August 2026 Course Descriptions

Christian Theology 2 
Christian Theology II provides a biblical, historical, and systematic overview of the following Christian concepts: Christ and Salvation, the Holy Spirit, Church and Sacraments, and Eschatology. The goal of this course is to provide diaconal candidates (as well as lay persons interested in personal enrichment) with a theological foundation for effective ministry in the world today.
Required Texts
  • McGrath, Alister. Theology: The Basics, 5th ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2025 (or 4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2018).
  • McGrath, Alister. Theology: The Basic Readings, 3rd ed. Wiley Blackwell, 2018.
Your Instructor
  • Dr. Jonathan Platter    is an Associate Professor of Theology with primary specialism in contemporary systematic theology, especially trinitarian theology and eschatology. In 2020, he completed a PhD in Christian Theology at the University of Cambridge and has taught at several universities in the US and UK. He attends St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Missouri.

Homiletics for Lay Preachers
This course provides students an overview of basic homiletical principles as these pertain to the ministry of lay preaching. Students will offer practice sermons.
Required Text     
  • Long, Thomas G. The Witness of Preaching, third edition. Westminster John Knox Press. 2016.
Your Instructor
  • The Rev. Dr. Bill Fasel is a retired Episcopal priest. During his career as a priest, he served small churches with a primary goal of developing ministry teams of lay and ordained leaders. Fasel holds a D.Min. in Congregational Development from Seabury-Western.

Liturgical Leadership
This course will explore what it is to lead worship and how to do so effectively and authentically. We will focus on the non-Eucharistic liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer (including the Daily Office, Ministry to the Sick and Dying, Marriage, and Burial) and use simulation opportunities to discuss how the officiant/presider lives into the role of conduit between God and God’s people through worship.
​We will also discuss the liturgical calendar and special considerations in planning for Advent, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Eastertide.   Written assignments will encourage students to reflect on leading worship authentically and engagingly as they respect the “wiring” of their own liturgical styles.
Required Texts
  • Adams, William Seth. Shaped By Images: One Who Presides. New York: Church Publishing, 2000.
  • The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church. New York: Church Publishing, 2001.
  • Mitchell, Leonel L. Pastoral and Occasional Liturgies: A Ceremonial Guide. Cambridge, MA: Cowley, 1998.
  • Mitchell, Leonel L. Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and the Great Fifty Days: A Ceremonial Guide. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
  • Pitts, David R. Lift Up Your Hearts: Liturgies and Ceremonies of the Episcopal Church. Fort Thomas, KY: Crown, 2025.
  • Platter, Ormande. Deacons in the Liturgy, 2nd Edition. New York: Church Publishing, 2009.
Your Instructor
  •  The Rev. John Spicer has served as rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri, since 2012. Before that, he served as associate rector at St. Andrew’s and as vicar of Church of the Good
    Shepherd in Springfield, Missouri. Before being ordained in 2002, Spicer was a writer and editor. He is the author of Beating the Boundaries: The Church God is Calling Us to Be (Morehouse, 2016) and
    Bringing Us to Our Knees: The 1906 Springfield, Missouri, Lynching, Anglican and Episcopal History,
    March 2024.

The Practice of the Eucharist
This course prepares students to plan and lead eucharistic worship according to the tradition of The Episcopal Church as expressed in The Book of Common Prayer (1979). It encourages and deepens the life-long formation of clergy as faithful presiders at Holy Eucharist. Learners who successfully complete Practice of the Eucharist will:
  •            increase their familiarity with the structures of Sunday eucharistic worship and Liturgies for Special Days (e. g., baptisms, funerals, services of Holy Week)
  •  practice planning eucharistic worship services;
  •   practice celebrating Sunday eucharistic services; and
  •    learn where to access authorized and helpful resources for planning   and leading Episcopalian eucharistic worship.
Required Texts
  • Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, according to the use of The Episcopal Church, 1979 (Church Hymnal Corporation, New York: 1979).
  • The Hymnal 1982, according to the use of The Episcopal Church (New York: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1985).
  • Patrick Malloy, Celebrating the Eucharist: A Practical Ceremonial Guide for Clergy and Other Liturgical Ministers  ( New York: Church Publishing, 2007).
  • Lionel Mitchell and Ruth Meyers, Praying Shapes Believing: A Theological Commentary on the Book of Common Prayer (New York: Seabury Books, 2016).New York, 1985).
Your Instructor
  • The Rev. Dr. Marshall Crossnoe is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, currently serving as long-term clergy supply at St Vincent’s Episcopal Church, in Weingarten, MO. He has served as Dean of The Episcopal School For Ministry, of the EDoMO, and also as an instructor for ESM. From 2008-2019 he served as part-time Vicar at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Fulton, MO, and at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Portland, MO. He earned an MABS degree in Church History from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1986, and a PhD in Medieval Church History from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1986. His publications and research interests are in the areas of church history and historical theology. He lives in St Louis, MO, with his wife Debbie.
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