Practical Theology

  • STH TJ 876: Church and Theology in the Contemporary World
    Church and Theology in the Contemporary World is an advanced research seminar in practical theology. The course enables students to design and carry out a research project in practical theology under the guidance of the instructor and with constructive feedback from fellow students. Assignments are designed to help students to articulate a clear, significant, and manageable research question; to design a practical theological approach to the question; to develop relevant bibliographies and other research sources; and, ultimately, to complete a final project in practical theology. Through this work and additional readings, including careful reading of and theological reflection on daily newspapers, we will together identify and address a range of issues facing the church in diverse cultures and contexts. Students gain skills in identifying practical theological questions and interpreting contexts; critically incorporating social scientific research in a theological project; making normative judgments; and thinking through strategic practical theological responses to guide faithful Christian practice. The course is a required core course for all doctoral students majoring in Practical Theology.
  • STH TJ 910: Proseminar in Practical Theology
    This doctoral seminar for practical theology majors introduces the primary changes that are under way in practical theology as a discipline, reviews the methodologies upon which these changes are based, and examines the implications of these changes.
  • STH TJ 940: Ecclesiology
    This course asks the question, "What is the church?" in dialogue with Christian theological figures and schools representing Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian traditions. While one of the aims of this course is that students be conversant with those voices, it ultimately aims at the student's ability to articulate the ecclesiology of his or her own community and to bring that to bear on the contemporary situation and particular problems of Christian practice in church and society.