March 2020 Course Descriptions
March Overview
- Classes meet March 14-15 from Saturday at 12:30 pm (lunch at noon) to Sunday at 12:00 noon.
- Classes begin on Monday, February 10.
- Classes end on Friday, April 17 (if taken for credit).
- Tuition is $100 to audit, $195 for credit, which includes your overnight stay at Upton Hall & all meals.
- If you prefer a hotel, we have a special rate of $75.50 (including tax) at nearby Senate Luxury Suites.
- Complete a short application for the $100 Jim Upton lay scholarship.
- Register online for classes.
Contemporary Catechumenate
Some say that the Adult Catechumenate is the best kept secret within the Episcopal and Lutheran churches. Two resolutions from the 1988 General Convention encouraged the Catechumenate to be the normative way to initiate adults for baptism, confirmation, and reception in the Episcopal Church. Rooted in the experience of the early Christian Church, we will explore the Catechumenate formation process, gain a pastoral sense of its liturgical rites, and begin to apply this knowledge to our pastoral settings. A hybrid learning model will be used - calling for some work before and after our time together.
Book List
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
Sacramental Theology
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
Social Ministry II
This course will apply concepts learned in Social Ministry I to the participant’s particular local context. Students will develop ministry partnerships within their own local community and will learn basic community organizing principles such as asset mapping. This course will use, in part, the Called to Transformation model of Asset Based Community Development developed by the Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief & Development.
Book List
Some say that the Adult Catechumenate is the best kept secret within the Episcopal and Lutheran churches. Two resolutions from the 1988 General Convention encouraged the Catechumenate to be the normative way to initiate adults for baptism, confirmation, and reception in the Episcopal Church. Rooted in the experience of the early Christian Church, we will explore the Catechumenate formation process, gain a pastoral sense of its liturgical rites, and begin to apply this knowledge to our pastoral settings. A hybrid learning model will be used - calling for some work before and after our time together.
Book List
- Go Make Disciples: An invitation to Baptismal Living, Augsburg Press, 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
- Access to the current Book of Occasional Services of the Episcopal Church: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/files/lm_book_of_occasional_services_2018.pdf
- The Rev. Larry Ehren is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of West Missouri, currently serving St. Mary Magdalen as Priest in Charge. He is a graduate of BKSM in Anglican Studies, has a Master of Divinity degree from Boston College's Graduate School of Ministry and Theology, and undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University in Psychology and Philosophy, and is completing his Doctor of Ministry in Christian Spirituality at the Virginia Theological Seminary. He has pastoral experience with the Catechumenate in a variety of settings. He is vice president of Journey to Baptismal Living (an ecumenical resource for the Catechumenate) and is a Catechist of Baptized for Life (a Lilly Foundation initiative within the Episcopal Church).
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
- 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 7-18.
Sacramental Theology
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.
Social Ministry II
This course will apply concepts learned in Social Ministry I to the participant’s particular local context. Students will develop ministry partnerships within their own local community and will learn basic community organizing principles such as asset mapping. This course will use, in part, the Called to Transformation model of Asset Based Community Development developed by the Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief & Development.
Book List
- McNight, John and Block, Peter. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods, 2012.
- Called to Transformation: An Asset Based Approach to Engaging Church and Community, provided by facilitators
- The Very Rev. Chas Marks
- The Rev. Deacon Teresa Houser