Master of Arts: Theology and Peace Studies
The MATPS is a 60-credit-hour academic degree program that prepares students interested in careers and scholarship at the intersection of theology and transformative peacebuilding. Students combine academic study with sustained engagement in the field. Through this integrated approach, students develop interdisciplinary knowledge that draws insights from theological, biblical and historical studies into conversation with social science analysis and peacebuilding practices. These peacebuilding practices address the structural roots of conflict and forge multilevel (personal, relational, hermeneutic, societal and international) initiatives to transform violence.
The program, which grows out of the Anabaptist tradition of Christian peace witness, is grounded in the assumption that Christ calls us to become part of a new community whose mission is to participate in God’s reconciling mission throughout the world. Our theological approach to peacebuilding brings Christian eschatologies undergirding transformative approaches to conflict together with a concern for embodying nonviolence in a pluralistic world. For more details, please review the AMBS Catalog.

Benjamin Isaak-Krauss (MDiv 2019), Tesfaye Robelle (MAPS 2019) and Naun Cerrato (MAPS 2019) with Janna Hunter Bowman, PhD, Assistant Professor of Peace Studies and Christian Social Ethics.
Graduates with a MATPS degree will be able to:
- Analyze theological and biblical foundations of peace and justice, considering Anabaptist perspectives.
- Evaluate multiple forms and consequences of violence using multidisciplinary methods and insights.
- Deploy the skills and habits of a reflective practitioner: a) create context-sensitive transformative approaches to violence and conflict; b) synthesize theological and theoretical concepts with practical experience; and c) discern practices that cultivate nonviolence and spiritual development.

Scott Litwiller (MDiv 2019) holds beets from the AMBS community garden.
- Primary program
- Environmental Sustainability Leadership, in cooperation with Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College

Rev. Dr. Titus K. Oyeyemi (MAPS 2004), founding president/CEO of African Projects/Foundation for Peace and Love Initiatives, Egbeda, Akowonjo, Lagos State, Nigeria
- Ph.D. studies in peace and theology
- work in a nongovernmental organization
- work with an international church-based relief organization
- coordinating a public school anti-bullying program
- organizing a community farming program in Japan
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