Previous Years' Course Catalogues

We will imagine the book of Numbers as a ‘dream’ (nightmare?) experience that can teach us about the kinds of skills communities and their leaders require to cope with life and death in a risk-filled environment. At its promptings we will explore specific congregational leadership issues including, planning, assessing resources, drawing forth, developing and changing volunteer leadership, mission, building vision and making change, recognizing and nurturing what gives a community life, coping with the reality of communal death, and above all, the life and death risk of traveling with the living God.

We will imagine the book of Numbers as a 'dream' (nightmare?) experience that can teach us about the kinds of skills communities and their leaders require to cope with life and death in a risk-filled environment. At its promptings we will explore specific congregational leadership issues including, planning, assessing resources, drawing forth, developing and changing volunteer leadership, mission, building vision and making change, recognizing and nurturing what gives a community life, coping with the reality of communal death, and above all, the life and death risk of traveling with the living God.

We will imagine the book of Numbers as a ‘dream’ (nightmare?) experience that can teach us about the kinds of skills communities and their leaders require to cope with life and death in a risk-filled environment. At its promptings we will explore specific congregational leadership issues including, planning, assessing resources, drawing forth, developing and changing volunteer leadership, mission, building vision and making change, recognizing and nurturing what gives a community life, coping with the reality of communal death, and above all, the life and death risk of traveling with the living God.

We will imagine the book of Numbers as a 'dream' (nightmare?) experience that can teach us about the kinds of skills communities and their leaders require to cope with life and death in a risk-filled environment. At its promptings we will explore specific congregational leadership issues including, planning, assessing resources, drawing forth, developing and changing volunteer leadership, mission, building vision and making change, recognizing and nurturing what gives a community life, coping with the reality of communal death, and above all, the life and death risk of traveling with the living God.

Luke's themes of universality and of Christ as savior of the disadvantaged demonstrate God's openness in Christianity to everyone and form the core of Luke's personal portrayal of God's saving action in history and in the world. According to Luke, disciples and "eye-witnesses" of Jesus of Nazareth are characterized by their receptivity towards God's saving activity and their responses and reactions of joy, wonder, praise and blessing to that activity. Special attention will be paid to Luke's presentation of Jesus' proclamation of a liberation which is not limited by ethnic, national, economic or gender concerns. This course will consider Luke's Gospel as a blueprint for contemporary ministry. Weekly assignments, final paper, class preparation and participation. Prerequisite: TSB 1501 (or equivalent).

Luke's themes of universality and of Christ as savior of the disadvantaged demonstrate God's openness in Christianity to everyone and form the core of Luke's personal portrayal of God's saving action in history and in the world. According to Luke, disciples and "eye-witnesses" of Jesus of Nazareth are characterized by their receptivity towards God's saving activity and their responses and reactions of joy, wonder, praise and blessing to that activity. Special attention will be paid to Luke's presentation of Jesus' proclamation of a liberation which is not limited by ethnic, national, economic or gender concerns. This course will consider Luke's Gospel as a blueprint for contemporary ministry. 

Luke's themes of universality and of Christ as savior of the disadvantaged demonstrate God's openness in Christianity to everyone and form the core of Luke's personal portrayal of God's saving action in history and in the world. According to Luke, disciples and "eye-witnesses" of Jesus of Nazareth are characterized by their receptivity towards God's saving activity and their responses and reactions of joy, wonder, praise and blessing to that activity. Special attention will be paid to Luke's presentation of Jesus' proclamation of a liberation which is not limited by ethnic, national, economic or gender concerns. This course will consider Luke's Gospel as a blueprint for contemporary ministry. 

Built upon the foundations established from the Fundamental Tenets and Practices of Buddhism course, this course provides students with further understanding of how the Buddhist traditions make use of various meditative techniques as the means to help practitioners realize the transcendental experiences explicated in the Buddhist doctrines. Five major Buddhist meditative traditions will be explored, namely, the fundamental meditative techniques found in the Theravada tradition, the two forms of Chan/Zen meditation in China and Japan, the Pure Land tradition in China, the unique system of meditation developed in the Tiantai school in China, and the visualization practices in the Tibetan tantric style of cultivation. Students will develop an in-depth understanding of the Buddha's teachings in association with the principles behind the meditative practices, the modern adaptations of these practices, as well as the relationship with the Buddhist teachings on well-being and spiritual happiness. Students are encouraged to adapt these meditative techniques and integrate the insights on spiritual development of self and others into their psychotherapy practices.

This is a survey course, anchored in a contextual approach to theology, that explores the relationship between social justice and classical and contemporary theological reflections in Christian traditions. Topics addressed will include justice-related issues and contextual theologies engaging the issues in a Canadian and broadly North American context. Attention is given to colonialism/settler colonialism, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, war and peace, economic inequality, ecological crisis, and restorative justice. Intersectional theory is also included to address the complexity of simultaneously operating injustice rooted in the social context. This course will be basically arranged with lectures, presentations,discussions, readings and writings. The means of evaluation are 5-minute exploratory writing, class participation, reflection paper, presentation, and research paper.

This is a survey course, anchored in a contextual approach to theology, that explores the relationship between social justice and classical and contemporary theological reflections in Christian traditions. Topics addressed will include justice-related issues and contextual theologies engaging the issues in a Canadian and broadly North American context. Attention is given to colonialism/settler colonialism, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, war and peace, economic inequality, ecological crisis, and restorative justice. Intersectional theory is also included to address the complexity of simultaneously operating injustice rooted in the social context. This course will be basically arranged with lectures, presentations,discussions, readings and writings. The means of evaluation are 5-minute exploratory writing, class participation, reflection paper, presentation, and research paper.

A study of John's Gospel with particular attention to his use of symbolism and irony to portray human spiritual limitations and the need for a spiritual transformation and rebirth in the spirit. The discussion of Johannine spirituality will examine agape as the unique way of knowing God and patterning oneself on Christ. Issues such as conflict, sectarianism and misuses of John will also be covered.

A study of John's Gospel with particular attention to his use of symbolism and irony to portray human spiritual limitations and the need for a spiritual transformation and rebirth in the spirit. The discussion of Johannine spirituality will examine agape as the unique way of knowing God and patterning oneself on Christ. Issues such as conflict, sectarianism and misuses of John will also be covered.