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Lifelong Learning Calendar of Events Lifelong Learning Calendar For more information about opportunities listed below, to register online, or to download a registration form, go to www.ctsnet.edu > Lifelong Learning > Courses and Events. Then click on the dates of the courses and events you wish to attend. You may also call the registrar, Pat Roper, at 404-687-4587, for more information or to register by phone. Unless otherwise noted, events take place on the seminary campus, in Decatur, GA. November 1, 8, 15 Telling the Stories of Our Lives. Re-visit times in your own life and learn to recognize the holy places where God continues to dwell. A three-session lunchtime course. Register by October 24. Leader: Paul A. “Skip” Johnson, adjunct assistant professor of pastoral theology and care. $75 (includes three lunches; pre-payment required); $50 (program only). November 11 & 18 Religion and Slavery: White Southerners, Good Intentions, and Difficult Choices. During two Sunday evenings explore issues faced by three young white southerners in the 1830s. Register by November 2. Presenter: Erskine Clarke, professor of American religious history and author of the award-winning history Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic. $75 (includes 2 suppers). November 12 Eberhard Busch. Lunchtime lecture with this professor from the University of Göttingen, Germany. Busch is an expert in the theology of Karl Barth and the Reformation—in particular, the role of the church in advocating for social change. Advance payment required; due November 5. $12 (includes lunch). December 7–8 Know Where to Turn When Youth Turn to You. Practical pastoral care with youth and families. Offered in conjunction with the Youth Ministry Leadership Initiative (YMLI) certificate program; non-certificate participants welcome. Facilitators: Neema Cyrus-Franklin, Sarah Erickson. $150 (includes 2 meals). January 18–20 and January 21–23 January Adventures: Spiritual Maturity in a Time of Christian Conflict and Change (St. Simon’s Island). January 24–27 Immersion Experience: An Invitation to a Deeper Spiritual Life (Certificate in Spiritual Formation). Join us for this feast for the soul and exploration of the origins of the Christian spiritual tradition. This course is the starting place for the Certificate in Spiritual Formation. Occasional students are welcome. $300. January 28-30 Blurring the Boundaries: Preaching as Testimony (January Seminars) featuring Anna Carter Florence, associate professor of preaching and worship, author of Preaching as Testimony (WJKP 2006). Includes workshops. $225 (includes two meals). February 7–10 Eastern Christian Spirituality (Certificate in Spiritual Formation). In community, explore and engage elements of the embodied spirituality of our Orthodox friends. We will experience Sunday liturgy with a nearby Orthodox community. Leader: V. Bruce Rigdon, distinguished scholar and church historian. $250. March 7–8 Big Three: Worship, Mission and Fellowship (Youth Ministry Leadership Certificate program) Leader: Troy Bronsink ’06. Facilitators Neema Cyrus-Franklin and Sarah Erickson ’03. $150 (includes two meals). March 9–14 Spiritualities of Creation: Knowing God and Self in a Broken World (Certificate in Spiritual Formation). Take a look at ways the Old Testament deals with creation, particularly in light of our broken world that is crying out for restoration and renewal. From Genesis 1 to Proverbs 8 and Psalm 104, you will explore texts theologically, ecologically, and experientially. Leader: William P. Brown, professor of Old Testament. $350. March 27–30 Group Spiritual Guidance (Certificate in Spiritual Formation). In today’s busy world we want postcards—if not e-mails—that tell us what God has in mind for us. And we want these communiqués to be quick and to the point. Postcards or those sudden revelations that clearly define a mission or even a direction aren’t God’s usual means of communication. God seems to work more regularly through the Word, a community of believers, and for our good, rather slowly because our formation, our soul’s well-being is as important to God as a particular task or ministry. In this course, you will learn about and experience a way of being together in covenanted group community that is anchored in 1) scripture using Lectio Divina, 2) silence using a structured process with facilitators to hold the space made, 3) prayer both silent and spoken and 4) listening to self and one another to hear over time what God might be speaking into the community and into us. This structured process was developed by Lisa Myers and Judy Durff. The experience of Group Spiritual Guidance at The La Canada Presbyterian Church has been life giving and life changing for the men and women who participated. Leader: Judy Durff. $250. April 24-27 Discerning Forgiveness (Certificate in Spiritual Formation). The Christian faith is indelibly and distinctively marked by the imperative both to receive and to offer forgiveness. But Christian voices on the subject differ widely. Some urge forgiveness as a Christian duty under all circumstances, while others argue that certain prior conditions must be met for forgiveness to be meaningful or effective. Some believe forgiveness is the surest route to healing for the offended, while others hold that therapeutic value cannot be the essence of Christian forgiveness. How do we sort through the competing claims and varied interpretations? What is the core nature and role of this powerful divine gift we are called to participate in? This course will help us attend to several voices in this debate, discern some of the complexities of timing and circumstance, claim a stance with scriptural and theological integrity, and engage in key practices to help us learn the “craft” of forgiveness. Leader: Marjorie Thompson. $250 April 6-10 Contemplative Retreat for Women (at Sacred Heart Monastery, Cullman, AL ). This week offers what many women long for: rest, renewal, and quiet refreshment; spiritual discipline and inspiration; relaxation in a beautiful outdoor setting; the opportunity to restore a sense of inner peace and serenity in a quiet and unhurried atmosphere. Leader: Carol Byrd ’88 (DMin ’02). She has been a pastor for churches in Ohio, North Carolina, and Alabama. She is a pastoral counselor and a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. She is also a Benedictine oblate affiliated with Sacred Heart Monastery. $275 (includes single room and all meals). April 10-13 God`s Encircling: Celtic Christianity (Certificate in Spiritual Formation; at Montreat (NC) Conference Center. Things “Celtic” are very popular today. But how can we find authentic tradition amidst creative invention? This course will focus on writings and artwork that truly reflect the rich beliefs of Christians living in early Scotland, Ireland, and other Celtic lands. We will learn about the real St. Patrick, and lesser known great saints of the Celtic Christian tradition. We won’t stay only with the “golden age of saints” of the fifth to ninth centuries) A wonderful collection of prayers from the 19th century Highlands and Islands of Scotland will show us God experienced in the everyday lives of the farmers. Through lectures, small group reflection, private time, worship, and opportunities for artistic expression, we will explore Celtic Christianity’s relevance for our spiritual journeys. One theme of importance is “thresholds.” How can the borders of time and space in our lives be opportunities for transformational experiences with God? Leader: Laura Sugg. $378 (course only). After you register for the course with Columbia, contact Montreat Conference Center to register for housing: 1-800-572-2257, ext. 339; or www.montreat.org. January 28-30 Blurring the Boundaries: Preaching as Testimony (January Seminars) featuring Anna Carter Florence, associate professor of preaching and worship, author of Preaching as Testimony (WJKP 2006). Includes workshops. $225 (includes two meals). March 7-8 Big Three: Worship, Mission and Fellowship (Youth Ministry Leadership Certificate program) Leader: Troy Bronsink ’06. Facilitators Neema Cyrus-Franklin and Sarah Erickson ’03. $150 (includes two meals). April 28-May 2 Guthrie Scholars (for CTS Class of 1981). Guthrie Scholars are invited to the campus to pursue a topic of their choice that engages a pressing issue of the church from a Reformed perspective. The seminary covers all costs, except travel. For more information, including application instructions, go to www.ctsnet.edu > Lifelong Learning.
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