November 2017 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 to be.
November courses begin officially on October 9, when instructors send out the syllabus to students. The focus weekend takes place November 11-12, and final assignments are due December 8 (if you take the class for credit).
While the weekend begins with breakfast at 7:30 for students on ordination and PMA 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 includes meals and overnight accommodations at Upton Hall on Friday and Saturday night (on a space-available basis). If you wish to enroll for credit, we encourage you to enroll by October 9. 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.
Contemporary Mission
This course will help you develop a practical ecclesiology for changing times. We will explore recent demographic trends in the Church, the shifting place of the Church in the wider culture, and some current thinking in the area of organizational development in order to begin to equip you to help lead the Church in making the adaptive shift from our maintenance legacy to our missional future. This course will inspire you and help you craft a constructive, hopeful vision for the future of the Church.
Book List
History of the Episcopal Church
We will look at the history of the Episcopal Church from its colonial beginnings to its current practice in all aspects of Church life. Our “look” will be focused through the Anglican claim to represent the earliest (sub-Apostolic) Church and directed to discovering what accounts for successes and failures in mission, service, and growth. Era by era, we will note how the Church has responded to or helped to create its surroundings through four centuries of changing conditions and consciousness and how the American Episcopal Church relates to the larger Church and its global challenges. What role does ECUSA play in what Presiding Bishop Curry calls “The Jesus Movement”?
Book List
Theology of Education Ministry
In this class, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles of human learning and development and the philosophy of education. You will learn how to identify and develop educational objectives and gain familiarity with the principles and practices for designing, implementing, and assessing curricula. Finally, this course will explore the theology of formation and the place of formation in the life and work of the church.
Book List
This course will help you develop a practical ecclesiology for changing times. We will explore recent demographic trends in the Church, the shifting place of the Church in the wider culture, and some current thinking in the area of organizational development in order to begin to equip you to help lead the Church in making the adaptive shift from our maintenance legacy to our missional future. This course will inspire you and help you craft a constructive, hopeful vision for the future of the Church.
Book List
- Zscheile, Dwight. The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age. New York: Morehouse. 2014.
- Roxburgh, Alan. Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood. Grand Rapids: Baker Books. 2011.
- The Very Rev. Craig Loya has served as Dean and Rector of Trinity Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska since September of 2013. A graduate of Hastings College and Yale University, he previously served as Canon to the Ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas. He has also served as Campus Missioner for the Diocese of Kansas, and has served congregations in South Dakota and Massachusetts. Loya is married to Melissa Tubbs Loya, a biblical scholar, and they have two children, Mari and Asa.
History of the Episcopal Church
We will look at the history of the Episcopal Church from its colonial beginnings to its current practice in all aspects of Church life. Our “look” will be focused through the Anglican claim to represent the earliest (sub-Apostolic) Church and directed to discovering what accounts for successes and failures in mission, service, and growth. Era by era, we will note how the Church has responded to or helped to create its surroundings through four centuries of changing conditions and consciousness and how the American Episcopal Church relates to the larger Church and its global challenges. What role does ECUSA play in what Presiding Bishop Curry calls “The Jesus Movement”?
Book List
- Prichard, Robert W. A History of the Episcopal Church, 3rd. Ed. Harrisburg: Morehouse Publishing, 2014.
- A Great Cloud of Witnesses. Church Publishing, 2016.
- In addition to the texts and fellow seminarians, your instructor will be The Rev. Dr. Charles Peek. Now retired, Fr. Peek served as Rector or Priest in Charge of several Nebraska parishes as well as being a regional consultant in Evangelism. He holds his Ph.D. in English and MA in Philosophy from the University of Nebraska, taught for many years at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln and Kearney), Northern Arizona University, and Texas State. He has presented at numerous international conferences and published many articles and books, including most recently a book of his preaching over two decades at events celebrating Willa Cather.
Theology of Education Ministry
In this class, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles of human learning and development and the philosophy of education. You will learn how to identify and develop educational objectives and gain familiarity with the principles and practices for designing, implementing, and assessing curricula. Finally, this course will explore the theology of formation and the place of formation in the life and work of the church.
Book List
- Everist, Norma Cook. The Church As Learning Community: A Comprehensive Guide to Christian Education. Abingdon Press, 2002.
- Fowler, James W. Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Adult Development and Christian Faith. Jossey-Bass, 2000.
- Westerhoff, John H. III. Will Our Children Have Faith? Third Revised Edition, Morehouse Publishing, 1976, 2000 & 2012.
- The Rev. Dr. Bill Fasel has been an Episcopal priest since 1990. He currently serves as the Ministry Developer for the Northeast Episcopal Regional Ministry in the Diocese of West Missouri. He is also the Assistant to the Bishop for Leadership Development. Fasel holds a D.Min. in Congregational Development from Seabury-Western.