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 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 806: Preaching in the Unitarian Universalist and Free Church Traditions
  This will be an introduction to the practical art of preaching in the Unitarian Universalist tradition and other free church traditions. Participants can expect to begin the process of finding their own voices in their preaching and worship leadership, all in the context of supportive peers. (cluster 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 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 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: Contextual Theology: Experiences of Mujeristas and Nepantleras in Latinx Communities
  Considers the role of religion in Latinx communities through the exploration of popular beliefs, cultural/religious symbols, and the experiences/scholarship and ministries of Latina scholars and clergy. Students discuss contributions from the fields of history, anthropology, theology, Chicana literature and art that assist in understanding faith practices and symbolic resources in the struggles of marginalized Latinx communities in the context of the US. Particular attention is given to the experience and theologies of Latina women and their leadership in the church and the academy. This is an interdisciplinary course facilitated through a Protestant feminist/Mujerista perspective. It is taught in a seminar style with the instructor as facilitator for critical engagement of readings, sharing of experiences, and contextual deconstruction/construction of methods, theories, and "official" historical and theoretical understandings with an intent of decolonizing. 3 cr.
• 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)
• 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. (Clusters 1 and 3)
• 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 students will explore selected writings from the Christian tradition -- both classic and contemporary. They 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. They will analyze the various theological commitments reflected in these authors' spiritual teachings, and place them in their historical contexts. Then they 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. (Cluster 3)
• 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. (Clusters 2 and 3)
• STH TC 826: The Ecumenical Movement: Streams of Engagement and Liturgical Intersection.
  This course examines the Ecumenical Movement--a "defining fact" of Christianity in the 20th century--and its implications for the life of the churches in the 21st century. The class will treat major streams of interchurch engagement including mission, faith and order, and life and work, and will give attention to ecumenical questions regarding worship and sacraments. In addition, the course will consider contemporary models of Christian unity as well as Christian dialogue with other faith traditions. (Cluster 1 & 3)
• 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, the course will focus mainly on women and ministry in the areas of biblical studies, worship, preaching, and pastoral care and counseling. (Clusters 2 and 3)
• STH TC 829: Spiritual Autobiographies
  In the course, students 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. Students will 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, students 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. (Clusters 1 and 3)
• STH TC 833: Sung Faith
  From the beginning, the Church has sung its faith. In this course the doctrine of the Trinity is the focus of an examination of "lyrical theology." Hymn texts constitute the primary documents; secondary texts by writers from the patristic period to the present guide reflection and analysis. The goals of the course are: (1) to increase the appreciation for hymn texts as theological statements; (2) to gain a deeper knowledge of the mystery of the triunity of God; and (3) to promote a greater awareness of the doctrine of the Trinity as crucial to the faith of the Church and central its life. (Clusters 1 and 3)
• STH TC 835: Evangelism and Contemporary Cultures
  This course explores the practice of bearing faithful, visible, and embodied witness to God's commonwealth in contemporary contexts and cultures. The course covers the biblical, historical, and theological foundations of evangelism, its practice within congregational life, and contextual strategies. (Clusters 2 and 3)

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