"Seeking Transformational Leaders – Low-Residency Doctor of Ministry" ProgressiveChristianity.org of Gig Harbor, Washington, United States for Monday, 22 February 2016 - Are you called to transform a congregation, to revolutionize a culture, to build the future and to be an architect of change?
Seeking Transformational Leaders Boston University Doctor of Ministry
Boston University School of Theology’s Doctor of Ministry in Transformational Leadership seeks leaders who are called to transform their communities, their churches, their ministries, and their world.
Boston University School of Theology has designed its Doctor of Ministry Program for leaders who have at least three years of ministry experience and are seeking a plan for transformational change. The three-year, low-residency program combines online learning with intensive classes.
~Build connections with fellow leaders and Boston University faculty during two week-long trips to Boston University each year. Through the rest of the year, interactive online classes allow you to study with full-time faculty and learn with a student cohort of fellow leaders.
~Sharpen your leadership skills and acquire new onesthrough a curriculum that includes classes such as Global Development and Faith, Transformational and Situational Homiletics, and Mission and Outreach.
~Focus your studies on your own context, with a directed study project that gives you a strategic plan to move forward. Deeply analyze your unique context while also drawing from the experiences of a diverse cohort of classmates.
Boston University is looking for students who seek to hone their skills, learn from fellow leaders, and form a plan for transformation. If this sounds like you, learn more and get in touch with our Admissions staff to answer your questions.
Wendy Von Courter (DMin ’17)
“I’ve looked at many doctoral programs. This one was so rooted in relevancy and action that I could not resist! The ability to study while remaining active in ministry drew me to this program, as did the academic rigor and the ability to journey with colleagues from so many different experiences. What I didn’t expect, however, was how immediately valuable our learnings would be in our day-to-day lives. I am pleased at the benefits I’m already reaping in year one.”
Theodore T. Turman (DMin ’17)
“Very quickly, the Doctor of Ministry program was immensely helpful to me and my ministry. From Day One, the program has been producing tangible results for my context. The leaders of the program assembled a thought-provoking course schedule and a thought-provoking group of students as well. Our after-class discussions are as fruitful as our in-class time.”
Daniel Snape (DMin ’17)
“Being in a room of diverse and experienced ministers is such a gift! You would be hard pressed to pull together such a group of bright-minded and inspirational leaders who can speak into your life with fresh perspective, rich insight, and clarity. The community, friendships, and bonds you create will last a lifetime.”
Learn More Here!
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Question & Answer for Thursday, 18 February 2016 - "Succession?" A New Christianity for a New World with Bishop John Shelby Spong on the News and Christian Faith of Gig Harbor, Washington, United States
Question & Answer
Robert Ross, via the Internet, writes:
Question:
Without sounding macabre, I wonder who in the next generation of authors/teachers you recommend and believe will continue to develop a similar outlook as yours on both scripture and indeed life itself.
Answer:
Dear Robert,
It is not macabre to be realistic. Life moves on and all of us move with it. I plan for at least two more years of activity pursuing my vocational goals, but that amount of time cannot obviously be guaranteed. I have speaking and writing commitments now well into 2017.
I do not worry about succession. No one invited me to succeed them and I will not appoint anyone to succeed me. Look at those religious leaders who sought to pass their careers on to their sons; it does not work. Franklin Graham is a Muslim hater and has become an embarrassment to his father Billy. Oral Robert’s son was fired from Oral Roberts University for corruption. Robert Schuller’s son led the Chrystal Cathedral into bankruptcy. Charisma and vocation do not appear to be hereditary. People rise in their own time to build on the work of their predecessors and mentors. In my recent book, Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy, which was published in early February of this year, I took great pleasure in dedicating it to “My three greatest mentors.” They did not choose me; I chose them, but their lives and writings made me possible. In my column of February 4th I identified them as John Elbridge Hines, John A. T. Robinson and Michael D. Goulder.
I receive mail regularly from clergy from all traditions. They share with me their hopes, their journeys and their struggles. A lot of younger voices are rising in the Christian church. They are not limited to the United States. I am in touch with progressive clergy from Poland, Hungary, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Africa, Canada, Latin America, Spain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. They live in this country in places like Phoenix, Omaha, Greely, Colorado, Hendersonville, N. C. and Richmond, Virginia, as well as in many other places. Many of these leaders are willing and even eager to engage issues and to enter arenas that I have never engaged or entered. I am thrilled by them even when I am not sure where they are headed. I think of the Reverend Gretta Vosper, now facing charges of heresy from the Neanderthal elements of an otherwise very progressive United Church of Canada.
I have been a fellow in the Jesus Seminar for about twenty years. That is an incredible theological and biblical think tank. Into that body every year come young scholars. The agenda of the Seminar moves with these younger scholars.
I am part of two different Episcopal churches. One is my parish church, St. Peter’s in Morristown, NJ. The other is my former parish, St. Paul’s Church in Richmond, VA. Both are today headed by brilliant younger clergy. One is a generation younger and the other is two generations younger. They are courageous, competent, thinking, emerging leaders. They do not lack for followers.
The Christian Church will die of boredom long before it dies of controversy. The ranks of the ordained will continue to include a minority who will push the boundaries while the majority will seek to provide the narcotic of religious security. This remains true despite the fact that most of our denominational training schools are in the business of blessing the status quo, rather than engaging in a search for truth that will meet the people of tomorrow’s world. Out of those boundary pushers, the leaders of tomorrow will emerge. They are present in every denomination. Catholic scholarship will finally be able to flourish without the repression that marked its life under the leadership of Benedict XVI, both as Pope and as Cardinal Ratzinger. Theological seminaries like the Theological School of Drew University and the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA, have new deans who understand that blessing the status quo is not the doorway into tomorrow. I believe the future is bright.
Thank you for your letter and for the affirmation that what you think I have done is worthy of being replicated in the next generation.~John Shelby Spong
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Announcements
In this profound work, bestselling author and the former Episcopal Bishop of Newark John Shelby Spong offers a radical new way to look at the gospels today. Pulling back the layers of misunderstanding created over the centuries by Gentile ignorance of things Jewish, he reveals how a literal reading of the Bible is so far removed from the original intent of the Jewish authors of the gospels that it has become an act of heresy.
Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy illuminates the gospels as never before and provides a blueprint for the Church’s future—one that allows the faithful to live inside the Christian story while still embracing the modern world.
Click here for more information!
Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support@johnshelbyspong.com or 253-507-8678.---------------------
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