Syllabi

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CL 613 Equipping the Laity

Daryl L. Smith

This course will lay the foundation for a lay revolution within and beyond the local church. Using Ephesians 4 as our base, we will flesh out the paradigm of pastor as equipper/coach and laity as unpaid servants engaged in the work of the ministry….The delineation between laity and clergy will be minimized in favor of a model emphasizing the ministry of the whole people of God. We will address such issues as assimilation, leadership development and discipling disciplers.
CD 610 / CO 620 Moral Development

Daryl L. Smith

This course examines and calls the student to moral formation and judgment in relation to biological, cognitive and faith development, with special attention given to primary sources in Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Moral development perspectives are evaluated in relation to creation, sin, the nature of human beings, redemption, justice and nurture. Attention is given to correcting bias in developmental perspectives with respect toward better understanding diversity in gender and race.
MM 601 Mentored Ministry Section

Daryl L. Smith

1. Reaching People under 40 while Keeping People over 60 by Edward H. Hammett with James R. Pierce (Chalice Press, 2007). ISBN 978-0-827232-54-9 2. Mentored Ministry Handbook: MM601/602: purchased from the professor for $11.00, the first day of class. 3. Preparing for Ministry: A Practical Guide to Theological Field Education edited by George M. Hillman Jr. (Kregel Press, available October 2008) ISBN-10: 0825427576.
NT 636 Acts of the Apostles

David F. Smith

(1) The Bible (2) Liefeld, Walter. Interpreting the Book of Acts (Hereafter: IBA) Revised edition. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995). (3) Fernando, Ajith, Acts: The NIV Application Commentary (Hereafter: Acts) (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998).
MS 635 Renewing the Church for Mission

Howard A. Snyder

DESCRIPTION This course focuses on the recurring phenomenon of renewal in the church as a key aspect of a biblical and contemporary ecclesiology. It seeks an understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in renewing the church, drawing from biblical foundations, historical models, and contemporary examples of congregational renewal and renewal movements. Application is made especially to the life of the local congregation.
MM 602 Mentored Ministry A Supervised Learning Experience in Cross-Cultural Ministry

Kathryn Spackman

Course Goal: To expand and stretch each student’s understanding of the nature and ministry of the church, both personally/individually and corporately, and to increase his/her comfort and skill level in ministering to persons significantly different.
MM 602 Mentored Ministry A Supervised Learning Experience in Cross-Cultural Ministry

Kathryn Spackman

Course Goal: To expand and stretch each student’s understanding of the nature and ministry of the church, both personally/individually and corporately, and to increase his/her comfort and skill level in ministering to persons significantly different.
MM 650 Mentored Ministry Tutorial in Mentored Ministry

Kathryn Spackman

CGood News about Injustice (Gary A Haugen. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1999.) When God Weeps (Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.) The Critical Journey (Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company. 1995)
CH 501 Church History I

Michael S. Stephens

An introduction to the development of Christianity from the apostolic period up to the Reformation. The emphasis is on the central historical figures, movements, and theological issues, with attention to their importance for Christian ministry today. We will read major texts and interpretive studies.
CD 511 The Pastor and Christian Discipleship

Catherine Stonehouse

Course Packet – to be purchased from Asbury Seminary Bookstore Postmodern Children’s Ministry: Ministry to Children in the 21st Century, Ivy Beckwith The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry, Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster Growing in the Life of Faith: Education and Christian Practices, Craig Dykstra John Wesley’s Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples, D. Michael Henderson Disciple Making Teachers: How to Equip Adults for Growth and Action, Josh Hunt with Larry Mays Patterns in Moral Development, Catherine Stonehouse Soul Stories: African American Christian Education, Anne Streaty Wimberly The Kolb Learning Style Inventory Version 3.1 The Gospel of Mark
CD 655 Ministering with Children through the Church

Catherine Stonehouse

Examines the potential and needs of children in contemporary society, biblical perspectives on children and how they are to be involved in the faith community, the characteristics of the child's physical, emotional, cognitive, moral, and faith development. Explores the ministries a church can provide to involve children in the faith community, meeting their needs, nurturing wholeness and faith.
CD 655 Ministering with Children through the Church

Catherine Stonehouse

Children Matter: Celebrating their Place in the Church, Family, and Community, Scottie May, Beth Posterski, Catherine Stonehouse, and Linda Cannell Joining Children on the Spiritual Journey: Nurturing a Life of Faith, Catherine Stonehouse Real Kids Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children’s Spiritual Lives, Karen Marie Yust Offering the Gospel to Children, Gretchen Wolff Pritchard Children in Crisis: A New Commitment, Phyllis Kilbourn, ed. Additional reading for research paper
CD 665 Curricullum Theory, Development, and Selection

Catherine Stonehouse

Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church by Maria Harris. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard Learning Styles: Reaching Everyone God Gave You to Teach by Marlene D. LeFever. The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story by Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen Creative Teaching Methods by Marlene D. LeFever.
BS 820 History of Interpretation

Lawson G. Stone

McKim, Donald K. Ed. Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters. Downers Grove, IVP, 2007. Greer, Rowan and J. Kugel. Early Biblical Interpretation. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986. Young, Francis M. Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture. Cambridge, 1997. Repr. Hendrickson, 2002. Saint Augustine. On Christian Teaching. R. P. H. Green, trans. Oxford, 1997. Selected Additional Reading
BT 605 Old Testament Theology

Lawson G. Stone

Sailhammer, John. H., Introduction to Old Testament Theology: A Canonical Approach. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995. Childs, Brevard S. Bibilcal Theology: A Proposal. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002. B. W. Anderson. Contours of Old Testament Theology. Fortress. Von Balthasar, Hans Urs. The Glory of the Lord—A Theological Aesthetics: Vol. VI, Theology: The Old Covenant. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1991, orig. Germ. 1967.
OT 520 Old Testament Introduction

Lawson G. Stone

Course Aspirations and Place in the Curriculum Aspirations: OT 520 seeks to equip students for ministry by providing knowledge and tools fundamental to responsible interpretation of the OT. The course neither offers a comprehensive approach, nor emphasizes direct textual study, but enhances both by developing a framework within which competent interpretation can take place. Students explore contemporary approaches to the literary character, historical and cultural setting, composition, authorship, and literary unity of these books, their various literary types, settings, and functions, and how these affect Christian reading of the OT. An important axiom of the class is that the OT emerges from a cultural and ethnic setting significantly different from those of any contemporary culture. To study the OT in connection with the the ancient cultures that shaped it is to learn to receive God's word crossculturally, which forms a necessary preparation for testifying to the message of God's word crossculturally. Thus the very act of responsible and holistic interpretation involves grasping, affirming, and moving creatively between the text's ethnic and cultural framework and our own. Because the OT is a multi-dimensional text, embracing language, literature, culture, religion, politics—all seen as divine revelation—biblical exegesis must of necessity be multi-disciplinary, hence we will draw eclectically, but not chaotically, from a wide range of subject areas.
OT 617 The Book of Judges

Lawson G. Stone

Younger, K. Lawson, The NIV Application Commentary:Judges, Ruth. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. Gregory Mobley, The Empty Men: The Heroic Tradition of Ancient Israel. New York: Doubleday, 2005. Gunn, David M. Judges: Blackwell Bible Commentaries. Blackwell, 2005. Arnold, Bill T. and John H. Choi. A Guide to Hebrew Syntax. Cambridge, 2003. Elliger, K., and W. Rudolph, eds. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1967-77. A Hebrew-based Concordance or Biblical Software with full Hebrew root and grammar based search capability (For Wintel: Bibleworks, Logos; for Macintosh Accordance. The latter is sufficient reason to go out and buy a Mac!) The following are very helpful: Murphy, T. J. Pocket Dictionary for the Study of Biblical Hebrew. IVP. 2003. Vasholz, R. I. Data for the Sigla in BHS. Eisenbrauns, 1983. Provided by instructor.
OT 617 X The Book of Judges

Lawson G. Stone

Course description This course explores the major exegetical issues in the Book of Judges and provides students with opportunities to apply original-language tools to several of the book’s salient passages. The primary concern in any exegetical work rests in the attempt to see beyond the limited perspectives of our particular cultural heritages and experience the text of the OT as a witness from a time, place, culture and ethnic location far removed from our own. Once we have learned to receive God's word across a cultural and ethnic divide, we become better able to communicate our witness to God's word across the cultural divides of our times. So our attention to language, textual matters, style, syntax, literary genres, social settings, etc. is only partly antiquarian. They open up to us how God's word speaks through cultural and ethnic horizons very different form our own. In a world in which ministry must necessarily deal with cultural and ethnic differences, learning to negotiate such differences as an integral part of hearing God's word makes exegesis an effective preparation for living and serving in a diverse world. The events recorded in the book of Judges occurred and were recalled, recorded, and collected in the midst of historic changes in the life, politics, and culture of ancient Israel. The tribalism that divided the Hebrew People, the oppressions that threatened them, the provincialism that prevented them from responding effectively to their crises, and the recurrent apostasy that diluted their identity and drained their strength all emerge clearly in the book of Judges. Likewise, the various literary genres in the book and the signs of the use and re-use of the materials as the book took shape point to a struggle to receive God's word and reshape it for another generation, place, and circumstance. The tensions and conflicts of tribe, race, empire, culture, and faith that mark the book of Judges recur in contemporary life. Thus time spent with the book of Judges provides a meaningful encounter with problems and possibilities of contemporary ministry. The Spirit of God clearly found rich material for shaping this portion of the inspired scriptures. The objectives below, as they note matters such as language, text, historical and cultural setting, etc. should be understood as the specific steps necessary toward the fulfillment of this encounter.
CO 601 Counseling Theories and Techniques

Stephen P. Stratton

Corsini, R. J. & Wedding, D. (2008). Current psychotherapies, 8th Ed., Belmont, CA: Brooks Cole. Jones, S.L. & Butman, R.E. (1991). Modern psychotherapies. Downer's Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press. Johnson, E.L. & Jones, S.L. (2000). Psychology and Christianity: Four views. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press
CO 715 Assessment Tools and Inventories

Stephen P. Stratton

Aims and Objectives: This course is designed to give the student a general introduction to and broad overview of psychological assessment, while also providing an opportunity for personal growth. Some specific goals are as follows: a. To begin development of the interviewing skills necessary to provide clinical care. b. To acquaint the student with general principles of psychological test evaluation, interpretation, and use. c. To help the student understand the major principles of psychological test construction. d. To sensitize the student to social and ethical implications and issues involved in psychological assessment. e. To broadly familiarize the student with the kinds of assessment instruments and methods available. f. To involve the student in practical, personal, and experiential as well as theoretical learning about psychological assessment. g. To familiarize students with the basic principles and format for constructing assessment reports.
CO 715 Assessment Tools and Inventories

Stephen P. Stratton

Aims and Objectives: This course is designed to give the student a general introduction to and broad overview of psychological assessment, while also providing an opportunity for personal growth. Some specific goals are as follows: a. To begin development of the interviewing skills necessary to provide clinical care. b. To acquaint the student with general principles of psychological test evaluation, interpretation, and use. c. To help the student understand the major principles of psychological test construction. d. To sensitize the student to social and ethical implications and issues involved in psychological assessment. e. To broadly familiarize the student with the kinds of assessment instruments and methods available. f. To involve the student in practical, personal, and experiential as well as theoretical learning about psychological assessment. g. To familiarize students with the basic principles and format for constructing assessment reports.
PC 510 The Servant as Pastoral Care Giver

Stephen P. Stratton

Benner, D. G. (2003). Strategic Pastoral Counseling, 2nd Ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker. (This book is our basic text for the theory and philosophy of pastoral counseling.) Carkhuff, R. R. (2000). The Art of Helping in the 21st Century, 8th Ed. Amherst, MA: Human Resource Development Press. (This book is our basic text for micro skills of pastoral counseling.) Haugk, K. (1984). Christian Caregiving: A Way of Life. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press. (This book written by the founder of Stephen Ministries is a general overview of caregiving in congregational settings.)
PC 515 Pastoral Crisis Intervention

Stephen P. Stratton

Course Description: This advanced pastoral counseling course is based upon the premise that crises are an essential aspect of any structured understanding of human life and development. The class will learn about episodes of crises in people’s lives where the stakes are very high for disintegration or for growth. Theoretical orientation to pastoral crisis intervention techniques for various types of crises will be taught and practiced. Theological and faith issues during crisis events will be examined.
CO 611 Dynamics of Human Sexuality

Michael R. Sytsma

Hyde, J. S. (2006). Understanding Human Sexuality, (9th Edition), Boston: McGraw Hill. (Chapters 1-12, and 20 required – other chapters recommended) Laaser, M. (2004). Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Rosenau, D. (2002). A celebration of sex (Rev. and updated. ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Rosenau, D., & Wilson, M. T. (2006). Soul virgins : redefining single sexuality. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books. Rosenau, D.E., Sytsma, M., and Taylor, D.L. (2001). Sexuality and Sexual Counseling: Learning and Practicing the DEC-R Model. In T. Clinton, and G. Ohlschlager (Eds.) Competent Christian Counseling, Colorado Springs: Waterbrook. Schnarch, D. M. (1995). A Family Systems Approach to Sex Therapy and Intimacy. In R. Mikesell, D. Lusterman, and S. H. McDaniel (Eds.), Integrating Family Therapy: Handbook of Family Psychology and Systems Theory. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. Sytsma, M., Taylor, D. (2003). Current thinking in how to help couples and individuals struggling with low sexual desire. Marriage and Family: A Christian Journal, 5(3). Rosenau, D., Childerston, J., & Childerston, C. (2004). A celebration of sex after 50. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers. (Chapters 1 and 20 only.) Brinkmann, S. (2004). The Kinsey Corruption: an exposé on the most influential "scientist" of our time. West Chester, PA: Ascension Press. (See webpage for required pages.)
CH 500 Turning Points in Church History

Jennifer L. Woodruff Tait

Welcome to CH500! This course is a whirlwind introduction to the history of the Christian church. History is much more than names, dates, and places; it is the story of real people facing real problems. Church history, especially, is the story of our brothers and sisters in Christ trying to be faithful to the Gospel in the face of changing circumstances. As we move through the course, I will be asking you to think about what people thought the heart of the Gospel was, and what they thought life together in community (that is, in the church) looked like. I will also be asking you to think about whose stories particularly appeal to you, and why. As we think together about how our mothers and fathers in the faith have faced crises and challenges, we will become better able to equip those with whom we minister to understand and apply the riches of the Christian tradition to their own spiritual walk.