Area D: Ministry in Church and Society Fall 2013
TA 721 Seminary Singers
Professor: Chadd Kidd
Meeting Time: Tuesday (5:00 – 6:30 pm) and Wednesday (10:30 – 12:00 pm)
Open to all students who are interested in singing. Participation in one weekly chapel service, all concerts, and tours. Credit given only on completion of the second consecutive semester’s work.
TC 817 Introduction to Christian Worship
Professor: Karen Westerfield Tucker
Meeting Time: Tuesday and Thursday (9:30 – 11:00 am)
An introduction to the spirit and structure of Christian worship. Word, sacraments, calendar, music, and pastoral offices are analyzed and described in terms of their relevance to congregational life, spirituality, catechesis, and mission.
TC 828 Women’s Theologies and Ministry
Professor: Hee An Choi
Meeting Time: Wednesday (6:00 – 9:00 pm)
This course will examine the reality of women in ministry, critically evaluating how women’s identities and roles have been structured in Christian contexts. It will also carefully analyze how these identities and roles can be re-evaluated and how women’s ministry can be envisioned in this modern ministerial context. Drawing on different women’s theological perspectives and identities, the course will focus mainly on women and ministry in the areas of biblical studies, worship, preaching, and pastoral care and counseling.
TC 842 Urban Ministry Models for the 21st Century: Creative Ministry in Context
Professor: Wanda Stahl and Cristian De La Rosa
Meeting Time: 4 Weekend Sessions: Sept. 20-21, Oct. 4-5, Oct. 26-27, Nov. 15-16 Contact Profs. for details.
This course will examine urban new church starts and congregational restarts that engage in ministry in their settings. Participants will learn tools and methods for contextual analysis and explore models of leadership for 21st century ministry. Most course sessions will occur at urban congregations throughout New England. One particular area of focus will be ways in which global migration has impacted ministry in these settings.
TC 844
Professor: Claire Wolfteich
Meeting Time: Wednesday (3:00 – 6:00 pm)
TC 849 Narrative Sermons
Professor: David Jacobsen
Meeting Time: Friday (9:00 – 12:00 pm)
In this course, students will learn approaches to preaching narratively. By the end of the course, students will also begin to integrate their homiletical practice with their own emerging narrative theology of preaching.
TC 863 Reading and Writing Rites of Passage
Professor: Karen Westerfield Tucker
Meeting Time: Wednesday (8:00 – 11:00 am)
An examination of historical, theological, and pastoral aspects of the occasional offices that address life’s passages and crises: birth, adolescence, Christian marriage, sickness and death, and Christian burial. An ecumenical and international approach will be taken in studying both historic and contemporary rites.
TC 869 Prophetic Preaching, Pastoral Ministry, and Social Change
Professor: David Jacobsen
Meeting Time: Thursday (2:00 – 5:00 pm)
This course is designed to help students wrestle with several central issues around prophetic preaching in contemporary Christian churches: the relationships of prophetic preaching to the gospel, to the Bible, to the social-political context, and to pastoral ministry generally. Since the course is designed to be a seminar, students will be expected to wrestle with these issues not only in class but also through a sermon and a public message. By the end of the course, students should be able to develop their own vision for prophetic preaching in a way that integrates the above concerns by moving from a specific Biblical text to a sermon as well as a public message in light of a situation. Pre-requisite TC715 Intro to Preaching or its equivalent.
TC 871 Spiritual Foundations for Peace Building
Professor: Susan Hassinger
Meeting Time: 4 Weekend Sessions: Sept. 5-6, Oct. 3-4, Nov. 7-8, Dec. 5-6. Thursdays 6:00-9:00 pm, and Fridays 9:00 – noon and 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Through reading and reflection on biographies and autobiographies of national and international peace-builders, students will look at how the cultural contexts and spiritual practices of the peace-builder influenced their peace- building work. The focus will be on peace-builders beginning in the 20th century with Gandhi, King, Chavez, Day, Deming, and others. Students will also explore their own contexts and how those contexts impact their perspectives on both spiritual formation and conflict transformation.
TE 812 Introduction to Christian Education: Person, Community, and Religious Education
Professor: Courtney Goto
Meeting Time: Monday (2:00 – 5:00 pm)
This course is a practical introduction to ministries of learning and teaching in Christian communities. It will explore the dynamics of individual and communal faith formation in diverse contexts, drawing on a range of perspectives from theology and the philosophy of education. Students will analyze the education offerings of religious communities, evaluate educational resources, practice effective teaching approaches, and design educational strategies appropriate to their community of faith.
Meet the Faculty
STH faculty are experts in a wide range of fields and represent diverse backgrounds in the church, the academy, faith-based non-profits, and other areas of religious leadership. Our faculty is among the most published and cited of all theology faculties in the country.
