Intersession 2021

ChI Spiritual Direction I

For joint-program students participating in Chaplaincy Institute (ChI) courses as part of the Interfaith Spiritual Direction Certificate. This course is the first of four quarterly classes in the 2021 program. The certificate is designed to inspire, nurture and educate those who are called to serve as Spiritual Directors in our increasingly diverse world. Our innovative program focuses on a combination of the study of world religions, an exploration of personal spirituality, and spiritual direction skills….all in a creatively infused context. Each course focuses on the development of practical skills and competencies for offering spiritual direction to persons of varying religious beliefs and backgrounds. This immersion in the arts of ministry combines pedagogies of theoretical, practical, and artistic learning.

This course is only for students who have been admitted to the SKSM-ChI joint program and is not available to other SKSM students or to students from other GTU schools.

Relates to SKSM Thresholds 1, 5, 6, 8; MFC Competencies 2, 3. Max. enrollment 10; auditors excluded. REMOTE FORMAT.

ChI Spiritual Traditions 1

Global Spiritual Traditions 1: for joint-program students participating in Chaplaincy Institute (ChI) courses as part of the Interfaith Chaplaincy and Ministry Certificate. The first of a two-part series that introduces students to ChI’s core philosophy and learning approach as well as an introduction to World Religions and/or spiritual paths that have their origins in earth-centered, indigenous practice (Africa, Pagan, First Nation and other indigenous worldviews), as well as ancient Eastern philosophy and belief systems (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism). While engaging with the world’s knowledge, beliefs, traditions, scriptures, and practices, the ChI curriculum incorporates lecture, dyad/small group work, various art modalities, and site visits to deepen our many ways of learning and integrating new awareness. This course is only for students who have been admitted to the SKSM-ChI joint program and is not available to other SKSM students or to students from other GTU schools.

Meets Jan. 19-23 + additional online coursework. Relevant for SKSM thresholds 1, 2, and 6; MFC competency 3. Maximum enrollment: 10.​; auditors excluded. REMOTE FORMAT.

ECO Core Intensive: January 11-15 & 19-21

**Course dates and times: January 11-15 and 19-21; 10:00-1:00 pm PST synchronous session plus two hours of work in asynchronous online modality, including breaks.

Educating to “Create Just and Sustainable Communities that Counter Oppressions” (“ECO”) is a core goal of Starr King’s M.Div. and M.A.S.C. degree programs. In this required core intensive, M.Div. and M.A.S.C. students work together to form a framework for counter-oppressive spiritual leadership. We will ask: how can spirituality, ministry, and religious activism respond to the multiple and intersecting realities of injustice, suffering, and oppression in our lives and our world? What models of justice and sustainable community invite our commitment? Drawing on Unitarian Universalist and multi-religious sources, we will explore how in the midst of a world marked by tragedy, sorrow and injustice there remain abiding resources of beauty and grace that nourish resistance, offer healing and call us to accountability and community building. Reading and writing assignments to be completed before the course. Final paper. This course has a special focus on economic and racial justice addressed intersectionally. Relates to Thresholds #2,5,7 and 8 and MFC Competency #4. Please take within your first year. Limited to 20 students.

Introduction to Preaching in a Cross Cultural Context: January 11-15 & 19-21

*Course dates and times: January 11-15 and 19-21; 10:00-1:00 pm PST synchronous session plus two hours of work in asynchronous online modality, including breaks.

Introduction to Preaching in a Cross Cultural Context: This non-lectionary, thematic preaching course embraces counter oppressive ministry through worship and the arts. Hands on learning will combine the sharing and peer review of brief homilies with exercises aimed at identifying your authentic preaching voice. Each student will also deliver two full-length sermons in class. Questions of how to make our worship services more relevant in today’s culturally shifting world will be explored through thea/ological study of homiletics through a libratory lens and an engagement with issues of cultural appropriation and misappropriation in Unitarian Universalist liturgical practice. Students from all traditions welcome.

Pre-requisites: ECO core intensive or equivalent. Starr King thresholds 1, 2, 6 and 7, and MFC Competency 1. This course is for M.Div students and will be evaluated based on sermons and class participation. Maximum enrollment: 10

Students must contact the instructor via e-email prior to enrolling in order to receive permission to register. Registration is contingent upon faculty approval.

Multireligious Core Intensive: January 24-29

*January 25-29: 9:30 am – 1:30 pm PT; 4 hours synchronous and 1.5 hours asynchronous per day.

Multireligious Intensive: Amidst the Blessing of the Ancestors weaves teachings on organic multireligiosity from Shaykh Ibrahim Baba / Dr. Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajaje with practices of ancestral engagement. Organic multiregliosity “interrupts practices of considering religions as monolithic, rigidly-separated traditions in conflict with one another [and] understands them as having complex and constantly-morphing relationships…” (Ibrahim Baba). This intensive focuses on multireligiosity in personal practice, in spiritual leadership, and toward countering oppression and cultural (mis)appropriation. This course includes conceptual exploration and embodied practice with work in ancestral lineage engagement, reverence and healing. Students complete readings and watch / listen to recordings and submit a reflection post prior to the intensive, and complete a second reflection paper after the intensive. Required for MDiv and recommended for MASC degrees. Limited to 20 students. Intended audience: All degree programs. Relates to Thresholds: I, II, IV, VI, VII. Relates to MFC: I, III, VII. Maximum enrollment: 20