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Northeast Ohio School of Ministry (NEOSOM)
Winter Term 2022
Course Schedule

Church History 2                                                                         Fee $100         Audit $65
Certification Track Course

Description: Church History 2 continues the story of the Christian church from the period of the Western European Reformation in the sixteenth century until the present.

Instructor:  Steve Johnson
The Rev. Dr. Steve Johnson has taught for many years in both the Northeast Ohio School of Ministry and the New York School of Ministry.  His area of teaching expertise is expansive, covering theology, church history, Bible, and UCC history and polity.

Dates:  Wednesdays, Jan. 26; Feb. 2, 23; Mar. 9, 16, 23, 30; Apr. 6
Time:  7-9:10 p.m.
Text(s):
Volume II of The Story of Christianity by Justo L. Gonzalez, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Preaching and Politics                                                                 Fee $100         Audit $65
New Course 

Description: The course will explore preaching with a sensitivity to politics as engaging the church in the world, equipping the gathered community for faithful response, and demonstrating the kingdom of God. We will consider the gospel as countercultural and how that translates into preaching that is not partisan but adopts the politics of the kingdom. Sessions will include lecture, discussion of readings, sermon preparation exercises, and preaching demonstrations.

Instructor: Cheryl Lindsay
The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay is a worship scholar-practitioner with a particular interest in the proclamation of the word in gathered communities. Lindsay serves as Sermon Seeds Writer and Editor of the National Ministries of the United Church of Christ and Pastor and Teacher of First Congregational UCC of Wellington, OH. She earned the Master of Divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary in 2012 and the Doctor of Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute of Worship Studies in 2018.

Dates:  Tuesdays, Jan. 11, 18, 25; Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22; Mar 1
Time:  6-8:10 p.m.
Required Text(s):
Thompson, Lisa L. Preaching the Headlines: Possibilities and Pitfalls. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2021.
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/opinion/do-politics-belong-church
Recommended Reading:
Carvalhaes, Claudio. Liturgies from Below. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020. The preface provides an outstanding overview of worship and empire.

Education in the Church: Faith Formation 101                         Fee $100         Audit $65
Certification Track Course

Description:
Using Basics of Christian Education (Karen B. Tye, Chalice Press, © 2000 – available from Amazon) for our text, we will cover both theories and practices of Faith Formation.  Students will be an active part of the teaching/learning experience.

Instructor: Sprite Johnson
The Rev. Sprite Johnson is the interim minister at St. John’s UCC in Massillon.  As a graduate of Defiance College with a B.S in Christian Education and Religious Studies and an M.Div. from Eden Theological Seminary, Sprite has been involved in Faith Formation for over 45 years.

Dates:  Thursdays, Jan. 27; Feb. 3, 10, 17, 24; Mar. 3, 10, 17
Time: 7-9:10 p.m.
Text(s):
Basics of Christian Education by Karen Tye, Chalice Press; © 2000.
Faith Formation in Vital Congregations by Marian R. Plant, Pilgrim Press, Cleveland OH, 2009. [available from United Church Press]
The Bible – Instructor uses the NRSV; students may use any Bible they choose as long as it is a translation and not a paraphrase

Old Testament 1                                                                           Fee $100         Audit $65
Certification Track Course

Description: This course will introduce students to a literarily sensitive, theologically grounded, historically based, and ecclesially oriented approach to the First Testament of the Christian Bible.  The foundational books (Genesis - Deuteronomy) and historical books (Joshua - 2 Kings) will be the focus of this course.

Instructor: Gene McAfee
The Rev. Dr. Gene McAfee is pastor of Faith UCC in Richmond Heights and has taught in the education program of the Living Water Ohio NorthEast Association for over a decade.  He received his undergraduate degree in religious studies and journalism from Indiana University (1982), his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School (1985), and his Th.D. from Harvard Divinity School in Hebrew Bible (1996).

Dates:  Saturdays, Jan. 15, 22, 29; Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26; Mar. 5
Time:  9:30 - 11:40 a.m.
Texts:
A modern study Bible, such as The HarperCollins Study Bible (New York: HarperCollins, 1993), preferably using the New Revised Standard Version of the biblical text
Boadt, Lawrence.  Reading the Old Testament:  An Introduction (revised and updated by Richard Clifford and Daniel Harrington).  New York:  Paulist Press, 2012.

All courses are taught online via Zoom and require a minimum of six students.  Tuition is $100 per course.  For questions or for more information, please contact Gene McAfee, Dean, at deanofschools@livingwaterone.org.           Registration Deadline:  January 3, 2022

Register Now!