This class surveys the history of the Bible in the United States from the War for Independence through the Civil War. It is a case study designed to sharpen awareness of how intellectual assumptions, cultural conventions, engrained interests, and spiritual motives shaped the understanding and application of Scripture. Special emphases are how Scripture was enlisted …
View course details “The Bible, Slavery, & the American Civil War”
With Derrick Weston Food is at the heart of human society. The ways we grow, source, buy, prepare, serve, and eat all have the potential to build community or break it down. Food connects us to our own personal histories and can be a source of healing and comfort or pain and trauma. This retreat …
View course details “The Just Kitchen: Connecting to God, Neighbor, and Self Through Food”
Acknowleging the traumas of the past and the future with hope. As we approach the culmination of the International Decade for People of African Descent, we invite you to a pivotal conference aimed at reflection, celebration, and forward thinking. This gathering will serve as a beacon of hope, acknowledging the deep-seated traumas of our past …
View course details “2024 International Decade for People of African Descent: Now What?”
This course will examine women’s lives in the New Testament and the wider Greco-Roman world (including Second Temple Judaism) by studying the biblical text, literary sources, and archaeological evidence. This course extends the discussion into the second through fifth centuries of the early Church, addressing women’s participation in the intellectual, liturgical, ascetic, and monastic arenas. …
View course details “Women in the New Testament & Early Church”
Don’t we just pick up the Bible and read it? What are various ways of interpreting the text and why do these methods matter? With attention to texts of the Hebrew Bible, this class offers an introductory sampling of different approaches in biblical studies, reading with feminist, disability, African, queer, and childist lenses. Course elements …
View course details “The Joy of Text: Reading the Bible with Liberating Lenses”
This course explores biblical views on and responses to material poverty. We will examine the nature and dimensions of economic inequality in the biblical world and how that reality is addressed by various parts of Scripture, from the Law and Prophets to the Gospels and Epistles. We also will explore the scope and causes of …
View course details “Bible and Poverty”
An application-based seminar on faithful ministry to, with, and by people with intellectual/developmental disabilities Churches are incomplete without the presence, gifts, and friendship of people with disabilities. Yet many congregations still struggle to gather and worship in ways that welcome these indispensable members. How can our churches become communities of belonging for children and adults …
View course details “Flourishing Together: Becoming an Accessible and Welcoming Church”
An application-based seminar on faithful ministry to, with, and by people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Churches are incomplete without the presence, gifts, and friendship of people with disabilities. Yet many congregations still struggle to gather and worship in ways that welcome these indispensable members. How can our churches become communities of belonging for children and adults …
View course details “Flourishing Together: Becoming an Accessible and Welcoming Church”
Where was God when this happened?! How can religious people commit such atrocities?! What can a religious leader say after such a horrendous event?! This course explores such questions by analyzing theological responses to human tragedy and cultural shock. Discussion will attend to issues of theodicy, religious terrorism and natural disasters through the perspectives of …
View course details “Religion at Ground Zero”
This Learning Hub course will be located in Kelowna, BC. Accommodation, and some meals, will be provided through the Lilly Endowment Pathways Project support of this course. Travel subsidies will also be available. The usual VST course registration fee will apply. Auditors are welcome but are not eligible for the travel or accommodation subsidies. In …
View course details “Where Theology Meets the Soil: Experiential Learning in the Okanagan”
