Course Catalogue 2024-2025

This course introduces students to practices of care with an emphasis on self awareness, assessment and interculturality in pastoral/spiritual care. The first part of the course will focus on systems theories. Students will explore their own families and cultures of origin and their social identities as a means to learn the related theories and to develop self awareness for pastoral/ spiritual care practice. The second part of the course will relate systems and intercultural approaches to theories of grief and loss, death and dying, aging and dementia while deepening students' understanding of the therapeutic relationship and assessment in spiritual/pastoral care. This course is suitable for students preparing for work in spiritual care and counselling and for students preparing for social and congregational ministry.

Beginning new churches to serve areas and cultures where no church exists is a historic expression of the missio dei. The practice begins in the Book of Acts and has continued through Christian history, but is taking fresh and sometimes unconventional forms in Western society today. This course lays foundations for church planting and fresh expressions of church in scripture and theology, and then looks at contemporary practice through exposure to current resources, issues, and practitioners.

As an introduction to the major mental disorders, this course aims to prepare students for working with clients with serious mental health problems in private, institutional and community settings. The course focuses on a biopsychosocial and spiritual understanding of mental health and well-being. Utilizing the holistic approach to mental health, this course will explore classifications and symptomatology of the more severe and chronic forms of psychiatric disorder, their etiology and nature, and their diagnosis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) will be used as a reference point. The students will also be introduced to the critical influence of culture, class, race and ethnicity, religion, and social values of the individual, family, group, and social institutions in the assessment of mental health disorders. The course will critically review current classification systems and major theories regarding the nature of mental disorders, their diagnoses and etiologies, the treatment approaches available to help people in their recovery, and culturally relevant variables. As a result, the students will be able to critically utilize terminology and concepts in the DSM-5 and identify best practices in psychotherapy practice.

This course is an exploration of the following themes in the light of Christian revelation: creation, the human person, sin, grace, and eschatology.

This course is an exploration of the following themes in the light of Christian revelation: creation, the human person, sin, grace, and eschatology.

This course will explore the foundations of ministry in the New Testament, the manifold expressions of ministry in the history of the Church, and a variety of contemporary issues related to the theology and practice of ministry from a Roman Catholic perspective. Also important will be the relationship of ministry to other aspects of theology, such as Christology, pneumatology, grace, mission, ecclesiology, and sacraments.

This course “Food/Justice, Farming and Eco-Theology” engages with these theological and ethical perspectives in the context of the Greater Toronto Area. Where does food in the city come from, how does it shape our communities and sense of belonging? Who gets to eat nutritious foods and who goes hungry? How are churches advocating for food justice? How may we decolonize our food systems in an urban environment? The course will focus in on these and other questions in conversation with and informed by (Christian) eco-theology, Ignatian (eco)-spirituality, and Indigenous teachings.

Through lecture, discussion, prayer and eco-praxis, course participants will develop a solid academic foundation in eco-theology, skills to analyze contemporary social and ethical issues in ecology, and an integration of theology, spirituality and practical applications including organic gardening to support the formation of Christian identity and mission in the world today.

Apostolic preaching and its development in Gospel writing. A look at the Synoptic Question. Special introduction to first three gospels, with attention to the themes and theology of each tradition. Exegetical study of selected passages in Mark, completed with reference to accounts in Matthew and Luke.

Classic Buddhist scriptures have been traditionally classified in three major Categories: Sotra texts that record the teachings of the historical Buddha, Vrnaya texts that narrate disciplinary rules for the Buddhist monastic community, and Sastra texts that function as commentarial treatises on the Buddha's teachings; This course introduces students to classic Buddhist texts in each of these three categories to lielp students become familiar with literary discourse on foundational Buddhist doctrines, ethics, and thought. In this class, students will learn the history of the formation and the reception of a list of carefully selected canonical texts in each category, read English translations of the original text. When available, original editions of these texts in Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, or Tibetan will also be provided for those who are interested in exploring further.

Buddhism is a response to what is fundamentally an ethical problem -the perennial problem of the best kind of life for us to lead. The Buddha was driven to seek the solution to this problem and the associated ethical issues it arises. This course introduces students to explore whether an Asian religion such as Buddhism can shed any light on problems that the West has found difficult and controversial. The course applies Buddhist ethics to a range of issues of contemporary concern, including abortion, euthanasia, suicide, war, environmentalism, etc., and discusses the Buddhist response to ethical dilemmas confronting our modern societies. It also develops a careful, probing analysis of the nature and practical dynamics of Buddhist ethics in the particularities of different Buddhist traditions, and compare that against the Christian perspective. Since Buddhist ethics is an unfamiliar subject in the West, the course will take on various issues from a Christian perspective first as a point of departure. This allows students to examine the different ethical standards sparked from different religious orientations. Through such discussions, students will develop an in-depth understanding of the Buddhist moral teachings and how many of these ancient, Indian approaches could be modified and remained meaningful in our contemporary society. The class format will take on a variety of styles, including lectures, critical reading of canonical texts, academic works and films, exploring and examining the Buddhist principles in different contexts through class discussion, and the comparative reading of Buddhist ethics against the "norm" of Christian ethics in the Western world.

The course begins by looking at what the church is from an historical, biblical and functional perspective with special attention being given to the context in which it exists and to the epochs of Christianity as laid down by David Bosch. Then an examination of evangelism is given which defines it and looks at its history. Afterwards a theology of evangelism is explored with a focus on missio Dei. Then the practice of evangelism, as it is practiced in the church today, Is examined. The course closes by looking at both challenges and opportunities going forward. This is done with an in-depth look at the Missional Church Movement, Demographics and Marketing, Bernard Lonergan's concept of mutual self-mediation and giving some practical tools.