Seminary Course Revision

June Alliman Yoder and Rebecca Slough (along with Marlene Kropf) recently published Preparing Sunday Dinner, a book that advocates collaborative worship planning. This year, Slough and Yoder will invite two pastors to collaborate with them in the teaching of Foundations of Worship and Preaching, a course offering a theoretical and practical introduction to these disciplines. After attending two weeks of class, each pastor will make solo and collaborative presentations on sermon preparation. They will also participate in preaching labs, preach on campus, and, at the close of the semester, evaluate the course.

Mary Schertz plans to revise Matthew and the Didache to better teach the connection between biblical texts and ethical decision-making. In preparation, she will meet with five to seven pastors and Professor Emeritus Perry Yoder in a retreat-like setting to discuss congregational use of the Bible as a guide for faithful living. The team will also brainstorm ways to strengthen and enliven this relationship between text and lifestyle. Pastors will provide continued feedback as Schertz incorporates these reflections into her teaching of Matthew and the Didache.

Through this course, students learn to talk openly about sexuality, to understand pastoral issues related to sexual ethics, and to explain how congregations might aid the development of healthy sexuality. Koontz will collaborate with a male pastor to evaluate the pertinence of and approach to chosen topics and the applicability of course material to the congregational setting. The pastor will be involved with the class during the course of the semester.

Daniel and the Dead Sea Scrolls will be revised to focus on the application of a variety of texts to pastoral ministry. In addition to the book of Daniel, the class will discuss selections from a wide range of texts written between the Old Testament and New Testament that have theological implications for interpreting the Bible, such as: the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, the Apocrypha, and the Pseudepigrapha. Rev. David Hendricks, senior pastor at Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren in South Bend, will collaborate with Steven Schweitzer in every phase of this process, including textbook selections, syllabus creation, project preparation, and class instruction.