M.Div

The Methodist Theological School in Ohio is where I’m pursuing my M.Div. As I take courses, I’m adding the links to the reading linked to each course required for the degree.

Additional, I have found that one of the difficulties of learning at a Christian seminary as someone who was not raised Christian, and doesn’t have the language of Christianity natively, there are lots of words that I simply don’t know what they mean. So, I’ve started a list of those words and definitions as I currently understand them.

Course coding

  • CC Cross-Cultural Immersion
  • CE Christian Ethics
  • CH Church History
  • CT Christian Theology
  • DS Denominational Studies
  • ED Christian Education
  • ES Educated Spirit
  • FE Field Education
  • HB Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
  • HM Homiletics
  • LS Leadership Studies
  • ME Mission and Evangelism
  • NT New Testament
  • PC Pastoral Care and Counseling
  • PT Practical Theology
  • SR Study of Religion and Inter-religious Relations
  • TH Thesis
  • WO Worship
  • DM Doctor of Ministry

Courses are numbered according to the following pattern:

  • 500-599 Values Core classes
  • 600-699 Methods Core classes
  • 700-799 Advanced courses with at least one prerequisite
  • 800-899 Contextual education, advanced seminars, theses
  • 900-999 Doctor of Ministry courses

Values Core

  • ES101 – Orientation for New Students
  • PT570/ES570 – Practicing Ecotheology
  • PC520 – Practices for Healing, Resilience, and Flourishing
  • HB/NT670 – Reading the Bible in Global and Local Contexts – OR –
  • NT530 – Justice in the New Testament World (Inside Out) – OR –
  • PT625 – Engaging the Bible in Community and Culture
  • LS680 – Transforming Leadership by Design

Methods Core

  • CE610 – Ethics and Social Change
  • CH510 – Global Christian History: Christianity, Race, and Empire
  • HB600 – Hebrew Bible
  • NT600 – New Testament
  • WO600 – Worship – OR –
  • DS683 – Unitarian Universalist Worship and Rites of Passage [Frequency: Fall odd-numbered years]
  • HM610 – Homiletics
  • PC600 – Pastoral Care
  • SR600 – Methods in the Study of Religion
  • CT600 – Constructive Theology
  • HB/NT7## Upper-level Bible Elective

Integration

Vocation Core

8 Electives required. I’m looking at the below as options

Practical Theology

  • CT/PT730 Process and Practical Theology
    • Prerequisites: CT600
  • PT615 Prophetic Hope and Creative Practice
    • Frequency: Even springs. Prerequisite: PT500
  • PT550 Spirituality
    • Frequency: Rare. Prerequisite: None
  • PT/SR670 Interreligious Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy
    • Frequency: Rare. Prerequisite: PT500 or PT560.
  • PT714 Spirituality and Change
    • Frequency: Even summers. Prerequisite: PT501 or PT560
  • PT/WO620 Worship, Ecology, and Social Change
    • Frequency: Every two years or as needed. Prerequisite: PT500, PT560, or WO500
  • PT600 Food, Land, and Faith Formation
    • Frequency: Every summer. Prerequisite: PT500 or PT560
  • PT891 Practical Theology Individual Study
    • Prerequisites: PT500, any 600-level PT course, 3.0 GPA, and approved petition

Christian Education

  • ED630 Intergenerational and Children’s Ministry
    • Frequency: Rare. Prerequisite: Any 500-level ED, PC, or PT course

Pastoral Care & Counseling

  • PC631 Assessment and Appraisal of Individuals in Counseling
    • Frequency: Rare. Prerequisite: PC600
  • PC672 Trauma, Moral Injury, and Crisis Ministry
    • Frequency: Odd falls. Prerequisite: PC600
  • PC771 Grief Care and Counseling
    • Frequency: Rare. Prerequisites: PC600, and PC640, PC655, or PC680
  • PC891 Pastoral Care and Counseling Individual Study
    • Prerequisites: PC500, any 600-level PC course, 3.0 GPA, and approved petition

Leadership Studies

  • LS570 Nonprofit Administration and Leadership
    • Frequency: Even-year January terms. Prerequisite: None
  • LS650 Conflict Management
    • Frequency: Rare. Prerequisite: PT500 or PT560
  • LS/CE735 Feminist& Womanist Ethics of Leadership
    • Frequency: Rare. Prerequisites: CE501 or CE562, and PT500 or PT560

Worship

  • WO513 The Ministry of Music
    • Frequency: even-numbered fall. Prerequisite: none
  • WO891 Worship Individual Study
    • Prerequisites: WO500 and any 600-level WO course, 3.0 GPA, and approved petition

Denomination Specific

  • DS682 Unitarian Universalist Special Topics
    • [Frequency: Fall even-numbered years]
    • These courses may include but are not limited to Religious Humanism, Poststructuralist and Post Christian Theologies, Animals and Religion, Faith and Religious Education Theory and Practice.
  • DS891 Denominational Studies Individual Study
    • Prerequisites: 3.0 GPA, and approved petition

Old Testament/New Testament

  • HB/NT550 Social Justice and Sacred Texts
    • Frequency: Every spring. Prerequisite: None

Christian History

  • CH736 Julian of Norwich
    • Frequency: Occasional. Prerequisite: CH510