Courses

• STH TC 812: Theo Church Mus
  
• STH TC 813: Spirituality and Ministry in Multicultural Contexts
  This course will examine Christian spirituality as it is related to ministry in multicultural contexts. Drawing upon different contexts in which church ministry is engaged, we will explore how spirituality is situated and developed in the various cultural contexts of ministry. We will then focus on how we can practice "contemplative ministry" in our own churches.
• STH TC 817: Introduction to Christian Worship
  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.
• STH TC 819: The Sacraments: Rites and Theologies
  Contemporary study of the sacraments brings together ritual studies, liturgical history, the history of dogma, and systematic reflection. This course examines the baptismal and eucharistic rites of the Church, both past and present, along with theological rationales of and commentaries on them offered by ecclesiastic writers of the patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern periods.
• STH TC 821: The Gospel and Empire
  This course explores the relationship between Christianity and empire both historically and theologically. While the broader context for the course is the mutual shaping of empire and Christianity as the Christian movement has spread throughout the world, Cuba will provide a case study for reflecting on how this shaping has taken place on that island in relation to particular imperial influences. The course is largely configured around a trip to Cuba on January 2-11.
• STH TC 823: Spiritual Guidance in the Christian Tradition
  Are you seeking a ?word of life?? Do you hunger to know more about the wisdom of Christian spiritual traditions? Do you feel called to grow in your ability to guide others? In this course we will explore selected writings from the Christian tradition?both classic and contemporary. We will read the pithy sayings of the early desert abbas and ammas, the gentle counsel of Francis de Sales, the spiritual teaching of John Wesley and his mother Susanna, and the insights of the Russian pilgrim who wanted to pray without ceasing. We will analyze the various theological commitments reflected in these authors? spiritual teachings, and place them in their historical contexts. Then we will move to contemporary texts about the practice of spiritual guidance, addressing concerns such as spiritual direction of women, group spiritual direction, prayer, and cross-cultural spiritual guidance.
• STH TC 825: Prayer and Social Engagement
  The seminar will address the relationship between prayer and social engagement. Prayer and social engagement often are separated entirely, or wedded uncritically. In this course, students will seek to deepen their prayer lives while thinking critically about the social situation. They will wrestle with the multiple theological questions surrounding prayer and social engagement. Topics will be approached using selected case studies from international contexts. By delving into the cases, students will see different models for how prayer can inspire a social vision, cultivate a social conscience, respond to social crisis, ground people?s dignity, and promote reconciliation.
• STH TC 828: Women's Theologies and Ministry
  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, we will focus mainly on women and ministry in the areas of Biblical Studies, Worship, Preaching, and Pastoral Care and Counseling.
• STH TC 829: Spiritual Autobiographies
  In the course, we will explore classic and contemporary spiritual autobiographies. These autobiographies reveal the diverse paths of religious seekers, the crises and epiphanies that became focal points of meaning and revelation. We'll learn about the practices of faith that sustained and challenged religious people from Augustine to Teresa of Avila to Tolstoy. Through close, empathetic, and critical examination of the texts, students will reflect on their own spiritual journeys and identities. They also will engage first-hand in the crafting of spiritual autobiography, and students will have the opportunity to work intensively in small groups throughout the writing and sharing process. Throughout the course, we will explore potential uses of spiritual autobiography as pathways of discernment and growth in congregational and retreat settings, small faith groups, spiritual formation and companionship.
• STH TC 835: Evangelism and Contemporary Culture
  This course explores the practice of bearing faithful, visible, and embodied witness to God?s reign in contemporary contexts and cultures. The course covers the biblical, historical, and theological foundations of evangelism, its practice within congregational life, and contextual strategies.
• STH TC 836: Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Church and Society
  This course will examine the relation between race, gender, and ethnicity from the perspective of different multicultural identities and theological understandings, evaluating how religious structures have constructed these relations and challenged these dynamics. Analyzing the various church contexts and social constructions, we will aim to re-evaluate diverse theoretical and experimental discussions among different ethnic groups in a global context as well as in American context. This course will introduce the student to broader views of multi-layers of dynamics between race, gender, and ethnicity in various church contexts such as White/African American/Asian/Asian American/Hispanic/other immigrant churches and multicultural congregations. It will investigate how church life and ministry interact with sociopolitical and cultural structures and how these processes impact people?s everyday lives. This course will also re-evaluate various people?s different struggles including racism, classism, sexism, and colonialism and re-discover their transforming power. We will analyze the issues of race, gender/sex, body, age, and class in the North American context and understand the issues of colonial and post-colonial structures within American society and beyond. This course will offer several possibilities for a new understanding of Christian church and society.
• STH TC 837: Vocation, Work and Faith
  Have you ever wondered how your work life fits into your spiritual journey? Do you want to explore the various ways that people experience work and struggle with its meaning? This course provides a forum to explore these questions and their implications for ministry today. We approach the topic from a variety of angles, including historical, sociological, literary, and theological texts; interviews; case studies; and site visits. We will explore themes such as: work as spiritual practice or challenge, work as vocation, creativity, prayer and work, fragmentation, use of time, and discernment. We will also explore how cultural forces and economic structures influence the contemporary person?s spirituality. The course includes specific attention to family and work, and to men and women?s various experiences. Students will reflect on the churches? ministry with working people and will strategize about creative means of spiritual guidance. All will participate in a class project to sponsor a retreat for working people.
• STH TC 838: Church Renewal
  In every era, Christians must rethink what it means to be the Church in light of the Christian witness and given the unique challenges and opportunities of our particular situation. This course explores (1) what it means to be the church as an embodied witness to the reign of God in our present culture and (2) the various strategies and resources upon which Christian leaders might draw in guiding congregations through processes of formation, change, and revitalization.
• STH TC 842: Urban Ministry
  An introduction to the specialized ministry to persons and churches in urban areas. Special emphasis on evangelism in a multicultural environment.
• STH TC 845: Parish Preaching
  The preaching ministry in the parish congregation and its purposes and relationships to other parish ministries. Practice in preparation and delivery of sermons. This course does not fulfill the introductory preaching requirement for M.Div. students.
• STH TC 847: Faith and Film
  This course uses the medium of film as an avenue for reflection upon the meaning and truth of the central doctrines of the Christian church as expressed in the historic Apostle's Creed. The course will use a broad cross-section of film genres to open up new and creative windows for understanding and communicating the Christian faith in a pluralistic, post-Christian culture and will also assist the student in thinking critically about the film from a Christian theological perspective.
• STH TC 849: Narrative Sermons
  In this course students will learn at least two different approaches to preaching narratively and try them out in class. By the end of the course, students will also begin to integrate their homiletical practice with their own emerging narrative theology of preaching.
• STH TC 851: Preaching and Worship in the African-American Traditions
  Study of the preaching, prayer, and music in African-American churches.
• STH TC 852: Leadership and Spirituality
  Changing times in church and society challenge our understandings about and practices of leadership. This course will examine the nexus of leadership and spirituality. We will examine theories about leadership, both secular and church-based, focus particularly on the systemic nature of leadership. We will also consider the importance of the ?being? of the leader, not just the ?doing.? The quality of a leader?s life and work can be significantly enhanced by being supported with spiritual practices. Those spiritual practices may involve the leader as well as individuals and groups with whom the leader engages. Students will be given opportunity to reflect on biblical models of leadership, to explore a leadership in a contemporary setting, as well as to learn, experience, and practice spiritual disciplines for leaders and those with whom they lead.
• STH TC 854: Leadership in Times of Change
  Although it sounds like an oxymoron, change is a constant, whether in the context of the individual, the family, the local church, the university, the nation, or the world. How a leader defines, understands and deals with change, both personally and in the leadership setting, is important both for the leader and those in the organization or group. Leadership for change may emerge from anywhere in the group/organization. Exploring theories and practices from both secular and church-based resources, students will seek to deal with these questions such as: What is the nature of change? How does our understanding of God shape our understanding of change? How does our understanding of change shape our understanding of God? Are there healthy ways to lead in times of transition and change? Are there leadership patterns and practices that are counterproductive in times of transition and change? This class meets on a non-standard course schedule (once a month and a Thursday and Friday): Sept. 8-9, Oct. 6-7, Nov. 10-11, Dec. 8-9/Thurs. 6-9 p.m., and Fri. 9 a.m.-noon and 1 -- 5 p.m

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