Course Textbook List

Find the list of course texts for upcoming terms here. Please note that sometimes textbook lists may change between course registration and the beginning of the term. For any textbooks you purchase, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with your bookseller's return policy. You may also want to consult the Wiggin Library course reserves page.

Spring 2026

Signature Courses

• Vocational Studies 2: Communities [Robersmith & Mosby]
  •  Required Texts:
    • Meadows, Donella H. 2008. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing.
    • Wimberly Jr., John W. 2010. The Business of the Church: The Uncomfortable Truth That Faithful Ministry Requires Effective Management. Rowman & Littlefield/Alban
  • and at least one of the following—one you’ve not read yet!—considering how people include and exclude people from religious/spiritual communities:
    • UUA Commission on Institutional Change. 2020. Widening the Circle of Concern. UUA. UUA report on institutional barriers, particularly around racism and white supremacy
    • Rahnema, Mitra. 2017. Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity, and Power in Ministry. Skinner House Books. UUMA organized book on the experiences of BIPOC religious professionals/clergy
    • Mishra Marzetti, Manish and McDonald Ladd, Nancy. 2024. Seeds of a New Way. Skinner House Books. Building on Centering, this book considers the future of diverse religious leadership.
    • Belser, Julia Watts. 2023. Loving Our Own Bones. Beacon Press. A beautifully written book on intersections, joys, & challenges of disability & spirituality
    • Rafferty, Erin. 2022. From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational  Leadership. Baylor Unversity Press. A clearly Christian book, but one with a focus on empowerment and justice with and for disabled people in congregational life.
    • Hunt, Ruth, ed. 2021. The Book of Queer Prophets: 24 Writers on Sexuality and Religion. William Collins.             A book full of multi-religious first-person essays on people’s experiences of  queernesses and religions. Some stories address pain, abuse, and hardship; some stories address discovery, transformation, and joy. Some do both.
    • Wilcox, Melissa M. 2020. Queer Religiosities: An Introduction to Queer and Transgender Studies in Religion. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.  An academic and accessible book about how religions and cultures include, exclude, and transform in the presence of queerness. 
  • There will be additional articles, videos, websites and other resources for many weeks, too.
• Leadership Studies 2: Administration [House]
  • TBA

MDiv Requirements

• Introduction to Pastoral Ministry [Taylor]
  • Kujawa-Holbrook, Sheryl, Montagno, Karen. Injustice and the Care of Souls: Taking Oppression Seriously in Pastoral Care (2023 second edition). ISBN-10: 1506482473. MAKE SURE TO USE THE CORRECT EDITION 
  • Law, Eric H.F. The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community. ISBN-10:  082724231X
  • Leas, Speed B. Discover Your Conflict Management Style.  ISBN-10: 1566991846
  • McGarrah Sharp, Melinda. Misunderstanding Stories: Toward a Postcolonial Pastoral Theology. ISBN-10:  1610972260
  • Skovholt, Thomas M, Trotter-Mathison, Michelle. The Resilient Practitioner (2025 fourth edition). ISBN: 9781032117577  MAKE SURE TO USE THE CORRECT EDITION
  • The above books are required reading for the course. Additional articles and chapters will be assigned and available via Populi once the semester begins.
• Topics in Worship & Liturgy [Johnson]
  • Books
    • Worship that Works: Theory and Practice for Unitarian Universalists, Arnason and Rolenz, 2nd Edition, 2017.    
    • Blessing it All: Rituals for Transition and Transformation, Concannon and Palm, 2024  
    • Think like a Filmmaker: Sensory-Rich Worship for Unforgettable Messages, McFee, 2016  
    • Interplay of things: religion, art, and presence together, Anthony Pinn, 2021  
    • Sharing the Word: Preaching in the Roundtable Church by Lucy Atkinson Rose, 1997  
    • Black Liturgies, Cole Arthur Riley, 2024  
    • Praying with Every Heart, Cláudio Carvalhaes, 2021.  
    • Newborn Bards: A Theology of Preaching for Unitarian Universalists (2nd Edition), Matthew Johnson. Read at least chapters 1, 2, and 6.  (This text is also in Dr. Hergert’s preaching class, if you read it last semester, just review chapters 2 and 6).   
  • Chapters:  
    • “Religion as Celebration” from Modern Worship by V. Ogden Vogt.   
    • “Ritual Change and Changing Rituals” by Catherine Bell   “Forward” and “Chapter 1: Nature and Significance of Play” from Homo Ludens by J. Huizinga  
    • “Chapter 1: Ritual as Spatial Director” by David Parkin, in Understanding Rituals ed. by Daniel de Coppett.    
  • UUA Meditations Manuals:   
    • Voices from the Margins (James, ed).  
    • Get either Reaching for the Sun (Herrera) or Breaking and Blessing (Dennison)
  • Books you should have access to already:  
    • Singing the Living Tradition, UUA
    • Singing the Journey, UUA
    • Between the Lines, UUA
    • Lifting our voices, UUA  
  • Videos:   
    • Sanctuary Boston: Watch at least one: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyzdK-QMrBzMnYXYt0iYNRQ/featured  
    • Jacqui Lewis: https://www.theoed.com/jacquilewis  
  • Highly Recommended:   
    • Great Occasions: Readings for the Celebration of Birth, Coming of Age, Marriage, and Death, by Carl Seaburg. 2004.    
  • Also Recommended:  
    • Beyond Absence: A Treasury of Poems, Quotations, and Readings on Death and Remembrance by Ed Searl  
    • We Pledge our Hearts: A Treasury of Poems, Quotations, and Readings to Celebrate Love and Marriage by Ed Searl  
    • Dreaming the Dark, Starhawk, 2017  
    • The Shared Pulpit, Erika Hewitt 
• Global Religions [Dechant]
  • All students will be required to read most of the following three books. All three will be available as ebooks from the library.  
    • Bucar, Liz.  Stealing My Religion: Not Just Any Cultural Appropriation.  Harvard University Press, 2022.  
    • Hogue, Michael S., and Dean Phillip Bell. Interreligious Resilience: Interreligious Leadership for a Pluralistic World.  Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.  
    • Macfie, Alexander Lyon, ed. Orientalism: A Reader. New York University Press, 2000.  
  • All students will be required to read the following articles. All of these will be available via the course reserves page.  
    • Abu-Lughod, Lila. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others.” American Anthropologist 104, no. 3 (2002): 783–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3567256.  
    • Bigelow, Anna.  “Saved by the Saint: Refusing and Reversing Partition in Muslim North India.” The Journal of Asian Studies 68, no. 2 (2009): 435-464, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20619734.  
    • Chitwood, Ken. “‘It’s Changed Everything’: Interfaith Dialogue in the Wake of October 7, 2023.”  Interfaith America.  October 3, 2024.  https://www.interfaithamerica.org/article/interfaith-dialogue-october-7/.  
    • Jerryson, Michael.  “Monks with Guns,” Aeon. April 26, 2017.  https://aeon.co/essays/buddhism-can-be-as-violent-as-any-other-religion.  
    • Mahmood, Saba.  “Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival.” Cultural Anthropology 16, no. 2 (2001): 202-236, https://www.jstor.org/stable/656537.  
    • Olupona, Jacob. Interview by Anthony Chiorazzi.  The Harvard Gazette. October 6, 2015. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/10/the-spirituality-of-africa/.  
    • Pape, Robert A. “Violence and Religion.” The IDEA Society, YouTube video, 1:11:47, March 24, 2015. https://youtu.be/jxOaai-Qt1U?si=o6tF6bYM4GECICHb  
    • Pew Research Center.  “Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050.”  December 21, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/feature/religious-composition-by-country-2010-2050/.  
    • The Pluralism Project.  “Religions.”  Harvard University.  2024.  https://pluralism.org/religions.  
    • Schilbrack, Kevin.  “Religions: Are There Any?” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 78, no. 4 (2010): 1112–38.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/27919267.  
    • Tamale, Sylvia. “Confronting the Politics of Nonconforming Sexualities in Africa.” African Studies Review 56, no. 2 (2013): 31–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43904926.  
  • Project Readings: All students (either individually or in a group, depending on enrollment) will be assigned a set of readings and resources on one of the world’s religions. As will be detailed in the syllabus, the students will have to give presentations to their classmates based on these readings. Instructions for approaching the readings (including what portions of the words to focus on) will be provided in the syllabus.  All of those readings and resources can either be found on the web, are electronic articles or ebooks that students can access via the library, or else are library books that will be provided to the students.  The student will therefore not need to purchase any additional materials.
• Intro to Ethics [House]
  • Fluker, Walter E. Ethical Leadership: The Quest for Character, Civility, and Community. Prisms. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2009. https://i-share-mls.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CARLI_MLS/18en8el/alma991154622220905816
  • Schweiker, William, Maria Antonaccio, Elizabeth M. Bucar, and David A. Clairmont, eds. Encyclopedia of Religious Ethics. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2022. https://i-share-mls.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CARLI_MLS/1fr761p/alma991155799267905816  
  • Additional texts TBD
• New Testament [Beverly]
  • Ehrman, Bart D., and Hugo Méndez. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. 8th ed. Oxford University Press, 2023. ISBN: 9780197754023. (The 7th ed. is also okay.)
  • A study Bible with the text of the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (2021) or the New Revised Standard Version (1989) translation is required. You are welcome to purchase one, and you might prefer to have a paper copy, but some texts are available online through MLTS library, so a purchase is not strictly necessary. I recommend one of the following Bibles, listed in order of my preference:
    • Levine, Amy-Jill, and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Annotated New Testament. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2017. (The 1st ed. also okay.)
    • McKenzie, Steven L., Kristin De Troyer, and F. Scott Spencer, eds. The SBL Study Bible. HarperOne, 2023. ISBN: 9780062969439 (hardcover), 9780062969422 (paperback), or
      9780062970138 (ebook).
    • Coogan, Michael D., ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN: 9780190276072. (The 4th ed. also okay.)
  • All other required readings will be either available online through the MLTS library website or uploaded to Populi by your instructor.
• History of Global Christianity [Arten]: Zoom meetings TBD
• Tools for Parish and Non-Profit Administration [Verdine-Jones]
  • Required
    • Clark, Wayne. Beyond Fundraising: The Complete Guide to Congregational Stewardship. Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2007. ISBN: 1558965238, $20.
    • Harder, Cameron. Discovering the Other: Asset-Based Approaches for Building Community Together. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers: 2013. Kindle: $30.00, Paperback: $26.00. ISBN: 978-1566994293
    • Herring, Hayim and Terri Martinson Elton, Leading Congregations and Nonprofits in a Connected World: Platforms, People, and Purpose. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers: 2016. Kindle: $27.50, Paperback: $29.00. ISBN: 978-1566997690.
    • Hotchkiss, Dan. Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership. 2nd ed. Lanham, MD., 2016: Rowman & Littlefield. Kindle: $18.50, Paperback: $24. ISBN 978-1566997393 (Selected chapters to be assigned.)
    • Powe, F. Douglas. The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020. Kindle: $9.99, Paperback: $12.99. ISBN: 978-1501896521.
    • Rahnema, Mitra, ed. Centering: Navigating Race, Power and Authenticity in Ministry. Boston, MA: Skinner House Books, Unitarian Universalist Association, 2017. Kindle: $9.99,
      Paperback: $18. ISBN: 978-155896799.
    • Rendle, Gilbert R., and Susan Beaumont. When Moses Meets Aaron: Staffing and Supervision in Large Congregations. Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2007. Kindle: $15.04, Paperback: $23.09; ISBN: 978-1566993517.
  • Articles
    • Mathie, Alison and Gord Cunningham, “From Clients to Citizens: Asset-Based Community Development as a Strategy for Community-Driven Development,” Development in Practice, Vol. 13, No. 5 (Nov. 2003), 474-486. (Posted on Populi).
    • Whole Whale, The Nonprofit Organization’s Guide to Email Marketing:https://www.wholewhale.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Nonprofit-Organization%E2%80%99s-Guide-to-Email-Marketing.pdf.
    • Whole Whale, The Nonprofit Organization’s Guide to Social Media
      https://www.wholewhale.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Nonprofit-Organizations-Guide-to-Social-Media.pdf
  • Supplemental
    • Hooker, David Anderson. The Little Book of Transformative Community Conferencing: A Hopeful, Practical Approach to Dialogue. New York: Good Books, 2016. ISBN#: 978-1680991666. Price: $1.99 (Kindle), $5.99 (Paperback).
    • Dropkin, Murray, et al. Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Boards 2ND EDITION. Jossey-Bass. Paperback: $28.92.
    • Drummond, Sarah B. Holy Clarity: The Practice of Planning and Evaluation. Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. ISBN#: 978-1566993876. Price: $22.50 (Kindle), $24.00 (Paperback).
    • Heyman, Darian Rodriguez. Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals 2nd Edition. Wiley, 2019. ISBN#: 978-1119585459. Price:
      $19.99 (Kindle), $33.25 (Paperback).
    • Kanter, Beth and Aliza Sherman. The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2016. Kindle: $17.00, Paperback: $17.49. ISBN-13: 978- 1119251118.
    • Piazza, Michael S. Fishing in a Shallow Sea: Church Strategies in the 21st Century. Nashville: Abingdon, 2012. Students are invited to purchase this book and Vital Vintage Church from United Methodist Foundation of the Northern Illinois Conference at a cost of $5 for each or $10 for both which is a savings of $12 for both books. (https://threesimplerules.org/books). $10.00.
    • Steinke, Peter. Uproar: Calm Leadership in Anxious Times. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2019. Kindle: $14.49, Paperback: $18.90. ISBN-13: 978- 1538116531.
    • Wimberly Jr, John W. The Business of the Church: The Uncomfortable Truth that Faithful Ministry Requires Effective Management, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,
      2010. ISBN#: 978-1566994040. Price: $14.10 (Kindle), $25.00 (Paperback).
  • Note: Other readings or handouts will be posted on Populi.

DMin Requirements

• Theories of Liberation [House]
  • Admirand, Peter, and Thia Cooper, eds. The Future of Liberation Theologies. Reprint of the special issue. MDPI, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-7258-2898-2. This is a special edition of the journal Religions. Free pdf of the full journal.
  • Betancourt, Sofía, ed. Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies. Skinner House Books, 2025. Love at the Center print copies.
  • Green, Rachelle R. Learning to Live: Prisons, Pedagogy, and Theological Education. Baylor University Press, 2024. Learning to Live print copy.
  • Hayes, Kelly E., and Mariame Kaba, eds. Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care. Chicago, Haymarket Books, 2023.
  • Murray, Pauli, and Patricia Bell-Scott. Song in a Weary Throat: Memoir of an American Pilgrimage. Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2018. Song in a Weary Throat print copy. 
  • Sunstein, Cass R. On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom. The MIT Press, 2025.
  • Ferreras, Marlene M. Insurrectionist Wisdoms: Toward a North American Indigenized Pastoral Theology. Lexington Books: Lanham, MD, 2022. 
• Leadership & Ministry Research Colloquy [Hogue]: Fully online, Zoom meetings 6-8 PM Tuesdays (alternating weeks) 
  • Booth, et al: The Craft of Research (5th ed)
  • Graff and Birkenstein: They Say, I Say (6th ed)

Electives

• “They Not Like Us”: Stories of Resistance and Re(Formation) in Religious Education [Mosby]: Fully online, Zoom meetings 10 AM-Noon Wednesdays
• Apertures of Loss: Grief as a Spiritual and Political Emotion [Hogue]
  • Achile Mbembe, Necropolitics
  • Connolly, William. A World of Becoming
  • Critchley, Simon. Mysticism
  • Critchley, Infinitely Demanding: Ethics of Commitment, Politics of Resistance
  • Deleuze, Gilles. Pure Immanence
  • Hogue, Michael. American Immanence
  • James, William. Varieties of Religious Experience
  • Stengers, Isabelle. Making Sense in Common: A Reading of Whitehead in Times of Collapse
  • Weil, Simone. Gravity and Grace
• Travel Course: Proctor Conference [Mosby], February 23-26, Chicago, IL (includes work before and after conference)
  • TBA

Fall 2025

Signature Courses

• Vocational Studies 1: Formation [Kirk] 
  • Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Melville House, 2020 - ISBN 1612198554 Available as paperback, e-book, and audiobook.  
  • Erin Walter, ed. Care for the World: Reflections on Community Ministry (Skinner House Press, 2022) ISBN 1558968946. Available as paperback or e-book. 
  • Additional readings to be posted on Populi.
• Leadership Studies 1: Formation [Leach]
  • TBA
• Grounding: Theology and Social Praxis [Hogue]
  
  • King, Thomas. The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative (University of Minnesota Press, 2008): 978-0816646272
  • Macy, Joanna and Johnstone, Chris, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're In with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power (New World Library 2022): 978-1608687107
  • Miller-McLemore, Bonnie J. Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies About Calling (Oxford, 2024). ISBN: 978-0190084042.
  • Taiwo, Olufemi. Elite Capture, (Chicago: Haymarket, 2022): 978-1642596885
  • NOTE: Additional articles, chapters, and resources will be assigned. The library will have either print or ebooks for the required books.

Master of Divinity Required Courses

• Preaching As If You Mean It [Hergert] - Texts updated 6/23/25
  •  Required Texts
    • Lisa Thompson. Preaching the Headlines: Possibilities and Pitfalls. Fortress Press: 2021.
    • Lucas Hergert. Impassioned: A Guide for Progressive Preaching. Skinner House Books: 2025.
    • Otis Moss III. Blue Note Preaching in a Post-Soul World: Finding Hope in an Age of Despair. Westminster John Knox Press: 2015.
    • Matthew Johnson. Newborn Bards: A Theology of Preaching for Unitarian Universalists. 2nd ed., Independently Published: 2025.
    • Charles Campbell. The Scandal of the Gospel: Preaching and the Grotesque. Westminster John Knox Press: 2021.  
  • Recommended Text:  Peter Jonker. Preaching in Pictures: Using Images for Sermons that Connect. Abingdon: 2015.
• Constructive Theology [Hogue]
  • Anderson, Victor. Creative Exchange: A Constructive Theology of African American Religious Experience (Fortress, 2008). ISBN: 9780800662554.  
  • Gebara, Ivone. Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation (Fortress, 1999). ISBN: 9781451409901.  
  • Grau and Wyman, eds., What is Constructive Theology (Bloomsbury, 2020). ISBN: 9780567696540 (Intro and Select Chapters) [NOTE: ebook in library]
  • Hogue, Michael S. American Immanence: Democracy for an Uncertain World (Columbia University Press, 2018). ISBN: 9780231172325.  
  • Rivera, Mayra. The Touch of Transcendence: A Postcolonial Theology of God (Westminster John Knox: Louisville, 2007). ISBN: 9780664230739.  
  • Solle, Dorothy. The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance (Fortress Press, 2001).  ISBN: 9780800632663.
  • Tinker, George. Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation (Fortress, 2004). ISBN: 9781451408416.  
  •  NOTE: Additional articles, chapters, videos, and podcasts may also be assigned.  Print books, ebooks, chapters, videos, articles, podcasts, and supplemental resources are available through the Wiggin Library resource page for this class: https://library.meadville.edu/TS442INT
• Healthy Boundaries for Leaders [House]
  • Cooper-White, Pamela. Shared Wisdom: Use of the Self in Pastoral Care and Counseling. Revised and Expanded 20th anniversary edition. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2024.  
  • Fortune, Marie. Healthy Boundaries 201 – Beyond Basics: Course Workbook. FaithTrust Institute (faithtrustinstitute.org), 2012. https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/assets/files/FaithTrust-HealthyBoundaries201-English-2012.pdf*The Workbook is available online for free at the previous link, or a printed version can be purchased from Amazon at this link: https://a.co/d/2KZN20m.  
  • Hemphill, Prentis. What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World. New York: Penguin Press, 2024.  
  • Olsen, David C., and Nancy G. Devor. Saying No to Say Yes: Everyday Boundaries and Pastoral Excellence. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015.  
  • Pasquale, Teresa. Sacred Wounds: A Path to Healing from Spiritual Trauma. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2015.  
  • Reeves, Kenneth. The Whole Church: Congregational Leadership Guided by Systems Theory. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.  
  • Sawyer, Laurin D., Emily Cohen, and Annie Mesaros, eds. Responding to Spiritual Leader Misconduct: A Handbook. Seattle, WA: FaithTrust Institute (faithtrustinstitute.org), 2022. https://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/news-documents/Responding%20to%20Spiritual%20Leader%20Misconduct%20Handbook_FINAL_Digital_9_29_22.pdf. [This text is available online for free at the previous link, or a printed version can be purchased from Amazon at this link: https://a.co/d/a1JHt7j.  
  • Tawwab, Nedra Glover. Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself. New York: TarcherPerigee, 2021.  
  • Students will be required to choose from ONE of the following:  
    • Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. New York: Penguin Press, 2024.  
    • Murthy, Vivek Hallegere. Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. New York: Harper Wave, 2020.  
    • Ross, Loretta J. Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2025.

• Faith Formation in a Changing World [Mosby]
  • Blount, Reginald and Virginia A. Lee, Eds. Let Your Light Shine: Mobilizing for Justice with Children and Youth. Friendship Press, 2019. ISBN-10: 1733075933 
  • Boys, Mary C. Educating in Faith: Maps and Vision. Academic Renewal Press, 2001. ISBN-10: 078809906X  
  • Harris, Maria. Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church. Westminister John Knox Press, 1989.  ISBN-10‏: ‎0664240526   
  • Kujawa-Holbrook, Sheryl A. God Beyond Borders: Interreligious Learning Among Faith Communities. Pickwick Publications, 2018.  ISBN-13‏: ‎978-1630872564  
  • Morrison-Reed, Mark D. The Selma Awakening: How the Civil Rights Movement Tested and Changed Unitarian Universalism. Skinner House Books, 2014. ISBN-10: 1558967338 
  • Reyes, Patrick B. Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood. Chalice Press, 2016. ISBN-10: ‎9780827225312
• Unitarian Universalist History and Polity [Kirk]
  • John Buehrens. Universalists and Unitarians: A People’s History (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2011) ISBN 1558966129 Available as a paperback and e-book.
  • Dan McKanan, ed. A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism: From the Beginning to 1899 – Volume One (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2017) ISBN 1558967893   Available as a paperback and e-book.   
  • Dan McKanan, ed. A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism: From 1900 to Present – Volume Two (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2017) ISBN 1558967915  Available as a paperback and e-book.   
  • Mark D. Morrison-Reed, Darkening the Doorways: Black Trailblazers and Missed Opportunities in Unitarian Universalism (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2011) Available as a paperback and e-book.    
  • Cynthia Grant Tucker. Prophetic Sisterhood: Liberal Women Ministers of the Frontier, 1880-1930 (Indianapolis: Indiana Universality Press, 1994) ISBN 025320822X Available as a paperback.   
  • Holley Ulbrich. The Fellowship Movement: A Growth Strategy and Its Legacy (Boston: Skinner House Press, 2007)   Purchase the paperback directly through the InSpirit UU Book Shop for an affordable price. 

• Hebrew Bible [Beverly] 
  • Berlin, Adele, and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Study Bible. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780199978465.  
  • Collins, John J. A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Deutero-Canonical Books. 3rd ed. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018. ISBN: 9781506445991 (paperback) or 9781506446066 (ebook).

Doctor of Ministry Required Courses

• Methods of Leadership and Ministry [Lassiter]
  •  Graham, Elaine, Heather Walton, and Frances Ward. Theological Reflection: Methods, 2nd edition (London: SCM), 2019.
  • Han, Hahrie. UNDIVIDED: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church (New York: Knopf), 2024.
• Research Methods and Ethics [House]
  •  Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. Fitzgerald. The Craft of Research. 5th Ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2024. 
  • Creswell, John W., and J. David Creswell. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 6th Ed. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2023.
  • González-Justiniano, Yara. Centering Hope as a Sustainable Decolonial Practice: Esperanza En Práctica. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2022.
  • Lareau, Annette. Listening to People: A Practical Guide to Interviewing, Participant Observation, Data Analysis, and Writing It All Up. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2021.
  • Lincoln, Timothy D. Qualitative Research: A Field Manual for Ministry Students. Chicago: Atla Open Press, 2021. https://books.atla.com/atlapress/catalog/book/24. This is an open source textbook at the previous url. 
  • Osmer, Richard R. Practical Theology: An Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008.
  • Ward, Pete, and Knut Tveitereid. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Theology and Qualitative Research. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2022. 
• Spirituality and Social Change [Mosby]
  • Brown, Lerita Coleman, What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman. Broadleaf Books, 2023. ISBN-10:1506474659  
  • Curtice, Kaitlin B. Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day. Brazos Press, 2023. ISBN-10: 1587435713
  • Holmes, Barbara A. Walking with Our Ancestors: Contemplation and Activism. Fortress Press, 2024.  ISBN-10: 1506499236.  
  • Palmer, Parker. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, 10th Anniversary Edition. Jossey-Bass, 2007.  ISBN-10: 0787996866 
  • Preskill, Stephen and Stephen D. Brookfield. Learning as a Way of Leading: Lessons from the Struggle for Social Justice. Jossey-Bass, 2009.  ISBN-10: 0787978078  
  • Steensland, Brian, Jaime Kucinskas, and Anna Sun. Situating Spirituality: Context, Practice, and Power. Oxford University Press, 2022. ISBN-10: 0197565018  
  • Tran, Mai-Ahn Le. Reset the Heart: Unlearning Violence, Relearning Hope. Abingdon Press, 2017. ISBN-10: 9781501832468

Electives

• Introduction to Chaplaincy [Journey]
  • TBA
• Pilgrimage: Place, Power, & Meaning Making [Kirk]
  • Simon Coleman, Powers of Pilgrimage: Religion in a World of Movement. New York University Press, 2022 -  ISBN 1479811947
  • Elaine A. Peña, Performing Piety: Making Space Sacred with the Virgin of Guadalupe. University of California Press, 2011 - ISBN 978-0520948808
  • Ian Reader, Making Pilgrimages: Meaning and Practice in Shikoku. University of Hawai’i Press, 2005 - ISBN 9780824829070
  • Lee Gilmore, Theatre in a Crowded Fire: Ritual and Spirituality at Burning Man.   Melville House, 2019 - ISBN 0520260880
  • Additional readings posted on Populi.
  • This course will have an opportunity to participate in a pilgrimage after the semester ends for an additional cost to the Czech Republic.
• Structural Grief: Spirituality and Politics in a Time of Unmaking [Hogue]
  • NOTES:
    • 1) This is an exploratory seminar. We will be in conversation with many different, seemingly unrelated sources. Where whole books are listed, we won’t necessarily read every word of them.
    • 2) The library will have print versions of all of the books below and ebooks for some of them. The asterisked titles are ones that I know will have ebook versions. There may be others as well.
    • 3) The course will also include additional chapters and articles that will be provided on the course reserve site through the library. Specifically, we will read selections in the areas of grief studies, affect theory, mysticism, philosophies of immanence, and racial capitalism—e.g., Augustine, Gilles Deleuze, William James, Lauren Berlant, Christine Sharpe, Achille Mbembe, Brian Massumi, Judith Butler, Simon Critchley, Cedric Robinson, Robert Solomon, and Donovan Shaefer.
  • Baker, J.A. The Peregrine (NYRB, 2004). ISBN: 978-1590171332
  • Fraser, Nancy. Cannibal Capitalism (Verso, 2023). ISBN: 978-1804292587
  • **Freud, Sigmund. Mourning and Melancholia Han. Byung-Chul. The Scent of Time (chs 1-5, 7, and 12). ISBN: 978-1509516056
  • **Hogue, Michael. American Immanence: Democracy for an Uncertain World (Columbia, 2018). ISBN: 978-0231172332.
  • Riley, Denise. Time Lived Without Its Flow (NYRB, 2020). ISBN: 978-1681373997
  • **Rose, Deborah Bird. Wild Dog Dreaming (University of Virginia, 2011). ISBN: 978-0813931074.
  • Solle, Dorothy. The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001). 978-0800632663   
  • **Van Dooren, In the Wake of Crows (Columbia, 2019). ISBN: 978-0231182829
  • **Weber, Andreas. Enlivenment (MIT, 2019). ISBN: 978-0231182829
  • Weil, Simone. Gravity and Grace (Bison, 1997). ISBN: 978-0803298002
• Introduction to Chaplaincy [Journey]
  • TBA