Courses

Brennan Breed, William P. Brown, Raj Nadella, Mitzi J. Smith, Christine Roy Yoder 

Provides intensive study of the essentials of Koine Greek grammar, syntax, and vocabulary preparatory to reading the Greek New Testament. 

3 credits 

Introduces the essentials of Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary preparatory to study of the Hebrew Old Testament. 

3 credits 

This two-semester course (Parts I and II) studies the diverse literature of the Old Testament, considers the historical and cultural contexts of the ancient world that produced it, introduces critical methods of biblical interpretation, and highlights the significance of the Old Testament for Christian faith. 3 credits each semester. 

6 credits 

This course introduces the content, major forms, and contexts of the New Testament documents, the history and development of earliest Christianity, as well as methods of biblical interpretation. Online section available. 

3 credits 

Explores the Hebrew text of the short stories of Ruth, Jonah, and Esther, with particular attention to their ancient contexts, literary features and character development, depictions of life in the Diaspora and the “foreigner,” and theological perspectives. Considers a range of interpretive approaches to the stories, their reception in different communities, and how each is significant for Christian faith, life, and proclamation. Prerequisite: B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

This Hebrew-based exegetical course guides students through a variety of genres of the Old Testament, from narrative to poetry, covering portions of Genesis, Amos, and the Psalms. Prerequisite B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

A Hebrew-based biblical exegesis course focusing on the Song of Songs. Prerequisite is B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

An introduction to interpreting the Hebrew text of Genesis, particularly chapters 1-12. Participants will develop further competence in Hebrew and exegetical skills, practice various interpretive methods, and consider Genesis as a theological resource for Christian faith, proclamation, and mission. Prerequisite: B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

This Hebrew-based exegesis course explores the books of Amos, Hosea, Micah, and First Isaiah by situating them in the historical and social contexts of eighth-century Israel and Judah. Compares the different prophetic understandings of YHWH as well as theological concepts such as faith, justice, and the role of the prophet. Prerequisite: B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

This Hebrew-based course introduces exegetical methods through study of the book of Daniel and provides an overview of Biblical Aramaic grammar, syntax and vocabulary. Attention will be given to the ancient literary, historical, apocalyptic, and theological dimensions of Daniel, and to its place in traditional and recent eschatological interpretation. Prerequisite: B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

This Hebrew-based exegesis course explores the origin and shape of the so-called Deuteronomistic History, the nature of prophecy in Israel and the ancient Near East, and the rise and fall of Israelite and Judean monarchies. Prerequisite: B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

This Hebrew-based exegetical course guides participants through the variety of genres featured in the book of Psalms, from lament to praise.  Participants will refine their translation skills as well as broaden their exegetical toolbox by exploring various methods of interpreting the Psalms.  Prerequisite B505 Introductory Biblical Hebrew or equivalent. 

3 credits 

An introduction to the art and practice of exegesis through the study of Mark’s gospel. Students will engage in close reading of the text by means of a variety of critical methods, drawing from: historical, literary, social, and cultural criticisms. Prerequisite B501 Essentials of Greek or equivalent. 

3 credits 

This course will explicate linguistic, theological, historical and political aspects of select texts from Luke-Acts. It will offer tools for interpreting the texts in light of current socio-political contexts for the purposes of preaching and teaching in congregations. Prerequisite B501 Essentials of Greek or equivalent. 

3 credits 

In this course students will engage in close critical readings of Galatians and the Acts of the Apostles with consideration to literary and historical contexts, as well as the Greek texts. Particular attention will be given to the proclamation or kerygma of the early ekklesia, theological constructions, revelation, community, violence, hierarchy, ‘othering,’ and the intersection of race or ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, and/or religion. Prerequisite B501 Essentials of Greek or equivalent. 

3 credits 

In this course, students will review basic Greek grammar, learn some intermediate Greek grammar, and build Greek vocabulary while reading passages from the Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew. Students will become familiar with the content and historical context of Matthew. Students will also learn how to perform word studies of Greek words within the literary context of Matthew. This course requires that students write an ‘exegesis’ paper. Students will be expected to interpret the scripture passage/pericope on which they choose to write their ‘exegesis’ paper and to utilize their facility with Greek.  In writing the ‘exegesis’ paper students will engage a contemporary social justice issue. Prerequisite: B501 Essentials of Greek or equivalent. 

3 credits 

First Corinthians is addressed to the ekklesia that the Apostle Paul founded in Corinth. In this course students will engage in close critical readings of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian believers. Readings will consider historical and literary context, as well as the Greek text. Students will discuss Paul’s reason for writing, his rhetorical responses to the problems in Corinth, ancient Roman slavery, the intersection of gender, authority, and hierarchy, as well as contemporary relevance. An English-based course, that may be taken as Greek based exegesis with permission of the instructor and prerequisite B501 Essentials of Greek or equivalent. 

3 credits 

In this course, students will engage in close and critical readings of the Greek text of Revelation. Students will explore Revelation’s distinctive rhetoric, theological vision, socio-political context, and contemporary appropriation in communities of faith.Greek-based exegesis course. Prerequisite B501 Greek.  

Online. 

3 credits

Explores the book of Genesis, paying particular attention to its ancient Near Eastern contexts, narrative and character development, and theological perspectives. Considers modern interpretive approaches to Genesis, the lasting influence of the book on Western art and literature, and interpretations and uses of the book in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 

3 credits 

Interprets Song of Songs, with particular attention to the book’s rhetorical strategies, theological significance, and roles in Jewish and Christian liturgies. Considers ways in which the poetry and passion of Song of Songs may inform faith communities today. 

3 credits 

Considers the God the Psalms address, the prayers and daily life, and the how the Psalms relate to liturgy and pastoral ministry. 

3 credits

Traces the interpretation of the book of Ecclesiastes in Jewish and Christian communities in various modes (e.g. theology, liturgy, visual art, music, philosophy, film). Focuses on important questions raised by the book of Ecclesiastes as well as crucial interpretive problems as they feature in the reception history of this biblical text. English based.  
Online. 

3 credits

In a time of polarizing division in American culture, the possibility of mutual dialogue and understanding might seem like an impossible dream. Contrary to popular opinion, however, the Bible is itself a braided tapestry of differing perspectives preserved for critical dialogue and praxis.  Participants will explore the rich theological diversity of the Hebrew Scriptures dialogically from Genesis to the Psalms and the Wisdom literature.  In so doing, participants may discover ways to host genuine dialogue within their own communities in such a time as this. 

3 credits

Explores Lamentations and Second-Isaiah (Isa 40-55) using a variety of interpretative methods. Pays particular attention the texts’ ancient Near Eastern context, diverse literary genres, descriptions of trauma and suffering, attempts at comfort, and theological significance. Considers both as vital resources for Christian faith, proclamation, and mission. 

3 credits 

Explores the origins and development of the Yahwistic religion of ancient Israel, including the history of the divine name YHWH, the significance of YHWH’s remote desert origins and connections to Midianites and Edomites, various theories concerning the emergence of the ancient Israelites, Israel and YHWH’s distinctive connections with marginal socio-cultural groups, the gradual development of monotheism, the evolution of the divine council, the presence of the divine feminine in ancient Israel, and comparisons with the religious practices of other cultures in the Southern Levant. The course concludes with reflections on the implications for contemporary theology and Christian practices. 

3 credits 

Explores the book of Exodus using a variety of interpretative methods. Pays particular attention to the book’s ancient Near Eastern context, narrative development, diverse literary genres, and theological significance. Considers Exodus as a vital resource for Christian faith, proclamation, and mission. 

3 credits 

Reads selected Gospel texts in their first century colonial contexts and examines how they have been used to justify oppressive agendas such as the colonial enterprise of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries as well as neocolonial structures in various contemporary domains. Explores interpretive strategies for reclaiming Gospel texts for liberative purposes. 

3 credits 

Examines the role of images within the Old and New Testaments, as well as the history of Christian and Jewish visual representations of biblical texts. Analyzes selected images that crystallize different theologies of images and modes of biblical interpretation. Considers various theological and hermeneutical frameworks that undergird these images. Students will learn how to interpret Jewish and Christian art and will develop a theological perspective on the use of visual art in the contemporary Church. 

3 credits 

Intersectionality, Social (In)Justice and Womanist/Feminist Biblical Interpretation 

Explores issues of ethnicity, race, gender, class, and sexuality and how they intersect in the biblical text and/or in the lived realities of interpreters and interpreting communities. Examines how womanists (nonwhite women scholars that self-identify as womanists and who prioritize nonwhite women’s experiences, traditions, and concerns) and feminists (white and nonwhite women and men scholars who self-identify as black/feminists) biblical scholars have addressed such intersectionalities when interpreting biblical texts. Focuses on issues of social (in)justice (e.g. violence against women, police brutality, poverty and so on) and interlocking oppressions (racism, classism, sexism, and heterosexism) and how students can foreground and/or address such concerns when doing biblical interpretation. 

3 credits 

This course engages close readings of selected passages in the book of Revelation, with attention to literary genre, socio-historical context, and postcolonial theory. The course will deploy womanist and feminist critiques of its imagery while paying special attention to the theo-political implications of its ecclesiology.  
Hybrid. 

3 credits 

The historical-political context in which Jesus lived and the biblical writers wrote was the Roman Empire, and Rome was an ancient slave society in which slavery was a pervasive reality. The course will explore slavery under the Roman Empire as a significant context for critically reading certain New Testament texts. How can Roman slavery help us understand certain NT texts? And what might the NT reveal about slavery and its authors?  Focused attention will be on Philemon, 1 Corinthians, Galatians and the Gospels. The course will compare ancient Roman slavery with slavery in the antebellum South, observing the similarities and differences. The continuities allow students to place NT texts in conversation with antebellum texts and to imaginatively fill gaps in the former. Spiritual slave narratives and other historical documents demonstrate how slave masters used the NT to support slavery and how enslaved and freed Africans interpreted NT scripture based on their own experiences. 

3 credits 

This course develops a theological approach for dilemmas in race relations by exploring the  
relationship be­tween ethnoracial identity, gender, and Christian identity, with attention to  the writings in the New Testament. Lectures and discussions about NT texts and readings about ethnic and racial identity help students un­derstand the biblical world-view and modern and post-modern constructs regarding the intersectionality of ethnoracial identity. Students will be ex­posed to several biblical, theological, and theoretical approaches that will be used to help them construct a Christian posture about race issues in society affecting a variety of ethnoracial groups. Classes include lectures, small and large group discussions, online exercises, and student-lead seminars. 

3 credits 

Considers the letters of Paul as examples and resources for local theology. Explores the nature of local theology as the intersection of cultural context, tradition, and the church. Applies theory and practice of local theology to reading Paul’s letters and thinking of him as a theologian. English based. 

3 credits 

This online, intensive explorations course will critically read the Gospel of Luke from Africana and womanist perspectives with special attention to God’s visitation with the marginalized, the poor, people without homes, and/or masses ‘who stand daily with their backs against the wall,’ including women and people labeled as sinners. Reading Luke from Africana and womanist perspectives allows students to experience how people with a collective history and present existential experience with trauma based on the intersection race, gender, class, and sexuality read Luke to affirm God’s presence with them and to remain hopeful in, and faithful to, the God who is able to do all things and who visits with the most vulnerable. Particular attention will be given to Lukan material and how ‘Luke’/the author revised his sources for his purposes in the Gospel of Luke. Also, students will gain facility in reading Lukan texts within their literary contexts, with some attention to historical context. This course will also host a few guests who experienced homelessness, minister to persons who are homeless, and/or are activists. 

3 credits 

3 credits 

3 credits 

3 credits

3 credits 

3 credits 

An independent study in Old or New Testament undertaken in the final semester of the MA(TS) program. Students do analytic, constructive work on a specific topic and produce original research in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements. 

3 credits 

This class focuses on the research and initial writing stage for the student’s thesis project, supervised by the advisor and in conjunction with the ThM director. 

3 credits 

In this independent study, a student works with the primary advisor to develop a reading list in the area of research interest and writes a literature review of the sources in preparation for the thesis writing. This course is supervised by the student’s primary advisor with the assistance of the instructor of the ThM Research Seminar. 

3 credits 

Required of all ThM students, leading to the completion of the ThM thesis. 

3 credits 

Proverbs invites us into an ancient and ongoing conversation about what is good and wise and true in life. This course explores the book using various interpretive methods, and pays particular attention to how Proverbs shapes the moral and theological imagination of its readers. 

3 credits 

Interprets Song of Songs, with particular attention to the book’s ancient Near Eastern and Israelite contexts, rhetorical strategies, metaphors, connections to Israelite wisdom literature, and history of reception. Considers ways in which the poetry and passion of the Song can inform faith communities today. 

3 credits 

Explores the book of Genesis, paying particular attention to its ancient Near Eastern contexts, narrative and character development, and theological perspectives. Considers modern interpretive approaches to Genesis, the lasting influence of the book on Western art and literature, and interpretations and uses of the book in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  

Hybrid. 

3 credits 

The wisdom literature of the Old Testament is rich with insight about God’s relationship to the world and humanity’s place in it.  The class will explore the many faces of wisdom in the Bible, focusing specifically on Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, which together mark the journey of faith and wonder coram deo.  Knowledge of Hebrew is recommended but not required. 

3 credits 

This online course will critically engage womanist and feminist biblical interpretation with a focus on contemporary justice issues. The pandemic has highlighted and aggravated existing racialized and gendered disparities, injustices, and violence. Biblical texts and contexts will be analyzed in dialogue with scholarship on medical apartheid, history of black transexuals, and sexual violence. Conversations around gendered sexual violence will include sustained discussion of the crucifixion of Jesus and #MeToo. 

Online. 

3 credits 

This course engages close readings of selected passages in the book of Revelation, with attention to literary genre, socio-historical context, and postcolonial theory. The course will deploy womanist and feminist critiques of its imagery while paying special attention to the theo-political implications of its ecclesiology.  
Hybrid. 

3 credits 

Traces the interpretation of the book of Ecclesiastes in Jewish and Christian communities in various modes (e.g. theology, liturgy, visual art, music, philosophy, film). Focuses on important questions raised by the book of Ecclesiastes as well as crucial interpretive problems as they feature in the reception history of this biblical text. 

3 credits 

An extended reflection on The Apostles` Creed, The Lord`s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments that presupposes no prior knowledge of Christian theology. Case studies are used in order to discuss the practical significance of the theological reflections.

The course will look at Christianity in its different cultural, geographical and historical expressions from its rise as a movement from within the Jewish context, to its Hellenistic, Coptic, Western and now global manifestations. The serial, rather than progressive expansion of Christianity will be highlighted. Students will be introduced to the distinctive features of the different cultural expressions of the Christian faith. The rise and expansion of Islam and the ways it affected the trajectory of Christian history and thought will be examined. Similarly, the demographic shift of Christianity from the global north to the global south will be covered through a survey of the histories of Christian missions, with particular attention to indigenous agency in the translation and appropriation of Christianity in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

This course invites students on a journey through Christian history from the first century to the present. With emphases on the movements and turning points that shaped Christianity across the globe, the course engages primary sources and contemporary historical interpretations. Hybrid.

This course traces global movements of Christianities from the early church to CE1700, using historical-critical analyses of primary texts, the development of ideas and practices, their interactions with other religions, issues of gender and race, and outcomes of diverse traditions of today’s World Christianities.  Counts as History of Christianities distribution requirement.

The course traces global movements of Christianities from CE 1500 to present, using historical-critical analyses of primary texts, the development of ideas and practices, their interactions with other religions, issues of gender and race, and outcomes of diverse traditions of today’s World Christianities.

Introduces the basic doctrines of Christian faith. Studies classical theological paradigms, their contemporary reinterpretation, and the significance of theology for the life of the church.

Introduces the basic doctrines of Christian faith. Studies classical theological paradigms, their contemporary reinterpretation, and the significance of theology for the life of the church. Prerequisite: H 550, or permission of the instructor.

This course explores how Christian ideas about love (principally agape) have intersected with the ways the church has talked about justice.  This online intensive course will build from a number of case-studies, including several related to the current Coronavirus pandemic, and will satisfy the MDiv Christian Ethics distributional requirement.

Students examine theories of leadership and ethics in light of current debates about the motives and actions of leaders in both church and society. Students also explore the relevance of such theories for understanding their roles as leaders and followers in various ministerial and institutional contexts. Hybrid or Online. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement

Does God act in the world? And why is there so much suffering? No two sets of questions seem more impervious to human thought or more important to life and ministry. They are also the guiding questions of the class.  Counts as a Christian Ethics distribution requirement course.

Students analyze current debates regading public policies in light of ethical theories of justice. Each student engages in small group work on a public policy, writes a position paper on a selected policy issue, and develops a program for educating a specific audience on the selected issue.  Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement

This course uses social and ethical interpretation of the church as a human community as a point of departure for exploring barriers to and dynamics of moral discourse in communities of faith. Theories of racial, ethnic, gender, and cultural identity are used to examine demographics of communities of faith and students as religious leaders. Theories of conflict transformation, intercultural communication, and dialogue are used to develop models of moral discourse for application in congregations or other group settings in which students practice ministry. Meets Ethics Distribution Requirement.

Christian ethics involves multiple voices and varied perspectives expressed over time and in many contexts. This course traces the histories that have shaped Christian Ethics, giving special attention to the way they complicate and make possible the church’s moral witness.

Considers how we now understand the church`s early confession, “Jesus is Lord,” questions whether we should use the same language today and the political implications of doing so. A cross between Christology and political philosophy.

Explores the history and practice of nonviolence as movements in the United States and around the globe as well as the ways in which nonviolence is a practice of liberation ethics. Class time will also be used to learn the philosophy and strategies of nonviolent protest.

Explores how theologians try to make moral sense of life and death in relation to issues such as euthanasia, abortion, cloning, and healthcare reform.

Christian ethics is born out of conflict. This statement refers to both the history of Christian ethics as an academic discipline and the ongoing call to pursue a faithful Christian life. Christian ethics thus brings us face to face with the conflicts and crises that inform our very being. In this course, we will examine issues such as climate change, violence, capitalism, racism, and sexism with the belief that they present challenging opportunities for critical engagement and transformation. We will reflect on what it means to respond to these challenges faithfully as practicing Christian ethicists and how we might account for those responses.

This course examines Presbyterian history and polity from the colonial period to the present across diversities of age, ethnicity, gender, geography, and race through careful study of a myriad of source materials ranging from historical texts to the Book of Order.

This course focuses on the ways in which a diverse array of Christian individuals, congregations, and institutions across U.S. history understood race and privilege, perpetuated or opposed racial discrimination, and pursued reconciliation through careful study of primary sources, scholarly interpretations of American religion, and the work of critical race theorists.  Counts as the American Religious History distribution requirement.

Examines the histories of a diverse array of Christian individuals, groups, and traditions in colonial North America and the United States through close analysis of primary sources and secondary interpretations. Students will identify critical themes and explore various methods to study the past, apply historical lessons in the present, and move forward together toward a more faithful future.

This course is an examination of the development of Islamic religious thought and practice and its theological and cultural interactions with Christianity. It will undertake an historical survey of the rise of Islam and go on to examine its major dogmas and rituals. Particular attention will be paid to the five faces of Islam: missionary, mystical, political, militant and progressive faces. The historical, theological and political intersections with Christianity will be highlighted. Pressing theological questions on the nature of God and God’s revelation in the two religions will be addressed. Finally, the course will introduce students to different models of historical and contemporary Christian responses to Islam and engagement with Muslims.

An introduction to the development of Islamic religious thought and practice. It will survey the major dogmas and rituals that shape the Islamic faith. Particular attention will be paid to the mission and theological significance of Muhammad, scripture and revelation in Islam; major Islamic groups, Islamic law and Islamic teaching on Christians and Christianity. The course will equip students to theologically and biblically engage with Islam and relate to Muslims in a post 9/11 world context.  Counts for world religions distribution requirement.

This course will examine Christian constructive theological responses to the situation of religious pluralism, from the early church to the present, with an emphasis on contemporary voices, such as Jacques Dupuis, Mark Heim, and Paul Knitter. The class will enable students to see that religious pluralism is not a new situation, but one that Christians have been addressing since the writing of the New Testament. Students will read and engage a variety of perspectives on religious pluralism, with the goal of developing their own theological interpretations.

This course explores the nature of the movement of the Christian faith and the historical, theological, and missiological implications that this movement has on the life of Christian communities throughout the world. Through a focus on the current demographic transformation of Christianity, students are exposed to emerging theological and historical dynamics which are both in continuity and discontinuity with Western historical and theological Christian encyclopedia by giving voice to theological articulations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Investigates the unity and diversity of perspectives on Jesus Christ from a variety of social, political, and cultural contexts around the world. The challenges and opportunities of cross-cultural theological conversations are explored in light of the mixed legacy of colonial missions. Connections between Christological models and contextual religious practices are highlighted.  Fulfills the MDiv World Christianities distribution requirement.

H587 GLOBAL RELIGION, LOCAL FAITH: A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF WORLD CHRISTIANITY, 1500-PRESENT

Students will study the history of world Christianity as characterized by encounters, expressions, and conflicts that occur across the boundaries of culture, religion, and place. This course will primarily use historical approaches to investigate the ideas, communities, and people who actively generate these phenomena. The course is designed to help students make connections, generate comparisons, and examine the diversity and depth of world Christianity, as well as attend to its compromises with oppressive structures and powers.

Students will examine the intercultural and cross-cultural dimensions of African Christianity as a historically local and global religion. This course will examine popular conceptions of “Africa” in relation to religion, Christianity, and the world in order to investigate Africans as creators of their own Christian histories, theologies, and practices.

This course investigates the histories of Christian theology in American culture from colonial to recent times. Exploring the making of diverse theologies across U.S. history, the course will examine Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Mormon constructions as well as African American, Asian American, Latino/a American, Native American, feminist/womanist, and emerging church perspectives. Utilizing history as a source to better understand theology in America, the course entails careful analysis of theological texts and the cultural and historical contexts in which they were formed.

This course critically examines the development of Christianity in Asia between sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The Treaty of Tordesillas (1493) set the stage for early modern Iberian conquest and Christianization of the globe. In the spirit of Catholic Reform, the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius of Loyola (1540), became the largest missionary order. Although some small Eastern Orthodox communities existed in enclaves, the Jesuits brought Christianity for the first time in most of Asia. The resulting stories are complex. Francis Xavier already reached Portuguese Goa in 1542. During the subsequent years, the interactions between the Jesuit missionaries and new converts in religiously diverse traditions and cultures in India, Japan, China, Indonesia, Philippines, and other parts of Asia birthed new churches and produced new expressions of Christianity. These “native” Christianities caused controversies in Europe. The local environment was often hostile and challenging. Soon the Protestants began to reach Asia.

An examination of representative women who helped shape the Reformation movements. Studies the range of women`s leadership in Lutheran, Reformed, Radical, English, and Catholic Reformations in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Addresses the critical issues in studying women in history

New approaches to the period known as the age of discovery, expansion, and Reformations in Western Europe (14th-17th C) through a global perspective. Discussion topics include: redefinitions of the Christian gospel and diverse expressions of Reform ideas and practices, biblical textual humanism, the printing press and communication networks, the revival of martyrdom, Christian identity and race/ethnic identity, community and social discipline, mission, trade, slavery and colonialism, encounters with other religions, the birth of new churches in non-European lands, sexuality, vocation, and women in the Reformations.

H605 HISTORY OF RELIGION AND AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE: FROM THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE HUNGER GAMES

This course explores the history of religion and culture in the United States from the nineteenth century to the present to analyze how Christianity has been represented in popular literature, art, music, and film. Looking beyond American pulpits and congregations, students will investigate how doctrines like redemption and sin and practices like lament and confession are formed and transformed in popular works such as Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Norman Rockwell’s paintings, the jazz music of the Harlem Renaissance, and The Hunger Games films.

An introduction to writings by women who found their “vocation” as monastic creative writers, abbesses, theologians, visionaries, mystic teachers, spiritual guides, humanist educators, city reformers, apologists, catechists, and leaders of sodalities. Explores the ways in which biblical, theological, anthropological and social arguments were used against women in officially ministering within the church. Women questioned the status quo and created venues to preach and engage in sacramental ministries.

An examination of Luther`s (1483-1546 C.E.) reformation in the context of late medieval and early modern Europe and beyond. Readings include Luther`s major biblical, theological and polemic works. Traces the development of his reform ideas and practices in interaction with other reform movements. Discusses issues of the Peasants’ War, Jews and Turks, national identity, witchcraft, and marriage and vocation for women and men.

This class provides an introduction to Reformed theology through the lens of an order of worship.  Using the “Service for the Lord’s Day” as an organizing structure, the course will explore major themes, thinkers, and texts from the Reformed tradition.  Throughout the term, the question of continuity and diversity within the Reformed family will be addressed.

Explore many Christian perspectives on the Holy Spirit through history and from a variety of contemporary contexts, exploring questions such as: in Christian faith and Scripture, who is the Holy Spirit? How does one discern the Spirit amidst the spirits? What is the relation between Jesus and the Spirit? What is Christian life lived in the power of the Spirit?

Surveys the development of baptismal and Eucharistic theologies through history and explores some of the various debates concerning baptism and Eucharist in churches around the world today.

Investigates social consequences of religious belief through resistance against Nazism (Dietrich Bonhoeffer), against racism through the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (Martin Luther King, Jr.), and against Rwandan genocide (Emmanuel Katongole) asking: How do ideas about God shape the way communities and individuals engage the social order?

This course explores the theologies that underlie Christian notions of embodiment, desire, and sexual activity and attempts to connect those theological notions to contemporary issues of sexuality that confront the Church.

Explores historical and theological perspectives on equity, diversity, and inclusion and their practical applications to form communities where people are truly valued and included. More now than ever faith communities need skills and strategies, resources and tools, to live together in ways that are authentically equitable, culturally diverse, racially just, and radically hospitable. This course will focus on the development of “best practices” for creating and leading communities of just practice that have the capacity to engage in difficult conversations on race, privilege and power.

This course re-conceptualizes “margins” (marginalized social locations) as epistemological and moral vantage points at which the marginalized are able to reconstruct theological languages in moral response to social injustice. Students first explore the creative possibilities located at the margins by drawing on Victor Turner’s account of “liminality,” Nancy Fraser’s account of “subaltern counterpublic,” and Sang Hyun Lee’s Asian American Theology. Then, students examine the lived experiences of the communities at the margins and their creative reconstruction of languages of God, Christ, Holy Spirit, Humanity, and Church.

The class will examine the major theological claims made about the church and consider them in light of the contemporary context of denominational realignment, political and racial polarization, emerging theologies, shifts in global Christianity, and post-COVID realities.

Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life and Min-Sun Kim’s Non-Western Perspective on Human Communication:  Implications for Theory and Practice are theoretical bases for this course.  Students learn theory and skills for communicating effectively and compassionately with persons of diverse race-ethnicities, cultures, and religious backgrounds.

John Paul Lederach’s theories of conflict transformation along with theories of transformative mediation and narrative mediation are studied.  These theories inform the practice of skills for sustaining relationships in contexts of conflict.  Students will practice conflict transformation skills and develop their own conflict transformation leadership style.

Theories regarding what constitutes dialogue (rather than conversation or debate) as well as the Democratic Dialogue—A Handbook for Practitioners provide theoretical and practical insights for this course.  Students will practice dialogue skills and develop dialogue models for discussing difficult topics in the varieties of contexts in which they practice ministry.

Students study insights from conflict transformation theory, organizational theory, and cognitive science on moral imagination as they complete the exercises in The Little Book of Contemplative Photography by Howard Zehr.

H624 PROPHETIC CRITICISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY: ETHICIST AS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CRITIC A seminar exploring how selected theological and social ethical questions are presented in cultural sources such as contemporary movies, novels, political cartoons, music, and visual art. Theories of cultural criticism and liberation theologies and ethics provide the analytical and dialogical frame for the course.

Examines the historical, sociological, and theological bases of feminist and womanist ethics to explore gender oppression, socio-religious ethics and the analysis of sexism, and the purpose of a movement against sexist oppression.

The sciences and the Christian tradition provide narratives about the end of the world. Yet how do these narratives relate? How do we evaluate them? And what are the implications of the narratives for the way we live and think today? This course, taught by a professor of astrophysics and a professor of religious ethics and offered jointly by Agnes Scott College and Columbia Theological Seminary, takes up those critical questions and provides students from both schools with opportunities to study widely, think critically, and learn respectfully in a cross-disciplinary setting.

Examines the ethical content of the writings of liberation theologians and ethicists and the ethical dimensions of topics relevant to struggles for liberation.

This course critically examines the development of contemporary virtue ethics and challenges its lack of proper attention to social justice. This course pays special attention to communities who suffer under a variety form of social injustice and then reconstructs virtue ethics for healing the suffering communities and addressing issues of social justice. In this course, student will (1) identify a case of an oppressed community, (2) thickly describe and analyze the community’s suffering, and (3) reconstitute the languages of virtues and human flourishing in response to social injustice by critically drawing on the works of moral philosophers and theologians such as Stanley Hauerwas, Alasdair Macintyre, Elizabeth Anscombe, Jonathan Lear, Lisa Tessman, Audre Lorde, and Katie Cannon.

The course will trace the development of interfaith dialogue in its organized and spontaneous forms. It will help students to appreciate the biblical and existential imperatives of dialogue with people of other faiths. The course will explore the theory and practice of interfaith dialogue and the different forms of dialogue, i.e. intellectual/theological, dialogue of life and spiritual dialogue. Different models of interfaith dialogue in different parts of the world will also be examined. Students will take part in some interfaith dialogue activities in the Atlanta area for observation and experience.

In the present global climate of terrorism with competing, conflicting and confusing views about Islam and Muslims in mainstream academic and popular discourses, the course seeks to help students understand and engage with Islam as a living tradition in all its multiplicity of expressions. The five faces the course seeks to address are: The Missionary Face of Islam; the Mystical Face of Islam; the Ideological Face of Islam; the Militant Face of Islam; and the Progressive Face of Islam. Students will be helped to see these different faces as overlapping circles rather than mutually exclusive compartmentalized boxes. The course adopts a pedagogical approach which aims at helping students attain a holistic understanding of the Muslim faith as it is lived out in different cultural and geopolitical contexts.

This seminar examines four recent attempts to reinterpret Christology in response to urgent issues facing the contemporary church. The four are: Marilyn McCord Adams, Christ and Horrors: The Coherence of Christology (2006); Gordon D. Kaufman, Jesus and Creativity (2006); Kathryn Tanner, Christ the Key (2010); and Graham Ward, Christ and Culture (2005). Students will be asked to write two 8-10 papers on two of these texts.

An examination of the roots of the feminist theological movement in earlier Christian history, the significant voices from the 1960`s and 1970`s, and contemporary theologians who are working in feminist theology today. In the final weeks of class, students work on projects on topics of particular interest. Prerequisite: H550 or equivalent

This course will examine salient theologies that focus on the meaning of the cross of Jesus starting from selected passages from Apostle Paul’s letters to Luther’s theology of the cross to more contemporary theological expressions from Bonhoeffer, Moltmann, Douglas J. Hall, C.S. Song, Kosuke Koyama, James Cone, Mary Solberg, and others. Although the course will include atonement theologies it will go beyond them to include theologies of suffering from emergent nations as well as recent works on nonviolent interpretations of the cross. Prerequisite: H550 or H551.

Offers an overview of the theology of Karl Barth through close attention to his Church Dogmatics, Epistle to the Romans, and selected occasional writings. Barth’s understandings of revelation, the Word of God, election, reconciliation, and ecclesiology will be explored. Prerequisite: H 550 or instructor’s permission.

Students study the topic of religion and violence from historical, psychological, sociological, theological, and ethical perspectives as they develop an analytical perspective regarding religion’s role in conflict and violence. Students develop their own theological-ethical perspective on the relationship between religion and violence as a component of their overall theology of ministry. Best if students have some background in church history, theology, and/or worship.

Explores how love (agape) and justice relate with emphasis on the role each plays in the church’s attempts to address social problems.

H693 Independent Study in Theology

H694 Independent Study in Christianity and World Religions

H695 Independent Study in Philosophy

H696 Independent Study in Mission, Ecumenics, and World Christianity

H697 Independent Study in Ethics

H699 MA(TS) Final Independent Study

An independent study in Church History, Ethics, or Theology undertaken in the final semester of the MA(TS) program. Students do analytic, constructive work on a specific topic and produce original research in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements.

Students create the reading list with their adviser and meet to discuss the reading and their research.

This is the required independent study completed in conjunction with the required Thesis Reading and Research course. The purpose of this course is for the student to write a literature review of the sources read during the Thesis Reading & Research course. This course is supervised by the student’s primary advisor with the assistance of the instructor of the ThM Research Seminar.

In this seminar students study the lives and writings of women of color or other minoritized women
(e.g. religious) from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. The lives and writings of these women are explored as models and sources for faithful discipleship, social activism, and doing public
theology (constructive ethical reflection) on issues of social justice.

This course investigates the history of Christian migrants across diversities of race, culture, and ethnicity as they created new churches in the United States with particular attention to pastoral ministry and practical implications for Christian leaders moving forward. In addition to African American, Asian American, European American, and Latino/a American congregations, the course will engage Native American churches and the emergence of multicultural congregations.

What has it meant to be Presbyterian in the United States? This course examines the multifaceted history of the American Presbyterian experience from the colonial period to the present across diversities of age, ethnicity, gender, geography, and race. By looking at a myriad of source materials – sermons, theological treatises, congregational records, missionary publications, and archival findings – the course will cover the evolution of Presbyterianism in the United States and explore how church leaders may apply lessons from the past to contemporary local and global ministries.

This course examines the implications of Barth’s theology for the practice of ministry. Particular attention will be paid to his understanding of election, his Christology, and especially his ecclesiology. Both Western and non-Western ministry contexts will be considered.

In this course, students will explore antiracist theological positions and practices for their ministry contexts. The course will investigate the history of racism in general, the connection between colonialism and racial constructs, the role of Christian theology and churches in supporting racial divisions, and how Biblical and theological resources can be use to counter racism rather than perpetuate it. Students will reflect upon life experiences that have shaped their understanding of race, especially as connected to God and the Christian faith. The majority of readings will be from authors who are black, indigenous, and persons of color.

Investigates social consequences of religious belief through resistance against Nazism (Dietrich Bonhoeffer), against racism through the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (Martin Luther King, Jr.), and against Rwandan genocide (Emmanuel Katongole) asking: How do ideas about God shape the way communities and individuals engage the social order?

This class will explore the theology and practice of Christian praying. Drawing on classical and contemporary writings and the students’ own experiences, we will reflect on major questions such as: What is prayer? What happens when we pray? Does it affect God? Does it affect us? What is Christian prayer in particular? How do we pray?

Traces the central focus of spirituality in the Christian community throughout its existence, beginning with the early church that is largely in the East, and shifting to the West in the Medieval period. Gives attention to the renewal of spiritual life in the church, its sources, and its relationship to context in order to determine what sources are useful for the church today.

This course deals with seven books that have had great impact on the spiritual lives of Western Christians. They come from the monastic tradition as well as significant books of the English Protestant world. There will be an annotated reading list for those registering for the course. Reading the material and writing the brief responses outlined in the pre-assignment is expected. The final assignment of the course will involve creating material for the use of a congregation at the present time, based on elements from the different readings.

A close examination of the writings and works of the Society of Jesus from its inception by Ignatius of Loyola in the 1530s to the papal suppression of the Society in 1773. Seminar topics include: a) spirituality (especially Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises); b) evangelization (global mission, theory and practice); c) interreligious dialogue; d) ministry (active apostolate, priesthood and women; and e) martyr theology and martyrdom.

This course will critically examine the emerging themes of Asian North American history and theology. The course will explore these themes from various sources including historical, theological, personal, literary, and cinematic narratives. The course is designed for DMin students in the Asian North American Ministry and Theology concentration, but other qualified students are welcome to register for the course.

In this course students will study theories of leadership and ethics. Current issues and events are the backdrop for discussions about motives and actions of leaders in both church and society. Students will also explore the relevance of these theories for (a) developing an adequate concept of ethical leadership for the twenty-first century, (b) understanding the practices of leaders, and (c) assessing and developing their own leadership styles in their various ministry and institutional contexts.

An examination of writings by medieval women and their theological, spiritual and vocational quest. Discusses methods of teaching women’s texts from history in churches.

Students examine theories of leadership and ethics in light of current debates about the motives and actions of leaders in both church and society. Students also explore the relevance of such theories for understanding their roles as leaders and followers in various ministerial and institutional contexts.

Considers how Christians should think theologically about politics and the public and how Christians might speak in, as, and toward that public. Students will develop their own theologies of public engagement through an examination of the work of several prominent “public” theologians, including Dorothy Day, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Stanley Hauerwas.

Black women have a rich history of prophetic religious thought and activism. In this seminar students read primary source documents written by black women from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. These documents are engaged as sources for doing constructive ethical reflection on issues of social justice and public policy.

This course will explore Christian constructive theological responses to situations of religious diversity from the early church to the present, with an emphasis on contemporary voices. Inspired by the work of Diana Eck and the Pluralism Project, the approach to “pluralism” will emphasize appreciation for the variety of religious traditions, with attention to difference as well as commonality. The class will enable students to see that religious pluralism is not a new situation, but one that Christians have been addressing since the period of the New Testament. Students will engage several perspectives on religious pluralism, with the goal of developing their own theological interpretations, and with attention to navigating religious diversity in their specific ministry contexts.

Kathy Dawson, Anna Carter Florence, Christine Hong, Sue Kim Park, Melinda McGarrah Sharp, Jacob Myers, Rebecca Spurrier, Jeffery Tribble, Chanequa Walker-Barnes, Ralph Watkins, Lisa Weaver 

Prepares students to be liturgists and oral interpreters of scripture by offering a performance and proclamation theology for Reformed worship. Required of MDiv students in the first semester as a prerequisite to P530. 

0 credits 

This required course in the Master of Arts in Practical Theology (MAPT) degree program introduces the student to the basic vocabulary, understandings, and methods in the field of practical theology. Incorporating a wide variety of teaching methods, this course seeks to show the foundation upon which each of the four areas of concentration rests. This course meets as a one-week intensive course in August of each year with three follow-up sessions set by the course participants during the fall semester that directly follows it. 

3 credits 

Examining understandings of God, mission, and education, students learn basic educational concepts, analyze contemporary theories and practices, and develop approaches to Christian education. Meets the Christian Education Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

Surveys the field of human development and explores the developmental theories and methods that inform current education practice.  Faith interviews with children, youth, and adults are used to analyze and critique developmental psychology. Fulfills the educator certification requirements in human development for PC(USA) students. Meets the Christian Education Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

Christianity no longer holds sway over the American imagination. This calls us to reexamine the reasons and methods for gospel proclamation. Drawing upon theological, philosophical, and sociological materials, this course examines new ways of thinking about the preaching task in light of the shifts that are taking place in the world today. Meets the Christian Education Distribution Requirement.  

Online.  

3 credits 

The bible and biblical hermeneutics have shaped the lives of Christians everywhere and in every time. The bible has been harnessed to oppress and to liberate. It has been cited to exclude and include. It has been used to justify the isolation of some Christian communities and the expansion of others. This course will explore how the bible has been used for the formation of Christian and their communities, in different contexts. The course will explore how we might teach the study the bible through liberative pedagogy by utilizing creative educational tools and by incorporating the understanding of developmental theories. Meets the Christian Education Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

This course is an introduction to the theories and practices of Christian leadership. The course will explore such topics as leadership development, systems theory and practice, financial administration, and missional church development examining how Christian leaders exercise legitimate authority by directing, influencing, coordinating, or otherwise guiding the thoughts and behaviors of persons and groups.  The course seeks to create a space to discern and develop our unique qualities, characteristics, and expertise of Christian leadership with others through critical reflection and integration of course material. Meets the Christian Leadership Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

Many of us will be called to congregations that have witnessed a decline over the years or are in need of missional realignment. These congregations are referred to as “turnaround” churches.  In this course we address what a turnaround church is and how one might lead a congregation in the process of missional realignment via evangelism and community engagement. Meets the Christian Leadership Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

The integration of evangelism, spiritual formation, and community building are the central themes upon which this course is built. We explore the need to share the gospel in innovative ways and as growth occurs the task of building a strong faith community must be done simultaneously.  The whys and how to both share the gospel and build community are addressed in this course. Meets the Christian Leadership Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

An introduction to the fundamentals of pastoral care, including how to respond in common pastoral situations (including individual, premarital, couples, family, and crisis situations). Students develop a biblical and theological framework for understanding their own pastoral identity, the meaning of care of persons, and the pastoral role of Christian community. Attention is given to professional ethics, gender and intercultural sensitivity, making appropriate referrals, and the spiritual importance of self-care and boundaries. 

3 credits 

This course prepares students to proclaim the good news of the gospel in and beyond the pulpit. Students of every level of experience will learn and sharpen the skills necessary for the preparation and delivery of sermons that are faithful, creative, and transformative.  The course explores theories and practices of preaching with particular emphasis on the interpretation of texts and contexts, theologies of proclamation, and listener engagement. Includes the preaching of sermons and the delivery of public addresses in small workshop groups. Prerequisite: P150 Scripture Reading Practicum. 

3 credits 

Christian worship has taken various forms from the earliest days of the Church.  This course will survey the diversity of liturgical expression in the Western church throughout the centuries and in our own time, while also considering the common elements that all Christian worshipers share.  Special attention will be given to the theology and practice of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Students will also explore themes such as the Christian year, liturgical space, music and the arts. Meets Worship Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

This course will consider the theological, liturgical, and homiletical aspects of occasional services in the life of the church: weddings, funerals, services of healing and wholeness, ordination, and other rites related to baptism. Students will explore cultural attitudes and sociological analyses regarding rites of passage in the church, consider those rites theologically, and examine liturgies associated with those rites. Meets Worship Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

Christian Worship unifies human bodies in love and praise of the God who makes this worship possible. At the same time, God-given and culturally inscribed human differences contest the possibility of a unity of persons and communities gathered before God. In this course, we consider the hope and challenge of Christian worship through the work of scholars and theologians who analyze the marks of gender, ability, race, class, and nationality as these affect worshiping bodies of Christians. How can we understand divine justice in relationship to the human differences manifest and hidden in the church’s prayer and praise? How might churches and communities engage and desire human difference?  Meets Worship Distribution Requirement. 

3 credits 

This course surveys the African American worship experience. Examining worship, students will develop awareness of worship content and meaning by engaging multiple African American traditions, preaching in class, and constructing a theological and practical analysis of African American worship practices. 

3 credits 

This course is designed for Master of Arts in Practical Theology degree students in their final spring semester. Building on formative understandings developed in P500 Introduction to Practical Theology, students will continue to explore different models and issues within the field. A particular emphasis on vocations within Practical Theology will form a distinctive portion of this course. 

3 credits 

Intercultural and Inter-religious Intelligences: Learning and Teaching a Posture of Openness 

What does it mean to live, teach, and minister in a world or a neighborhood that is both intercultural and inter-religious? How do we learn how foster intercultural and inter-religiously open postures in communities and in ministries that have yet to embrace diversity and difference? What are the skills and capacities needed to co-create understanding between people of different cultures and religious traditions? This course will explore these questions and more through readings, spiritual practices, group projects, site visits, guest speakers, media, and seminar style discussion. Students are encouraged to share their own experiences and interests in intercultural and inter-religious engagement as part of their course participation. 

3 credits 

Explores youth subculture and its implications for ministry, including the developmental challenges of youth, ministry with young people in crisis, changing family patterns, and emerging strategies in ministry with youth and their families. 

3 credits 

Focuses on the many facets of children`s ministry.  The perception of children is explored theologically, developmentally, and educationally. Includes opportunity to refine skills in biblical storytelling and lesson planning, survey of resources for helping children to grow in faith, and field trips to sites that educate children. 

3 credits 

This course will explore the many facets of camp, conference and retreat ministry. It will focus on the form and function of programming and how it relates to all aspects of site administration. Students will be introduced to the principles behind mission statements, program models, staffing and facility management, as well as trends and standards within this important field. 

3 credits 

An introduction to and analysis of instructional resources available from denominational and nondenominational publishers. Students will also design a curriculum resource on a topic of interest to them within the field of Christian Faith Formation. 

1.5 credits 

Using Children’s & Adolescent’s Literature in Christian Faith Formation 

This class will explore the rationale for using children’s books and adolescent literature in  
Christian faith formation as well as the process and criteria for evaluating and selecting books to use. Students will have the opportunity to practice various storytelling techniques and to develop a bibliography of children’s or adolescents’ literature based on a topic or theme of interest to them. Special attention will be given to the genre of fantasy fiction as a means to have conversations of faith with these age groups. 

1.5 credits 

This course will explore the use of recreation to address the developmental, educational, and spiritual needs of children, youth, and adults. Students will have hands-on opportunities to plan and lead recreational activities that could be used in a variety of ministry contexts. 

3 credits 

Through a blending of religious art and group processing, this course probes various dynamics of the spirituality of creative education through the arts. Students will examine their spiritual grounding and imagination as educators and practitioners through the examination of art and the creation of art. Students will also create and present their artwork to one another as a way of practicing and sharing dialogically. Rev. Darci Jaret will be our guest art instructor for five sessions. The course requires students to purchase art supplies in lieu of books. Readings will be provided via Moodle. 

3 credits 

In this course students study what makes media social and theologically enriching.  It focuses on the culture of sharing photos as a means of evangelism.  Students will be taught what makes visually strong images that are shared / liked and how to make visually strong images that effectively share the Gospel. Students will do projects that engage blogs, Instagram, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook (and other photo sharing platforms) that are conducive for sharing the Gospel over the web. 

3 credits 

Jesus’ ministry in the city was one of justice and inclusion and as result his following grew. What does it look like for a church in the city to be a justice minded church that takes into consideration the stratification and inequity in the city as a call to stand with the most marginalized.  This class looks at the why, how and what of being a faith community committed to actively seeking social justice as the key ingredient for evangelism in the city. 

3 credits 

In this course students will engage the emergent church and the missional church models as dialogical partners with established congregational life.  This course deals with the tension and integration of the old and the new as the class seeks to uncover what God is doing in God’s church as God leads us into the 21st Century.  The class will ask and work at answering, what does the 21st Century church look like as compared to a 20th Century church. 

3 credits 

This course addresses the theological issues surrounding the virtual dimension of faith as negotiated in cyberspace. This course will also explore the phenomena of virtual faith expressions and what their creation implies for the future of the church.  
Online. 

3 credits 

We are living in the age where people are living fully digitally integrated lives and the church must engage. How is the church to be the church in the age of media that is visual, social and digital?  What means of ministry should the church engage to be a faithful and authentic in this present age? These and other questions guide this course. 

3 credits 

In this course we study story structure and explore ways to share the Gospel via creative multi-media approaches. Students will do projects that engage the screen (computer, tablet and phone) by creating videos that effectively share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Students will be taught how to shoot and edit videos to be posted on Vimeo, YouTube, and Flickr or other appropriate platforms. 

3 credits 

Reaching Young Adults in the Digital and Media Age: Foundations of Young Adult Ministry 

Many of our churches are using methods and practices to communicate the gospel that were fitted for a previous generation that was a church-going population. This course is designed to help us think about why and how we can effectively share the gospel with young adults in a media/digital age by using technology as a resource to build community and transform lives while also addressing the foundations of young adult ministry.  
Online. 

3 credits 

Explores the relationship between vocational stress, mindfulness, and self-care among the helping professions, including pastors, chaplains, and therapists. Examines the causes and forms of stress that helping professionals experiences, with particular attention on trauma exposure response. Utilizes experiential exercises to explore self-care and mindfulness practices that sustain long-term careers and prevent burnout. 

3 credits 

Death, Dying, & Grief: Intergenerational & Intercultural Perspectives 

This course will help equip ministry leaders to hone practicing attention to and remaining present in the midst of death, dying, illness, loss, and grief. The course places these dynamics of communal life in a narrative frame that attends to both theological and psychological aspects in intergenerational and intercultural perspectives.  P520 preferred, not required. 

3 credits 

Explores the basics of family systems theories as a basis for understanding dynamics at work within families and congregations. Enhances understanding of the student`s own family system and the impact of this system upon formation for ministry. Addresses issues relating to personal and professional boundaries.  
Online. 

3 credits 

Utilizes an intersectional and interdisciplinary framework to analyze how systemic oppression impacts the well-being of women and girls of African descent in the US, particularly health, relationships, education, and criminal justice involvement. Explores Black women’s coping strategies and models for culturally competent pastoral care and counseling practice. 

3 credits 

Explores systems of family evaluation and counseling, emphasizing theorists and clinicians such as Bowen, Minuchin, Satir, Nagy, and Haley.  
Hybrid. 

3 credits 

McGarrah Sharp 

This listening practicum deepens skills of self-awareness and empathy through shared texts, whole class discussions, and three listening analysis practices: intersectional listening, collaborative listening mapping, and receiving and responding to generative feedback.  The final project invites students to identify goals for growing in intersectional listening, to practice each of the three listening analysis skills in the student’s own context(s), and to propose an individualized listening growth plan. 

1.5 credits 

There is no question of the pervasive presence of violence in the world throughout human histories and into contemporary contexts. Building on a basic framework of moral discernment, students practice pastoral responses in the face of violence in a variety of intercultural contexts. Students focus pastoral imagination around three complex yet distinct Christian responses to violence: complicity, bystander, and resistance.  
Hybrid. 

3 credits 

What’s the difference between responsible boundaries and harmful borders? Students will probe this question from a pastoral theological perspective.  Drawing on narratives of border life and policies around responsible pastoral practice, students will evaluate and construct pastoral theologies of borders and boundaries in the mission and cultures of communities of faith. 

3 credits 

Acquaints students with ways to think theoretically and theologically about the family, with the assumption that all Christian ministers have involvement with family dynamics and systems theory implications. Objectives are to develop appropriate pastoral /theological responses to family issues in congregational contexts; to gain familiarity with some major schools of family therapy; to be reminded of the importance of the pastor`s own family experience in the student’s pastoral work; and to begin developing a theology of family life. 

3 credits 

How does one prepare for responsible spiritual care when disasters interrupt the patterns of everyday life? What is a faithful response when a disaster arrives for which there was no precedent or preparation?  Using theories and practices of disaster spiritual care and reviewing interfaith disaster spiritual care resources created in various historical settings including resources created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, students will develop a collaborative disaster spiritual care toolkit to use and share with other faith leaders. 

1.5 credits 

Explores the theory, methodology, and practice of the appropriate scope of counseling in the parish context. This includes accountability and consultation, confidentiality and boundaries, networking and referral, principles of psychological and theological diagnosis, and the theological rationale of pastoral counseling in the congregation.  
Hybrid. 

3 credits 

Explores phases of family development and their impact on those entering, living in, and leaving the family; also studies developmental, situation, and nodal (divorce, retirement, and geographical uprooting) crises and events faced by families. 

3 credits 

This class will be of use for those whose “vocation” calls upon and invites them to engage in theological reflection in a variety of settings-parish ministry, chaplaincy, and clinical venues-and in turn for those for whom they care, as this topic can then be taught in adult and other education settings (CPE, confirmation classes, etc.) contexts. Matters of formation, spiritual discipline and human development will be considered. 

3 credits 

Examines how diversity and changing cultural conditions influence family life. Discusses shifting cultural norms regarding gender identity, sexuality and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and religion impact family formation and dynamics in contemporary US culture. Promotes reflection upon how personal and religious beliefs about relationships affect pastoral and clinical care to diverse marriages, families, and relationships. 

3 credits 

Preachers are charged with an impossible task, argued Karl Barth. With only human words at our disposal we are charged, somehow, to preach God’s Word. This seminar engages foundational traditions and texts that have sought to respond to the impossible possibility of preaching with eyes to the horizon of our ever-shifting contemporary contexts. 

3 credits 

Post-Christian Proclamation: Seeking Resilience in God’s Changing World 

Christianity no longer holds sway over the American imagination. This calls us to reexamine the reasons and methods for gospel proclamation. Drawing upon theological, philosophical, and sociological materials, this course examines new ways of thinking about the preaching task in light of the shifts that are taking place in the world today. 

3 credits 

How do preachers speak into a time of disaster and crisis? How do we find the words, strength, resources, wisdom, creativity, and support to preach sermons that will address the suffering of the people? What old and new imaginations do we need, to engage Scripture and its power to bring healing and hope? Through readings, sermon recordings, interviews, and art, students will explore these questions—particularly as they relate to preachers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic—and create a plan for their own growth and preparation, for the future. Includes the preaching of sermons. 

3 credits 

From Sanctuary to Screen: Adapting to Online Preaching and Worship Leadership 

Our recent experiences with remote worship have taught us: preaching in front of a camera instead of a live congregation calls for a different set of skills and sensitivities. This practicum gives students the opportunity to explore the pastoral dynamics, theological issues, and performative elements of remote preaching, and to prepare and record their own sermons for workshop discussion. Students will consider a wide range of resources and tools, including homiletical readings, drama class videos, interviews with pastors, and exercises actors use when making the transition from stage to screen. 

3 credits 

The Christian year enables the church to mark time in a profound way.  In this course, students will walk through the seasons of the liturgical year — from Advent to Epiphany to Lent to Pentecost to Ordinary Time — to see how theological themes and metaphors of these seasons unfold and build layers of meaning for Christian communities.  Drawing on these insights, students will then explore the possibilities for preaching and worship, creating their own sermons and liturgies.  Attention will be given to the use of language, the role of music and other lively arts, and the well of resources, both ancient and contemporary, that is available to worship planners.  No prerequisites. 

3 credits 

This course aims to analyze the challenges to preaching for justice vis-à-vis politics in contemporary American contexts. Students will study how preachers have pursued proclamatory justice in light of these challenges in the past, consider some contemporary proposals for continuing that work, and then extend the practice with sermons of their own. The course moves, then, from sociopolitical analysis to a history of practice to practical counsel to the practice of preaching. That movement—a kind of practical theological reflection—is itself one of the main things this course hopes to teach. The P530 Preaching course is recommended but not required as a prerequisite.  

Hybrid. 

3 credits 

Postmodernism—along with its methodological cousin, deconstruction—has shaped the last fifty years of Western thought. As both a philosophical and cultural phenomenon, postmodernism calls for careful attention by any who would proclaim the gospel with theological awareness and contextual relevance. This intensive course will interrogate the central themes and theorists associated with postmodernism and discuss postmodernism’s implications for contemporary Christian preaching. 

3 credits 

This course is a communal exercise in getting “back to the text” by reading and performing together an entire book of Scripture – in this case, the stories in 1 and 2 Kings. Students will read widely in biblical studies pertaining to 1 and 2 Kings, see how artists have interpreted its themes and characters in art, literature, film, and poetry, experiment with various ways of reading and rehearsing and improvising a Scriptural narrative, and finally create a group performance, which we will then offer to the community. This course happens annually in the spring with a different biblical text each year and is open to students in all degree programs. No prerequisites 

3 credits 

In every social sphere, human beings are shaped by enacted, patterned activity often known as ritual.  This course is designed to introduce students to ritual studies through an examination of human behavior, symbol, language, music, space, art, and time. Attention will also be given to anthropological and theological approaches to the study of ritual in order to analyze the meaning and importance of Christian ritual practices. 

3 credits 

Good worship planning is an art form as well as a spiritual practice. Through a course focused on planning chapel services for the Columbia seminary community, students engage in collaborative worship planning and theological reflection. Using knowledge gained through worship and preaching courses as well as gaining new skills in ecumenical and intercultural worship planning, students learn practices for empowering churches and communities to plan worship together. 

1.5 credits 

This course explores emerging themes in women’s engagement in worship with special attention to how women’s spirituality shapes this engagement. Drawing from womanist/feminist/mujerista perspectives, issues of language, images of God, embodiment, space, symbols and worship leadership will be explored. 

3 credits 

Words and images for worship have the power to give life or to harm, to facilitate or to hinder the prayer and praise of the people of God. In this course students compose and create words and images for worship for different services and occasions. Students develop a portfolio for use in a congregational or other context. 

1.5 credits 

Disability is an important part of every Christian community, yet few churches are equipped to address ableism and thus transform their understandings of God, the human body, worship, ministry, and religious leadership. This course provides students with theological and practical tools to support congregations and communities in the work of disability justice. 

1.5 credits 

Every week, people throughout the world gather to worship God in their respective churches. They also gather in places beyond the walls of the church: in hospitals, prisons, juvenile detention centers, care facilities, retirement homes, camps, conference centers, and more. This course will explore particular issues relating to worship and chaplaincy in these contexts. Students will learn about the particularities of various parachurch contexts (people, facilities, resources, etc.), evaluate worship in these settings, and plan a worship service for three different settings. 

3 credits 

We the People, the Body of Christ:  Rights, Rites, and Identity Politics 

This course will explore notions of belonging through the lenses of birth and baptism in colonial America.  Particular attention will be given to the institution of slavery and the theological arguments for and against it within the church.  In addition to the Bible, students will engage various primary sources (narratives of enslaved people of African descent, colonial law, congressional records, minutes from church meetings, correspondence) to understand the development of both theological and legal thought with respect to “who belongs” and how those thoughts are reflected in current political and ecclesial contexts. 

3 credits 

Explores experiences of crisis and trauma, and considerations of pastoral theological responses needed to assist in the care of mind, body and spirit.  Emphasis will be given to widening the circle of care in response to these experiences, and to the extant resources available. Samples a range of crisis experiences through readings, video and podcasts, and homiletic and other texts. Explores ways of deepening understanding of crisis and trauma, some of the theological anthropolog(ies) available, and pastoral theological resources. A sub-text in the narrative is resilience—bouncing back and flourishing in the new normal—and the concomitant strategies for cultivating resilience. Drawing upon a variety of resources, and one another, engages the experiences of crisis and trauma from a broad range of clinical, pastoral, psychological and theological perspectives.  
Online. 

3 credits 

This course is designed to develop competence, imagination, and self-and-other awareness in intercultural and interfaith pastoral care and counseling. Students will develop in-depth disciplines of awareness and reflection upon the questions of history, ethnicity, gender, power, sexual orientation, race, and class that have shaped the nature of therapeutic and pastoral encounters. The course will explore the pastoral counseling, pastoral care, and clinical pastoral education applications of the deepening awareness in the field for interfaith, intercultural competence, practices, and ethical and clinical reflection. The course will include experiential components, and CPE, SM510, or other significant ministry/contextual experience is preferred. 

3 credits 

Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental disorders, including efforts to understand their genetic, biological, psychological, and social-cultural etiology; effective classification schemes; across all stages of development; manifestations; and treatment. Special attention will be given to the theological hermeneutics of the human condition as appropriate to the topic and goals of the course, such as the existential nature of anxiety, and so on. The word psychopathology has a Greek origin: ‘psyche’ meaning “soul”, ‘pathos’ is defined as “suffering”, and ‘-ology’ is “the study of.” Wholly, Psychopathology is defined as the origin of mental disorders, how they develop, and the symptoms they might produce in a person. The religious, cultural, and theoretical assumptions of “normalcy” will also be addressed. This course is among the clinical course options required for Associate Licensure in Georgia. Please refer to the Georgia Composite Board for full requirement details. Prerequisite: P520 Introduction to Pastoral Care.  
Online. 

3 credits 

Imagination “empowered by the Spirit” is the lifeblood of prophetic preaching. Drawing upon traditional and contemporary approaches to preaching, this course will lead students to innovate upon said styles and to incorporate preaching styles across cultures and denominations. Particular attention will be paid to inductive, narrative, performative, and poetic preaching styles. Limit of 5 master level students; Prerequisite P530. 

3 credits 

This course presupposes that the rhythms of God’s creative work can and should inform the preaching life. Drawing upon the work of cultural creatives (e.g., slam-poets, comedians, actors, and novelists), students will explore ways of expanding creativity in sermon development and delivery. In-class exercises and peer feedback will invite life-long participation in God’s redemptive rhythms in service of the church and the world God loves. Prerequisite P530. 

3 credits 

3 credits 

3 credits 

Florence, Myers 

3 credits 

Staff 

3 credits 

Tribble 

3 credits 

Staff 

3 credits 

Staff 

This class focuses on the research and initial writing stage for the student’s thesis project, supervised by the advisor and in conjunction with the ThM director. 

3 credits 

Staff 

In this independent study, a student works with the primary advisor to develop a reading list in the area of research interest and writes a literature review of the sources in preparation for the thesis writing. This course is supervised by the student’s primary advisor with the assistance of the instructor of the ThM Research Seminar. 

3 credits 

Staff 

Required of all ThM students, leading to the completion of the ThM thesis. 

3 credits 

Dawson, Hong 

This course is the introductory seminar for those persons beginning the Doctor of Educational Ministry degree program and therefore provides an overview of the program, a survey of the various disciplines to be studied in the program, and enables the student to relate their study to their context for educational ministry.  The course is framed by the tasks of practical theology as they lead to Christian formation in congregational settings. 

6 credits 

Dawson 

Provides for advanced study in teaching and learning as Christian formation. Particular attention is given to various teaching theories with an emphasis on faith formation. Various teaching methods will be explored with a practicum component in the course enabling students to practice, evaluate, and hone their skills as a teacher and a teacher of teachers. Hybrid. 

3 credits 

Dawson 

A core course for the DEdMin degree. This seminar assumes that participants are familiar with a basic understanding of the classic developmental theories such as Piaget, Kohlberg, Fowler, Freud, Erikson, and Gilligan. Students focus in the area of faith, spiritual, and religious development, looking at different ways of conceptualizing the Christian life from historical and current theorists. Emphasis is placed on child and adolescent spirituality in particular in the exploration of best practices for presenting the gospel at different ages. 

6 credits 

Hong 

A core course for the DEdMin degree. Students think beyond curriculum as a lesson plan or resource and explore the history of curriculum theory in the church and world. Special emphasis is placed on obtaining a multicultural and interfaith perspective on this issue as well as comparing the course of public education in the U.S. to Christian education. 

3 credits 

Hong 

This course is a seminar-style class that aims to help DEdMin students develop educational care resources for communities with histories of conflict, trauma, and pain. Discussions and explorations in assessment, self-care, dialogical exercises, and understanding minoritized communities will undergird the course. Students are invited to bring their own contexts and ministries to bear in the course. 

3 credits 

Hong 

Informed by their learning in P773, the student will create and implement an original curriculum design on a topic most often related to their project.  

Online. 

3 credits 

Dawson, Hong 

Required of all DEdMin students. 

6 credits 

Hong 

Christianity no longer holds sway over the American imagination. This calls us to reexamine the reasons and methods for gospel proclamation. Drawing upon theological, philosophical, and sociological materials, this course examines new ways of thinking about the preaching task in light of the shifts that are taking place in the world today. 

3 credits 

Watkins 

How are we to be Church in a networked world? The triple revolution of the internet, social networking and mobile devices will serve as the center pieces of conversation around which this course revolves as we ask how does the church integrate this new reality into the life of its ministry?  In the midst of this revolution how is the church to reinvent itself while also being faithful to the past ways we have been church?  Participants will be invited to see the future now as we seek to be the church in the present age. 

3 credits 

McGarrah Sharp 

There is no question of the pervasive presence of violence in the world throughout human histories and into contemporary contexts.  Building on a basic framework of moral discernment, students practice pastoral responses in the face of violence in a variety of intercultural contexts.  Students focus pastoral imagination around three complex yet distinct Christian responses to violence: complicity, bystander, and resistance.  
Hybrid. 

3 credits 

Myers 

Creativity, empowered by the Spirit, is the lifeblood of strong preaching. Drawing upon techniques employed by fiction writers and other cultural creatives, this course will immerse students in the creative writing process for sermon development. Particular attention will be paid to narrative, prophetic, and oral/aural styles of writing. This course will operate like a writing or sermon development group, wherein students will read one another’s original work and offer constructive and critical feedback. 

3 credits 

Dawson 

This seminar assumes that participants are familiar with a basic understanding of the classic developmental theories such as Piaget, Kohlberg, Fowler, Freud, Erikson, and Gilligan. Students focus in the area of faith, spiritual, and religious development, looking at different ways of conceptualizing the Christian life from historical and current theorists. Emphasis is placed on child and adolescent spirituality in particular in the exploration of best practices for presenting the gospel at different ages. 

3 credits 

Myers 

Imagination “empowered by the Spirit” is the lifeblood of prophetic preaching. Drawing upon traditional and contemporary approaches to preaching, this course will lead students to innovate upon said styles and to incorporate preaching styles across cultures and denominations. Particular attention will be paid to inductive, narrative, performative, and poetic preaching styles. 

3 credits 

Tribble 

Explores the role of the pastor as spiritual leader embracing key adaptive issues for personal, congregational, and communal transformation. Acknowledging that leading a congregation through processes of deep change may be risky and costly, we explore current interdisciplinary ministry approaches for pastors leading congregations through processes of transition involving time and learning where identity, mission, culture, and operating procedures are fundamentally altered. This class is a seminar for students to work on actual case studies from their church and ministry contexts.  
Hybrid. 
3 credits 

Park 

The required course in Contextual Education for the Master of Arts in Practical Theology. In this 400-hour, 6 credit course of Supervised Ministry, students are engaged in an action-reflection model of ministry with a supervisor and a Supervised Ministry Team, and are challenged to grow in the student’s chosen area of practical theology.  The course may be an internship, allowing students to gain experience in a particular area of practical theology. For students already working professionally in ministry, their current ministry site may serve as the context for this course. 

6 credits 

Park 

The student engages in the ministry of a teaching congregation serving in a broad range of pastoral functions and engaging in a structured process of theological reflection with a supervising pastor and lay committee. (Summer or fall/spring semesters concurrently) 400 hours in summer or 200 hours each semester. 

6 credits 

Park 

An internship that engages the student in ministry within an academic, medical (non-CPE), denominational, ecumenical, or other institution. The student gains experience in a particular area of ministry or service, and develops the skills, insights and knowledge needed to relate this work to the larger institutional structures and mission. Supervision provided by a theologically trained leader within the institutional site. This course may be taken for 400 hours, 6 credits (Summer, or fall/spring semester concurrently); or for 200 hours, 3 credits. 

3 or 6 credits 

Park 

An internship that helps students gain experience for ministry and work in a specialized setting. The student will work with a supervisor to develop skills, insights, and knowledge needed for effectiveness in the particular form of ministry/work to be engaged. Specialized ministry internships may take place in congregational or non-congregational settings, and may include youth ministry, public ministry, non-profit work, criminal justice, campus ministry, camp and conference ministry, education, etc. This course may be taken for 400 hours, 6 credits (Summer, or fall/spring semester concurrently); or for 200 hours, 3 credits. 

3 or 6 credits 

Park 

The student engages in ministry in a new or emerging faith community to gain experience in evangelism, organizational development, entrepreneurial leadership skills, and other pastoral skills. The student will engage in a structured process of theological reflection with a supervising pastor or other practitioner. (Summer, or fall/spring semesters concurrently) 

6 credits 

Staff 

CPE brings students into supervised pastoral encounters with people in crisis in order to develop pastoral identity and skills, interpersonal competence, and capacity for theological reflection. Clinically trained supervisors provide educational leadership. Placement limited to institutions accredited by the Associationfor Clinical Pastoral Education.  Fulfills the MAPT requirement for students concentrating in Pastoral Care. Full-time for 6 credits; or part-time, 3 credits per semester. 

6 credits 

Staff 

An additional, advanced unit of CPE that builds upon the learning of the first unit and provides further pastoral education.  Prerequisite: Basic unit of CPE. 

6 credits 

Park 

An internship providing students additional congregational experience in pastoral ministry and leadership. Students are encouraged to concentrate in a particular area of ministry such as Christian education, pastoral care, worship and preaching, administration, etc. while also engaging more broadly in the life of the congregation. Designed to enhance a student’s competence, leadership skills, and vocational clarity in ministry in a congregation. Prerequisites: SM 510 and completion of 60 credits. This course is 400 hours, taken full-time in the summer or part-time (200 hours each) over concurrent semesters, 3 credits per semester. 

3 or 6 credits 

Park 

An advanced internship in a ministry setting in which students gain additional experience in a specialized field.  Students work with a supervisor to enhance basic competence, leadership skills, and vocational clarity in the area of specialization. Such specialization includes public ministry, non-profit agency, youth ministry, campus ministry, camps/conference ministry, criminal justice/prison ministry, etc. The context may be congregational or non-congregational. Prerequisites: SM510 and at least 60 credits. This course is 400 hours, taken full-time in the summer or part-time over concurrent semesters, 3 credits per semester. 

3 or 6 credits 

Park 

This course is an independent study arranged with the director of contextual education and a professor or professors with knowledge in the particular area of focus. Approval of the dean of faculty is required. 

3 credits 

Park 

A full-time internship that provides an in-depth experience in the life and ministry of a teaching congregation.   The internship takes place over the course of a year (9-12 months), and includes the option of 1 additional course taken in January term. 

6 credits 

Park 

A full-year internship in one or more ministry/work settings. Students engage in a specific context of ministry or work to develop the skills, insights, and knowledge needed for effective ministry and leadership. An action-reflection model under supervision is required. Specialized ministries include CPE residency, youth ministry, public ministry, non-profit work, criminal justice, campus ministry, camp and conference ministry, international mission, etc. Prerequisite: completion of at least 60 credits. 9-12 months, full-time, 6 credits. 

6 credits 

Park 

A 400-hour (minimum) internship for students who seek to gain experience of ministry under supervision specialized areas not designated in other internships. Summer (full time) 6 credits. Fall and/or Spring (part-time), 3 credits per semester 

6 credits 

Tribble 

Designed by the DMin student and approved supervisor. The student engages in a specific aspect of ministry of the church and utilizes an action-reflection learning process with a peer group and approved supervisor. 

3 credits 

Tribble 

Recommended for DMin students in the Christian Spirituality specialization. Involves engagement in a ministry of the church related to spiritual formation and sharing issues and concerns in a peer group with an action-reflection process.  Supervision by an approved instructor. 

3 credits 

Tribble 

Recommended for DMin students in the Gospel, Culture and Transformation of the Church specialization. Designed to meet the major challenges of this specialization; involves students in a ministry of the church with particular aspects of modern culture.  Includes work with peer groups and approved supervisor in an action-reflection process. 

3 credits 

Tribble 

Designed by the DEdMin student and approved supervisor. The student engages in a ministry of the church, often outside the student`s normal setting for ministry, and utilizes an action-reflection learning process with a peer group and approved supervisor. 

6 credits