Course Descriptions
I. MINISTRY
Pastoral Leadership
This course covering the basics of being a leader in a Baptist church will include: The pastor as a person; an introduction to different personal styles of leadership and their effects; an introduction to the organization of a Baptist church; and ways a leader works with and can direct the various boards and committees. It will also present methods to be used in organizing worship, officiating at child dedications, performing baptisms, and serving the Lord's Supper.
Christian Education
An introduction to the leading of a complete Christian Education program, i.e. Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, youth work, and nursery programs. The needs of various age groups will be presented. Skills will be built for working with church leadership, for reviewing and selecting materials, and for providing guidance to the teachers involved. Basic teacher skills will also be discussed.
Missions and Evangelism
Methods for evangelization of the unchurched and growth in the local church will be introduced. An overview of international missions support will be presented. Different ways of reaching non-believers, church members who have become inactive, and borderline attenders will be discussed. Methods of planning for growth and developing a broad vision will be presented. Ways of establishing financial support of missions and encouraging local church interest in missionary work will also be covered.
Pastoral Care
An introduction to the role of the pastor in the care and nurture of persons, covering: The effect of the role of pastor on the person under care; the influence of the personality of the pastor; when to refer a person to others; introduction to listening skills, home and hospital visitation, and visiting in special settings; helping parishioners deal with marriage, death and other major events in life. Available resources, services, and possible problems in conducting marriages and funerals will be outlined. Counseling techniques will also be discussed.
Preaching
Communicating God's Word effectively will be stressed. The personality of the preacher, styles of preaching, ways of organizing the sermon, creativity, illustrations, and delivery of the sermon will be covered. Each student will present at least one sermon for the class.
II. BIBLICAL STUDIES
New Testament
Covers the entire New Testament including the history and writings which make up its background. Each book will be analyzed as to the setting in which it was written, the author, the group of people to whom it was written, the content, the type(s) of literature it contains, and its theology. The Gospel accounts will be examined to see how they relate to each other. The modern text of the New Testament and how it is put together by scholars will also be discussed.
Old Testament
The early parts of Genesis will be examined, followed by a history of the nation of Israel. The poetic, wisdom, and prophetic books will be studied. Authorship, dating, type of literature, and theology will be discussed. The geography of Palestine and the surrounding region will be covered. How the modern Old Testament text was formed will be explained.
Biblical Interpretation
This course will cover the principles of understanding the Bible. It will examine how Scripture uses Scripture, how the Jews of Jesus' time used Scripture, and how Scripture usage changed from Roman Catholicism to the Reformation until today. It will cause the student to examine his/her assumptions about the Bible and the resulting principles we use in understanding the Scripture. A carefully thought out process for examining passages will be presented. It will include examining the assumptions, background, text, different versions (or the original language), grammar, literature, people, places, concepts and context of a passage. All of these will be used in helping the student arrive at an appropriate meaning of the text. Principles for applying this meaning of the text to our lives will be discussed.
III. CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
Baptist History and Polity
An introduction to the origin of the Baptists and the resulting church organization. After a brief introduction to early church history and the Reformation, this course will focus on the history of Baptists, both in England and America. The course will include discussion about the organization of a Baptist church with an emphasis on pastoral leadership.
Theology
An introduction to organized thought about God. This course will briefly examine the early church and how it developed doctrines. It will present different ways to organize systems of thinking about God. A number of different approaches will be discussed, including early church fathers, Reformation leaders, and contemporary theologians. Issues covered will include revelation, God, creation, humanity, sin, salvation, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and eschatology. Students will be encouraged to organize their thought about God, that is, their own system of theology. They will write a paper stating their personal theology in a clear and consistent way, following the guidelines set out by their American Baptist Region/Association for the certification paper.
Clergy Ethics
This course will help ministerial leaders develop a better understanding of the various ethical issues that impact one's ministry. It will assist ministerial leaders in understanding the issues of potential misconduct and equip them to better minister in these times. This course will focus on three areas relating to Clergy Ethics: money, sex and power.
Completion of the Clergy Ethics course is required for those seeking recognition as a Certified Lay Minister in the ABCOPAD Region.