Course Catalogue 2025-2026

This course will include a comprehensive overview of both the Middle Ages and the Reformation Era, including: the critical movements of Catholic renewal and reform during the Middle Ages, including the study of the Crusades, the development of monasticism is the medieval period, encountering heresy, social life, and the flowering of the Renaissance. The course will also engage with the central Reformation movements encouraged by figures such as Erasmus, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, the special circumstances of the English Reformation(s), and the spiritual renewal of the Counter-Reformation. Particular attention will be placed on the age of exploration and the globalization of the Catholic faith, as well as issues around colonialism. A special emphasis is placed on the use of primary sources, which will aid students to better understand the historical realities of the period being studied and learn how primary sources may be used in historical research.

A reflection upon the role of psychology in religious education as a way to understand faith development (James W. Fowler) and/or human transcendence (Bernard J.F. Lonergan). Some time will be given to Ignatian and Carmelite spirituality as samples of structuring spirituality.

Foundational elements for pastoral care: theology of ministry, acceptance of self, relationships, grief and loss, prayer, suffering, art of listening, care with the sick and infirm at home and in institutions.

This is a survey course in Anglican theology that will involve extensive reading. Using the lens of Scriptural interpretation as a way of approaching the sweep of Anglican theological thinking, this course will survey chronologically a broad range Anglican readers of Scripture in an attempt to gauge the development of the larger religious vision of Anglicanism over time. Beginning with Wycliffe, the course will move through a number of writers into the early 20th century, and end with some recent statements on the reading of Scripture from around the Anglican Communion.

This is a survey course in Anglican theology that will involve extensive reading. Using the lens of Scriptural interpretation as a way of approaching the sweep of Anglican theological thinking, this course will survey chronologically a broad range Anglican readers of Scripture in an attempt to gauge the development of the larger religious vision of Anglicanism over time. Beginning with Wycliffe, the course will move through a number of writers into the early 20th century, and end with some recent statements on the reading of Scripture from around the Anglican Communion.

This course will begin with a biblical and historical review of the field of pastoral care, and will assist students to develop a model of pastoral care based on understandings of God and human experience, for congregations or faith communities. Students will work toward developing caregiving skills as well as a workable paradigm for offering pastoral care in their ministry setting. Class time will be divided between a two-hour teaching block and a one-hour skill development block.

This course will survey the role of a correctional chaplain in Canada. Consideration will be given to purposes and types of prisons, mental health and spiritual care policies and security concerns. The multi-disciplinary environment in corrections is unique and rapidly changing. Care for staff, volunteers and prisoners is investigated through a variety of methods, including direct client contact, programs, studies, and literature. Grief and loss, guilt and shame, and temptation and suffering will be explored in tandem with effective psycho-spiritual care. As rehabilitation programs within corrections are considered essential, this course will endeavor to aid the student in the development of a program from the planning stage through to completion.

This three-hour pass/fail course introduces students to the basics of what it means to have healthy self-awareness and is designed to lay the foundation for effective and ethical pastoral care practices. The primary focus is to encourage students to recognize and enjoy their gifts and strengths without ignoring the limits of those good things. It is also about seeing and accepting ownership of the sometimes laudable, sometimes questionable motivations and needs that shape our perceptions and guide our behavior. The overarching goal of this course is for each student to gain accurate self-understanding and an appreciation of the ways in which he or she is predisposed to bring him or herself as a person to interactions that require sensitivity and skill.

The Syriac, Armenian, and Coptic traditions of Oriental Orthodoxy witnessed diverse challenges that contributed to theological developments responsible for the shape of these Oriental Orthodox Churches today. The writings of Philoxenus of Mabbug and Severus of Antioch in response to the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon shaped the Miaphysite Christology of Oriental Orthodoxy. This course will explore the marks of Miaphysite Christology as inherited and interpreted by the figures above. Additionally, this course will explore Orthodox spirituality through the writings of Philoxenus and Jacob of Serug from the Syriac Church, and Gregory of Narek from the Armenian Church. The dawn of Islam marked a new development in Oriental Orthodox theology as various theologians were compelled to author polemical and apologetic treatises articulating the logic of Trinitarian and Christological theology in ways comprehensible to their foreign conquerors who do not share their convictions about these subjects. As such, this course explores elements of dogmatic theology, apologetics, spirituality, and asceticism through Oriental Orthodox patristic thought in the Medieval era. 

The Syriac, Armenian, and Coptic traditions of Oriental Orthodoxy witnessed diverse challenges that contributed to theological developments responsible for the shape of these Oriental Orthodox Churches today. The writings of Philoxenus of Mabbug and Severus of Antioch in response to the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon shaped the Miaphysite Christology of Oriental Orthodoxy. This course will explore the marks of Miaphysite Christology as inherited and interpreted by the figures above. Additionally, this course will explore Orthodox spirituality through the writings of Philoxenus and Jacob of Serug from the Syriac Church, and Gregory of Narek from the Armenian Church. The dawn of Islam marked a new development in Oriental Orthodox theology as various theologians were compelled to author polemical and apologetic treatises articulating the logic of Trinitarian and Christological theology in ways comprehensible to their foreign conquerors who do not share their convictions about these subjects. As such, this course explores elements of dogmatic theology, apologetics, spirituality, and asceticism through Oriental Orthodox patristic thought in the Medieval era. 

This class introduces the student to close reading of the New Testament in Greek. The student will read, in Greek, significant selections from Paul and the Gospels. The course will emphasize close reading and the development of exegetical skills. We will focus on theological exegesis, through an exploration of a theme that is central to both Paul and the Gospels: cruciformity. The course will also develop the student’s facility with the Greek language: we will (i) give attention to syntax and grammar, (ii) introduce more advanced elements of the Greek language as they appear in the biblical texts, and (iii) draw attention to the ways in which a thorough understanding of biblical Greek opens up the meaning of the biblical text and enriches scholarly study and pastoral ministry alike. The class is the first part of a two-part Intermediate Greek exegesis and grammar program and will prepare the student for further New Testament exegesis at an advanced level.

This class introduces the student to close reading of the New Testament in Greek. The student will read, in Greek, significant selections from Paul and the Gospels. The course will emphasize close reading and the development of exegetical skills. We will focus on theological exegesis, through an exploration of a theme that is central to both Paul and the Gospels: cruciformity. The course will also develop the student’s facility with the Greek language: we will (i) give attention to syntax and grammar, (ii) introduce more advanced elements of the Greek language as they appear in the biblical texts, and (iii) draw attention to the ways in which a thorough understanding of biblical Greek opens up the meaning of the biblical text and enriches scholarly study and pastoral ministry alike. The class is the first part of a two-part Intermediate Greek exegesis and grammar program and will prepare the student for further New Testament exegesis at an advanced level.