Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• STH TC 703: Spiritual Companioning Group 1
  These small groups are designed to provide mutual support in spiritual journeying and questing, the exploration and sharing of spiritual life and practice, and of maintaining spiritual balance and integration as an intrinsic dimension of one's scholarship and vocation.
• STH TC 704: Spiritual Companioning Group 2
  These small groups are designed to provide mutual support in spiritual journeying and questing, the exploration and sharing of spiritual life and practice, and of maintaining spiritual balance and integration as an intrinsic dimension of one's scholarship and vocation.
• STH TC 715: Introduction to Preaching
  An introduction to the theology and practice of preaching within the context of Christian ministry and worship. Students develop skills necessary for preparation, composition, delivery, and critique of sermons. Required of all M.Div. students in the Pastoral Ministry track. (Cluster 3)
• STH TC 723: United Methodist Polity
  Covers the polity, structure, procedures, and ritual of the United Methodist Church along with the basic structure of and ecclesial concepts contained within its Book of Discipline. Designed to meet one of the requirements for membership in a UMC Annual Conference.
• STH TC 796: Toward A Theology of the Streets
  This two-credit course will integrate experience and reflection in order to learn about the theology of Christian street ministries. Learning about ministry in the classroom and learning about ministry in the field (as an intern or associate in a church or as a missioner to the sick or the imprisoned) are often treated as irreconcilable experiences: academics can be taught, but practice must be learned. By contrast, this course combines both an intellectual and an experiential appreciation of ministry. Each week for seven weeks, students will spend one and one half hours in the classroom and two to three hours in fieldwork as participants and observers in an outdoor church for chronically homeless men and women in Cambridge. The course will run from March 17-April 28. For more information, please contact the instructor, Jedediah Mannis, at jedmannis@charter.net. (Cluster 2 and 3)
• STH TC 801: Contextual Education I
  Supervised practice of ministry in a congregational setting or community agency combined with participation in a peer reflection-learning group focused on the integration of theology and practice. MDIV CORE REQUIREMENT. Background check is required. Must have approved site before starting the class.
• STH TC 802: Contextual Education II
  Graduate Prerequisites: STH TC 801. Continues and presupposes STH TC 801 in the spring semester. MDIV CORE REQUIREMENT. Background check is required. Must have approved site before starting the class.
• STH TC 803: Contextual Education III
  Normally continues STH TC 802 (see course description for TC 801). Can be taken for variable credit. (Clusters 2 and 3)
• STH TC 804: Field Education IV
  Normally continues STH TC 803. (Clusters 2 and 3)
• STH TC 807: UMC General Conference
  The quadrennial General Conference is the chief legislative body of the United Methodist Church. This course provides students with the opportunity to examine the critical role of the General Conference in the United Methodist tradition. In addition to examining the General Conference's impact upon the historical and theological identity of United Methodism, the course explores specific doctrinal, polity, and social issues that are on the agenda of the General Conference in the semester in which the course is offered. The course allows students the option of receiving additional credit for attending part of the General Conference sessions. (Clusters 1 and 3)
• STH TC 808: Sermon Studio
  This class will be conducted like a studio class in theatrical performance where students are encouraged to take risks, be creative, and get immediate and interactive feedback on their work. While the sermon is not a performance piece, we deliver sermons to a culture that demands performance quality work from professional orators. Therefore, as preachers, we must approach the sermon with diligence, earnestness, and willingness to rigorously practice the craft. The Sermon Studio is a class designed to help students of homiletics further develop and practice the art form. Each three hour class will begin with a teaching topic from the primary text, and then we will have four to five half-hour segments for students to workshop sermons and get immediate feedback on their work. The goal of the class is to have students get up and preach as frequently as possible, so that they become more comfortable and adept with the art form. The class will seek to create an environment that emphasizes creativity, regular practice, and feedback as the primary means of developing artful and effective sermons. (Cluster 3)
• STH TC 809: Leading Spiritual Formation Ministries
  This course provides a context to explore preparing and leading forms of spiritual formation ministries in diverse settings. It is grounded in the assumptions that (1) all aspects of life provide opportunities for strengthening our spiritual journey, and (2) a key task of the spiritual leader is to facilitate experiences that can help make those connections. The course offers guidance and practice in designing and leading such experiences, including retreats, small groups, and spiritual guidance. Foundations for spiritual formation ministries for children, youth, and families are also considered. Participants explore and reflect upon a variety of disciplines that ground and inform such leadership. A key task of the course is providing an opportunity for participants to identify and critically reflect upon their own theological and pedagogical perspectives and how those influence their practice of ministry. (Cluster 3)
• STH TC 810: The Pastoral Life
  This class is intended to help seminarians entering pastoral ministry develop effective strategies that will allow them to fully enjoy the richness and beauty of their vocation. (Cluster 3)
• STH TC 811: Pastoral Leadership
  The aim of the course is to prepare the student, at the basic professional level, in the primary forms of pastoral leadership. On completing the course, the student should have gained professional confidence and reflective competence in these areas of pastoral leadership: conversation and visitation; preaching and teaching; stewardship and development; administration and lay preparation; conflict resolution and systems analysis; evangelism and youth\children's ministry. (Cluster 3)
• STH TC 813: Spirituality and Ministry in Multicultural Contexts
  This course examines Christian spirituality as it is related to ministry in multicultural contexts. Drawing upon different contexts in which church ministry is engaged, the course explores how spirituality is situated and developed in those contexts. The course also focuses on how to practice "contemplative ministry" in congregational settings. (Cluster 2 and 3)
• STH TC 814: The Jazz of Preaching: How to Preach with Great Freedom and Joy
  An exploration of preaching preparation and performance in dialogue with the jazz hallmarks of improvisation, call and response, swing, and other central elements of jazz. Special emphasis will be placed on cultivating preaching imagination, creativity, and joy. Course includes in-class preaching.
• STH TC 815: Acadia Travel Seminar
  TRAVEL DATES: Monday, May 20 to Sunday, May 26 This course will explore the context of nature as a foundation for spiritual practice. Readings from a variety of faith traditions, including Celtic Christianity and Native American spirituality, will provide the theological grounding for the course. Emphasis will be placed on experiencing and developing individual and communal practices that connect persons to the Holy in and through nature. Students will be guided in experiencing nature as sacred subject rather than object; as teacher, spiritual guide, companion, and neighbor. The settings for this course will be Boston and the Alcyon Center, a spiritual life center in Seal Cove, Maine, just outside the bounds of Acadia National Park, that hosts nature-based retreat experiences (www.alcyoncenter.org) . Four Boston-based sessions will be held on Fridays prior to the travel portion of the course. These sessions will offer theoretical and theological foundations for the travel portion of the course as well as an opportunity to connect with nature in non-wilderness settings. The week after graduation, the class will travel to the Alcyon Center for several days exploring holistic approaches to grounding spiritual practices in nature. With Acadia National Park as a context, students will be led in hikes, nature walks, and other activities exploring how to facilitate such experiences as spiritual practices. Students will also be given the opportunity to reflect upon and engage in the practices and operations of the Alcyon Center, which are based in a rhythm of holy living grounded in nature. These experiences will provide insight into how spiritual traditions can impact more than just programming in such settings. Other class sessions will consider environmental stewardship and sustainability as individual and communal spiritual practices with local resource persons and Alcyon Center staff providing assistance. A follow up session will be held at STH at the beginning of June. Please note: * Each day in Acadia will involve 2-4 miles of hiking, most of which will be easy, but one or two of which could be considered moderately strenuous depending upon one's ability. We will do our best to accommodate persons with differing ability levels, but students should be prepared to undertake this level of activity. * Meals at the Alcyon Center are mostly vegetarian (some chicken and fish) with a good number of gluten-free options (though not prepared in a dedicated GF kitchen). There is ample refrigerator space for students needing to tend to food needs that fall outside these parameters.
• STH TC 816: Homiletical Options and Homiletic Analysis
  This course is an advanced homiletics seminar that in alternate years either reviews contemporary homiletic theory ("Homiletical Options") or explores practices of sermon analysis ("Homiletical Analysis"). Pre-requisite: TC715 ("Introduction to Preaching") or its equivalent. (Cluster 3)
• 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. Prerequisites: STH TF 701 and STH TF 702. (Clusters 1 and 3)
• STH TC 818: Writing for Public Worship
  The course explores the relationship between the languages of worship/prayer and faith/belief; enables the student to develop foundations and skills for writing prayers, liturgies, and other ritual resources for public worship; and fosters theological/liturgical/pastoral evaluation of the liturgical texts and practices used by faith communities. This course requires instructor's approval for all doctoral students. (Clusters 1 and 3)

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