Spiritualities and Community Engagement (MA)

• An honours bachelor’s degree with minimum B average.
• Applications are reviewed by the Martin Luther University College Admissions Committee, which considers all prior university grades, personal statement, current CV, and two letters of reference.

Application Deadline

February 15, 2024 for a fall term start (full-time or part-time studies).

Visit our Graduate Admissions Toolkit for more information about applying.

Application Process

1. Fill out the OUAC application
2. Receive email from gradadmissions@wlu.ca with your LORIS (Laurier’s Online Registration & Information System) login information
3. Upload the following to LORIS
   1. Your OUAC application summary, log back into OUAC to retrieve
   2. Digital unofficial transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work for every postsecondary educational institution you have attended
   3. Completed statement of intent
   4. Resume of your academic and work experience (include a history of your publication and scholarly paper activity and any other relevant information)
   5. Sample of your scholarly writing (10-20 pages in length). This may be a chapter of your thesis or a paper written as an assignment at undergraduate level.
   6. Two reference forms, indicate two individuals to provide academic reference letters. If you are no longer a student or have been out of school for a few years, one of the reference letters or both of them could be professional reference letters instead.^*

^*Please note that the academic referee must be your instructor or supervisor at university and the professional referee must be someone who has supervised you at work or a volunteer position. It cannot be a friend or a relative. 

Proficiency in written and spoken English is essential to graduate studies at Laurier. Applicants whose language of instruction during their previous postsecondary education was not in English must submit evidence of proficiency in English. If applicable, results from accepted testing services must be uploaded to LORIS.

• Cultivate an understanding of how local and international faith and community-based organizations, policies and networks work

• Develop research, organizational and writing skills that apply to work in the field of community management within not-for-profit and faith-based organizations 

• Work with people from diverse, multicultural and multifaith backgrounds towards social justice issues that affect communities daily

• Ability to understand spirituality and interfaith perspectives that will allow students to work across the complexities of religious boundaries  

• Contribution to eco-justice and reconciliation, as well as intervention in environmental crisis/protection through community integration 

• Proceed to further academic scholarship within the field of theology   

Luther graduate students are eligible for some Laurier bursaries and awards. To be considered, fill out the General Profile on the Student Awards tab on LORIS. (Visit Student Awards for more information about the General Profile.)

To apply for the annual financial-aid bursaries, you must have completed the General Profile in the Student Awards tab on LORIS. Please see below for more information.

See details and deadlines

If you are a graduate student taking a full-time course load, you are eligible to receive a bursary of about $600 per term (students receiving senior tuition exemption are not eligable for this bursary). The exact amount varies slightly from year to year. You will need to apply for this bursary on LORIS. You will receive an email notification that a new application is available, you will be able to access it through the Student Awards and Financial Aid tab on LORIS. We award it based on your registration after the last day to add courses for the term. It may take several weeks to appear on your student account, so don’t worry if you don’t see it right away.

Over the years, we’ve collected several bursaries in the form of financial endowments. (Please consider contributing when you are able.) Annual financial-aid bursaries are issued on the basis of financial need.

We issue these bursaries only once per year. Your application is not complete unless you have followed all three of the following steps by the deadline:

• Be fully registered with a full-time course load for both fall and winter terms.
• Complete the Annual Bursaries Application Form.
• Complete the General Profile in the Student Awards tab on LORIS.

We follow our donors’ stipulations. In some cases, that means asking you about your faith tradition. If you are successful in receiving an annual financial-aid bursary, we may ask you to write a note of thanks to your benefactor.

You need to complete both forms in order for your application to be reviewed.

Late applications will not be considered.

See details and deadlines

Students in the Master of Divinity program are required to complete one unit of Supervised Pastoral Education (SPE). We are especially grateful for the generosity of the Martin Luther University College Auxiliary (formerly Women's Auxiliary) for providing bursaries to MDiv students completing the SPE portion of their degree program.

MDiv students may apply for this bursary once they have received an acceptance letter from the SPE site. To apply for this bursary, contact lutherfinance@wlu.ca

The Serenia Life Scholarship program is available to members of Serenia Life Financial. One-time scholarships are awarded each year to a limited number of members pursuing a full-time undergraduate or graduate university degree, or college diploma at any accredited institution in, or outside of, Canada.

Luther graduate students are members of the Wilfrid Laurier University Graduate Students’ Association (GSA). The GSA provides a slate of services to graduate students including an extended health and dental insurance plan, career counselling, and discounts through a variety of resources. It also administers a number of different funds, including funds that can help you pay for attending professional development workshops, new technology, or many other grad-student expenses. You should definitely check them out!

External scholarship competitions awarded on the basis of academic merit are listed by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS). Normally Luther students are eligible for social science competitions. Students with a psychotherapy focus could also consider applying under health categories.

Contact Graduate Studies for more information.