With one other person, each student is expected to teach a one-hour session on a topic of his or her choice during the semester. We explore one normative and three empirical questions concerning the roles the Bible plays in contemporary educational ministry, what the roles should be, what prevents learning, and what methods are proven to be effective. Topics covered include curriculum evaluation and selection, teacher education and support, program planning processes, strategies for publicizing programs and a review of resources available for religious education programming. In his theory of multiple intelligences, developmental psychologist Howard Gardner seeks to broaden the scope of human potential beyond the confines of the IQ score. This course examines elements of ministry with children and explores developmental characteristics and learning styles of children, with special emphasis on the use of imagination in teaching.
Participants examine current practices of Baptism and Eucharist with children.
This course views confirmation and youth ministries as opportunities for caring adults to participate in young people's life-long pilgrimage of faith. To facilitate this sharing, the course helps participants to understand adolescent development and youth cultures, develop their own working definition of youth ministry, examine the history and process of confirmation in the church and explore resources for youth ministries and confirmation in the church. The course examines the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and explores some of the practical dimensions of enabling persons to carry out their vocations as Christian ministers in the world. Students engage in a process of collaborative research as a tool for exploring that which is not easily conceptualized or explained.