Raising the Tent of Meeting
WEEK THREE July 16-20
- Process Theology - Dr. John Cobb, Jr. - Visiting Distinguished Scholar
- The Spiritual World of Children - Dr. Tobin Hart
- Women, Leadership and Church: Progress, Problems and Possibilities - Dr. Jenny Te Paa
- Prayer and the New Testament - Dr. Bonnie Thurston
- Christian Ethics and the Moral Economy - Dr. Christopher Lind
Process Theology
Dr. John Cobb, Jr. - Visiting Distinguished Scholar
9am-12noon
Full course syllabusThis apologetic introduction will illustrate to you how process theology responds to the needs of the church. The church needs an intellectually convincing biblical and theological basis for a progressive stance, including support for insights derived from the various liberation theologies, critical engagement with the natural and social sciences, and an appreciative relationship to other religious traditions without abandoning a strong Christocentrism.
John B. Cobb, Jr. was born in Japan in a Methodist missionary home. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, he attended the University of Chicago where he received the PhD in 1952. He taught for three years at Young Harris College, five years at Emory University, and thirty-two years and Claremont School of Theology, from which he retired to Pilgrim Place in 1990. He has been visiting professor at Vancouver, Iliff, Chicago, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Mainz, and Rikkyo. He founded the Center for Process Studies at Claremont and co-founded Progressive Christians Uniting, with headquarters in Los Angeles. Among his books are A Christian Natural Theology, Christ in a Pluralistic Age, Beyond Dialogue, and Postmodernism and Public Policy. With Charles Birch he wrote The Liberation of Life, with Herman Daly, For the Common Good, and with David Lull, Romans. His most recent book is The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God, co-authored with David Ray Griffin, Richard Falk, and Catherine Keller.
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TopThe Spiritual World of Children
Dr. Tobin Hart
9am-12noon
Full course syllabus
A fresh understanding of children’s spiritual life is fostering a social change movement that is beginning to impact education, religious formation, psychotherapy, and parenting. We will look at research on the spiritual life of childhood, examining contemporary and historic accounts, identifying spiritual-related difficulties in pastoral, clinical and family settings, providing tools for assessing spiritual temperament, and exploring resources for nourishing the inner life.
Tobin Hart is Professor of Psychology at the University of West Georgia, and President of the ChildSpirit Institute. His work examines consciousness, spirituality, psychotherapy, and education. The Secret Spiritual World of Children is his latest book.
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TopWomen, Leadership and Church: Progress, Problems and Possibilities (in conjunction with NMC Summer School)
Dr. Jenny Te Paa
9am-12noon
Full course syllabus
In this course you will first explore New Testament imperatives for women’s leadership. Secondly, you will consider case studies of women in contemporary church leadership. You will then be asked to identify and analyze the problems women still encounter and will be encouraged to develop theologically enduring solutions to these problems.
Dr Jenny Plane Te Paa is Ahorangi or Principal of TE Rau Kahikatea, a constituent of the College of St. John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand. She was appointed to this position in 1995. Dr Te Paa is highly regarded nationally in her own land and internationally, for her pioneering work in bicultural theological education. She has written widely on identity politics, particularly those to do with race and ethnicity and their various manifestations, within theological education. She is globally unique in her professional role as Dean of an Anglican Theological College. Nowhere else in the world does a lay indigenous woman hold such a position. Jenny also holds a number of significant international positions including Convenor of Anglican Peace and Justice Network, recently retired Moderator of the World Council of Churches Working Group on Ecumenical Theological Education and is a member of both IATDC or the Inter-Anglican Theological Doctrinal Commission and TEAC the Commission on Theological Education for the Anglican Communion established in 2003 by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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TopPrayer and the New Testament
Rev. Dr. Bonnie Thurston
1:30-4:30pm
Full course syllabus
This is a study of representative New Testament prayer texts and texts on prayer to uncover what they reveal about the human experience of, and response to, God. Gospel material focuses on Jesus at prayer, Jesus on prayer, and prayers of Jesus with attention to the Matthean Lord’s Prayer. Also studied will be Paul’s experience of and teaching about prayer, giving attention to 1 Thessalonians, Philippians and Ephesians. (For credit students: familiarity with critical Biblical methodologies is assumed).
Bonnie Thurston has taught for 30 years, most recently at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. As author of 11 theological books, she has scholarly interest in the gospels of Mark and John, the Deutero-Pauline canon and the history of Christian Spirituality and prayer.
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TopChristian Ethics and the Moral Economy
Dr. Christopher Lind
1:30-4:30 pm
Full course syllabus
You will be introduced to the concept of the Moral Economy through the work of the economist Karl Polanyi, the historian E. P. Thompson, the anthropologist James C. Scott and the development critic Marilyn Waring. You will explore how the concept of the moral economy has been used by biblical scholars and scholars in Christian ethics.
Christopher Lind is a Senior Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto. From 2003-2006 he served as Director of the Toronto School of Theology. The Toronto School of Theology is one of the largest and most diverse ecumenical Theological cooperatives in North America. From 1985 until 2003 he was based in Saskatoon, first as Professor of Church & Society and then as President of St. Andrew’s Theological College. A lay Anglican, for the last 3 years he served as President of the amalgamated St. Andrew’s College and St. Stephen’s College in Saskatoon and Edmonton, sponsored by the United Church of Canada.
Dr. Lind holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in Philosophy and Political Science, a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity College and a PhD in Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College specializing in Ethics and Economics. He has authored or co-edited five books in the areas of Ecumenical Social Ethics, Globalization and Agriculture, Mission and Theology.
You can register through our secure registration page
TopYou can find all the information about Summer School in our full brochure