Spring Term 2021/2022

Meets on-campus Friday, Jan 28. 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…

Meets weekly, Mondays 10-Noon, Central Time. 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…

Hospitals, military, prison, hospice, higher education and corporations; todays chaplains serve in a variety of environments. This advanced course provides the skills for students to analyze and navigate the complex systems integral to any organizational…

Meets Wednesday 2-4 PM Central Time. (Will not meet every week.) 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…

Meets Mondays 2-4 PM Central Time. (Meeting days subject to change.) This interactive course explores world religions in relation to the multicultural and multifaith dynamics of globalization. MDiv required course (2020-21 and 2021-22 Catalogs), Meets…

Replaces Community Studies I, formerly Cultural Grounding and Theological Formation. This course launches students into the lifelong formational work of integrating intercultural and theological learning. The course will introduce students to basic theological…

The course is an exploration of the history and origins of the various Buddhist traditions. These include Theravada Buddhism, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism and the emerging convert Buddhism of the West. Meets MDiv Global Religions or Sacred Texts requirement…

This course serves as an introduction to ethics by examining some of the fundamental debates in the field. Our conversations will cover a range of topics, including the major traditions in moral theory; the tensions between religious and secular voices…

Meets Tuesdays 10 AM-Noon Central Time. (May not meet every week.) 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…

Meets Thursday 3-5 PM Central Time. (May not meet every week.) 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…

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…

Meets Fridays 10 AM-Noon Central Time. This course examines the roles of mobility, movement, and material practices in the study of religion. From itinerant preachers, priests, and pilgrims to entire communities on the move, this course looks at how individuals…

Meets Thursdays 3-5 PM Central Time. (May not meet every week.) 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…