Life Long Learning

Explores the richness of the message, literary art, and relevance and significance of the historical context of the Gospel of Matthew in order to challenge faith and praxis and transform faithful disciples of Jesus in today’s societies.

This course will develop students' skills in navigating difficult worship or preaching issues in the church today. Topics will vary each time that the course is offered.

This course explores the major theological questions that have followed the interpretation of the New Testament for the last 100 years. We will discuss questions often heard in the church (such as trustworthiness of the gospels and the debates surrounding Paul’s teaching). For ThM students in New Testament or theology, a class like this is essential preparation for research and writing that engages timeless international themes. The class will be a seminar similar to a British university tutorial with student preparation and discussion each day. Students who have taken it in the past commonly tell me it was one of their best preparations for ministry and advanced theological study.

Explores the spiritual, moral, emotional, and social needs and development of children and adults, teaches the creative design of faith formation programs and intergenerational education, and develops skills needed to teach a wide variety of programs.

Examines the theological topics of creation and humanity with an emphasis on how they intersect with modern scientific concerns and considers implications of these intersections for ministry.

An overview of the meaning and mechanics of weddings and funerals, including theological, pastoral and ecclesial considerations, and practical advice as pastors-to-be anticipate leading weddings and funerals. We will engage in theological reflection on the 'whys' and 'hows' of conducting Christ-centered, pastorally wise funerals and weddings.

This course covers the course of the Reformation in the Swiss lands and in Geneva from the start of the Reformation in Zurich in 1519 to the start of the Thirty Years' War in 1618. Topics covered in the course include the emergence of Reformation movements in various cities and areas, the theological issues at stake, the changes in worship and faith practice, and the challenges faced by church leaders and lay people in implementing the Reformation over the longer term.

This course will expose students to a working definition of what constitutes trauma and complex-grief. Students will be exposed to a pastoral theological and biblical framework of how we are to understand and engage trauma and complex-grief within human experience, and how pastors and faith communities can use both secular and religious (Christian) resources to assist careseekers and communities exposed to trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and prolonged or complicated grief.

Studies the historical context, social setting, and epistolary structure of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and emphasizes the major themes and issues of these letters and their message for the church today.