Course Schedule

In this class, participants will engage a perspective that the whole of Mark was written as a parable to help the original audience deal with theological questions that arose from the destruction of the temple in 70CE. The class is intended for laity and clergy. 
Learning Objectives:

• Participants will gain a new understanding of the historical circumstances that gave rise to the first written Gospel
• Participants will gain a new understanding of the literary artistry and theological depth of Mark
• Participants will learn how Mark continues to challenge our understanding of Christ and of our role as disciples today

This course looks at faith and how we think about theology through the lens of friendship and engaging the great cloud of witnesses, from the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich to the 19th-century Black preacher Julia Foote. 
By the end of the course, students will:

• Be able to understand God as friend through the concept of “with-ness"
• Describe salvation through the lens of friendship instead of atonement theories
• Determine how a lens of friendship directs how we live out our faith in the world

Evangelism and Social Action are sometimes contrasted to one another or even constructed in ways that are opposed to each other. Wesleyan theology provides us resources for uniting these two without diminishing either. This session will explore a Wesleyan approach to evangelism and social action, while also presenting some new research on how adults come to faith in the U.S.
Learning objectives:

• To better understand Wesleyan theological resources for integrating evangelism and social action in ways that preserve the importance and integrity of each
• To creatively imagine what such an integration might look like in practice
• To incorporate into our ministerial imagination the latest research on how adults in the U.S. come to faith

In this class clergy will explore how to expand our range of dimensions of the human condition we need to address in sermons in order to bring the good news to bear on the whole of our hearers’ lives and world. 
Learning Objectives:

• Participants will explore the three dimensions of the core human problem, or sin: vertical (broken relationship with God), horizontal (broken relationship with neighbor), and inner (broken relationship with self)
• Participants will gain a new understanding of how to identify the dimension(s) of the human condition addressed in any particular biblical text during sermon preparation
• Participants will learn how to focus sermons to address a single dimension of the human condition while addressing all dimensions across one’s cumulative preaching

In 1956, Methodist women gained full clergy rights—not by accident, but by patient organizing, print networks, and holy stubbornness. This session traces the key moments and people, then translates that legacy into practices churches can use to recognize gifts and widen leadership today.
Learning objectives:

• Name the pivotal steps and voices that led to the 1956 breakthrough and what changed afterward
• Connect past strategies (newsletters, petitions, committee savvy) to present-day congregational leadership and inclusion
• Create one concrete next step your church can take to mentor, platform, and support women’s gifts

This seminar provides strategies for participants in multicultural congregations to diversify their liturgies, incorporating cultural expressions from outside the European and North American traditions of church music. The seminar surveys hymnals, strategies for bodily engagement, and concepts like cultural hospitality and cultural justice in order to equip worship leaders to plan multicultural worship.

Learning objectives: By the end of this seminar, participants will:

• Become familiar with key concepts in multicultural worship
• Acquaint themselves with, and learn to implement, strategies to culturally enrich their congregations' worship

A lively primer on how theology “travels” through agendas, minutes, and votes, so that leaders (lay and clergy) can navigate meetings with conviction and grace.
Learning objectives:

• Map the basic flow of decision-making in a United Methodist context (and common pitfalls)
• Learn three humane meeting practices that embody your congregation’s values
• Workshop one upcoming decision from your setting using a simple “values → process → outcome” template

This seminar examines notions of tradition and identity in Western Christian Worship. It provides participants concepts and frameworks to examine their own tradition and become more hospitable to the worship cultures of other denominations and traditions. In these ways, it helps participants to build community that is not strictly bound by pre-conceived and pre-received notions of identity and belonging in worship.

Learning objectives: By the end of this seminar, participants will:

• Be able to critically examine the musical and liturgical culture and practices of their own tradition
• Learn to identify the common historical core of Western Christian worship, examining key intersections and formative historical turning points

This workshop will explore how the Psalms and Proverbs speak to modern ecological concerns through the lens of Indigenous wisdom and the ancient Biblical text. Grounded in the concept of All My Relations—which affirms the interconnectedness of humans, land, water, and all living things—we will examine how these texts call us to harmony, balance, and restorative justice. The workshop also engages the renewal of an Indigenous Biblical worldview, uncovering overlooked themes that invite deeper commitment to the flourishing of all relationships within the circle of life. Interactive activities and original songs from the FNV Psalms will be featured.