Required Courses for Concentration in Christian Education
- XTIANEDU 80 Introduction to the Education of Christians (Fall, YR 1)
- XTIANEDU 179: Persons in Communities (Spring, YR 2 or 3)
- XTIANEDU 175: Liturgy and Christian Formation (Spring, YR 2 or 3)
- XTIANEDU 205: Bible Study Programs for the Local Church (Spring, YR 3)
- One additional XTIANEDU elective
Introduction to the Education of Christians
This course, designed as a foundational one for future educators and pastors, considers the theological implications of such traditional educational concepts as curriculum, pedagogy, epistemology, teaching, and learning. In addition, it explores the overlapping relationship between Christian education and the formation of personal and corporate Christian character. Various approaches to Christian education are explored, from models oriented to libratory justice to others informed by more classical practices of the imitation of Christ. The importance of and means to exemplary teaching in faith communities are also stressed. Students completing this course can expect to be better equipped to critically imagine a ministry of Christian education in a variety of contexts and to construct means toward their envisioned ends.
Persons In Communities
Who or what is the human self? Who or what constitutes a community? What is the interrelationship between these domains? Constructive reflection on such questions is critical for educators and pastors seeking to form faithful persons in faith communities. This theoretical course invites into conversation diverse literatures from theology, anthropology and neuroscience better to understand the intra-personal and inter-personal dynamics of Christian formation. We will focus especially on how persons are created to acquire and embody Christian conviction and why attention to the character of Christian communities is essential to such embodiment.
Liturgy and Christian Formation
Theological tradition suggests that human life is expressed and claimed most fully in and through the praise and worship of God. Such a claim, often overlooked by educators and pastors, suggests that Christian liturgy is a critical context for considering issues of education and formation in communities of faith. This course explores how the patterned “holy things” of worship (book, bath, table and calendar) may enact persons into storied identity. It considers how worship offers a curriculum and embodied pedagogy for Christian life. It also examines why the aesthetic “language” of liturgy—symbol, metaphor, ritual action and music—remains an especially effective medium for connecting human beings with graceful mystery and for accomplishing transformation in human lives.
Bible Study Programs for the Local Church
This is a practicum with two foci: evaluating the theological and pedagogical presuppositions of existing Bible Study curricula, and developing and implementing specific studies appropriate to diverse settings. Drawing on the students’ education in church history, theology and pastoral care as well as biblical studies, we will reflect on the role and posture of the teacher, the situation and participation of the students, the goals, strengths and weaknesses of different methods, and the constraints and claims inherent in the biblical material itself. As much as possible, we also will draw on the experience of Bible study leaders from local churches.