MONDAY MORNING
Volume 53, Issue 14
December 02, 2013 

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

This Week At United
Monday, December 2
No meetings scheduled.  
  
  
Tuesday, December 3
9:00 AM
De-Install Diedre Scherer show.
Bigelow Chapel
  
11:00 AM
Database discussion.
Stroebel Room (209)
  
11:35 AM - Chapel
Celebrate Darkness
This service, which takes place during Advent as we move into the darkest days of the year, includes poems, readings and songs about the life-giving place of darkness in our lives.
  
12:00 PM
Planning OiG.
Small Dining Room.
  
12:00 PM
Business Theology discussion
Hatch Room (105)
  
1:00 PM
De-Install Diedre Scherer show
Bigelow Chapel.
  
    
Wednesday, 
December 4
  9:00 AM
De-Install Diedre Scherer show
Bigelow Chapel
  
9:45 AM
 Kathleen Remund
Campbell Room (210) 
  
10:30 AM
Education Planning and Evaluation Committee
Hatch Room (105)
  
11:30 AM
Women's Studies
Campbell (210)
  
1:30 PM
Faculty Administration Committee
Hatch Room (105)
  
  
Thursday, December 5
9:00 AM
De-Install Deidre Scherer show
Bigelow Chapel
  
11:35 AM - Chapel
Kwanzaa
  Speaker: Enzi Tanner
  
12:00 PM
Worship Committee
Small Dining Room
  
1:00 PM
De-Install Diedre Scherer show
Bigelow Chapel
    
  
Friday, December 6
8:30 AM
CPE Meeting
Stroebel Room (209)
  
11:30 AM
Writing/Righting Life
Classroom E
  
6:00 PM
United Christmas Party
Context Caf�
Chapel
Chapel Services are held in Bigelow Chapel at 11:35 AM every Tuesday and Thursday during fall and spring terms. 

 

Tuesday, December 3

 Celebrate Darkness

This service, which takes place during Advent as we move into the darkest days of the year, includes poems, readings and songs about the life-giving place of darkness in our lives.
  

Thursday, December 5 

 Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a week-long holiday honoring African culture and traditions. Maulana Karenga, an African-American leader, proposed this observance. It was first celebrated between December 1966 and January 1967.

  

 Thursday, December 12

 Lessons and Carols

The service is adapted from a Festival of Lessons and Carols of Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, England, and includes traditional readings and music. It has been part of worship life at United for over 20 years.

 

Tuesday, December 17

Blue Christmas

The Blue Christmas worship service acknowledges that the Advent-Christmas season is a difficult one for those experiencing grief and sadness.

Click for more 

Job Opportunities
AT UNITED
  
Employment Opening at United:

Communications Coordinator

Visit the seminary's Job Opportunities page for more information about this opening.
 
ELSEWHERE
  
Click here to go to the Job Opportunities web page to see additional postings for jobs outside of the seminary.
The page includes links to resources and related career opportunity websites.
  
Recently Posted: 
Nanny
New Brighton family seeking part time nanny for 2-year-old boy.  Some days, some evenings, $10/hr, approx. 25h/wk. Click here for details.

 

Case Coordinator Bi-Lingual Spanish
Restorative Justice Community Action (RJCA) is seeking a Case Coordinator to support our neighborhood-based restorative justice program in Minneapolis. 
Click here for details, or visit www.rjca-inc.org).

 

 

Mercy Hospital Chaplain

Mercy Hospital is looking to hire a chaplain for a combined .2 FTE and .5 FTE (28 hours a week). The .2 FTE is a permanent position with hours from 8:00 AM-4:30 PM on Fridays. The .5 is a temporary position (20 hours a week) with funding guaranteed through August 2014 and expected through August 2016. The 20 hours a week are variable and require the person selected to be available for weekday and evening shifts Monday-Thursday.  
If you are interested and the hours would work for you, learn more and apply here.  
  
Pastor
Gomer Congregational Church, Gomer OH
 Gomer Congregational Church of Gomer, Ohio, is looking for a full time pastor. The church has 230 members, and offers a good salary and a 4 bedroom parsonage. Health plan, retirement plan, continuing education, travel reimbursement and more are included in the package. 

If interested, please contact

James Schwartzengraber, Search Committee Chairman

7725 Gomer Road

Elida, OH 45807

Phone: 419-642-4161

  
Director of Faith Formation
Mayflower Congregation UCC, Minneapolis MN 

  

Communications Intern
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis MN 

  

Full time Chaplain/CPE Supervisor
St. Francis Regional Medical Center, Shakopee MN 

 

Seeking Musicians
Chain of Lakes Church seeks musicians to be a part of their growing community. Guitar, bass, percussion keyboard.
Contact Kristel, 651.207.9799, [email protected], with questions.  

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About us
United Theological Seminary
of the Twin Cities
3000 5th Street NW
New Brighton, MN 55112
Phone: 651.633.4311
Fax: 651.633.4315
Toll free: 800.937.1316

www.unitedseminary.edu

 

 

 

O Holy One,

In this season of Advent, may the light of your love enter our hearts and make way for peace, hope, and love. Guide us with this light, that may we boldly walk in the way of justice and righteousness.

Amen.

 

~D�adre Moore, Class of 2013 

 

SEMINARY EVENTS   

 

 

KWANZAA!

Thursday December 5th, 11:35 AM

United will have its 5th annual Kwanzaa celebration during chapel on Thursday, December 5th at 11:35 AM. This year's speaker will be graduating senior Enzi Tanner, a Jewish transgender spoken word artist. The chapel will be followed by a traditional Kwanzaa karamu (feast) of "kosher" soul food prepared by Chef Michelle in the Context Cafe. Please plan to attend.

 

    

  
ADVENT   
OPPORTUNITIES

 

  RIGHTING (WRITING) YOUR LIFE IN ADVENT

The first three Fridays in December

11:45 AM - 1:15 PM

Classroom E

Some of us don't truly know what something means to us until we write about it. Writing can be a way of listening to our lives, honoring questions, confessing brokenness, grieving losses and finding direction. Writing can be the deepest form of listening, of prayer. 

  

If you are such a person, please join others for a three-week workshop during Advent. At each session there will be an introduction to a theme, a writing prompt, time to write and time to share.

 

This workshop is offered free of charge to students, staff and faculty. It is not necessary to attend all sessions.

  

Meetings will be held in Classroom E on Fridays, from 11:45-1:15 on Dec. 6th, Dec. 13th and Dec. 20th.

 

GET 2 KNOW US 
during Advent!  
Check out the Spencer Library Advent Calendar and learn some fun facts about your friendly, neighborhood theological library; a new tidbit of information each day of December through the 25th.    Click here to check it out!

SEMINARY NEWS   

 

WELCOME, BABY LYDIA!
  
Kiely Todd Roska (MA 2005) and her husband, Tim, welcomed their daughter Lydia Elizabeth Kaheale'a Roska, on Sunday, November 10. She weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. Kiely serves as United's Interim Alumni/ae Relations Coordinator.
  

      COOKBOOK WANTS TO GO HOME
Recently, a cook book was separated from Chef Michelle and it wants to go home. If you find it, or if you borrowed it, please return it as soon as possible to the Context Caf�.

 

  

NEW ONLINE COURSE THIS SPRING

 Engaging Theology and Religious Imagination through the Arts  

We are delighted that Dr. Paul Myhre,  Associate

Director of the Wabash Center for Teaching

and Learning in Theology and Religion, will be teaching a new online course this spring!

  
TR249 Engaging Theology and Religious Imagination through the Arts
Artistic engagement with religious beliefs and practices are threaded through human history. The arts provide people with opportunities to explore core and peripheral edges of religious and theological convictions, probe questions about central beliefs and practices, and can assist with reframing or transforming religious beliefs and practices, theological formulations, and ethical behaviors. For example, contemporary graffiti artists around the planet are seizing opportunities to explore social justice issues through the visual arts in public spaces. This course will explore a range of ideas associated with theology, religion, spirituality, and ethics in contemporary and historical artistic expressions. Required readings, exploration of regional arts, online assignments, and threaded conversations will comprise the primary loci around which this course will revolve. Online sessions will involve engagement with the arts as religious expressions, spiritual explorations, ethical declarations, and theological efforts to connect, communicate, or explore the divine, sacred, holy, etc. with personal and communal experience. Students will be expected to explore the arts in relation to spirituality and as sources for imaginative theological reflection. Students will visit churches, museums, and other locations in their communities where art involving religious, theological, spiritual, and ethical connections might be found. In addition to a final research paper, students will be required to write short weekly reflection papers about what they see or experience in relation to the readings for the week. The required papers, online postings, and online discussions will comprise the graded components for the course.
  
Click here to see the course syllabus. 
  
  
NEW PASTORAL CARE CLASS
THIS SPRING

CL686 Pastoral Care and the Shattered Soul

 Dr. Trina Armstrong

In this introductory course, we will examine the role of pastoral caregivers, faith communities, and faith-based organizations for providing pastoral care in the aftermath of traumatic experience. We will explore relevant theories and theologies for understanding the spiritual, psychological, and emotional impact as well as coping responses to interpersonal violence (sexual trauma, child abuse, and domestic violence), historical-cultural trauma, intergenerational trauma, vicarious and witness trauma, crime-victim trauma, and war trauma on individuals, families, cultures, and communities. We will also focus on: the meaning and place of trauma-informed pastoral care; nurturing your pastoral caregiving skills to the traumatized; and we will explore response models and collaborative efforts between mental-health professionals, faith-based communities and other community organizations.

  

OTHER NEW COURSES THIS SPRING  

  

TR150 Theologies of Atonement  

Dr. Tony Jones

This spring,  author and theologian Tony Jones  will return to United to teach a new course, Theologies of Atonement (TR150; Mondays, 6:00-9:15).  The course will be a seminar on the various theologies of atonement present in the Christian and other religious traditions. Working with the draft of his forthcoming book, Did God Kill Jesus, Professor Jones will lead students through readings of various atonement theologies in the Judeo-Christian tradition, explore how other religions understand atonement, and work with students to develop a theory of atonement that is congruent with the student's theology.  
  
and...

 

TR526 Hammering at the Gates of Heaven: Religion, Science, and Certainty in Modernity

Dr. Matthew V. Johnson, Visiting Professor of Theology and Ministry, will teach this new course in the spring semester of 2014.  In this course the student will be exposed to the multi-faceted exchange between science and religion, primarily in the form of the Christian Faith in modernity. They will be introduced and encouraged to explore the issues surrounding the nature of authority, the nature of scientific and religious language, competing truth claims, as well as, different models for envisioning the relationship between these two fundamental dimensions of human culture. We will pay close and careful attention to the issues that are likely to find their way into the political and public domains, such as the Creationism versus Evolution debate (more like debacle), as well as the implications of scientific discoveries, modern cosmology, interpretations of Genesis, Biblical and theological hermeneutics etc... for the faith of the "person on the street." In addition, we will explore a variety of significant implications embedded in this discussion which directly and indirectly impinge upon theologies of liberation and contextual theologies in spite of the tendency to overlook this particular area of investigation as a serious source for these theological approaches.

 

 

 

EVENTS OF INTEREST
  
   

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS

(and get some great holiday gifts too!)
United MDiv student Jaki Cottingham-Zierdt and United alum Sue Swanson are among the artists featured in this year's Celebrate Art! collection in the Har Mar Mall in Roseville. Celebrate Art! is a seasonal gallery run by three local artists, who facilitate an annual juried competition through which other artists can win space to display their work.  To find out more, and to see a list of this year's artists, click here.

 

Jaki's photography and Sue's jewelry will be on display and for sale through December 28. 
  
Proceeds from Jaki's sales this year will be used to pay for her CPE in 2014, one of the last requirements she has left before graduation!  So, stop by, say hello, and shop 'til you drop in support of local artists!
  
  

 

 

 

 ONE VOICE MIXED CHORUS -

First EVER Holiday Concert!

Friday, December 6, 7:30 PM

Saturday, December 7, 3:00 PM and 7:30 PM

First Universalist Church, 3400 Dupont Ave. S, Minneapolis

One Voice Mixed Chorus will present their first-ever holiday concert, A Midnight Queer, featuring music from a diverse array of winter holiday traditions. The concert is based upon the "Lessons and Carols" format with guest artists (poets and a spoken word artist) supplying the "lessons" while we provide the "carols."


Tickets may be ordered at the One Voice website, or by calling 612-298-1954.

 

 

 

UNITED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PENUMBRA! 
Black Nativity: A Holiday Concert 

 

Students, faculty, staff and friends of United are invited to attend "Black Nativity: A Holiday Concert" at the Penumbra Theatre at a discounted price: $25.00.   $15.00 for students with a valid student ID. Click here for discount details.
  
Dates of offer:
Saturday, December 14 at 2:00 PM
Sunday, December 15 at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 21 at 2:00 PM
Sunday, December 22, at 7:30 PM.
  

 

 

 RIMON SALON LIFTS UP THE SPIRIT AND LEGACY OF ETTY HILLESUM

Sunday, December 8, 2:00 PM

JSB Tek Box, Minneapolis

The Rimon Artist Salon series presents Conversations with Etty on Sunday, December 8, 2013, 2 p.m., at the JSB Tek Box in downtown Minneapolis in the Cowles Center for Dance (528 Hennepin Avenue, 2nd floor). Actor Susan Stein will perform excerpts from her one-woman play Etty, based on the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum, a young Dutch Jewish woman in the early 1940s, whose intensely searching words reach out from their historical moment into ours. Theater director Carolyn Levy joins Stein onstage for a dialogue about how live theater can create potent communal experiences in spaces ranging from traditional theaters to prisons. For an expanded description of the show, its subject, and the participants, click here.

 

Admission is $10 ($5 for students). Tickets may be reserved by contacting the Rimon office at 952-381-3449 or online at www.rimonMN.org.

 

 

 

 

TWIN CITIES BRONZE IN CONCERT

(again!)

Friday, December 20, 7:00 PM

If you missed them in November, now's your chance to celebrate the season with Twin Cities Bronze (featuring United's own Deb Olsen!). A handbell concert featuring lots of Christmas favorites is the perfect way to spread the message of joy, peace, and hope!

  

 

Friday, December 20, 7:00 PM. 

North Como Presbyterian Church

965 Larpenteur Avenue W, Roseville, MN

Free will offering

 

FACULTY CITINGS

 

  NEW BOOK
BY
RABBI AMY EILBERG
The United community congratulates adjunct professor Rabbi Amy Eilberg on the completion and upcoming release of her first book, From Enemy to Friend: Jewish Wisdom and the Pursuit of Peace. 
 
From Enemy to Friend blends ancient Jewish sacred texts on peacebuilding, real life descriptions of conflict engagement--interpersonal, interreligious, intra-communal, and international--and contemporary conflict theory.  The interweaving of personal story, sacred text, and theory demonstrates how relationships can move from estrangement and wounding, entrenched bigotry and fear, to positive, engaged encounter.  What emerges is a portrait of peacemaking as a spiritual practice that can guide the lives of faithful people seeking peace in their lives and in the world.

 

From Enemy to Friend is due to hit shelves April 10, 2014, but is available now for pre-order via Amazon.  Click here to order your copy today!
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS AND SCHOLARS
  

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR UCC STUDENTS

Visit http://www.ucc.org/apply for information and application forms for the following scholarships:

  •          Garrett Trust Fund Scholarship for one-time emergency need, available year-round to full time MDiv students.
  •          Cannon Endowment Fund Scholarship for students preparing for Military Chaplaincy. Members of the United Church of Christ, Christian Church Disciples of Christ, United Methodist, and Presbyterian (U.S.A.) may apply. Deadline April 1.
  •          William R. Johnson Scholarship for 2nd and 3rd year seminary students who are GLBT. Deadline April 1.
  •          The Adrienne M. and Charles Shelby Rooks Fellowship for Racial and Ethnic Theological Students. Deadline March 1.
  •          The Rev. Dr. Hector E. Lopez Scholarship for Latina and Latino UCC Seminarians (attending a UCC seminary). Deadline March 1.
  •          The Harold H. Wilke Scholarship Fund is available to seminarians with disabilities. Deadline April 1.

 

 

Prizes, Grants, and Awards for Projects Related to the Archives and History of the United Methodist Church

 

The General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church is offering prizes, grants, and awards for research, writing, and history collection related to the UMC.  Click on the award name below for more information, or click here to get to the Commission's website.

 

Racial Ethnic History Research Grant

Awarded for research in the history and heritage of ethnic groups in the American United Methodist Tradition. 

 

The Jesse Lee Prize

Awarded once every four years to a serious, book-length monograph in Methodist History.

 

John Harrison Ness Memorial Award

An annual award given to MDiv students who submit the best papers on some aspect of United Methodist History broadly conceived.

 

Women in United Methodist History Research Grant

Provides seed money for research in projects relating specifically to women in the United Methodist Church or its antecedents.

 

Women In United Methodist History Writing Award

Given each year for an original manuscript, not longer than twenty pages, on the history of women in the United Methodist Church or its antecedents.

 

The World is My Parish United Methodist History Research Grant

Given to enable the collection of written and oral history and to encourage research regarding the development of the UMC and its antecedents in any of the conferences not in the U.S.A.

 

The Center for EUB Heritage's Audrie E. Reber Memorial Award

An annual award to an undergraduate, seminary, or graduate student who submits the best paper on some aspect of the Evangelical United Brethren Church history, theology, or church life.

 

 

 

BENEDICTINE CENTER

ISSUES CALL TO ARTISTS

                               

The Benedictine Center is issuing a call to Minnesota artists to participate in its third annual Juried Art Show planned for January 29 thru March 1.  The submission deadline is January 15.  Awards totaling $375 will be distributed to the top three winners. 

 

Called "Seeing God," this show provides a venue for artists who think deeply about their work and whose creativity helps viewers experience the Divine.  According to Sam Rahberg, director of the Center, "We believe art can be an interpretive lens into the mystery of God, so we are looking for works that capture that deep sense of wonder."

 

Contest rules and entry forms, can be found on www.stpaulsmonastery.org.  Click on the Benedictine Center tab and then "Art & Spirituality." 

Or call 651-777-7251; email: [email protected]

 

The Benedictine Center, a ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Paul's Monastery, is located at 2675 Benet Road in Maplewood.

 

 

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

 

 

APC PROFESSIONAL CHAPLAINCY WEBINAR:

The Ethical Implications of Guilt and Shame
Wednesday, December 18
Click here for start time in your area 
United alumni Rev. Dr. Dane Sommer BCC, in association with the Association of Professional Chaplains, will present the webinar "The Ethical Implication of Guilt and Shame" on Wednesday, December 18. 
  

Guilt and shame have an impact on our ability to make end-of-life decisions. In some cases this is obvious, such as in criminal cases when electing to withdraw support may result in elevation of criminal charges. Less obvious might be the absent parent who reappears after a period of time and then refuses to go along with the custodial parent's decision to withdraw support, donate organs or tissues, or take custody of the patient against all clinical advice. Guilt and shame paralyze or mitigate the decision-making process. This presentation will include an overview of concepts and definitions of guilt and shame. Then it will move into case review, strategies, understanding and outcomes.  

 

The objectives of the webinar are to help participants develop a working definition of guilt and shame, and the skills to distinguish the two; become familiar with current literature and research on guilt and shame; and understand how guilt and shame affect ethical reflection and decision-making in health care.

  

Registration is now open, and will close on Tuesday, December 10.   The registration fee is $55 per terminal/APC member, $95 per terminal/non-APC member.

 

Click here to register.

 

 

CONVERSATIONS IN FEMINISM, LAW, AND RELIGION 

On March 20 - 21, 2014, the University of St. Thomas will host an interdisciplinary, interfaith conference on Feminism, Law, and Religion, structured around the recently published collection of essays by feminists of a wide variety of religious perspectives,  Feminism, Law, and Religion (Ashgate Press 2013, Failinger, Schiltz and Stabile eds).  

 

The conference will be held in Woulfe Auditorium and is being jointly sponsored by a wide range of University of St. Thomas Institutes and Centers.  It is free and open to the public. Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, newly-elected bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will be the keynote speaker. 

 

Free and open to the public, this program has been approved for 6.5 Continuing Legal Education Credits.

 

Registration opens in December. 

Register online at: www.stthomas.edu/murphyinstitute.

 

 

 

Writing as Spiritual Practice:

Workshop with Karen Hering

The Collegeville Institute is pleased to invite you to an event in the Twin Cities centered around a spiritual practice of writing which has many applications in congregational life, pastoral care and spiritual formation and discernment. The gathering will be led by author, minister, and chaplain Karen Hering, as she leads the group in a discussion of her new book, Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within.  (All participants will receive a complimentary copy.)

 

Participants will hear Karen's description of the practice, experience the practice in a guided writing exercise, and learn about some of its applications in congregational life and other settings.

  

The event will take place on Wednesday afternoon, January 22, 2014 at the Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul. Click here for more information.

 

Participation is free, but space is limited to the first 35 registrants.  To register, please RSVP by December 23 to [email protected].

 

 

FASPE FELLOWSHIP

FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics), in collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is now accepting applications for a fellowship that uses the conduct of the clergy in Nazi Germany as a launching point for a two-week intensive study of ethical issues facing religious leaders today. Fellowships include an all-expense paid trip from New York to Berlin, Krakow, and Oświęcim (Auschwitz) where students will work with leading faculty to explore both history and the ethical issues facing their profession today. All program costs, including international and European travel, lodging, and food, are covered.

 

The 2014 FASPE Seminary program will run from June 15 to June 26, 2014.

 

Completed applications must be received by December 20, 2014. Candidates of all religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

 

To apply or to learn more about FASPE, please visit their website, www.FASPE.info.  To view their flyer for this program, click here.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Thorin R. Tritter, Managing Director of FASPE.

 

 

SUMMER SCHOOL ABROAD:

Reading the Bible in Amsterdam: Texts, Traditions and Interpretations

The University of Amsterdam

June 30 - July 11, 2014

This course deals with the complex interrelationships between texts, traditions, and interpretations in the field of biblical studies. The topics addressed in the course range from issues related to textual criticism (what texts exist, how were they used, and how were they published?), to topics related to their transmission and translation, as well as the establishment of interpretative traditions, to questions related to philosophical and theological hermeneutics (what is the role of reading communities, how 'objective' is the interpretation of a text, etc.). By discussing these various aspects of biblical interpretation in the context of one course, an interdisciplinary view of biblical interpretation can be achieved that is otherwise hardly possible.

 

The professors in Biblical Studies of VU University Amsterdam combine their expertise to create this unique course. The setting of Amsterdam and VU gives an extra impetus to the questions at stake in the course: while VU University has strong ties with Christian theology, the postmodern and postsecular setting of Amsterdam, and the broad academic setting in which the Faculty of Theology of VU University is located provides a context that invites exploring new questions and going beyond disciplinary and theological boundaries. Tradition and innovation meet in new and exciting ways.

 

Click here for information regarding the class.

Click here for information on the University of Amsterdam's summer school program, tuition, etc.

Click here to register for the course.

 

 

 Dr. Barbara Holmes

NEWS FROM

THE PRESIDENT    

 

Special Announcement

The board of trustees has unanimously voted to approve United's proposed Mission, Vision and Values statements, as recommended by the board's Strategic Action Committee. In addition, the board approved a new logo to represent United.

 

Development of the Mission, Vision and Values statements, and the new logo involved input from staff, faculty, students, alums, board representatives, friends and consultants over the course of many months. The result is a compass for direction, purpose and inspiration.

 

Mission

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities fosters intellectual, spiritual and personal growth to educate innovative and compassionate leaders. 

Vision

United is recognized as a generous and welcoming seminary where trailblazers and traditionalists, questioners and yearning spirits explore the boundless possibilities of the loving and beloved community. 

 

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities values ...

...its Christian heritage and other faith traditions as the foundation for genuine dialogue and profound spiritual experiences;

...rigorous academic study as an expression of the human spirit;

...lifelong learning that nurtures the journey of spiritual seekers from all walks of life;

...challenging conversations and bold partnerships for societal transformation;

...a culture of creativity, where integration of the arts and theology is fundamental; and

...promoting a just, peaceful and sustainable world through stewardship and courageous action.

 

The new symbol and tagline that represents United

From the perspective of the viewer, we hope they see a sign that is welcoming, that expresses United's efforts to reach out and respect multiple pathways to faith. In this symbol we hope they discern that United is a place to grow, reach their potential and see boundless possibilities on their journey to contribution. From a marketing standpoint, the logo will set United apart from other seminaries. It's bold, fresh, fluid, colorful, creative, graceful and engaging.

 

The rollout of the new logo will take place over the next two to three months. Please direct your questions about the use of the new logo to Liz Ward.

NEWS FROM

THE DEAN   

 

  

 

DID YOU MISS THE Q and A WITH

DEAN TAN?

Visit the student resources webpage for a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed curricula revisions. The page also has links to the new trimester calendars and the outlines of the proposed requirements.

 

 

REVISED COURSE DESCRIPTION

Global Christianities

Global Christianities: Trends and Challenges

This course introduces students to how Christianity has changed and is expressed globally. Christianity is growing despite rumors of its decline - but it growing in different ways and in different places. This growth is more pronounced in the southern hemisphere or the global South. But this is not the end of the story, for the Christianity of the global South has come to the global North through migration, and migrants and immigrants are redefining Christianity in the global North. All this will be studied in the course and assessed in relation to the life, mission, and history of the church. 
Global Justice Course.

  

 

PROPOSED 2014 CURRCULUM REVISION

We have designed the new curriculum to be as flexible as possible. Check out the new requirements*:

  • Click here for the revised MDiv degree requirements  
  • Click herefor the revised MA degree requirements  
  • Click here for the revised MARL degree requirements  

 

*Your denomination may have specific requirements in addition to our basic core courses. Please check your denominational requirements when planning electives. Dr. Barbara Anne Keely, Director of Ordained Ministry Programs, will be available to assist.

 

STUDENT RESOURCES WEBPAGE
Visit the Student Resources webpage for links and information to help you navigate your studies at United.  If you have questions or concerns, please let us know.
 

 

NEWS FROM              

THE REGISTRAR

 

 

 Spring Term Registration Now Open

Registration for Spring Term opens on Monday, the 18th of November. You'll find the course schedule at www.unitedseminary.edu/academics/springsch1314.asp.

 

  

INTERNSHIP NEXT YEAR? 

PLANNING TO REGISTER FOR CS251-252 IN THE 2014-2015 ACCADEMIC TERM?

The Process for church placements has begun!

If you are eligible and considering taking CS251-252 beginning in September 2014, the placement process has begun! These courses include a required 8-month church placement. All field placements must be made through and approved by Bill Mate, Coordinator of Contextual Studies.  

 

The first step in this process is to complete an INTERN INTEREST FORM by December 2, 2013. This form is found on Adam Phuhl's desk. 

 

Second, complete the INTERN INFORMATION FORM (also on Adam's desk) and bring it to your placement interview with Bill Mate. Sign up for you interview in December on the schedule posted on the door of Bill's office, McMillan Room 228.

 

If you are not on campus this term, you may contact Bill Mate  regarding the necessary forms. As in the past, Bill will be the church sites' coordinator, and Barbara Anne Keely will be teaching CS251 and CS252.

LIBRARY NEWS

 

  

New E-Resources

The Spencer Library is pleased to announce the addition of five new titles to our growing list of online, eReference works available to all current United students, faculty, and staff.  Visit our eReference web page at http://www.unitedseminary.edu/Spencer/electronicreferenceasp.asp and check out all the great resources you can access on-campus or remotely.  Of special note are the following:
 
  • Oxford Companion to World Mythology
  • Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture
  • Encyclopedia of Human Rights
  • Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology
  • Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World

Available in early 2014: A Dictionary of Christian Art and Architecture.