Many people are familiar with the concept of an overarching narrative (storyline) when looking at the history of our faith: from the Old Testament, through to the New and on into the history of the church, we can see God at work. However, when people think of, say, the Old Testament, disconnected images come to mind (King David, the Exodus, prophets, and others). The problem is that many people have no real idea of how these individual stories flow together and fit into the historical narrative.
People are also often confused about just what the actual foundations of our faith are. What does God want to show us and how do we conform to his “plan”? If we are to share in God’s mission for the world, then we need to have a firm idea of “the-story-so-far” and do our best to write ourselves into it—and help others to do the same!
What You’ll Learn
This course will help you to follow the story of our faith and scriptures by:
- Presenting the history in a flowing, coherent narrative,
- Examining foundational aspects of our faith,
- Seeing Jesus from the perspective of his first-century context,
- Discussing the origin and ongoing story of the church (including learning about how we got our Creeds and the Canon of Scripture we follow), and
- Asking how we can be part of this community which is Christ’s body.
How It Works
Join our instructor, Patrick Paulsen, and an engaged learning community of fellow leaders and missional practitioners live online and in online forums.
- Participate in six two-hour sessions with Patrick and the learning community.
The learning community will meet weekly on Monday evenings, 7:00p – 9:00p, September 18 – October 30. - Practice in your context.
During the course you will be encouraged to apply your learning in your context in order to deepen your understanding. - Reflect within the learning community.
Your new knowledge and experience will become even more meaningful when shared with other learning practitioners like yourself. You will use the online forums between sessions and break-out sessions within learning community gatherings to further integrate your learning.