United Theological Seminary - CE - Continuing Education and Spiritual Journey Program

United Theological Seminary’s Continuing Education program provides opportunities for:

Programs that are both relevant and creative are held on campus and in the community, areas churches, out-state Minnesota, and online. Persons who attend are interested in and seek out ecumenical settings.

FAITH COMMUNITY NURSE COURSE
TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS, 6:00-9:00 PM
SATURDAYS, 8:30 AM-4:00 PM
OCT 28, 30; NOV 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 22

This inter-faith course will discuss the steps in initiating a faith community nurse (parish nurse) program, the role of the faith community nurse, and the impact this important ministry offers a congregation. This course, endorsed by the International Parish Nurse Resource Center, is the Basic Preparation Course and is open to registered nurses interested in faith-based community nursing.

Instructors:
Vicki Gustafson, MA, RN, PHN, FCN
Barbara Zell, MS, RN, PHN, FCN

The instructors have 20 years of parish nurse practice together and are current faith community nurses. Vicki Gustafson is a parish nurse faculty instructor at the International Parish Nurse Resource Center.

Fee: $500.00
Contact hours: 36 CEUs are available
Registration deadline: Tuesday, April 29
Event location: Strobel Room – McMillan 209
Registration required

The initial funding for the curriculum development for the congregational nurse program came from the NORC (Nurturing Our Retired Citizens) project of Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis.

HOW CAN OUR CHURCH BE WELCOMING AND SAFE FOR ALL?
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3
9:30 AM-3:00 PM

The headlines of the May 17, 2008, issue of the Star Tribune read: “Church bars severely autistic boy from mass.” The story told was of the Church of St. Joseph in Bertha, Minn., which filed court papers to block Adam Race, a 225-pound 13 year old, from participation. Reportedly, his parents chose to ignore the order, which they view as discriminatory. A year earlier the New York Times carried an article with the provocative title: “Sex Offenders Test Churches’ Core Beliefs.” Both essays and other situations lead us to ask: “How Can Our Church Be Welcoming and Safe for All?” This is the question that will be addressed during this important and informative workshop.

Donald C. Clark Jr. is nationwide special counsel for the United Church of Christ. A lawyer with almost 30 years experience, he regularly appears in courts throughout the country on behalf of the church and is actively involved in advising church settings and those who serve in them regarding legal issues. Clark teaches Legal Issues in Contemporary Parish Ministry at Chicago Theological School and serves as board chair of Trustees Chicago Theological Seminary.

Fee: $30.00
Registration deadline: Friday, September 19
Event location: Strobel Room – McMillan 209
Registration required

Richard L. Hamm is the executive administrator for Christian Churches Together, a new and very broad ecumenical organization that includes communions from five “families:” Mainline Protestants, Historic Black Churches, Evangelicals/Pentecostals, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox, as well as several Christian organizations including Sojourners, Bread For The World, and Habitat For Humanity. He is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and served congregations in Indiana, Kansas, and Missouri. He is the author of 2020 Vision for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), From Mainline to Front Line and Recreating the Church: Leadership for the Postmodern Age. He will preach on the challenges and opportunities for the church in this time of transition.

There is no charge or preregistration for this event. A lunch discussion will follow.

SAVING GRACES: SPIRITUALITIES FOR CHURCH WORKERS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10
10:00 AM- 4:00 PM

The world in which religious leaders today do ministry is increasingly anxious and uneasy. Foreclosures, rising costs, global conflicts and a general sense of fear all make the task of ministry even more challenging. What can religious leaders do to strengthen their own spiritual lives to aid them as they do ministry in increasingly challenging times? This day-long workshop will offer an opportunity to step away from it all; to gather for worship, collegial conversation, and study; and to participate in several spiritual practices that participants can do on their own or lead in their congregation.

Trish Greeves, a highly regarded United Church of Christ pastor, is pursuing a D.Min. degree with a focus on faith and politics in the local church and is contextual studies coordinator for United. Greeves believes it is a great privilege to minister in the midst of God’s people with all their struggles and joys. She also believes it is an impossible calling unless it is spiritually grounded and practiced in love, along with healthy participation in the sacrament of holy laughter.

Fee: $55.00
Registration deadline: Monday, October 27.
Event location: Strobel Room – McMillan 209
Registration required

Deepen Your Knowledge

THE CHURCH’S PUBLIC WITNESS: FAITH AND POLITICS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
7:00-9:00 PM

Individuals and communities of faith have a responsibility to discern how religious faith relates to our involvement in government and our role as citizens. The elections this fall provide us with an ideal opportunity to explore the connections between our beliefs and our political engagement. This workshop will discuss characteristics of authentic and effective faith-based political involvement, obstacles and strategies for increasing a congregation’s involvement, and positive ways to learn from differing view points.

Trish Greeves (see bio under Saving Graces)

Fee: $15.00
Students: $5.00
Registration deadline: Monday, September 15
Event location: Steckel Learning Center
Registration required

* * *

UNCOUNTED: THE NEW MATCH OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS
TUESDAY, October 14, 7:00 PM
Steckel Learning Center

This documentary explores and critiques the election process of 2004 and 2006. Interviewed in the film are computer programmers, statisticians, journalists, and experienced election officials in the process of exploring the issues. The film will be followed by a discussion moderated by faculty members Eleazar Fernandez and Sharon Tan. The discussion will focus on the role of faith communities and citizenship, how we can bring issues of justice and equality into the public conversation, and what we need to do to make sure that our electoral democracy is working.

Eleazar Fernandez (see bio under Reimagining the Church for Our Contemporary Time)

Sharon Tan is associate professor of Christian ethics at United. She received her master of theological studies, J.D., and Ph.D. from Emory University. Her areas of teaching and research include Christian ethics, religion and politics, jurisprudence and law, human rights, and reconciliation and conflict transformation.

No charge but please register by calling 651.255.6138.

THE SPIRIT AND THE PAGE: A WRITING WORKSHOP
TUESDAYS, 9:30-11:30 AM
Fall: Oct 7, Nov 4, Dec 2
Spring: Feb 3, Mar 3, Apr 7, May 5

The Sacred is a living presence in our lives that deepens, informs, and sustains us. Creative writing opens the spirit and creates a space where the impossible becomes possible—where we can think the unthinkable and say the unsayable. In these monthly workshops we will search for the profound connections and mystery that exist between the individual and the sacred. The writing process will serve as a guide as participants respond to writing prompts in our search for the holy in ordinary life and to elicit the stories that only we can tell bearing witness to the truth of our lives. This group is for writers of any level of experience.

Pam Wynn teaches writing and poetry at United. Author of Diamonds on the Back of a Snake, she is the recipient of numerous awards and grants in support of her writing and serves on the board of zAmya Theater Project. Wynn’s poems integrate her experience of life with her faith. Her work has been published in a variety of national and international journals including Christian Century, Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality,and ARTS: The Arts in Religious and Theological Studies. She was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Fees: FALL only: $80.00
SPRING only: $100.00
FALL & SPRING: $150.00
Students: $40.00
Registration deadline: Tuesday, September 23
Event location: Strobel Room – McMillan 209
Registration required

VISUAL PRAYER JOURNALS
THURSDAYS, 4:50-5:50 PM
SEP 18, 25; OCT 2, 9, 16

The new Art Studio in the classroom wing will be our gathering space as we invite the arts to draw us more deeply into the holy spaces where the Spirit moves. In this series participants will be invited to connect the Word and the arts as a form of spiritual practice. Weaving together contemplation and simple art forms, we will engage the Lectionary reading for the week, creating a visual prayer journal made with simple art forms. Listening together, we will invite God to be revealed to us in the expressions of our prayer and creativity. No artistic experience is necessary.

Cindi Beth Johnson is the director of community programming in the arts, religion and spirituality at United and an ordained member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She is passionate about how the arts can add to the vitality of congregational life and how they help us to know and experience God more deeply.

Fee: $50.00
Students: $20.00
Materials Fee: $7.00
Registration deadline: Thursday, September 4
Event location: Art Studio (Gunnemann Hall/Classroom Hallway)
Registration required

BUILDING NOW FOR THE 22nd CENTURY

THE FELLOWSHIP OF UCC ARCHITECTS PRESENTS
OCTOBER 17-19, 2008
UNITED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

HOTEL:
The Depot Minneapolis Renaissance
225 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
612.375.1700

REGISTRATION FEES:
FULL PACKAGE: (event, banquet, box lunch, bus transport, church tours, Sunday worship)
$150 per person

BANQUET AND LEONARD SWEET LECTURE:
$75 per person

LEONARD SWEET LECTURE ONLY:
$25 per person

Clergy and persons with graduate theological degrees may now audit as many courses as they wish during one term or one academic year. For example, a person may audit multiple courses during one term as part of sabbatical work. There is a $150 registration fee per class.

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