Ministry in Church and Society

• STH TC 715: Introduction to Preaching
  An introduction to the theology and practice of preaching within the context of Christian ministry and worship. Students develop skills necessary for preparation, composition, delivery, and critique of sermons.
• STH TC 723: United Methodist Polity
  Covers the polity, structure, procedures, and ritual of the United Methodist Church along with the basic structure of and ecclesial concepts contained within its Book of Discipline. Designed to meet one of the requirements for membership in a UMC Annual Conference.
• STH TC 724: UCC Polity
  The United Church of Christ (UCC) enjoys a rich ecclesial history and thought- provoking polity, both of which should be understood and appreciated by those seeking to serve in ordained or lay ministry within the denomination. Students taking this course will encounter the traditional "UCC origins" narrative, learn about the four constituent denominations and hidden histories that shaped the UCC and its ideals, and engage issues of Theology, Ecclesiology, Mission, Ecumenism, and Liturgy within the denomination. This course fulfills the UCC polity and history course requirement for ordination in the denomination.
• STH TC 801: Contextual Education 1
  This experiential learning course invites students to connect what they’re learning in School of Theology classrooms with the practical experience of being religious leaders within a contextual internship placement within a faith community, local non-profit, chaplaincy setting, or social justice agency. STH TC801 & STH TC802 constitute a 2-course series that must be taken in succession, typically in consecutive Fall/Spring terms. In addition to a 15-hour/week internship placement, students in TC801 participate in a weekly 1.25 hour “Integrating Theology & Practice” peer reflection group with readings and case study theological reflection papers that deepen their personal and professional leadership formation. Internship sites must be approved by the Contextual Education Office before registration & students must complete a background check as part of their placement process. See the Contextual Education Office portion of the School of Theology website for the full internship placement process and deadlines. MDIV CORE REQUIREMENT
• STH TC 802: Contextual Education 2
  This experiential learning course invites students to connect what they’re learning in School of Theology classrooms with the practical experience of being religious leaders within a contextual internship placement within a faith community, local non-profit, chaplaincy setting, or social justice agency. STH TC801 & STH TC802 constitute a 2-course series that must be taken in succession, typically in consecutive Fall/Spring terms. In addition to a 15-hour/week internship placement, students in TC802 participate in a weekly 1.25 hour “Integrating Theology & Practice” peer reflection group with readings and case study theological reflection papers that deepen their personal and professional leadership formation. Internship sites must be approved by the Contextual Education Office before registration & students must complete a background check as part of their placement process. See the Contextual Education Office portion of the School of Theology website for the full internship placement process and deadlines. MDIV CORE REQUIREMENT
• STH TC 803: Contextual Education 3
  Graduate Prerequisite: TC801 and TC802. TC803 is a course for students who have already completed their Core Contextual Education requirements and seek advanced experiential learning through an internship placement within a faith community, local non-profit, chaplaincy setting, or social justice agency. In addition to a 15-hour/week internship placement, students in TC803 participate in an every-other-week 1.25 hour “Integrating Theology & Practice” peer reflection group with readings and case study theological reflection papers that deepen their personal and professional leadership formation. Internship sites must be approved by the Contextual Education Office before registration & students must complete a background check as part of their placement process. See the Contextual Education Office portion of the School of Theology website for the full internship placement process and deadlines. Can be taken for variable credit.
• STH TC 804: Contextual Education 4
  Graduate Prerequisite: TC801 and TC802. TC804 is a course for students who have already completed their Core Contextual Education requirements and seek advanced experiential learning through an internship placement within a faith community, local non-profit, chaplaincy setting, or social justice agency. In addition to a 15-hour/week internship placement, students in TC804 participate in an every-other-week 1.25 hour “Integrating Theology & Practice” peer reflection group with readings and case study theological reflection papers that deepen their personal and professional leadership formation. Internship sites must be approved by the Contextual Education Office before registration & students must complete a background check as part of their placement process. See the Contextual Education Office portion of the School of Theology website for the full internship placement process and deadlines. Can be taken for variable credit.
• STH TC 807: UMC General Conference
  The quadrennial General Conference is the chief legislative body of the United Methodist Church. This course provides students with the opportunity to examine the critical role of the General Conference in the United Methodist tradition. In addition to examining the General Conference's impact upon the historical and theological identity of United Methodism, the course explores specific doctrinal, polity, and social issues that are on the agenda of the General Conference in the semester in which the course is offered. The course allows students the option of receiving additional credit for attending part of the General Conference sessions.
• STH TC 811: Contextual Education Project
  The Contextual Education Project is a student-initiated, single-term experiential learning project that advances a student’s vocational discernment, professional development, and/or personal spiritual formation through faculty-supported, self-directed work. All projects must be supervised by an STH faculty member who meets regularly with the student throughout the term to support their progress. Students will spend at least 240 hours during one academic term completing their project, which must move the student beyond typical coursework and into real-life contextual leadership practice. Every project must include the production of at least one “deliverable,” that is, a tangible end-product that is presented in some public capacity. NOTE: The final deliverable cannot be an academic paper; there must be a public leadership and presentation component offered beyond the scope of the faculty supervisor alone. This course can be taken only in the Fall or Spring terms; TC811 is not available over the Summer term. Projects must be approved by the Contextual Education Office before registration. See the Contextual Education Office portion of the School of Theology website for the full project development process and deadlines. Can be taken for variable credit.
• STH TC 812: Contextual Theology: Missions and Diakonia
  In this course, students are introduced to contextual theology and its relationship to missions within mainline denominations through the consideration of ministries of love, justice, and service. Students will examine scriptural and theological grounds for missional outreach, consider church engagement in social justice, explore Christianity's history/tradition, and visit missional sites in the Boston area. Particular attention will be given to students' experiences in dialogue with the assigned readings and local leadership. This is an interdisciplinary course facilitated through a protestant feminist/Mujerista perspective with a decolonizing intent. It will be run in a seminar style with the instructor as facilitator for critical engagement of readings, sharing of experiences, and contextual deconstruction/construction of methods, theories and historical understandings.
• STH TC 814: Embodying the Kin(g)dom
  This course explores the role of the physical body and taking action in bringing about God's kin(g)dom (or living up to one's highest spiritual or religious ideals). Students investigate these themes in select life practices and practices of faith such as body sculpting, congregational meals, and dialogue. Rather than focusing on the content of faith or treating faith as if it were mostly concerned with right thinking, our accent will be on experiencing and enacting faith. Through an introduction to practical theological method, students will engage in mini-field research and reflect on it using course readings.
• STH TC 817: Introduction to Christian Worship
  An introduction to the spirit and structure of Christian worship. Word, sacraments, calendar, music, and pastoral offices are analyzed and described in terms of their relevance to congregational life, spirituality, catechesis, and mission.
• STH TC 818: Writing for Public Worship
  The course explores the relationship between the languages of worship/prayer and faith/belief; enables the student to develop foundations and skills for writing prayers, liturgies, and other ritual resources for public worship; and fosters theological/liturgical/pastoral evaluation of the liturgical texts and practices used by faith communities. This course requires instructor's approval for all doctoral students.
• STH TC 819: The Sacraments: Rites and Theologies
  Contemporary study of the sacraments brings together ritual studies, liturgical history, the history of dogma, and systematic reflection. This course examines the baptismal and eucharistic rites of the Church, both past and present, along with theological rationales of and commentaries on them offered by ecclesiastic writers of the patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern periods.
• STH TC 822: Faith-Based Community Organizing for Justice and Peace
  Faith-based community organizing is the practice of members of religious traditions who draw on, use, and evolve religious practices in their political activism. Focusing primarily on the tradition of broad-based community organizing, with comparative reference to other models, this course invites theological, ethical, and practical questions about organizing communities for social change toward a just peace.
• STH TC 823: Spiritual Guidance in the Christian Tradition
  Are you interested in discovering the wisdom of diverse spiritual guides in the Christian tradition? Are you seeking to cultivate practices such as deep listening, prayer, discernment, and hospitality? Are you curious about ministries of spiritual accompaniment? This course will explore theologies and practices of spiritual guidance as we delve into both historical and contemporary literature in the field and converse with contemporary practitioners. We also will begin to open up issues of interfaith/interspiritual spiritual guidance. You will have the opportunity to explore areas of particular interest, including spiritual guidance and the arts; group spiritual direction; historical models of spiritual guidance; interfaith/interspiritual spiritual direction; spiritual direction and psychology; and gender, sexuality, and spiritual guidance.
• STH TC 829: Spiritual Autobiographies
  In the course, students will explore classic and contemporary spiritual autobiographies. These autobiographies reveal the diverse paths of religious seekers, the crises and epiphanies that became focal points of meaning and revelation. Students will learn about the practices of faith that sustained and challenged religious people from Augustine to Teresa of Avila to Tolstoy. Through close, empathetic, and critical examination of the texts, students will reflect on their own spiritual journeys and identities. They also will engage first-hand in the crafting of spiritual autobiography, and students will have the opportunity to work intensively in small groups throughout the writing and sharing process. Throughout the course, students will explore potential uses of spiritual autobiography as pathways of discernment and growth in congregational and retreat settings, small faith groups, spiritual formation and companionship.
• STH TC 835: Evangelism and Contemporary Cultures
  This course explores the practice of bearing faithful, visible, and embodied witness to God's commonwealth in contemporary contexts and cultures. The course covers the biblical, historical, and theological foundations of evangelism, its practice within congregational life, and contextual strategies.
• STH TC 836: Gender, Culture, and Transformational Leadership
  This course examines the relation between race, gender, and ethnicity from the perspective of different multicultural identities and theological understandings, evaluating how religious structures have constructed these relations and challenged these dynamics. Analyzing various church contexts and social constructions, we will aim to re-evaluate diverse theoretical and experimental discussions among different ethnic groups in a global context as well as in the American context. This course introduces students to of the multiple dynamics present between race, gender, and ethnicity in various church contexts such as White/African American/Asian/Asian American/Hispanic/other immigrant churches and multicultural congregations. It investigates how church life and ministry interact with sociopolitical and cultural structures and how these processes impact people's everyday lives. The course analyzes the issues of race, gender/sex, body, age, and class in the North American context seeking also to understand colonial and post-colonial structures within American society and beyond.
• STH TC 837: Vocation, Work and Faith
  Who am I called to become? What am I called to do? What are my gifts and where will they be recognized and of service? These kinds of vocational questions are fundamental to our lives. The course seeks to open up reflection, study, and dialogue about vocation, work, and spirituality in religious traditions and in our own life experience. Work and vocation are often connected. Work too is a crucial religious question in contemporary society. Work exerts a powerful - and often unrecognized -influence on human beings. It can support life, develop talents, elicit creativity, and enable people to contribute to the common good. Work also can demean human beings, undermining their dignity, perpetuating unjust structures, overpowering values, and crowding out other important spheres of life. Labor issues are important concerns for faith communities and faith-based community organizations. This course explores vocation and work as theological/spiritual issues, including implications for ministry. We will explore themes such as: work as spiritual practice or challenge; labor and justice issues; discerning vocation; creativity; Sabbath; "time poverty"; and work-life balance. The course involves site visits, vocational mentoring, seminar presentations, and individual research/ministry projects.