Fall Courses: 2005

Today is the first day of the Fall 2005 semester at Regent College:



Here are the courses I've enrolled in, with a little additional information on each course (taken from the course syllabus):

1 - History of Christianity I (Mon, Thur 9:30-11am) - tracks the history of the Christian faith in all its various traditions:
* The Early Church, Early Development in Christian Doctrine (100-312AD)
* The Patristic Period (Greek Fathers) (312-600AD)
* Organization and Administration of the Church, the Church and Women, the rise of Monasticism, the Development of Trinitarian Theology
* St. Augustine of Hippo
* The Eastern Church
* The Celtic Church, Continental (European) Church (500-1000AD)
* The Middle Ages: Renewal, decline, renewal, dissent, reform
* The Reformation: Luther, Radical Reformers, and Calvinism

2 - Christian Education and Equipping (Mon 11am-2:30pm) - the Making of Maturing Disciples of Jesus:
* Church Work and the Work of the Church, The Call of Discipleship
* The Gospel of Matthew as "Discipleship Manual", Ephesians as "Maturing Disciples Handbook" * St. Paul the Discipleship Maker
* Hebrews: A Call to Discipleship
* Theology and Philosophy of Christian Education: teaching, learning
* The Church as Seminary, So What is the Gospel We Preach?
* The Church as Equipper, Equipping for the Markeplace
* Praying, listening to the Voice of Jesus, Johannine Literature

3 - Supervised Ministry (Alternate Wed 2-5:30pm) - consists of a practical internship at my church, combined with lectures on the following themes:
* The Shape of Pastoral Vocation
* Funerals, Weddings
* Leading a Congregation through a Church Year
* Spiritual Health in the Pastoral Vocation
* Ordinances and Sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist
* Conflict in the Church
* The Church and Community

Of these courses, the course I look forward to the most is the course on the history of the church. I yearn to learn about the early church: what were the issues, how did they deal with them, what did they do well (conversely, what are we doing well), and what did they not do so well (and what are we not doing so well).