March 2018 Course Descriptions
BKSM welcomes all laypersons to take courses with us for personal enrichment or continuing education! We encourage you to experience the remarkable environment of learning, worship and fellowship that makes BKSM such a special place.
March courses begin on February 12, when instructors email the syllabus The focus weekend takes place March 10-11, and final assignments are due April 13 (if you take the class for credit).
While the weekend begins with breakfast at 7:30 for students on ordination and lay license tracks, course instruction does not begin until 1:00 p.m., which gives you the flexibility of driving to Topeka on Saturday morning, rather than on Friday evening. If you are taking a class for personal enrichment or continuing education, you are welcome to spend the night at Upton Hall on Friday night, and join us for breakfast and morning prayer on Saturday morning. While the 8:45 colloquium session is a closed group for students on an ordination track, you are most invited to join us at 10:15 for our praxis session, which addresses some practical area of ministry.
If you would like to audit a course, the tuition is $100. If you would like to take the class for credit, the tuition is $180. The cost (whether you audit or take for credit) includes meals and overnight accommodations at Upton Hall on Friday and Saturday night (on a space-available basis). If you wish to take the class for credit, we encourage you to enroll by February 12. However, if you wish to audit the class, you may register at any time prior to the focus weekend.
Get started by completing the course registration form. If you have specific questions, contact the Very Rev. Dr. Don Compier, BKSM dean, at bksmdean2@gmail.com or (816) 217-4053.
Gospels
There is one Jesus of Nazareth, but four authoritative witnesses to his life and mission. In this course, we are going to study the New Testament gospels in their biblical, historical, and narrative contexts. We are going to develop an appreciation for both their collective and distinctive witness to Jesus Christ and to the life of discipleship. How does their witness inform our understanding of who Jesus was then and who Jesus is now? And how does this knowledge shape our understanding of who we are as his witnesses and activate us and empower us for ministry in his name?
Reading List
This course addresses the basic principles of sacramental theology from a classical Anglican standpoint and the historical development of the Book of Common Prayer as a response to those principles. Beginning with the fundamental categories of time, space, and incarnation, this course provides a biblical and theological base for the further study and practice of the liturgical worship in the Episcopal tradition.
Reading List
The Contemporary Catechumenate
Students will become familiar with exciting current ecumenical developments in the retrieval of the church’s long tradition of catechumenate. They will learn about current social trends and how to respond to contemporary realities in ways that foster the preparation and formation of Christian disciples.
Reading List
Parish Administration
This class provides an overview of parish administration and offers students the basic resources you need to navigate administration in a parish and ministry setting, primarily from the standpoint of a volunteer-based church. Topics include how to identity a team, team process, and how to implement the structures and checks and balances necessary to have a good system in a church. Class sessions will cover reading material and then use a case study for discussion. You may see some parallels to your own congregation or a congregation you might serve in the future!
Reading List
Conversational Evangelism (meets Saturday only in Lawrence)
Course description, reading list and instructor information coming soon
There is one Jesus of Nazareth, but four authoritative witnesses to his life and mission. In this course, we are going to study the New Testament gospels in their biblical, historical, and narrative contexts. We are going to develop an appreciation for both their collective and distinctive witness to Jesus Christ and to the life of discipleship. How does their witness inform our understanding of who Jesus was then and who Jesus is now? And how does this knowledge shape our understanding of who we are as his witnesses and activate us and empower us for ministry in his name?
Reading List
- Newbigin, Leslie. A Walk through the Bible by Regent College Publishing, 978-0834150485
- Powell, Mark Allen. Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey (Grand Rapids, Mich.: BakerAcademic, 2009). ISBN 978-0801028687
- New Revised Standard Version translation of the Bible
- The Rev. Dr. J. Ted Blakley serves as the rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Hutchinson, Kansas. Before coming to Grace, Ted served as the Curate of St. John's in Wichita, he taught as a long-term substitute in the Wichita Public Schools, and he was the Scholar in Residence and Executive Director of St. Mark's Press. He is the author of the three-volume series, A Lector's Guide and Commentary to the Revised Common Lectionary. which is available through St. Mark's Press (stmarkspress.net). He received his Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (2008). He and his wife, Rebekah, have four children ranging in ages from 4 to 14.
This course addresses the basic principles of sacramental theology from a classical Anglican standpoint and the historical development of the Book of Common Prayer as a response to those principles. Beginning with the fundamental categories of time, space, and incarnation, this course provides a biblical and theological base for the further study and practice of the liturgical worship in the Episcopal tradition.
Reading List
- McCabe, Herbert. The New Creation. Bloomsbury Academic, 2010.
- Another text may be assigned with the syllabus
- The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Thomas is the Director of Church Relations for the St. Francis Foundation. Previously, he served as the Dean and Rector of Christ Cathedral, Salina, KS, after serving as Assistant Rector at Grace Church, NYC. He earned his M.Div. (‘07) and Th.D. (‘11) from the General Theological Seminary in New York. His research interests include patristic and early medieval theology. He lives in Eden Prairie, MN with his wife Holly and their four children.
The Contemporary Catechumenate
Students will become familiar with exciting current ecumenical developments in the retrieval of the church’s long tradition of catechumenate. They will learn about current social trends and how to respond to contemporary realities in ways that foster the preparation and formation of Christian disciples.
Reading List
- Go Make Disciples: An invitation to Baptismal Living - Augsburg - ISBN 978-1-4514-2612-0
- Hoffman, Paul. Faith Forming Faith. Cascade Books, ISBN 978-1-61097-5277-8
- Turrell, James F. Celebrating the Rites of Initiation: A practical guide. Church Publishing, ISBN 978-0-89869-875-6
- Articles provided to participants in advance.
- Access to the 1979 Book of Occasional Services
- Larry Ehren is the Coordinator for The Way (the Adult Catechumenate) at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City, Missouri. He is a recent graduate of BKSM in Anglican Studies. He has a Master of Divinity for Boston College's Graduate School of Ministry and Theology, an undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University in Psychology and Philosophy, and is a Doctoral student at the Virginia Theological Seminary. He is married to the Reverend Christ Dorn, Canon at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Parish Administration
This class provides an overview of parish administration and offers students the basic resources you need to navigate administration in a parish and ministry setting, primarily from the standpoint of a volunteer-based church. Topics include how to identity a team, team process, and how to implement the structures and checks and balances necessary to have a good system in a church. Class sessions will cover reading material and then use a case study for discussion. You may see some parallels to your own congregation or a congregation you might serve in the future!
Reading List
- Church Pension Group. Model Policies for the Protection of Children and Youth from Abuse. New York: Church Pension Group, 2004.
- Cladis, George. Leading the Team Based Church: How Pastors and Church Staffs Can Grow Together into a Powerful Fellowship of Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, 1999.
- Mallory, Sue. The Equipping Church: Serving Together to Transform Lives. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.
- The Episcopal Church. Manual of Business Methods in Church Affairs. New York: Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 2009 [2007].
- The Episcopal Church Foundation. The Vestry Resource Guide, 3rd Ed. New York: Forward Movement Publications, 2010.
- Powers, Bruce P. Church Administration Handbook. B & H Publishing, 2008 3rd edition.
- Doyle, Andy. Church: A Generous Community Amplified for the Future. VTS Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-1508952299
- The Rev. Gar Demo came to St. Thomas the Apostle, Overland Park, KS, in 2006 from St. Peter’s in Conway, Arkansas where he was Vicar From 1998-2002, he was the assistant rector at St. Michael and All Angels in Mission, Kansas, before which he spent a year at St. Margaret’s in Lawrence, Kansas and as the youth coordinator for the Diocese of Kansas.
Demo attended the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest (ETSS) in Austin, Texas after receiving his BA in Psychology with a minor in Music from Wichita State University in 1994. He was ordained in 1997 and entered the priesthood in Dec. 1997. Demo also earned his MBA from Friends University in 2010.
Conversational Evangelism (meets Saturday only in Lawrence)
Course description, reading list and instructor information coming soon