan Fellowship which acknowledges a record of scholarship, public service, and potential to integrate faith and public policy. All of these students, through the pedagogy and witness of an inspiring and diverse faculty, will be invited into lifelong engagement with theological reflection and service in a world far beyond the cloisters of academia—a world that is yearning for transformation. Through the eyes of faith and of action, that world—not just as it is, but as it someday will be—is the world we seek to change, by God’s grace and for God’s sake. |
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Call (512) 404-4827 or (800) 241-1085 |
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