STD 706 Theological Integration
Syllabus
Spring 2009 Prof. John Boettcher. tel 860.754.8952; message 860.632.3048; boettcher@textorum.net
Introduction
This course is designed to help make the transition from student to teacher, from seminarian to minister. There are 4 basic movements to this: 1) Gather; 2) Cull; 3) Anticipate; 4) Prepare. That is, review and evaluate whatever you have accessed and learned; sort out what is useful from what is not; think about what you are going to need to deal with in the near future; then get ready by organizing yourself and your resources. It should be a very practical course, helping you to pack your bags, psych yourself up, and hit the road at a run. It should help guard you from the problems of arriving at your first assignment unprepared, disorganized, or fragmented. Resources you take for granted are going to be a lot harder to access (even with Google and Wikipedia) and there will always be the tempation to not bother, to give people a nebulous, lazy answer. We can do better, if we prepare. Now is the time to get it together!
Since the main point of the course is how the participants are going to develop and demonstrate proactive, independent and mature responsiveness, you are expected to be active and take the initiative.
By signing up for this course you are agreeing to the following:
· You will be active in class, and contribute to the discussion at least once per class.
· For every segment, you will spend 2 hours researching and reflecting on the topic. If specifics aren’t given in class, you are free to take your own tack. Then, you will write up your work: what you looked for, what you found, and how useful you think it is. This will be written out on the form provided, saved with a filename : STD706 [your last name] topic (example: STD706 [boettcher] C. Routines), and e-mailed to the professor with the subject line same as the filename. Send to boettcher@textorum.net by 5:00 P.M. the day before the relevant class.
· Do and send in homework as assigned, by 5:00 P.M. the day before the relevant class.
· A final paper describing your proposal for a well balanced, integrated life of ministry, including: daily spirituality; preparing to preach & teach; a list of informational resources (books, internet, computer programs) which you will use often; foundational, working principles for each of the segments. Basically, this is a description of what is important to you and what your life will be about, so it should serve as a guide for you to get your life of ministry going and to check your balance later down the line. Write it for yourself and your friends in ministry. 12-15 pages. Due April 21. Send as an attachment by e-mail.
We have a small class size, so each person makes more of an impact on the others, and on the professor. This means if you are attentive and are actively contributing, you are a joy to be with and are edifying the Body of Christ. On the other hand, if you are daydreaming, playing video games, surfing the internet, or watching the latest developments in tree foliage, you are going to distract others.
Attention. Please try to follow the lectures. If you are ready to pass out or have another urgent need, do get up and stand in the back of class or go outside and do wind sprints. If you sleep in front of me you may get a rude awakening.
When I call on you and you have an insightful, intelligent comment, it is a beautiful thing to do for others. If you make no intelligent response it is obviously going to reflect on your grade, but also you are pulling down the class.
In-class use of computers is for taking notes ONLY, unless you are given explicit permission to do something else. It is not just a privacy issue; your screen is visible to others, and even if it weren’t, your eye movements and mouse clicks are. If I hear more than a couple mouse clicks, you are going to get shut down.
Touchpad only, no external mice.
No connecting to internet without explicit permission.
If I find your use of the computer distracting, I will ask you to shut it – immediately. That means the lid is closed within 3 seconds. You are not to take extra time to close programs or shut it down. If you are concerned about data loss, you are responsible to set your computer up so that when you close the lid, it goes into standy or hibernation.
Everyone is responsible to check the web page and syllabus a couple of times a week. You are expected to at least know what is on the site, and to brouse things that are relevant to the class, even if not explicitly assigned.
20 Class participation
40 Segment write-ups
40 Final paper
Required materials with [>]
>One of the following, or equivalent: