Courses

Please note, one of the required textbooks, Rebekah Eklund, The Beatitudes through the Ages, is now available in the Digital Theological Library: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.dtl.idm.oclc.org/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=6548460. All registered students have free access to the Digital Theological Library.

Are you too busy to pray, too stressed to hear God’s voice, too exhausted, discouraged, or overwhelmed by ministry to attend to your own spiritual welfare, to say nothing of that of others? This course is designed to lead us towards principles and practices of generative spiritual life that are essential for our own spiritual renewal and critical for meaningful ministry to others, even as we learn to simply receive from God’s Spirit. Whether we are engaged in formal or lay ministry roles, our spiritual lives matter. I invite you to explore the riches and beauty of the Beatitudes as a creatively-designed multi-faceted guide to spiritual life, not as moralistic teachings but as vistas on a spiritual journey. Come reflect, research, write, create, and share in a community of fellow-learners. We will not only work together, we will simply be with each other, attending to each other’s journey, implementing practices of spiritual life, and learning to graciously receive God’s care and guidance that alone can sustain us in life, ministry, and career.

Knowing

• develop breadth of knowledge about the design for spiritual life through the Beatitudes;
• deepen your perception of God’s call on your life as a creative spiritual being.

Being

• be present with and to each other in our class journey;
• recognize God’s still small voice speaking in your life.

Doing

• develop the practice of noticing God at work in yourself and in each other, one of the most invaluable tools for life and ministry;
• explore an approach to personal and/or communal spiritual vitality that is relevant to you and your ministry or practice.