Ellen Jockusch heads MAPM & MAC program

Ellen Jockusch introduced at
January MAPM & MAC retreat

Ellen Jockusch is the new director of the master’s program in pastoral ministry and counseling at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.

Jockusch comes to the seminary post with 20 years of experience in higher education at the University of Texas. She served as director of the Texas Union Informal Class Program and developed a pilot program for the Freshman Interest Groups. That program has drawn 1,000 UT students and received national recognition as a model for large universities. Jockusch also was the academic coordinator of the interdisciplinary honors program – Plan II – where she had extensive experience with curriculum development, academic advising and working with adjunct, as well as tenured, faculty.

“I applied to be a MAPM student about five years ago because I believed a broader knowledge of Christian history, theology and practice would deepen and strengthen my faith,” Jockusch said. “I am excited and honored to be associated with a program whose purpose is to support the education and ministry of lay persons in Central Texas,” she said.

A life-long Episcopalian and a graduate of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, she holds the master’s degree from Texas and the bachelor’s degree from Stanford University where she was named Phi Beta Kappa. She is a long-time member of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Austin.

Now in its eleventh year, the master’s program in pastoral ministry and counseling at the Seminary of the Southwest offers part-time study for the master’s degree for working people through evening and weekend classes. Former program Director Dr. Corinne Ware terms these students the “something-more people.” Most are professional people who long for a deeper meaning in life and want to nurture their faith while continuing to work full-time.

The pastoral ministry track (MAPM) includes concentrations in discipleship or spiritual formation. The counseling track (MAC) offers a curriculum of professional courses taught from a pastoral perspective that fulfill the academic requirements for Licensed Professional Counseling (LPC) set by the State of Texas. The MAPM and MAC program currently enrolls 35 students from seven denominations. Details of the MAPM and MAC program.