Yale Bulletin and Calendar

December 17, 2004|Volume 33, Number 14|Four-Week Issue



BULLETIN HOME

VISITING ON CAMPUS

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

IN THE NEWS

BULLETIN BOARD

CLASSIFIED ADS


SEARCH ARCHIVES

DEADLINES

DOWNLOAD FORMS

BULLETIN STAFF


PUBLIC AFFAIRS HOME

NEWS RELEASES

E-MAIL US


YALE HOME PAGE


Awards to fund innovative theological courses

A series of awards given by the Divinity School will support theological school courses exploring the relationship of faith to daily life.

The four $5,000 awards, given under the Faith as a Way of Life project at the Divinity School's Center for Faith & Culture, will be used to design creative ways to teach future church leaders, both lay and ordained, ways of promoting living faith and values in all spheres of life.

"We're very impressed with the way our award recipients have caught the vision for teaching in theological education that focuses future pastors and lay leaders on the task of how to live the faith holistically and how to mediate faith as a way of life to persons, communities and cultures," says Christian Scharen, associate director at the Center for Faith & Culture.

The awards were given as a result of a competition that solicited ideas for turning seminary education toward the complexity of living faithful lives in today's world.

Winners of the awards are from schools representing various Christian denominations and regions of the nation. Each of the proposed courses will be developed and taught over the next few years, and findings from the courses will eventually be disseminated to theological schools across the country for possible replication.

Professors Gary Parrett and Paul Lim of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in the greater Boston area proposed a course focused on history, theology and practice of catechesis -- i.e., the practices of teaching faith to new Christians. They say they will seek "to inculcate a more holistic way of being-in-the-world for both the classroom learners and the parishioners, fostering a distinctive Christian identity while not losing the relevance."

Professors Ann Garrido and Celeste Mueller of The Aquinas Institute in St. Louis, Missouri, proposed a course that envisions church leaders as practical theologians who make the connections between theology and life. They believe that certain habits of mind and heart are what foster the ability of students "to be ministers who make faith a way of life and help communities to do so in the context of authentic theological conversation."

Professors Bruce Ashford and David Nelson of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, will develop a course to assist pastors who serve families trying "to live wisely in God's world" by training parents to train their children "to think and live Christianly." The idea -- novel for a Southern Baptist seminary, say the professors -- is to encourage theologians and parents to engage and interact with various dimensions of culture in order to model and mediate a thoughtful living of faith in the midst of all spheres of life, rather than maintaining a separate and disconnected stance in relation to culture.

The fourth grant went to Professor Ian Markham of Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, who proposed a course focusing on the daily devotional practices of average Christians. In Markham's course, students will be asked to consider both the personal and communal public impacts of their personal practices of prayer, meditation and scripture reading. Markham wants students to practice as well as reflect on these most basic of religious actions so that they are more effective at forming communities where prayer and work intertwine seamlessly.

The Faith as a Way of Life Project is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana. The project's mission is to "equip pastors for excellence in the central task of Christian ministry: helping to mediate faith to persons, communities, and cultures as a life-integrating and life-transforming reality." Further information is available at www.yale.edu/faith/initiatives/fwl.html.


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

AIA honors British Art Center for its 'enduring significance'

Saybrook Orchestra aims to inspire young music lovers

Making spirits bright

Three scientists win $1 million for research on infectious disease

ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

Dr. Merson to step down as EPH dean

Study suggests vaccinating wildlife may be a key to . . .

In Focus: The Learning Center

Fellowship to bring together architecture students, developers

Researchers find the drug Ritalin is effective both for children . . .

Arts Library acquires the archive of pioneering book artist Richard Minsky

United Way Campaign honors Yale departments for their efforts

Study links unconscious race bias to particular brain region

Artist Franck donates sculpture to ISM

Study: Brain's nicotine receptors also a target for antidepressants

Supports help maltreated children who are prone to depression, study finds

Awards to fund innovative theological courses

New journal explores globalization's impact on health . . .

Linda Degutis to chair national public health group

Artistic tribute


Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News

Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines

Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases| E-Mail Us|Yale Home