Online Offerings
Aware of the global and local challenges faith-based professionals face daily, the Boston University School of Theology (STH) strives to keep religious leaders well-equipped for serving a broken but hopeful world. STH offers online opportunities for continuing your theological education in conversation with diverse students and world-class professors.
Current Offerings
Current Offerings
Digital Ministry as Contemplative Practice
Tired of feeling scattered across digital platforms?
Longing to integrate your spiritual life with your online presence?
Searching for ways to build authentic community in digital spaces without burning out?
Digital Ministry as Contemplative Practice offers a different way forward—one that moves from being “wired” (constantly plugged in and on edge) to being “woven” (genuinely interconnected and spiritually grounded).
Drawing from womanist theology, the poetics of Lucille Clifton, and contemplative spiritual practices, this course invites ministry leaders, spiritual creatives, and digital practitioners into a journey of integration. Rather than adding more to your digital to-do list, we’ll explore how to approach online engagement as a form of spiritual formation—a way of tending sacred attention in an economy designed to fragment it.
Rather than typical “social media strategy” approaches, we ground digital engagement in spiritual practices that have sustained communities for centuries. You’ll learn to approach your phone as a tool for contemplative resistance, your posts as acts of archival devotion, and your online community as a form of mutual spiritual care. Through the concept of the “plain speech prophet”—inspired by Lucille Clifton’s accessible yet profound poetry and the Quaker tradition of truth-telling—we’ll explore how to communicate transformative knowledge in ways that honor both theological/spiritual depth and public accessibility.
Instructor: rose j. percy (’22, ’24) weaves together faith, justice, and identity through a deep commitment to spiritual care. Her work draws from womanist theology, Black feminist poetics, trauma and disability wisdom, and the everyday practices that help people live whole and grounded lives. She currently serves as Director of Spiritual Formation and Small Groups at New Roots AME Church in Boston, where she builds structures for collective discernment, small group ministry, and spiritual care that honor rest, relationship, and radical belonging.
Click here for more information and registration.
Mini-Courses
STH is offering online mini-courses addressing specific issues and empowering participants to walk away with an implementable plan or process. They include peer-learning opportunities and community support networks.
STH is partnering with the Center for Aging & Disability Education & Research (CADER) at the BU School of Social Work (SSW) to offer some additional programming for clergy on issues related to mental health awareness in an aging population.
Past Offerings
Let us know if you would like to see any of these offered again!
Preaching Mark with Different Voices
Preaching the Gospel in Today’s World
Speaking of Life because of Death
Prayer Practices: Time-Honored Refreshers for your Spiritual Life
Sirviendo a Indigenas En Nuestra Comunidad (Spanish language)
Practical Hope
Reflecting with Howard Thurman
Remote Ministry to Elders during Advent
Church Mission in Uncertainty and Adversity
Leading Community Lament
Discerning Vocation in Changing Times
Asset Mapping to Develop Your Community – an ABCD Approach
Embodying the Spirit of Afrofuturism
Reflecting on the Poetry of Joy Harjo
A Spirituality of Suffering as Depicted in African-American Films
Conflict Transformation Close to Home: How to Have Hard Conversations Across Ideological Differences
Moving Upstream: Spiritual Care Plans as a Tool for Proactive Pastoral Care
Spirituality Groups
STH is gathering spirituality groups to create community around some spiritual explorations from contemporary fiction and film, to today’s wisdom figures, to traditional practices worthy of reviving.
Past Offerings
Let us know if you would like to see any of these offered again!
Free Jazz Fridays for Spiritual Renewal
A Womanist Sports Ethic of Care
Sustaining Spirits While Empires Crumble
Sports as Sacred Activity
Darn It All: A Mending Spirituality Reflection Group for Helping Professionals
Theology of Culture, Ethics of the Other, and Video Games
Responses to Brokenness
Prayer Reflecting on Suffering, Death, and Resurrection in Christian Visual Art
Prayer Practices: Reflecting with Mary Oliver
Prayer Practices: Time-Honored Refreshers for your Spiritual Life
Practical Hope
Reflecting with Howard Thurman
Remote Ministry to Elders during Advent
Church Mission in Uncertainty and Adversity
Leading Community Lament
Discerning Vocation in Changing Times
Asset Mapping to Develop Your Community – an ABCD Approach
Embodying the Spirit of Afrofuturism
Reflecting on the Poetry of Joy Harjo
A Spirituality of Suffering as Depicted in African-American Films
Conflict Transformation Close to Home: How to Have Hard Conversations Across Ideological Differences
Moving Upstream: Spiritual Care Plans as a Tool for Proactive Pastoral Care
Please see our FAQ page for common concerns and technical questions. If you want to suggest future topics, please email sthcooll@bu.edu.
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