Course Catalog

Bible/Old Testament

Bible/Old Testament

BIBL S502 / Intro to the Hebrew Bible / Yamada

This course will provide students with a survey of the contents, world, and interpretative issues in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. It will cover major blocks within the Pentateuch, the Former Prophets, the Major and Minor Prophets, and the Writings. Students will also be introduced to various methods of study used in biblical interpretation.

 

BIBL S612 / The Pentateuch / Yamada

The history and literature of the Israelites from their beginnings to the period of the Divided Monarchy, and the principal lines of theology in this literature.  Some attention will be given to historical-critical method in treating these texts.

 

BIBL S613 / Wisdom Literature: JOB / Yamada

An overview of the genre and its types in the ancient Near East will be given.  The core of the course will involve a careful reading of the book of Job; the theological intentions which undergird the text will be examined and the implications for the early and contemporary audiences will be explored.

 

BIBL S620 / Exilic Prophets / Yamada

War and displacement can bring both the best and worst out of human beings.  Moreover, recent theological scholarship, utilizing studies on trauma, has shown that violence and suffering have a profound effect on the ways that people understand God.  In the Hebrew Bible, the Babylonian exile is a pivotal event in Israel’s history that required a restructuring and reshaping of theology.  Recent studies of the biblical event will be put in conversation with other exiles, such as the Japanese internment during World War II and the displacement of Native Americans.  The writings of the exilic prophets will be examined with an eye to how “theology happens” in diasporic context.

 

BIBL / Focused Study on a Biblical Book in the Hebrew Bible / Yamada

These courses would provide students with a more detailed and focused study of a particular book in the Hebrew Bible

 

BIBL / Survey Courses: Former Prophets, Major Prophets, Minor Prophets Wisdom Literature / Yamada

These courses would provide students with a more detailed and focused study on a large section or group of texts in the Hebrew Bible

 

BIBL / Thematic or Topical Course:  eg. Reading from cultural Spaces; the Difference that Culture Makes in Biblical Interpretation; Violence and the Hebrew Bible; Prayer and the Hebrew Bible; Feminist Biblical Interpretation; Postcolonial Biblical Interpretation / Yamada

The courses would provide students with a detailed study on a particular topic or theme within the Hebrew Bible or will focus on hermeneutical issues that emerge from the biblical text.

Bible/New Testament

BIBL S531 / Greek 1 / Nadella

This course will help students learn Greek language research tools to assist them in drawing on the Greek versions of the Bible to enhance their interpretation and to learn to read moderately complex sentences that rely on a limited range of vocabulary and syntax.

 

BIBL S532 / Greek 2 / Nadella

This course will help students master the elementary aspects of Greek, and acquaint them with more complex structures, more uncommon words. By the end of the course, they should be able to read simple Greek comfortably, and should be able to draw on reference works to puzzle out unfamiliar words and forms. They should be capable of drawing provisional evaluations of technical claims about the sense of the Greek New Testament.

 

BIBL S560 / Introduction to the New Testament / Nadella

This course introduces students to the critical study of the New Testament. Students will survey contemporary assessments of the authorship, prominent characteristics, and cultural contexts of the gospels and epistles.

 

BIBL S614 / Post Colonial Readings of the New Testament / Nadella

This course will introduce the students to the origins and evolution of postcolonial studies and highlight its intersection with, as well as evaluate its impact on, New Testament studies. It will illuminate the contexts in which the NT texts were written, provide a critical examination of the varied tactics hitherto used in biblical studies to legitimate and reinforce political, economic, and cultural imperialism, and offer suggestions for interpretive strategies by which the New Testament can be decolonized and reclaimed for liberating purposes. Since interdisciplinarity is a hallmark of postcolonial studies, attention will be given to the areas of crossover between postcolonial discourse and related disciplines such as feminist studies.

Christian Communication / Preaching

PRCH S502 / Foundations of Christian Communication / Dally

This course will look at the way Christians have communicated their views of God, history, the natural world, and human life over two millennia.  Using images, music and texts, the course will acquaint participants with both the variety and continuity of Christian writing, speaking, and creating. 

 

PRCH S603 / The True and Lively Word / Dally

This course is intended to give those who have or expect to have the role of preacher in the church an opportunity to gain competency in the interpretation and proclamation of biblical texts. Participants will learn the basics of the physiology, psychology and theology of oral communication and be given tools to free their natural voices physically and spiritually.    Prerequisite: Introductory preaching course, Foundations of Christian Communication or another introductory course.

Christian Ministries

MNST S600 / Pastoral Care & Congregations / Humphrey

A first year course that will develop beginning skills for ministry in the parish and healing facilities. Students will use theological reflects to learn about Christian ministry. The course will feature case studies and concrete skill development for use in the fields of ministry. This course is a continuation of MNST S600A, offered in the J-Term.  Students must enroll in both courses to receive credit.

 

MNST S600A / Humphrey

Pastoral Care & Congregations Classroom January 14-17 (Monday-Thursday)

Pastoral Care & Congregations Plunge January 17-30 (Friday-Wednesday)

(This course for Juniors only who will be registered for MNST S 600 in the Spring)

 

MNST S601 / Church Ministry & Culture / DeFriest

The goal of the seminar is to challenge participants with two questions: "What is the Church?" and "What is the Church's Mission?" In this way the course considers both ecclesiology and missiology in an ecumencial setting.  Seminary students will be asked to engage these issues as part of their own preparation for ministry.           

 

MNST S601A / DeFriest

Church Ministry and Culture Plunge  January 11-23 (Friday-Wednesday)

Church Ministry and Culture Classroom  January 28-31 (Monday –Thursday)

(This course for Middlers only who were registered for MNST S601 in the Fall)

 

MNST S675 Fall & Spring / Practice of Ministry / Holding

Practice of Ministry provides students with the opportunity to integrate what has been learned in the classroom with experiential learning in a ministry setting, generally in a worshipping congregation such as a parish or mission. This integration of practice with study will ideally form church leaders who pray and think theologically about their ministry. The core of the learning is based on the action–reflection model.

 

MNST S684 / Congregational Leadership: how is congregational Vitality Stimulated & Nurtured / Dreibelbis

How do effective parish clergy construct “local theologies” that allow the Gospel and the context to creatively converse? How do ordained leaders make decisions? Lead resolution of conflicts that inevitably arise in a complex, diverse society? Help the confidence and competence of lay leaders? Develop their own confidence and competence to lead? Draw on their own creativity and that of the congregation in connecting with the wider community and articulating the Christian mission of the congregation? Form peer communities of clergy and laity? Examples and insights from effective parish clergy are drawn from the largest empirical research project ever conducted of Episcopal rectors and vicars and lay leaders (THQ).

 

MNST S690A / Leading Change in Congregations / Perry

How do we as congregational leaders, discern a congregational vision and then effectively implement this vision? How do we lead a moribund congregation to new life?  How do we hone our personal leadership skills so that we can increase our effectiveness in congregational leadership?  How do we call forth and make the best use of other people’s innate gifts and skills for leadership? This class will use insights from the Gospels, literature, family systems, community organizing, and business management to address each of these interrelated topics.  Each participant is expected to do a 10 to 15 page visionary analysis of a congregation using one or more of the methodologies set forth in the books in our reading list. 

Open to all           

 

MNST S690B / Parish Leadership: A Systems Approach / Johnson

Ed Friedman taught that there are three family systems at work at all times in the parishes/communities we serve:  the parish as a family, the families of the members of the parish and the family of the parish leader.  All three families and the emotional field each creates are affecting the ebb and flow of parish leadership all the time calling forth the skill and courage to self-differentiate in the midst of many, varied relationships.  This course will utilize the foundational work of Ed Friedman, apply this approach to parish leadership, and explore the many ways of growth and change from one “family” to another.  Besides the work of Ed Friedman, the course will also feature the work of Tom Friedman, Margaret Wheatley and Peter Steinke.                                                                   

Open to all           

 

MNST S690 C / Encountering World Christianity / Holding

During the past century the “face” of Christianity has changed dramatically and, in some places, explosively.  As Christians in the Global North, primarily shaped and formed by Anglo-European /Western expressions of the Christian faith, our perceptions of World Christianity may be distorted or inadequate for the call to mission in the 21st century.  This course seeks to expand our understandings of what it means to be Christian in today’s global environment. What might an encounter with the faith perspectives of fellow Christians reveal about ourselves, our faith, and our spiritual lives?  What does it mean to shift our historic mission posture from one of doing and telling, to one of being and listening?  How might we begin to understand what it means to be “companions in transformation”?

 

Partnering with our brother and sister Christians outside our borders, how might we mutually engage God’s mission in the world? What challenges and opportunities present themselves?

Open to all           

 

NCTI SFall / The Church and Its Mission / NCTI Faculty

Exploring the Church and Its Mission. “What is the nature and purpose of the Church?” and ” What implications does the shift of the center of Christianity to the Global South have for mission?” Seminary students will be asked to engage these issues as part of their own preparation for ministry. The course considers both ecclesiology and missiology in an ecumenical setting.

 

NCTI SSpring / Prayer and Life In the Spirit / Sutton/Baima

 

“Division among Christians openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching of the Gospel to every creature. “ Vatican II Documents.

Church History

HIST S500 / GETS 13-501 / History of Christian Thought and Practice 1 / Barker / Garrett Faculty

A survey of Christianity in the early and medieval periods, enabling students to become familiar with major cultural, institutional, and theological and spiritual developments.           

 

HIST S502 / GETS 13-502 / History of Christian Thought and Practice 2 / Barker/ Garrett Faculty

A survey of key developments in Christian thought and practice from the post-apostolic period to the present

 

HIST S550 / It’s Not Easy Being Native, It’s Not Easy Being Christian / Hauff

What does it mean to be Native American and Christian? This course offers an overview of Native American experience from pre-colonial to the present, particularly multigenerational trauma and its effect on individuals and communities over time, the historic and continued impact of systemic genocide and discrimination, the role of the Church in cultural assimilation and evangelization, developmental challenges to Native youth, establishment of Native identity, and a healing process of hope grounded in Native values and community renewal. The instructional methodology will be experiential, process and content based. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to be with us regardless of background or experience.

 

HIST S605 / The Episcopal Church and American Society / Gooden

This course examines major themes and issues in the historical development of the Episcopal Church in the United States from its founding in the eighteenth century to the present. We will explore the influence of the Episcopal Church on American society by examining such issues as the Episcopal Church and the Social Gospel, and the Episcopal Church during the Civil Rights era.

 

HIST S621 / England in the Age of Reform / Barker

A survey of reformation movements in England from the fourteenth through the eighteenth centuries, from Wyclif through Wesley and Wilberforce.

 

HIST S630 / Healing Wounded History: Towards Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Chicago / Gooden

This course will explore the nature of reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing in the experiences of individuals and communities when racial violence has been present. Students will explore the twin themes of forgiveness and reconciliation through study and pilgrimage to North Lawndale (West Side), Bronzeville (South Side) and suburban Oak Park. A Prayer Walk and healing ritual will take place at each site.

 

HIST S635 / Healing and the Religious Imagination / Gooden

This course explores healing, illness, and health in American religion.  It focuses on the healing beliefs and practices of diverse religious groups in contemporary America.  Some of the topics we will explore are: healing the history of Christianity; healing, justice, and ministry; gender and healing; the mind-body-spirit healing model.

Interdisciplinary

INTD S510 / Partners in the Mission of God / Dally

Participants will explore recent developments in missional thought and

practice.  If mission is understood as the reconciling nature of God at

work in today's pluralistic society, how might that shape our

identities and ministries within and beyond the church?

Liturgy & Music

MLIT S505 / Use of the Voice / Seifert

This course is designed to prepare students for leadership in spoken and sung portions of the principal liturgies of the Episcopal Church. Time in class will be spent discussing the principles of speaking and singing as well as the application of these principles. It is expected that students will practice on their own between class sessions. (limited to 12 students)

 

MLIT S520 / Music in the Episcopal Church / Seifert

This course has two distinct but related tracks. Both deal with music as an integral element of worship. The first track is designed to deepen students’ knowledge of an array of musical resources and how they might be employed in various liturgical contexts. The second track surveys Christian liturgical music (primarily congregational song) through various historical periods and from various cultural contexts with particular attention to the way these historical and cultural styles are integral to worship in the Episcopal Church in the 21st century.

 

MLIT S530 / Foundations of Liturgical Worship / Meyers/Seifert

This course introduces students to the disciplined study of liturgy and its practice in worshiping communities.  It also supports students as they become regular members of the worshiping community at Seabury.

 

MLIT S532 / Worship of the Episcopal Church / Meyers

An in-depth study of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church and its use in the church today, with attention to the historical background and to contemporary issues in liturgical revision and renewal in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion.

 

MLIT S603 / Practicum in Liturgical Leadership / Wagner Sherer

A practicum designed to develop skills in preparing for and leading baptism, eucharist, and pastoral offices.

 

MLIT S680 / Colloquium in Sacred Music / Seifert

The entire course covers the span of four semesters, each semester having a particular organizing theme or method. 1. Primarily concerns a history of the church's liturgical song; 2. Concerns the church year; 3. Concerns "world music"; 4. Concerns music in liturgical contexts other than mainline white Protestant (music in the synagogue; music in Eastern Orthodox worship; music in roman Catholic worship; music in African American worship).

Religion and The Arts

ARTS S680 / Shakespeare’s Religion / Hall

Though scholars differ on Shakespeare’s religious loyalties—was he Catholic or Protestant, believer or skeptic?—many agree that his plays explore all the major religious questions with depth and sophistication.  Over the course of the semester, this class will examine a selection of Shakespeare’s plays—including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Henry IV Parts I and II, The Tempest—along with some sonnets and poems in order to explore both the theological questions the works pose and the implications of those questions for the life of faith.  Auditors Welcome

           

ARTS S685 / Theology of Music / Barker

In 2003, Robert Wuthnow (All in Sync: How Music and Art Are Revitalizing American Religion) demonstrated through sociological analysis that people in our culture are encountering the divine through the arts, especially through music, and that this encounter is drawing them into churches.  Bearing in mind the missional power of music students in this course will explore efforts by current theologians, as well as some from the past, to account theologically for music’s capacity to mediate the divine.  How might music serve as a source for theological reflection?  How might practices of music and historical beliefs about music’s powers enlarge our experience and understanding of God’s salvific work? How might music’s role in the mission of God be better realized in ministry?  Questions like these will be investigated through reading of texts, listening to music, and discussion of both.

 

ARTS/THEO S672 / The Death of the Beautiful Young Man: The Erotics of Christian Redemption / Dally

Why is Jesus so often portrayed as young and beautiful in his suffering and death in spite of our lack of information about his age or appearance? What systems of belief are encoded in artistic renderings of the crucifixion? What hierarchies of value persist in our ongoing representations? What is at stake in the depiction of the death Christians call redemptive? The Death of the Beautiful Young Man will look at these questions from a variety of perspectives — art historical, anthropological, theological and philosophical — and in dialogue with a variety of media — poetry, sculpture, music and film. Its source material will range from the epic struggle of a handsome Mithras with a bull primordial to the present-day combats of beautiful young men with living bulls in the corridas of Mexico and Spain, from the theology of human sacrifice in Mesoamerican cultures to the execution of Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun; and from Filipino pentitentes to U.S. soldiers to the the offense caused by a crucified Black Jesus made entirely of chocolate. The Death of the Beautiful Young Man will ask participants to become thoughtful critics of the explicit and implied messages inherent in the iconography of Jesus’ death.

 

 

Spirituality

SPFM S501 / Introduction to Spiritual Practices / Baker

An experientially-based introduction to Christian spiritual traditions and spiritual practices as resources for personal formation and for the cultivation of Christian communities.    

 

SPFM S502 / Classics of English Spirituality / Barker

In-depth study of classic texts of English mystical theology and spiritual formation

 

SPFM S510C / Spiritual Formation in Small Groups: Spiritual Friends / Prechtel

This course will offer a peer spiritual direction/companionship group and provide a small community of support for the spiritual challenges and opportunities that are inherent in Christian life and ministry.                                                 Course Limit: 8           

 

SPFM S510G Spiritual Formation in Small Groups: Companions in Transition / Prectel

This group will provide mutual spiritual support and community for entering seminarians.  We will look at challenges facing us in times of life transitions and the spiritual dimension of those issues.  Entering students only.             Course Limit: 8           

 

SPFM S510H / Spiritual Formation in Small Groups: Artist’s Spirit / Bough

This will be a hands’ on experience supplemented with reading, journaling, active listening and viewing slides of artists whose work was influenced by their spiritual journeys.  Participants will be involved in the process and encouraged to not worry about the product.  Participants will discover when totally involved in the process, intuition and experimentation can present new possibilities creatively and spiritually.  Art making in a spiritual context can lead to a deeper and holistic self-understanding and growth.                                                                 Course Limit: 8           

 

SPFM S511 E / Spiritual Formation in Small Groups: Contemplative Prayer / Prechtel

The primary focus of this group is the practice of shared silent prayer.  Attention will be given to nurturing a contemplative attitude in living.

Course Limit: 8                                   

 

SPFM S512F / Spiritual Formation in Small Groups: Circle of the Spirit

Students take turns leading and participating in a spirituality group that presents a group spiritual exercise (such as guided imagery meditation, chant, awareness practices, etc.) and reflection.  Recommended for those who are interested in retreat leadership.

Course Limit: 8            Prechtel

 

SPFM S520 / Advanced Spiritual Group Leadership / Prechtel

This course supports spirituality group and retreat leadership, explores group dynamics, and provides a peer group supervision and consultation practicum for students—who will each develop and lead an “outside” small group or retreat at a field education or other site.  Prerequisite: at least one course in Spiritual Formation in Small Groups or permission of the instructor. 

Theology and Ethics

THEO S501 / Intro to Christian Theology / DeLisio

Effective mission requires that we give an account of the faith that is in us in ways that address the contexts in which we live.  Knowing the rich heritage of theological reflection that is ours as Christians is one part of that witness.  Another is knowing how to present our faith in terms whose meaning is accessible today.  This course takes a systematic approach to the perennial Christian topics of God, Christ, humanity, church, history, and hope.  We begin with some basic theological reflection, and then look at how Christians in different social locations address the perennial topics and the traditions that they draw on to do so.  We also connect these disciplined studies to the basic task of mission:  witness.

 

THEO S553 / Introduction to Christian Ethics / Wondra

How, then, are we to live, now that we have decided to follow Jesus?  This is the core question for Christian ethics.  In this course we will study a range of approaches to Christian ethics, some focusing on formation, some on purposes, some on principles.  We will see something of how the traditions associated with Christian ethics have developed, and how we may think and talk about issues facing us in a variety of contexts today.  Along the way, we will notice ways in which ethics connects theology, pastoral practice, and everyday life.  Students will have a chance to explore and present some specific issues at some depth, and to learn from each other about other issues.

 

THEO S660 / Anglican Polity and Ecclesiology / Hall

This course aims to explore the structure, polity, and ecclesiology of the Episcopal Church both in the context of Anglican theology, liturgy, and history and in the wider contexts of globalism and ecumenism. This course meets canonical requirements for students preparing for ordination in the Episcopal Church to receive training regarding the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, particularly Title IV.

 

THEO S672 / The Death of the Beautiful Young Man: The Erotics of Christian Redemption / Dally

Why is Jesus so often portrayed as young and beautiful in his suffering and death in spite of our lack of information about his age or appearance? What systems of belief are encoded in artistic renderings of the crucifixion? What hierarchies of value persist in our ongoing representations? What is at stake in the depiction of the death Christians call redemptive? The Death of the Beautiful Young Man will look at these questions from a variety of perspectives — art historical, anthropological, theological and philosophical — and in dialogue with a variety of media — poetry, sculpture, music and film. Its source material will range from the epic struggle of a handsome Mithras with a bull primordial to the present-day combats of beautiful young men with living bulls in the corridas of Mexico and Spain, from the theology of human sacrifice in Mesoamerican cultures to the execution of Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun; and from Filipino pentitentes to U.S. soldiers to the the offense caused by a crucified Black Jesus made entirely of chocolate. The Death of the Beautiful Young Man will ask participants to become thoughtful critics of the explicit and implied messages inherent in the iconography of Jesus’ death.

 

THEO S680A / Trinity Institute: Religion & Violence: Untangling the Root of Conflict: An Interfaith Dialogue / Dally

While people of faith raise prayers for peace, stories of religiously fueled violence fill the news. Critics question whether the world can afford to tolerate a force as destructive as religion. Is violence an inescapable result of religious commitment, or is it a distortion, a human projection on a God in whom there is no violence? Is it the sole province of extremists, or do the roots of conflict touch all persons of faith?

 

Do solutions to these seemingly intractable problems lie within the traditions themselves? Through keynote presentations and small group theological reflection, this interfaith gathering will provide opportunities to deepen understanding, build community, and explore how religion can be a powerful force for peace within ourselves, our families, our communities, and the world. The conference will begin on the day we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., to ask how we can take up his legacy of faithful nonviolence in our time.

 

Keynote speakers for this down-linked conference – James Carroll, James H. Cone, Tariq Ramadan, and Susannah Heschel – and preacher Katharine Jefferts Schori are skilled theologians who are also prominent public intellectuals –Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. They will:

•            explore how all three traditions become entangled with violence;

•            illuminate the resources within the traditions for living together in peace, without losing our unique identities.

 

This course is offered in partnership with the Trinity Institute.  Seabury will be a downlink site for the 38th National Conference, January 21-23, 2008.  Participants will hear all of the keynote addresses and join in the Q and A via webcast.  Students enrolling for credit will also have a pre-reading assignment, participate in a theological reflection group, and complete a follow-up assignment.

Open to all