Course Catalogue 2024-2025

The class will develop further the exegetical skills of students through engagement with the Greek text of a New Testament book. By means of close reading of the text students will grow in their capacity to use Greek when interpreting the New Testament. Attention will be paid to textual criticism, translation issues, New Testament Greek syntax, and issues of historical, cultural, literary and theological context. The class will build students’ ability to offer critically informed accounts of the meaning of New Testament texts in their first-century contexts, and increase students’ understanding of the theological message of individual New Testament books and their contemporary implications.

The class will develop further the exegetical skills of students through engagement with the Greek text of a New Testament book. By means of close reading of the text students will grow in their capacity to use Greek when interpreting the New Testament. Attention will be paid to textual criticism, translation issues, New Testament Greek syntax, and issues of historical, cultural, literary and theological context. The class will build students’ ability to offer critically informed accounts of the meaning of New Testament texts in their first-century contexts, and increase students’ understanding of the theological message of individual New Testament books and their contemporary implications.

The course will consider issues of ministerial leadership within the changed reality in which congregations in Canada now find themselves. After exploring that reality and some of the challenges posed by post-Christian Canada, the course will introduce students to some of the basic tools of congregational studies, explore how congregations connect to recent missional theology, and also address questions of what it is to be a healthy congregational leader. The course will build upon previous theological studies, including the experiences in Theological Field Education placements, in order to prepare students for the tasks of congregational leadership.

MTS Synthesis Paper

MTS Synthesis Paper

MTS Synthesis Paper

MTS Synthesis Paper

MTS Synthesis Paper

MTS Synthesis Paper

Building upon what is broadly understood as liberation discourses and theologies, this course explores the salient methodological features and topics of emerging decolonial thinking and discourses. We will study the various theoretical shifts as articulated by decolonial thinkers and examine how these complex theoretical currents signal a reconfiguration of inherited forms of knowledge, understanding of the world, ethical perspectives, constructions of morality, and the theological task. The focus of this course is to gain insight into the main ideas, specific methodologies, and key authors involved in the development and proliferation of these diverse theoretical currents, and their relevance for the task of theology and ministry.

Building upon what is broadly understood as liberation discourses and theologies, this course explores the salient methodological features and topics of emerging decolonial thinking and discourses. We will study the various theoretical shifts as articulated by decolonial thinkers and examine how these complex theoretical currents signal a reconfiguration of inherited forms of knowledge, understanding of the world, ethical perspectives, constructions of morality, and the theological task. The focus of this course is to gain insight into the main ideas, specific methodologies, and key authors involved in the development and proliferation of these diverse theoretical currents, and their relevance for the task of theology and ministry.

Queer Theory challenges feminist theory's and gay and lesbian studies' focus on tolerance and inclusion with radical deconstructive critiques of the institutions and practices that produce gender and sexuality norms to begin with. Theologies in dialogue with queer theory thus presuppose the full inclusion of LGTBQ people in the life and leadership of churches - rather than argue for it- to articulate constructive theological projects out of queer practices. In this course, students engage foundational texts in queer/genderqueer Theologies to begin constructing their own theological positions in a context that disrupts binary understandings of gender and heteronormative views of sexuality. Doctrines of God, Christology and soteriology will be addressed, as will theological interpretations of marriage, family and kinship networks.