Current Course Offerings

Saskatoon Theological Union

Course Offerings 2023-2024

 

Dates	Course	Delivery Details	Lead Faculty
Fall 2023
21 Aug – 1 Sept	SL366 Indigenous Intercultural Relations	Onsite intensive (Saskatoon)	LTS
28 Aug – 1 Sept	FND101What is the Good News	Blended intensive	STU – William Harrison
8 – 9 Sept 22 – 23 Sept 6 – 7 Oct	SL349/SL739 Queer Theologies	Online, all-day intensive	LTS – Kayko Driedger Hesslein
11 – 22 Sept	FND102 Who is the Church	Blended intensive	STU – Iain Luke
11 Sept – 15 Dec	ESC101 Global Anglicanism in Practice	Blended weekly	ESC
11 Sept – 15 Dec	BE105 Introductory Greek	Online, asynchronous	ESC – Adam Wright
11 Sept – 15 Dec	HA/HL111 Story of Christianity: Early and Medieval	Online, asynchronous	LTS – Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero
18 – 22 Sept	PA384 Learning Circle 4	Blended intensive	SAC – Lynn Caldwell (with B. Whitla and B. Lee)
16 – 20 Oct	LTS101 Lutheran Formation I – Foundations	Onsite intensive (Calgary)	LTS
16 – 20 Oct	SAC101 UCC in Context (Knowing the Church)	Blended intensive	SAC (L. Caldwell, B. Whitla, B. Lee)
13 – 24 Nov	FND103 Introduction to Biblical Literature	Blended intensive	STU – Bernon Lee, Adam Wright
4 – 8 Dec	FND104a Spiritual Practices for Cultivating Resilience and Compassion	Split intensive, Blended	STU – Trish McCarthy

 

Blended: Synchronous course that allows for students to participate onsite or via a learning platform.

 

Dates	Course	Delivery Details	Lead Faculty
Winter 2024
8 – 12 Jan	BE365 Gospel of Mark	Blended intensive	ESC – Adam Wright
8 – 12 Jan	FND104b Spiritual Practices for Cultivating Resilience and Compassion	Split intensive, Blended	STU – Trish McCarthy
8 Jan – 26 April	HA/HL111 Story of Christianity: Reformation and Modern	Online, asynchronous	LTS – Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero
15 Jan – 26 April	BE265 Minor Epistles	Online, asynchronous	ESC – Adam Wright
15 Jan – 26 April	PE315 Advanced Liturgy	Online, asynchronous	ESC – Richard Leggott
15 Jan – 26 April	BE106 Introductory Greek II	Online, asynchronous	ESC – Adam Wright
15 – 19 Jan 22 – 26 April	CLQ101 Methods for Ecumenical Interdisciplinary Theological Education	Split intensive, Blended 3 days, 2 days	STU
5 – 16 Feb	FND105 Public Practical Ministry	Blended intensive	STU – Becca Whitla
12 – 16 Feb	PL384/384 Outreach Ministry	Blended intensive	LTS – Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero, Jared Siebert
5 – 16 Feb	SL120 Lutheran Confessions	Online intensive	LTS – Kayko Driedger Hesslein
20 Feb – 1 March	BA231 Hope and Vacillation in Israel’s Wisdom Books	Blended intensive	SAC – Bernon Lee
4 – 15 March	FND106 God and Suffering	Blended intensive	STU – Kayko Driedger Hesslein
March TBD	PA385 Learning Circle 5	Intensive	SAC – Becca Whitla (with L. Caldwell and B. Lee)
8 – 19 April	FND107 Considering Contexts, Cultures, and Differences	Blended intensive	STU – Lynn Caldwell

 

Blended: Synchronous course that allows for students to participate onsite or via a learning platform.

Dates	Course	Delivery Details	Lead Faculty
Spring/Summer 2024
3 – 7 June	PA208 Community Song, Justice, and the Sacred	In person intensive	SAC – Becca Whitla
3 – 14 June	ESC201 Roots of Anglicanism	Blended intensive	ESC
10 – 14 June	SAC201 UCC Today (Doing Church into the Future)	Blended intensive	SAC
19  June	CLQ201 Learning in and with Indigenous Contexts	In person intensive	STU
26 – 30 Aug	FND101 What is the Good News	Blended intensive	STU

 

Blended: Synchronous course that allows for students to participate onsite or via a learning platform.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

STU COURSES AND COLLOQUIA

Also found in the STU Program Handbook, pp. 22ff:

FND101 What is the Good News? A Historical Approach

What is the Good News? If asked, could you answer in terms that a non-Christian could understand? Part of the challenge in the question is that Christian understandings of salvation have shifted over the years, as culture has changed and our approaches to theology have developed. This course focuses on the theme of the Good News and traces developments through history to the present. The purpose is to enable participants to develop an “elevator speech” presentation of Christian gospel, along with a deep historical and theological understanding of what that speech might have sounded like from previous generations of Christians.

FND102 Who is the Church?

The goal of this course is to equip students with a common vocabulary of experiences, concepts, and reflective tools, in order to make sense of the life of faith communities and their leaders in the contemporary world. Components of this course are drawn from church history (Canadian and global), doctrine, pastoral leadership, ecumenics, and sociology of religion. The course will involve an experiential component, inviting students to share and reflect on their current and prior experiences of church as well as stepping outside that experience to observe and learn from a faith community with which they are unfamiliar.

FND103 Introduction to Biblical Literature

A team-taught and interdisciplinary intensive course of 36 hours for introducing students to a variety of topics—thematic and methodological—in biblical interpretation. The course aims for the elucidation of the literary, religious, historical, and sociological contexts (up to and including the mixed cultural milieux of the Hellenistic and Roman periods) germane to the genesis and the interpretation of biblical literature. There will also be a component of the course that focuses on the interpretive application of certain topics and themes for ministry, liturgy, and theological formulation in the form of a panel discussion drawing on faculty from various disciplines.

FND104 Spiritual Practices for Cultivating Resilience and Compassion

This course will introduce students to a variety of spiritual practices, including Indigenous ones, that cultivate resilience and compassion. The focus in this class is to develop and deepen a student’s prayer life, to orient them to core, regular and occasional spiritual practices and learn about six key perspectives: stages of spiritual growth, purification, community, meditation, cultivating personal integrity and deepening compassion.

FND105 Public Practical Ministry I: An Introduction to Worship and Preaching

Taking a contextual and cultural approach, this course introduces students to the basics of Christian public ministry. Students will learn the basics of planning worship and preaching and be introduced to some approaches to faith formation for the whole community. The course is rooted in an appreciation for the diversity of culture and context and draws on the students’ particular experience as a source of knowledge.

FND106 God and Suffering

God and Suffering explores historical and contemporary approaches to questions such as: Who is God? What is the relationship between God and Creation? If Creation is good, why is there suffering in the world? This course brings together biblical interpretation and theology to think through the relationship between God and suffering, using insights from collective trauma theory, intersectionality theory, and theologies from below to help students develop nuanced understandings that can be practically applied to pastoral care and worship leadership.

FND107 Considering Contexts, Cultures, and Differences

As a foundational course in the MDiv and MTS programs, students will work to identify and express their own theological and ethical questions and to situate these in relation both to their own contexts and to a broader scope of human histories, traditions, and geographies. Particular attention will be paid to differences in relation to sexuality, gender and gender identity, race and ethnicity, disability, class, mobility, and age. Through engaging with peers and with input from faculty members, students will explore different ways of knowing and of naming ethical and theological values and will study how different theological disciplines offer methods for engaging with contextual and cultural differences.

CLQ101 Methods for Interdisciplinary, Ecumenical Theological Studies (Level I)

This colloquium draws together elements from the range of Level I studies in order to reflect upon them methodologically. In other words, we will shift from primarily “doing” the tasks of various theological disciplines to focusing on the “why” of doing what we do. The purpose is to enable participants to develop a strong framework in method for further study. This colloquium also seeks to expand both participants’ sense of religious commitment and their ecumenical and interfaith conversation skills. After addressing their own commitments and reflecting on the significance of current contexts, participants will be introduced to the challenges of ecumenical and interfaith relations. Topics will include: history of church division and ecumenism; ecumenical experiences and documents, especially as related to the denominational traditions in the STU; history of interfaith relations, both destructive and constructive; interfaith experience and documents; and skills for ecumenical and interfaith conversation.

CLQ201 Learning in and from Indigenous Contexts (Level II)

This colloquium offers participants the opportunity to learn from Indigenous teachers, leaders, and communities, about Indigenous world views and ways of knowing, culture, history and spirituality. The historical element reflects on the impact of colonial systems, including religious institutions, on Indigenous experience. Participants will draw on, and develop, their perception of their own place within this narrative, and the implications for their present and future ministries. It is anticipated that at least part of the colloquium will take place in a location which supports direct connection with a host Indigenous community and with the land.

 

COLLEGE-SPECIFIC STU COURSES:

College of Emmanuel and St. Chad (ESC)

ESC101 Global Anglicanism in Practice

This course will familiarize students with contemporary Anglicanism as a global phenomenon. We will explore areas where Anglican identity is shared and where it is contested or divergent, including practices of worship, mission and evangelization, inculturation, administration, justice and advocacy, formation and teaching, along with models of ministry and community life. We will position inter-Anglican tensions in the context of this global community, and assess the impact and value to Canadian Anglicans of being part of a wider Communion. Through hands-on research and project work, students will experience for themselves what it means to belong to a global church.

ESC201 Roots of Anglicanism

This upper-level course will equip students to understand more deeply the pillars of Anglican identity and their historical origins, in order to bring appreciative and critical tools to contemporary life in the Anglican Church of Canada. These pillars include: the historical basis of the English reformation and its unfinished business; the common prayer tradition; the dynamic interplay of different interpretations of Anglicanism; schools of spirituality and of theological method; parish-based pastoral ministry; a contingent self-identity in the ecumenical landscape; the baggage of association with colonial and imperial forces, and the counterweight of inculturation and indigenization. ESC 101 is a prerequisite for enrolment in this course.

 

Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS)

LTS101 Lutheran Formation 1 – Foundations

Lutheran Formation 1 – Foundations is a 3-credit course, one of the three Lutheran Formation courses required for students registered for degree, diploma, and certificate courses through LTS. This course provides students with the foundations for Lutheran understandings, with a particular focus on Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms, his theology of the cross and faith/righteousness, justification by grace, and his understanding of Gospel/Good News. As a formation course, learning, living, playing, and worshipping together as a community are integral parts of the class – registration by the deadline is necessary to allow living, eating, and transportation needs to be accommodated.

This course is an on-site intensive, with no online option.

St. Andrew’s College (SAC)

SAC101 UCC in Context (Knowing the Church)

This is a foundational course in United Church of Canada (UCC) history, theology, polity, and ethos. It is the first of three required courses for UCC MDiv students. Other STU students are eligible to take the course as an elective. This course examines the impetus behind the formation of the UCC, traces the history of the denomination over the last 100 years, and explores UCC identity through its statements of faith. The course also examines the impact of UCC polity on the wider Canadian context, particularly with respect to Indigenous communities, the Canadian Social Gospel Movement, the Ecumenical Movements of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and the Canadian Ecumenical Jubilee Initiative. The class will consist of lectures, guest presentations and in-situ learning in an Indigenous context. Assignments will include reflection papers, presentations, book reports, and integrative learning.

SAC201 UCC in Praxis (Being in the World)

This is the second course in United Church of Canada (UCC) history, theology, polity, and ethos. It is the second of three required courses for UCC MDiv students. Other STU students are eligible to take the course as an elective. The theology of the United Church (The Theology of the United Church of Canada, Don Schweitzer et al, editors) will undergird reflections in this course and the third course. This second course is rooted in praxis and aims to integrate principles with practice. Continuing from initial examinations of the impact of the UCC in the broader social context, this course deepens reflections on practical ministry, especially worship as an expression of UCC identity; UCC ethics; the importance of social location; relationship building across difference; and reconfiguring mission. Particular focus will be brought to bear on the church’s relations with Indigenous communities, the Indigenous church, the inclusion of all persons regardless of sexual orientation (with reference to the UCC decision in 1988 for consideration in ordained ministry), and becoming and intercultural church, among other topics. The class will consist of lectures, guest presentations and in-situ learning. Assignments will include reflection papers, presentations, book reports, and integrative learning.

 

CONTINUING COURSES FROM COLLEGE PROGRAMS

ESC COURSES 2023-24

BE105 / 106 Introductory Greek I and II

BE365 Gospel of Mark

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to one of the earliest written documents concerning the life and ministry of Jesus. Through a careful reading of the Gospel, the student will gain a knowledge of its content as well as the context in which it was written. The student will examine a number of cultural and historical factors that contributed to the content of Mark’s Gospel such as: The Roman Imperial Cult, the rise of Greek culture in Palestine, the invasion of the Roman Empire, various religious sects in 1st-century Palestine, cultural subjugation, and systems of power in the ancient world. The student will also be exposed to a number of theories of genre and methods of interpretation.

PE315 Advanced Liturgy

This course will assist you in developing your skills in liturgical leadership by examining selected areas in contemporary liturgical theology and sacramental praxis. Further, the course is designed to address the following competencies:

• Relate various models of liturgical and sacramental theology to issues in contemporary liturgical and sacramental praxis.

• Apply your own tradition’s liturgical and sacramental theology to contemporary liturgical and sacramental praxis.

• Demonstrate familiarity with your own tradition’s liturgical and sacramental praxis.

LTS COURSES 2023-24

SL349 Queer Theologies

The last forty years have seen a rise in theologies emerging from Christian 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, as informed by the field of queer theory and lived experiences. This intermediate course will study the works of 2-Spirit, lesbian, gay, and trans theologians, and explore their contributions to the proclamation of the gospel. Students who attend this class are expected to respect LTS’s Reconciling in Christ status. Prerequisites for degree students: SL210 Theology I and SL211 Theology II, or permission of the instructor.

PL384 Outreach Ministry

“Outreach” is a word that the church uses in a variety of ways to remind itself that the church exists for the benefit of those who are not members. This course begins with a discussion of God’s mission of transforming the world and our participation, connecting the church’s activities with the Good News of Christ Jesus. This is a praxis-oriented class, with a focus on specific tools for: assessing a parish’s life and work; preparing parishioners to engage in outreach efforts; developing mission and ministry plans; and engaging in evangelism, social outreach, and social/environmental transformation work.

Please note:

MDiv students and Diaconal Diploma students must be on internship or have completed internship to take this course.

MTS and Certificate applicants must obtain permission from faculty to take this course.

SL120 The Lutheran Confessions

This course explores the Lutheran Confessions and it means to be a “confessional” church. This course will begin with a discussion on the place and authority of confessions for a church, and then include a survey of the documents of the Book of Concord, looking at them in their historical context. The last part of the class will focus on the historical development and theology of the Augsburg Confession (Confessio Augustana). By the end of this course, students will be able to competently discuss the relevance of Confessions for the church today, and will have had opportunity to practice integrating the confessions in their pastoral ministry.

SL366 Indigenous Intercultural Relations

This is a two-week course offered onsite through lectures, special guest speakers, and visits to local Indigenous sites. The course will seek to deepen students’ understanding concerning Indigenous peoples’ worldviews, culture, and history. Topics that will be covered include Indigenous cultural understandings and practices; Indigenous experiences with colonialist systems such as Indian residential schools, the six􀆟es scoop, the justice system; Truth & Reconciliation; and the treaty and inherent rights of Indigenous people.

HA/HL111 Story of Christianity: Early and Medieval

The earliest centuries of Christianity were times of trial and courage, intrigue and insight, failure and promise for those who chose to join, or found themselves within, the religious movement that gathered around followers of the Palestinian Jewish teacher, Jesus. As Christianity matured into the medieval period, new challenges, both within and without the church, continued to shape the faith story and the lives of believers. This course will introduce students to the world of the early and medieval Christians: their changing social, political and economic climate, their developing theologies, their worship and faith practices, and the ways they shaped their ecclesial structures. At the conclusion of the course, students will have gained an overview of events and persons, and an encounter with the voices of early and medieval Christians as they are found in the documents of the 􀆟me. Through the written assignments and class discussions, students will have read and prepared for class with understanding, learned from one another, and reflected upon and integrate their learnings with their own faith and vocation.

HA/HL112 Story of Christianity: Reformation and Modern

The first part of the course will seek to address the questions that swirl around the sixteenth century. It will look at backgrounds and try to put the Reformation movements into the context of their 􀆟me and place. These movements will be seen ultimately in religious terms, but religion itself will be understood as very much a part of the social, economic and political realities of the day. By examining the major developments, personalities and writings of various kinds, we will attempt to shed some light on this period and to lay down some of the basic foundational stones for Christianity in the modern world, which is covered in the second part of this course. We will look at how the church has developed, expanded and changed from the reformation era to the present.

SAC COURSES 2023-24

 

BA231 (Special Topics): Hope and Vacillation in Israel’s Wisdom Books

A literary-theological analysis and appreciation of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ben Sira and The Wisdom of Solomon against the backdrop of the sapiential

traditions of West Asian antiquity. The inner-biblical dialogue (and tensions) between these books and within the canonical collection(s) as a reflection of post-exilic Israel’s (and the church’s) earnest interrogation of the contours of faith is in focus. Prerequisite: BA 110: Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, or permission of the instructor.

PA208 Community Song, Justice, and the Sacred

This course examines how sacred song from a variety of traditions helps us shape and express our identities and works towards transformation. The course begins with the anthropological origin and role of song and a brief survey of song from the main religious traditions of the world, including in Indigenous, as well as Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, and Jewish contexts. Both the positive impact of song for social transformation, as well as the use of song for propaganda will be explored. The course examines sacred songs from Cuba, South Africa, and various North American social movements (civil rights movement, women’s movement, and trade union movement) and also addresses the perversion of song through colonialism.

Methodology: As a voice-engaged and participatory course, students will listen to—and sing—examples from a variety of traditions and struggles for justice. While no experience in singing is necessary, all students will be expected to participate. Basic techniques for sharing and leading songs with others as a mode of cultural and inter-cultural engagement will also be introduced. Ethical issues related to song leading, especially of “global music,” will be addressed.

PA 384 Learning Circle 4: Skills for Administration and Local Mission

Students will learn skills for administration in local ministry settings as well as learn about mission and the missional church. This is a 2-credit Learning Circle.

PA385 Learning Circle 5: Transition to Future Ministry

This Learning Circle will focus on closures and transitions that mark the end of Ministry Residency. It will employ pastoral theological approaches and biblical reflection for analysis of vocation and reflections on ministry experiences. There will be considerable time spent on transition to ministry, life-long learning, and future challenges.

Prerequisites: PA 381, HA/SA 382, SA 383, PA 384; Co-requisite: Enrolment in PA 380 (Ministry Residency) or working at least half-time in a ministry setting.