Discerning the Contexts of Ministry (CM)

Course descriptions and scheduling are subject to change by administrative decision. See course offerings booklet for current offerings. Some courses will be offered on a two- or three-year rotation.

CM 523 Comparative Monotheisms:  Judaism, Christianity, Islam (3 SH)

This course is an introduction to the Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  An entire semester and more could easily be devoted to each religion alone, so the topics covered will be highly selective, not comprehensive.  We will give special attention to the term "monotheism" and to Jewish and Muslim concerns about the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus.  We will also attend closely to issues in political theology in hope of better equipping students to be critical observers of world events as they are portrayed in the media.

CM 538 Global Christianity (3 SH)

This course will examine the history, missionary dynamics and current changing demographics of the Christian church worldwide. Beginning with several biblical reflections, the study will trace the expansion of the Christian movement, explore the impact of the Western colonial encounter, highlight growing efforts to embrace contextualized forms of the faith, and examine case studies of specific issues facing the church in different parts of the world. Students will have the opportunity to explore regional developments in diverse geographical settings or examine in more depth particular issues of special interest to them, such as interfaith conversations, role of women in the church, worship trends, or the witness of the church in word and deed.

CM 612 Topics: Intercultural Trips (3 SH)

CM 621 Evangelism: Living to Tell (3 SH)

Learning to survive, thrive and make a contribution in an intercultural context and exploring how the Christian gospel is faithfully communicated and expressed in varying cultural contexts are the twin objectives of this course. The biblical concept of incarnation is taken as a biblical model for understanding the nature, scope and limits of contextualizing the Christian faith in various cultural settings, applying the perspectives and tools of cultural anthropology. Students learn to apply the research discipline of participant observation to learning about another cultural community, giving special attention to how the gospel is communicated and expressed there.

CM 635 Faith-Based Social Transformation (3 SH)

This course focuses on the work of faith-based social movements and explores strategies for faith-based social transformation.  Beginning with the history of the Civil Rights movement in the United States, this course will study organizing, capacity building, strategic planning, and religious practices that religious movements use to engage social issues.  We will explore questions like: What roles did religious movements have in transforming societies?  What kind of spiritual practices sustained movements for justice?  What can we learn from religious movements that successfully address the pressing concerns of their day?  Are there any contemporary issues on which faith-based organizations might partner to address?

CM 640 Topics (1-3 SH)

This course allows an in-depth engagement with a particular setting within the broad field of ministry settings.

CM 643 Missio Dei in Cultural Context (3 SH)

This course calls and equips participants to join in the drama of God’s mission in the world, as ambassadors of the New Community forming in response to the work and teaching of Jesus Christ. Every human culture is a context for this awareness of God’s activity. We review the many diverse shapes the Gospel has taken in order to be intelligible across many social settings and historical epochs. The God who becomes incarnate among us is passionate about engaging human cultures.

CM 651 Women and Men in Scripture and Church (3 SH)

This course is a study of biblical and historical perspectives on the roles and relationships of women and men within the community of faith. The focus of the course is a study of the biblical (Old Testament/New Testament) and historical (early church onward) evidence which addresses the roles of women vis-a-vis men within the life of the Jewish and Christian faith communities. The study culminates in consideration of the implications of these biblical materials for the life, work and worship of the contemporary church. This course is open to persons with or without previous courses in Hebrew or Greek.

CM 654 Race and Religion in America (3 SH)

In this course we will explore the inter-related nature of racial, religious, and national categories of Identity. We will enhance our understanding of race, nation, and religion through engaging histories of cross-racial, cross-national, and cross-religious encounters in North America. In our efforts to understand the braided realities of these categories of identity, we will use a socio-historical approach while keeping the present in mind. Our purpose is to discover ways that racial, religious, and national histories haunt our lives, churches, and communities in the present.

CM 724 Racial Healing and the Blue-Eyed Soul (3 SH)

Racial healing has been a focus of Christian communities since the Civil Rights Movement, but the Christian response has largely focused on the effects of race on people of color and subsequent interpersonal efforts at reconciliation. This seminar will use literary and autobiographical texts to illumine the effects of racial whiteness on collective and individual identities in US American life. In the U.S. racial hierarchy, the white race is assumed to be the default racial identity category and those persons who identify with it often consider race to be the possession of people of color rather than themselves. In this way, racial whiteness has functioned largely as an invisible, yet powerful, social and political discourse that has implications for white people and people of color. Recently, white invisibility has stabilized the power and privilege of white hegemony. In other epochs whiteness has functioned more visibly as the apogee of racial identity and has operated for most of its existence as the normative category of identity, so that today, even in its invisibility, whiteness is assumed as the normative racial designation for American identity.

Denominational Studies

A course or courses on the history, theology and/or polity of the student’s denomination may be either required or encouraged. For Master of Divinity students who are members of the Mennonite or United Methodist churches, required courses are listed below. Master of Divinity students who are members of the Church of the Brethren or Brethren in Christ Church are required to take a course or courses offered by the denomination. Students from other denominations are encouraged to do a directed study on the history, theology and/or polity of their faith tradition. Master of Arts in Church Leadership students with pastoral interest are encouraged to take a denominational studies course.

CM 663 Mennonite Faith and Polity (2 SH)

This course covers 1) the history of MCUSA polity formation from the time the denomination was formed from two previous Mennonite denominations (2002), 2) the contents of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective and the Membership Guidelines, the roles of the Executive Board, the Constituency Leaders Council, and the area conferences, and the current conversations about membership in the area conferences; and 3) processes of credentialing of leaders within MCUSA.

United Methodist Studies

The seminary has developed a partnership arrangement with Wesley Seminary in Washington D.C. to cooperatively offer courses in United Methodist studies. At minimum the following two courses will be offered between the two seminaries.

CM 670 United Methodist Studies I (3 SH)

This course begins with the early history of the Wesleyan movement in England, draws on John Wesley’s sermons and journals, and considers the ways Methodist organized for practical life within their churches and for their mission in the world. It will lay the framework for the ways that the particular Methodist gifts and graces in ecclesiology, theology, and practice, have interwoven throughout the first centuries of the movement.

CM 680 United Methodist Studies II (3 SH)

This course follows the story as Methodism becomes a worldwide movement. Through selected resources from The Book of Discipline, from contemporary scholarship in Wesleyan theology and theological method, students will examine the core of United Methodist belief, and review the doctrinal expectations of candidates for ordination in the United Methodist Church. The course will include contemporary questions in United Methodist polity in the 21st century.

Independent Studies

791 Independent Studies (1-3 SH)

Independent studies may be taken in any department subject to the approval of the instructor and the associate dean. More information here.