Understanding and Developing Theological Education

Understanding and Developing Theological Education PDF Author: Bernhard Ott
Publisher: Langham Publishing
ISBN: 1907713875
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
Historically education has been driven from behind – the history, and above – the educational institution. Traditions and adherence requirements have led to inflexible models of school leadership that are focused on administration and rife with educational politics. In contrast, today’s theological landscape needs institutions with a grassroots-driven educational system, looking to a future that is biblically and theologically grounded. This publication, an English translation from the original German focuses on the leadership and curriculum development required for such a paradigm shift. Ott comprehensively assesses trends in current theological education across the world with detailed reference to wider trends in global tertiary education. Written primarily for those in leadership roles at theological schools and training institutions, this handbook is an essential resource for equipping the next generation of leaders in theological education.

Understanding and Developing Theological Education

Understanding and Developing Theological Education PDF Author: Bernhard Ott
Publisher: Langham Publishing
ISBN: 1907713875
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 475

Get Book Here

Book Description
Historically education has been driven from behind – the history, and above – the educational institution. Traditions and adherence requirements have led to inflexible models of school leadership that are focused on administration and rife with educational politics. In contrast, today’s theological landscape needs institutions with a grassroots-driven educational system, looking to a future that is biblically and theologically grounded. This publication, an English translation from the original German focuses on the leadership and curriculum development required for such a paradigm shift. Ott comprehensively assesses trends in current theological education across the world with detailed reference to wider trends in global tertiary education. Written primarily for those in leadership roles at theological schools and training institutions, this handbook is an essential resource for equipping the next generation of leaders in theological education.

Teaching the World

Teaching the World PDF Author: Gabriel Etzel
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 1433691604
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
More and more seminaries, Christian universities, and Bible colleges are opting to train future ministers and missionaries online. What happens when the movement toward online education is shaped by pragmatic or financial concerns instead of Scripture and theology? Ministry training can be reduced to a mere transfer of information as institutions lose sight of their calling to shape the souls of God-called men and women in preparation for effective ministry. How might online ministry training look different if biblical and theological foundations were placed first? Teaching the World brings together educators from a wide range of backgrounds and from some of the largest providers of online theological education in the world. Together, they present a revolutionary new approach to online theological education, highly practical and yet thoroughly shaped by Scripture and theology.

The History of Theological Education

The History of Theological Education PDF Author: Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426787782
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
Theological education has always been vital to the Church’s life and mission; yet today it is in crisis, lacking focus, direction, but also resources and even students. In the early Church, there is no doubt that to lead worship one had to be able to read and interpret the Bible. In order to lead, it was necessary to know at least something about the history of Israel and the work of God in the Gospels, and interpret that history, making it relevant to daily living. Quickly the Church developed schools for its teachers, whether lay or clergy. A catechetical system was organized through which candidates prepared for baptism were given a basic form of theological education. Hence to be a Christian meant persons knew what and why they believed. But over the years, theological education has come to mean education for clergy and church professionals. It has drifted, seeking new moorings.

Transforming Theological Education, 2nd Edition

Transforming Theological Education, 2nd Edition PDF Author: Perry Shaw
Publisher: Langham Global Library
ISBN: 183973552X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
For several decades concern has been expressed about the need for greater integration and contextual significance in the curricular design of theological education. In addition, there has been a growing awareness of the role theological schools should play in strengthening the missional vision and practice of local churches. Drawing on Dr. Perry Shaw’s experience as faculty member, educational engineer, and acting academic dean for Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Transforming Theological Education provides theoretical foundations and practical principles for purposeful curriculum design, as well as tools for facilitating integrated and contextually significant learning in the classroom. This updated second edition has been reorganized for thematic clarity and expanded to provide a stronger foundation for thinking theologically – rather than just educationally – about theological education. It also contains a wider range of curricular examples from innovative theological programs around the world, along with practical advice for implementing change in change- resistant environments. This handbook continues to be a one-of-a-kind resource for theological educators and all those involved in Christian leadership training.

A New Church and A New Seminary

A New Church and A New Seminary PDF Author: David McAllister-Wilson
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1501858904
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 149

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Book Description
Many churches are “mule churches”–strong for a generation but unable to reproduce themselves. As a mule comes from a horse and a donkey, they were the product of demographics and cultural conditions conducive for a generation of strength but did not produce many offspring in new church starts or strong candidates for ministry. Mule churches create a generation or more of pastors, superintendents, and bishops who think they knew what made for strong church, who think their approach to ministry is the key reason for their success. And it produces churches with a nostalgia for the way things used to be. This makes it hard for churches to adapt to change. We've been declining for a long time due to changes in secular and consumer culture, demographics radically adjusting normative family structure, and a theology based in consumer marketing rather than mission-driven vitality. Now we realize that the church is free to not just make the gospel relevant to life but to make life relevant to the gospel. Conservative evangelical Christianity was able to focus on relevance prior to its ascendency on the national stage. Methodism requires a similar period of confessional self-definition. We are going through these confessions now in the debate about our stance toward homosexuality. Most students and most professors go to the seminary "to fix the church," because they realize that the future of the church and its seminaries are inseparable. Seminaries provide scholars for the church, who learn how to think, who learn how to take the long view, who shape identity, who foster a "culture of calling." A new kind of Methodist progressive evangelicalism is regenerating, which lives the great commandment (love) and the great commission (reproducing disciples) on a global scale. Before, seminaries prepared pastors to maintain healthy churches in stable neighborhoods. Now, every neighborhood is changing and many churches are losing their members and their confidence. They long for a recovery of their sense of mission and a new kind of leadership. A new kind of seminary is regenerating to foster hope, wisdom, creativity, and engagement with the great issues of our day.

Reenvisioning Theological Education

Reenvisioning Theological Education PDF Author: Robert Banks
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802846204
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
A top leadership theorist offers a compelling proposal for renovating the way religious education is practiced today. Christian colleges and seminaries have not been immune from the cultural influences shaping contemporary education. Challenging the conventional wisdom advanced by the educational debate during the last fifteen years, Robert Banks builds an innovative new model of theological education based on how ministry formation took place in biblical times. Banks takes full account of key issues raised by our current educational context and shows how a "missional model" of education is more holistic, inclusive, and practical than recent versions.

Welcome to Theological Field Education!

Welcome to Theological Field Education! PDF Author: Lee Carroll
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996899
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Field education is an opportunity for students to develop ministry skills, practice ministerial reflection, discern their call, experience professional collegiality, and undergo personal transformation. Field education offers them a place to practice ministry and a space to reflect on it, to integrate theory and practice, and grow towards competency. In Welcome to Theological Field Education! eleven directors of field education in seminaries and divinity schools across North America pass on their wisdom to both students and their supervisors. Edited by Matthew Floding, director of field education at Western Seminary in Holland, Michigan, this volume covers critical topics such as the art of supervision and formation, the use of case studies and peer reflection groups, self-care and ministerial ethics, and assessment. Formation for ministry is especially challenging at this time in the church's life. First, the explosion of knowledge, pluralism, and consumerism and a host of other complicating factors make huge demands on what a minister must know to be effective in ministry. Second, with the erosion of thick religious subcultures, the novice minister has fewer sources of practical wisdom to draw upon. The next generation of ministers, if they are to be more fully formed for ministry, depends on skilled mentoring alongside wise supervisors. This book is the tool to help them make the most of their field education experience.

Stewards of the Gospel

Stewards of the Gospel PDF Author: Ronald E. Vallet
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802866166
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
The word stewardship comes across as stale and mildly distasteful to many in the church today as a term limited in its scope to euphemistic conversations about financial giving. Yet, as Ronald Vallet points out, when the apostle Paul refers to "stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor. 4:1), he's talking about something much deeper and richer than fund-raising. In Stewards of the Gospel Vallet recovers a more adequate understanding of Christian stewardship in light of both the New Testament and the realities facing today's church as it deals with challenges to justice, to the environment, and even to faith itself. He then applies his reinvigorated concept of stewardship in practical ways to congregations, to their pastors and leaders, and to the seminaries and denominational structures that mold and support those leaders. Enhancing Vallet's broad, gospel-oriented vision of stewardship are thoughtful responses from six seasoned theological educators: Daniel Aleshire, David L. Bartlett, Bruce C. Birch, Terry Parsons, Eugene F. Roop, and L. E. "Ted" Siverns.

After Whiteness

After Whiteness PDF Author: Willie James Jennings
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467459763
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
On forming people who form communion Theological education has always been about formation: first of people, then of communities, then of the world. If we continue to promote whiteness and its related ideas of masculinity and individualism in our educational work, it will remain diseased and thwart our efforts to heal the church and the world. But if theological education aims to form people who can gather others together through border-crossing pluralism and God-drenched communion, we can begin to cultivate the radical belonging that is at the heart of God’s transformative work. In this inaugural volume of the Theological Education between the Times series, Willie James Jennings shares the insights gained from his extensive experience in theological education, most notably as the dean of a major university’s divinity school—where he remains one of the only African Americans to have ever served in that role. He reflects on the distortions hidden in plain sight within the world of education but holds onto abundant hope for what theological education can be and how it can position itself at the front of a massive cultural shift away from white, Western cultural hegemony. This must happen through the formation of what Jennings calls erotic souls within ourselves—erotic in the sense that denotes the power and energy of authentic connection with God and our fellow human beings. After Whiteness is for anyone who has ever questioned why theological education still matters. It is a call for Christian intellectuals to exchange isolation for intimacy and embrace their place in the crowd—just like the crowd that followed Jesus and experienced his miracles. It is part memoir, part decolonial analysis, and part poetry—a multimodal discourse that deliberately transgresses boundaries, as Jennings hopes theological education will do, too.

Foundations of Spiritual Formation

Foundations of Spiritual Formation PDF Author: Paul Pettit
Publisher: Kregel Academic
ISBN: 0825495482
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
This textbook for introductory spiritual formation courses presents the fundamentals and practices of the discipline. This collection includes presentations by several well-known evangelical scholars including Gordon Johnston, Darrell Bock, Richard Averbeck, Klaus Issler, and others.