Courses
Seabury Western offers a wide variety of courses designed to prepare men and women for service to the Church.
Seabury Catalog: Fall 2011 - Summer 2012
Put on your thinking caps and join Bill Sachs for this five-day, intensive course that examines events and leadership styles that have shaped the Episcopal Church.
Nonprofit Management and Community Development
Money matters, and people want their money to make a difference. This Nonprofit Management and Community Development course will explore how mission focused fundraising and greater neighborhood involvement can breathe new life into congregations at a time when many are struggling with shoe-string budgets and the exploding social needs of their communities.
How can congregations respond when they encounter more young adults unaccustomed to pledging, funders requesting more accountability, and the realization that healthy congregations—rural and urban—need vital neighborhood communities? Along with fundraising strategies, participants will learn to identify and engage local partners in mission and will hear from visiting speakers about how congregations can be catalysts for change in their communities.
In addition to Seabury's Susan Harlow and Bob Bottoms, faculty includes John Kretzmann, co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University. Kretzmann has worked to develop community-oriented public policy at the national, state and local levels.
Instructors: Bob Bottoms, Susan Harlow, and John Kretzmann
Dates: January 2-February 17 and a five-day intensive on site at Seabury the week of January 23-27, 8:30 am-4:30 pm
Click here to register for this course.
Click here for the reading list.
Back by Popular Demand!
For those of you who missed it last spring, you'll get another chance in January 2012. Laypeople and clergy are invited to join Bishop Frank Griswold at Seabury for a five-day exploration of Anglican spirituality and the rhythm of our worship. Praying Shapes Believing will include reading and reflection with a community of students led by Bishop Griswold, former Bishop of Chicago and former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The course draws on his book, Praying Our Days, published in 2009 by Church Publishing.
Instructors: Frank Griswold and Donna Ialongo as an intensive hybrid
Dates: Online work beginning January 2-February 17 and a five-day intensive onsite the week of January 16-20, 8:30 am-4:30 pm
Click here to register for this course.
Click here for reading list.
Click here for syllabus.
Why do Episcopalians worship as they do? Find out by getting inside, under and behind the history and theology of the Anglican/Episcopal liturgical tradition. This course—a substantial part of which is offered online—is a required, core component of Seabury’s Anglican Studies program, but it also will appeal to anyone interested in the principles and practices that shape communal Anglican/Episcopal worship. Through reading, instruction and discussion, participants will discover how liturgical texts, sights, sounds, gestures, and space communicate and either help or hinder worship. They will also become familiar with musical resources and styles while learning how to use music critically, with historical, theological and liturgical insight. As participants explore the origins, meanings and application of Anglican/Episcopal liturgy, they will develop a deeper appreciation for its beauty, uniqueness and rich complexity.
Instructor: Therese DeLisio and Milner Seifert
Dates: Online work beginning January 2-February 17 and a five-day intensive onsite the week of January 9-13, 8:30 am-4:30 pm
Click here to register for this course.
Click here for the reading list.
Click here for the syllabus.
With some 85 million members in more than 160 countries, the Anglican Communion covers a lot of ground. Join the Rev. Dr. Ralph McMichael in this exploration of its variety of theologies and ethics. By examining Anglican theologians from the 16th century through today, this intensive, hybrid course will discern how classic theologians continue to influence contemporary Anglican thought and its emphasis on authority, the use of Scripture, the conscience, and the Incarnation.
McMichael, a former faculty member at Nashotah House, is based in St. Louis, Missouri, and is the executive director of Center for the Eucharist, an organization he founded almost two years ago. His newest book, Eucharist: A Guide for the Perplexed, was published in 2010 by T&T Clark. He currently is editing a two-volume work on Anglican theology.
Instructor: Ralph McMichael
Dates: Online work from Jan 30–May 9 and three weekends of onsite meetings February 10–11, March 23–24, and April 27–28. Weekend meetings begin at 1 pm Friday and end at 4 pm Saturday.
Click here to register for this course.
Of all the religious and cultural minorities in the United States, poll after poll shows that atheists are met with the most distrust and the least comprehension. Faith traditions with a history of non-cooperation find common cause in looking down on those who claim not to believe in anything supernatural. What is it about atheism that makes people of faith so uncomfortable? What is it that atheists see in us that we have not seen in ourselves?
Believers and nonbelievers alike are invited to join John Dally this spring in "The Atheist Critique of the Church," which will consider why Christianity has been rejected by thinkers as diverse as the Emperor Julian, Mark Twain and Christopher Hitchens. In a time when secularism is thought to be the fastest growing "religious" demographic in the United States, this course also will explore the growing public face of atheism and its implications for the church.
This course will look at the way Anglican Christianity emerged and developed over two millennia as a complex, evolving understanding of God, history, the natural world, and human life. Using images, music and texts, the course will acquaint participants with both the variety and continuity of Christian thought and expression across a wide variety of media. Historical re-enactments will allow participants to experience the lived history of the church in a vivid and holistic way. The course will demonstrate how the Anglican way of being Christian synthesizes this entire history and continues its evolution toward a generous approach to existence.
Instructor: John Dally, Professor of Theology and Culture
Dates: Offered in hybrid format, with online work beginning Sept. 6 and ending Dec. 14 together with on-site meetings: September 23-24 at Seabury Western's Evanston campus; October 28-29 at Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL and December 2-3 at the Church of St. Paul & the Redeemer, Chicago (Hyde Park neighborhood).
There are mutiple ways to engage in this course: M. Div or D.Min 3 credit hours, 3 Continuing Education Credits, or simply for enrichment at a special tuition rate. Click here to register for this course.
Special opportunity: The public is invited to participate in the enactments of liturgies from various periods of history that are a part of this course. These practica will allow participants to experience firsthand the way Christians in other times expressed their beliefs in the context of their cultures, social norms, and world events. The public is invited to participate in any or all of these enactments. There is no charge for these events, however registration is required. Click here for more information and download a flyer here.