Martin Luther University College and the Institute for Christian Studies will present the conference, “Beyond Culture Wars: Fostering Solidarity in an Age of Polarization.” Hosted at the campus of Martin Luther University College (Wilfrid Laurier University), this event will be an education and discussion forum for faith communities, and for the larger public, to counter …
View course details “Beyond Culture Wars Fostering Solidarity in an Age of Polarization Conference”

Though preaching is one of the oldest Christian practices and has been a staple of worship for millennia, it is constantly in the process of change. Indeed, like the proverbial river that cannot be stepped into twice because the flow of the water is constantly remaking it, it is not possible to preach the same …
View course details “Rethinking Preaching Conference 2024: Crossing Boundaries Toward Healing”

Vancouver School of Theology Attend in person or via Zoom Access recordings through June 30 The creative visual, musical, literary, and performing arts help shape ideas and beliefs. Sometimes, art can communicate more quickly, powerfully, and universally than words can. Within spiritual traditions, arts express stories, attitudes, and emotions. Teachers use arts to introduce their …
View course details “Sacred Arts in a Pluralistic Society: An Inter-Religious Conference”

This is a hands-on preaching and digital ministry course for new preachers. Learn to preach from the ground up comfortable in the pulpit and online. This will NOT be manuscript preaching! We will practice a conversational, video-friendly, note-free sharing of Good News. Preachers will learn to: Use the ‘Triangle Preaching Process’ – Scripture, situation, self. …
View course details “Practical Preaching in the Digital Age”

The poet Dana Gioia once asked in a book of this title, “Can Poetry Matter?” That question of course begs another question: matter in what ways? We may read poetry for any number of reasons, but this class considers how poetry nurtures, and enriches, our spiritual lives. By our close reading of poems together from …
View course details “Reading Poetry Devotionally: How Poems Nurture Our Spiritual Lives”

How we read may matter as much as what we read. What can we learn from the tradition about how to read the Bible spiritually? In this course, we will look in particular at Dorothy L. Sayers’s way of reading. Raised by an Anglican priest, Sayers was well-versed in the tradition’s way of reading Scripture. …
View course details “Reading as a Spiritual Practice”

For centuries many have perceived a strong bond between the work of the Spirit and artistic creativity. Talk of inspiration, spirituality, and the life of the spirit abounds when the arts are in view. This course asks why this might be so. What is it about the arts that lends themselves so easily to “spirit-talk”, …
View course details “The Holy Spirit & the Arts”

What role should the news play in the life of a disciple of Christ? This may seem like a contemporary concern, one made acute by political polarization, social media, and ubiquitous screens. And indeed we are living through a time when technological and cultural forces are causing drastic upheavals in the news industry. This course …
View course details “Reading the Times: Christian Responses to the News of the Day”

Dive into Scripture and explore its rich poetic depths. Develop comfort and insight around biblical poetry, familiarizing yourself with its conventions, common idioms, and literary devices. Deepen your confidence in drawing on biblical poetry for ministry, learning to effectively incorporate it into your preaching. Together we will explore biblical metaphor, imagery, and other forms of …
View course details “Reading & Preaching Biblical Poetry”

Christian Poetics is an exploration of literary aesthetics, delving into what defines the nature and quality of literature. While this is primarily a course in literary criticism, students of art, literature, and culture will delight in discovering the interplay between form and function in the works of classical and Christian thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, …
View course details “Christian Poetics”