Episcopal and Anglican Studies

This course surveys the history of the development of Anglican liturgies from the Reformation to the present, with specific attention to the influence of theological and social movements on Christian worship. The central theme of the course is the formation and revisions of The Book of Common Prayer in response to social, political, and theological debates, and the link between worship and movements for social justice and evangelism. The focus is on Anglicanism in Great Britain and the United States, but parallel developments of distinct, not just colonial, African, Asian, Oceanic, and Latino expressions of Anglican liturgy are addressed throughout in lectures and in reading assignments.

Justice lies at the heart of the Christian mission. How have Anglican missions responded to injustices in their mission fields? How was seeking and doing justice part of their work? Were the missionaries interested in bringing justice to the oppressed? How did this transpire, especially in the context of the British Empire? After all, mission projects were often permitted by the empire to serve as “civilizing” projects. However, within these colonial contexts, the agency and the contributions of the native Anglicans must also be taken into consideration. How did these local Anglicans and the European missionaries, who were willing to learn from them, redeem the face of the Anglican church and missions? How does this wisdom of/from the subjugated influence the understanding of mission and justice today for the Anglican communion worldwide? What are the different understandings of missions in post-colonial contexts? This course seeks to address these questions by listening to the perspectives mission in global Anglicanism that foregrounds social justice and liberation of the oppressed. The course will be a critical review of the work of Anglican missions, both their attempts and endeavors, as well as their failures and compromises in enacting and establishing justice.

This course studies the history of same-sex-attracted and gender-variant individuals and movements within the Church of England, The Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Communion from the sixteenth-century to today. Topics include looking at scripture, tradition, reason, and experience from the perspective of LGBTIQ+ Episcopal and Anglican theologians and their allies, as well as through the lenses of queer theology, queer of color theory, and postcolonial thought.

This course serves as an introduction to ministry in and with Latinx communities. The shifting demographics impact the effectiveness of mainline denominations engaging Latinx communities. This course will serve to introduce students to cultural, contextual, and spiritual factors in play when ministering with Latinx communities. It will also provide the opportunity to lead plans and lead liturgies in Spanish. Exploring Latinx ministry will include reflections on challenges particular to serving this community within mainline denominations, such as evangelism and congregational vitality strategies, leadership models, and resource identification and development. The readings, discussion, and study of these particular contexts will also increase the skills of students engaging in cultural contexts that differ from their range of experience and study beyond Latinx communities.

This course studies the canonical theologians of the Anglican tradition from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries, notably Thomas Cranmer, Richard Hooker, Lancelot Andrewes, Jeremy Taylor, Joseph Butler, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Frederick Denison Maurice, the Oxford Movement, Charles Gore, Vida Scudder, William Temple, Michael Ramsey, Norman Pittenger, and Desmond Tutu, and ends with representative theologians of the twenty-first century, notably Kwok Pui-Lan, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Sarah Coakley.

This course will introduce students to the history of the Anglican tradition, from its origins in sixteenth-century England to its development in the United States after the American Revolution. It will explore how the distinctive polity and worship of the church, as well as some ambivalences and diversity inherent in its teaching, can be traced to its early history. It will also explore the at-times-conflicted history of the Episcopal Church since independence, in particular its stances during the Civil War, its early embrace of higher criticism and the social gospel, its decisions (after some struggles) to affirm the calls to ministry of women and LGBT people, and its current stances on ecumenical and global issues.

Rev. Dr. Mary Foulke is co-faculty for this course.

This culminating experience provides students an opportunity to reflect on and integrate prior learning and ministerial experiences. Emphasis is placed on understanding ministerial challenges, surveying various ministerial leadership frameworks, and developing one's own ministerial leadership model. The course provides students with a variety of opportunities to engage in readings and discussion with an emphasis on making the transition from seminary into ministry with a focus on the tools and skills needed for effective leadership. In addition to leadership, other topics such as continued discernment of ministerial gifts and call are covered.