Education
Courses
Pasadena Courses
Immersion Courses
Online Courses
Pasadena Courses
School of Theology
Communication
CO 518 Creative Arts and the Bible. This course provides a biblical foundation for the use of the arts in contemporary worship and witness, and also includes training in practical ministry skills such as liturgical dance, drama, mime, clowning, and storytelling. Practical parish management strategies for incorporating the arts into regular church life will also be discussed.
Evangelism
EV 523 Evangelism and Media Culture. This class aims to design a theology of evangelism that acquires an appreciation for and a selective appropriation of our media culture. The class will provide a creative environment to discern the communication patterns in the biblical text and learn from contemporary technologies of communication. M.Div core: MIN3.
Pastoral Ministry and Theology
PM512 Christian Worship. This course will explore the theological and practical dimensions of Christian worship. It will provide an overview of liturgical history, consideration of theological issues relating to worship and the practice of sacraments and ordinances, a look at the range of worship/liturgical styles presently at use in the Church (including traditional and "contemporary" styles), consideration of worship music issues, and criteria for evaluation of technological resources for worship use. In addition, the course will give students practical experience in the roles of worship leadership. These include prayer leadership, public reading of scripture, presiding, use of voice and body, and issues of liturgical presence. M.Div. Core: MIN6 Schmit
Worship Studies
WS 500 Christian Worship: Leadership and Practice. This course will explore both the practical and theological dimensions of worship leadership. It will examine issues relating to contemporary, blended, and traditional worship and will consider the theological and aesthetic responsibilities that are a part of worship leadership roles, including forming and participating in leadership teams that shape worshipping congregations. A significant part of the course will be devoted to the actual practice of worship leadership and to th careful theological planning of worship events. Among the specific practical issues to be considered are contemporary music leadership, leading in prayer, public reading of scripture, use of body and voice, presiding over ritual, liturgical presence, and serving with hospitality and grace. MA: MINF. Schmit
WS 507 Christian Worship: History and Theology. This course will explore the historical and theological dimensions of Christian worship. It will provide an overview of liturgical history, consideration of theological issues relating to worship and the practice of sacraments and ordinances in various denominational and liturgical traditions, a critique of the range or worship/liturgical styles presently at use in the church (including Eastern and Western practices and so-called "traditional" and "contemporary styles), consideration of a theology of church music, and criteria for the evaluation of technological resources for worship use. A significant objective of the course will be for students to begin to develop a theology of worship. Schmit
WS 508 Ministry and Media: Theory and Production. This course will explore the theological and practical dimensions of the use of media in ministry. Students will both practice the use of media and technology and learn to evaluate their effectiveness in worship. Such production tools as film, studio recording, electronic amplification, staging, and computer graphics will be addressed and applied.
WS518 WORSHIP MINISTRY AND THE LORD'S DAY This course will explore both the practical and theological dimensions of worship leadership. It will examine issues relating to the planning and implementing of worship on the Lord’s Day (Sunday or Sabbath) in various Christian traditions. A significant part of the course will be devoted to the actual practice of worship leadership and the careful theological planning of worship on the Lord’s Day. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in the planning process of our all-seminary chapels. Students will be exposed to various case studies of worship within congregations and then will be invited to plan worship for those churches. Further, students will be given the opportunity to develop skills in the public reading of scripture, leading in prayer—ex tempore and prescribed, application of pastoral care to worship, as well as musical selection and leadership. Johnson
WS519 WORSHIP MINISTRY AND THE SEASONS OF LIFE This course will explore both the practical and theoretical dimensions of worship leadership. It will examine issues relating to the planning and implementing of worship on the feasts, fasts and other holy days of the Christian calendar across various Christian traditions. It will also explore the creation and use of pastoral rites throughout the life cycle. This course will focus on the ways in which Christian worship can be adjusted and adapted to specific times in the life of a church and the life of its people. Special attention will be paid to the rites of marriage and burial across Christian traditions. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in the planning process of our all-seminary chapels. Johnson
Theology
ST 539 Theology and Film. This course will consider one particular aspect of a theology of culture, theology and film. The course will view and discuss selected films, provide the student the critical skills helpful for film interpretation, and explore possible theological approaches to film criticism. M.A.: IDPL. Johnston
ST 543 Theology and Art. An introduction to Christian reflection on the visual arts, developing a biblical framework for creativity and art, and, against the background of classical aesthetics, exploring the alternative positions Christians have taken. M.A.: IDPL. Dyrness
ST 560 Theology and Culture. An advanced seminar primarily for doctoral students open on the 500 level on a limited basis to qualified master's-level students. Crosslist: ST860. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Dyrness
ST 565 Theology and Contemporary Literature. This course will explore 1) contemporary attitudes toward religion found in selected American novels, and 2) the means of theological dialogue with them. While debunking or listening, symbolizing or secularizing, arguing or affirming, current American fiction is often found interacting with the religious currents that pervade our culture. As such, it invites dialogue from a theological perspective. M.A.: IDPL. Johnston
Immersion Courses
Our immersion courses are designed holistically in that they meet "on location" thus adding additional layers to the students' experience and learning. Students engage with material presented in lectures or readings through a multitude of senses and experiences in their immediate surroundings.
Theology
TC588 Engaging Independent Film(Sundance)
TC519 Topics in Theology and the Visual Arts: Medieval Devotional Praxis in Orvieto. This course offers seminarians the opportunity to be immersed in the theological thought, devotional praxis, and spiritual imagination of the late thirteenth- and fourteenth-century-Christian pilgrim as visually endorsed in the Duomo of Orvieto. The course is composed with the intent of challenging students to think historically and imaginatively--practicing in Coleridge's words "a willing suspension of disbelief"--in order to enter into the rich confluence of art and theology during the late-medieval flowering in Siena. Both visual and literary arts will provide the texts for our study of devotional praxis. An intense study of the fresco cycles and narrative paintings within the cathedral opens portals for understanding the intended liturgical function as well as the rhetorical intent of impressing belief in the incarnation and in transubstantiation. Iconographical conventions will provide critical skills for appreciating the religious art of selected (primarily Sienese) artists--e.g., Giotto, Duccio, both Lorenzettis, and Signorelli . Students will also read selected passages from writers who lived and worked in close proximity to Orvieto, including stories from two blockbuster medieval texts--the Golden Legend and Meditations on the Life of Christ--offering today's viewers what those beholding the art at the time of its creation knew by heart. Buturain
SP522 Medieval/Renaissance Spirituality through Liturgy and the Arts. With the medieval city of Orvieto as the backdrop for our explorations, this course will consider the shape of Medieval and early Renaissance worship and monastic devotion as modes of spiritual formation. The music and art of the period will inform our consideration of the spirituality of the era. Through visits to key historical sites, lectures, readings, discussions, viewing of local art, and engagement in local liturgies, students will become familiar with the patterns of prayer that shaped the era's devotion and continue to provide expression for contemporary people of faith. Topics to be explored include the shape of the Roman Mass and its theology, the practice of praying the monastic hours, the place of preaching within worship, the development of monastic chant and Renaissance sacred music, and Medieval and Renaissance sculpture and painting. In addition to exploring the sacred sites within Orvieto and its environs, students will also visit the city of Assisi, monastic home of Francis and Clare. Working with the instructor will be guest artist and teacher Christopher Slatoff. Schmit.
Online Courses
TC 500: Theology and Culture
TC 521: Theology and Contemporary Literature
TC 530: Theology and Film
WS 518: Worship Ministry on the Lord's Day (filmed Fall '08)
WS 519: Worship Ministry in the Season's of Life (filmed Winter '09)
Global Christian Worship (filmed Fall '08)
TC 516: Theology, Worship, and Art (filmed Winter '09)
TC 509: Theology and Popular Culture
Additional WTA courses not listed above can be found in the current course schedule which is available online. Click here to access Fuller Theological Seminary's current course schedule.
Fuller Theological Seminary's entire Course Catalog is available online. Click here to view.
