Spring Term 2020/2021

In this course, we examine the natural world and its relationship to American religion through a selection of memoirs and autobiographies that take us to a variety of locations and periods. We will explore among other places the woods around Walden Pond…

Stories of social change are stories of communities, in various times and spaces harnessing their hopes, rage, intelligence, technologies, and skills - the power of their very selves - in pursuing a shared sense of the good. Grounded in stories of the…

Religious leadership in the 21st century unfolds in a state of climate emergency, the most morally, spiritually, and politically fraught challenge the human species has ever faced. Climate emergency provokes profound theological, ethical, and political…

This course surveys the development and adaptation of Christianity starting with the shocking death of a Jewish religious leader and what his followers did afterward. We consider the next generation of followers and teachers who took Jesus' message and…

Humanism is in essence both a personal and communal search for how to live a meaningful, purposeful life within a naturalistic understanding of reality. Humanists think that reason and community are the surest ways to determine individual and communal…

We will explore some practices of pastoral care, in particular, and the vocation of pastoral ministry, considering the things that challenge us and the things that sustain us-including especially the Unitarian Universalist faith tradition which shapes…

The Leadership Studies Year provides students with the opportunity to learn the dynamics of leadership through the prism of guided work within a congregation. We will explore the following themes, among others: the dynamics of change; a public theology…

Faith leaders and communities play important roles as acute responders and long-term caregivers in times of communal crisis. When a community has experienced a significant crisis (natural or human-made) they benefit from the immediate and long-term care…

This class will explicitly explore how the process and practice of faith formation promotes the ongoing development of multi-racial, multicultural and theologically diverse congregations.

In this class, we will become acquainted with 1) the corpus of narrative, poetry, letters, and gospels that comprise the New Testament and 2) the variety of interpretive strategies that have been used to understand that library. We will discuss the history…

A great professor of homiletics once said that all ministers must face the hard question, "How far would you go to hear yourself preach?" If the answer is to be " A long way," then the sermons we preach will need to be both worthy in their content and…

Replaces Community Studies II. The work of compassion, justice, and collective liberation is integral to religious leadership in the 21st century, and for many progressive and liberal religious leaders, it is holy work. We live in a world beset by numerous…

Regardless of the context in which they serve, whether in parish or community settings, religious professionals are expected to "do it all." Along with the call to provide moral, ethical, and pastoral leadership, we are also asked to meet the demand to…

Replaces Congregational Studies II. This Spring semester course is linked with an approved, 20-hour a week, congregational or community internship. The focus of this Spring semester course is on the work of ministry in diverse communal and congregational…