Distance Learning Courses
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THE CHURCH IN MISSION
The ministries of Jesus and the early church are taken in this course as our basic models for learning how to participate today in God’s saving, healing, restorative mission in the world. In addition to introducing biblical foundations of Christian mission, and historical and contemporary perspectives on the theology and practice of mission, this class will include direct experience with people and groups beyond the circle of the churches and communities we know, including those committed to non-Christian beliefs. Each student will develop several personal relationships in which learning from another, respecting them for who they are, loving them in Christ-like ways, and respectfully sharing from one’s experience with God will be basic elements of interaction. The inherently missionary nature of the church in this biblical and Anabaptist perspective also requires a critical discussion of cultural and theological barriers to authentic and confident participation in God’s mission today.
THEOLOGY IN ANABAPTIST PERSPECTIVE
This course studies the theology of the Anabaptist movement: Christology, ecclesiology, grace and justification, discipleship, church order, baptism and the Lord's Supper, nonresistance, witness, suffering and mission, and eschatology are some of the areas examined, using primary and secondary materials. The reasons for its emergence are examined, and the pluralism of the movement is noted.
PASTORAL CARE
A critical reflection on what it means to be a caregiver and counselor in the ministry of the church. Among the issues examined are the assumptions one brings to caregiving, the relationship between caregiving and counseling, and the various models for pastoral care and counseling. Basic counseling techniques and theories are introduced as well as professional and ethical issues related to caregiving and counseling. Specific pastoral events such as births, weddings and funerals are also explored. An opportunity to develop basic skills through role playing and other exercises is provided.
NEW TESTAMENT: TEXT IN CONTEXT
The New Testament: Text in Context course is a basic introduction to the New Testament. The first part of the course will focus on the world of the New Testament period noting the historical, political, social and cultural setting into which Christ came and the New Testament scriptures were written. The second part of the course is a study of the New Testament itself. Students will read and do inductive study of the various NT books.
OLD TESTAMENT: TEXT IN CONTEXT
This is an introduction to the Old Testament literature. The approach gives major consideration to the ancient Near Eastern context: history, culture and religion. Other considerations include reading the Old Testament as literature and as the authoritative Word of God. Lectures, readings, inductive study questions and class discussion are used.
MENNONITE HISTORY
A study of the emergence and growth of Anabaptist-Mennonites from their origin in the 16th-century Reformation in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands to Russia, North and south America, and the third world. Attention is given to modern renewal movements in the tradition.
INTERPRETING THE BIBLICAL TEXT
This course is concerned with the question of how biblical authority is made effective in the church today through proper interpretation. Such interpretation attempts both to uncover the inherent meaning of the text and to contextualize that meaning in contemporary life. The course gives attention to reading the biblical texts in their original context while attending to the way interpreters read from the perspective of their own cultural context. Methods are learned that preserve the normativity of Scripture in the process of relevant application to the life of particular cultures.
PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
This course gives attention to personal and corporate prayer in the believing community from Old Testament times to the present. Lectures, readings, experience of prayer and discussions take into consideration how history, culture, theology, worship tradition and life experience influence the believer's response to God.
MENNONITE FAITH AND POLITY
This course examines two aspects of Mennonite reality. First, what has it said and what is it saying about what it believes concerning the Christian faith; and second, how it structures itself in the light of those beliefs to carry out its ministry in the world
ETHICS AND NONVIOLENCE: SERMON ON THE MOUNT
This new course in Christian Ethics takes a deep look at Jesus' teaching and the ethics of the New Testament through the lens of the Sermon on the Mount. Jewish backgrounds of that teaching, resonance in the rest of the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament, and the heritage of its understanding down through the centuries of the Christian church are focal themes of the course. Current applications in understandings of peacemaking at different levels conclude this study. Students will do inductive study of the Gospel texts, some review of Old Testament backgrounds, research on thinkers in Christian history who advanced our understanding of the message, and some evaluation and responses to current practices of peacemaking. The course emphasizes group interaction and direct approaches to the English text of the Scriptures.
LEADERSHIP & ADMINISTRATION
This course examines the theology of congregational leadership and administration along with the functions, structures, systems and styles of its operation. It includes a study of emerging leadership and administration theology and patterns in the early church and in history from selected Christian traditions. A major part of the course is turned to practical issues of leadership and administration in the contemporary congregation from the perspective of believers church theology and practice.
