Professional Development
Check out our Professional Development Options
Do you have a three-year degree in ministry or theology and are engaged in ministry?
Would you like to be re-energised with engaging and relevant material in a relaxed and collegial environment?
Recommended Courses
“Ministry is a demanding calling to live out. Whether the ministry is ordained or lay, it needs support, encouragement, and space for growth and learning from experience – both our own and other people’s.”
Nick Helm
The Graduate Certificate of Professional Pastoral Supervision provides professional development for Christian leaders to be equipped for the ministry of pastoral supervision of others.
Please note: our next intake for this course is in 2027.
This course comprising four units of 12 credit points combines theological reflection on the theory and practice of professional pastoral supervision with personal experience of giving and receiving pastoral supervision.
Students enrolled in other AUT postgraduate courses may be eligible to complete the three core professional pastoral supervision units as electives within their courses.
Graduates of the Graduate Certificate of Professional Pastoral Supervision and students who complete the three core professional pastoral supervision units as electives within their postgraduate courses will be equipped with the advanced knowledge and understanding of, and the research underlying, professional supervision to the level required for recognition as Associate Members of the Australasian Association of Supervision (AAOS).
Students will be equipped with the advanced knowledge and understanding of, and the research underlying, professional supervision.
The Graduate Certificate of Divinity is a great introduction to the Bible, theology and ministry for those who already hold a bachelor level degree in any discipline. The Graduate Certificate of Divinity is the first half of the Graduate Diploma of Divinity.
Graduates will be equipped to serve in their churches and communities with a more informed approach to ministry. These courses are not sufficient training for full-time ministry which typically requires the completion of a three or four-year degree.
Specialised Units
Semester one 2026
This unit aims to introduce students to significant female characters, stories about women, and teaching about women in the New Testament. It will familiarise students with life for women in the early Christian world; investigate relevant cultural and historical backgrounds; examine Jesus’ interactions with women; survey the role of women in the earliest Christian communities; and tackle some of the disputed texts about women’s roles in the home and in the church. The unit will study relevant portions of the New Testament and their original context. It will also be geared toward understanding the meaning of the texts for Christian life and ministry today.
Topics covered:
• Backgrounds: Women in the first century Jewish and Greco-Roman Worlds; Ephesus and the Artemis Cult • Teaching on Women in the Letters of Paul, including disputed texts • Paul’s co-workers – Women in the first Christian communities • Women in the ministry of Jesus (with a focus on the Gospel of John, and Luke-Acts) • History and Hermeneutics • A biblical theology of men and women under God
Lecturers: Hannah Craven, Lynn Cohick, Scott Harrower
Unit commences: 21 January
Intensive: 9-13 February (campus)
Delivery mode: intensive
Enrol by: 16 January
Intergenerational Ministry equips students with the theoretical foundations and practical skills for leading Christian ministries that bring people of different ages and stages together in mutual serving, sharing, and learning. We explore biblical and theological grounds of intergenerational connections, and engage with theories of learning, human development, and intercultural communication to outline practices to promote more effective intergenerational connections in the local church. The unit is vital for leaders with overall responsibility for a church community, as well as those working in generationally-specific ministries among children, youth, young adults, or elders.
Lecturer: Graham Stanton
Unit commences: 21 January
Intensive: 9-12 February (campus) | 6 March, 27 March, 24 April, 15 May 11.00am-1.00pm (virtual)
Delivery mode: extensive
Enrol by: 16 January
The Developmental and Education Ministries Seminar unit engages with the content presented at the 2026 Youth Ministry Futures Residential focussing on the intersection between faith and culture and the implications for youth ministry. Students will engage with the sessions of the residential from 15-18 June 2026, engage in independent directed reading, and join together online for presentation of seminar papers on 28-29 September. This unit integrates research perspectives in missiology and youth ministry to constructively shape effective mission among young people.
Lecturer: Graham Stanton and Dave Chiswell
Unit commences: 11 May
Intensive: 15-18 June (campus) | 28-29 September (virtual)
Delivery mode: blended
Enrol by: 1 May 2026
This unit offers current and prospective practitioners the opportunity to explore the practice and theology of chaplaincy in a range of school settings, from primary to secondary, state and private. It draws on current literature as well as experts and practitioners, engaging a number of clearly identified issues that reflect the complex nature of chaplaincy in these settings. Time is given to exploring the expansion of chaplaincy in the State School system as well as the role of chaplaincy in the faith-based schools. The unit examines the biblical and theological basis for chaplaincy as part of the mission of the church and seeks to enable students to gain a broad overview of chaplaincy as ministry.
Lecturer: Ryan Holt
Unit commences: 25 May
Intensive: 29 June-3 July
Delivery mode: on-campus
Enrol by: 15 May 2026
Audit options are available.

As an affiliated college of the Australian University of Theology, Ridley College is approved to deliver the following courses of the ACT (CRICOS 02650E).