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BTI Consortium | Last Updated April 11, 2023 - 5:00PM
CHURCH POLITY & CANON LAW
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMPS7241
Marriage Preparation and Ecclesiastical Forms
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
A regular part of pastoral life in parishes and campus ministry is preparing engaged couples to celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage. This course introduces pastoral ministers to the process of marriage preparation and its accompanying ecclesiastical paperwork as it is practiced in Catholic dioceses throughout the United States.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Joseph Weiss, SJ
F
9:00-12:00
Grading Option
P/F
Credits
1
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
In 2023 Fall, this Module course will meet Sept 22, 29, Oct 12, 20, 27
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMST7020
The Church
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
The ecclesial dimension of Christian faith is the focal point of this course. The course will locate the church within both a Trinitarian theology and a theological anthropology. Specific topics for exploration include the place of the church in the Creed, the sacramentality of the church, a theology of mission, and of structure and authority. The course will also explore current issues shaping the church's life and its place in the wider culture.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Richard Lennan
W
1:00-3:50
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STH TC724
UCC Polity
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
The United Church of Christ (UCC) enjoys a rich ecclesial history and thought- provoking polity, both of which should be understood and appreciated by those seeking to serve in ordained or lay ministry within the denomination. Students taking this course will encounter the traditional "UCC origins" narrative, learn about the four constituent denominations and hidden histories that shaped the UCC and its ideals, and engage issues of Theology, Ecclesiology, Mission, Ecumenism, and Liturgy within the denomination. This course fulfills the UCC polity and history course requirement for ordination in the denomination.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Anastasia Kidd
F
8:00-10:45
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2873
What is the Church? Exploring Christian Community
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
Ecclesiology is the branch of theology concerned with comparative, critical, and constructive reflection on the identity and purpose of the Church, in its local, universal, and cosmic/mystical forms. Both philosophical and practical, traditional and innovative, institutional and radical, ecclesiology is perhaps the most integrative and creative of the theological disciplines, uniting systematic, biblical, and liturgical theology with questions of authority and mission. This course aims to empower students to identify and release visions of Church rooted in nostalgic, oppressive, or colonialist systems and structures, and to imagine and claim an ecclesia that reflects God's love, justice, and abiding concern for the most vulnerable. Readings will range widely across Christian history and denominations (including Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Orthodox), and will include voices from the global south, feminist, womanist, queer, and liberation theologians. Alongside "What is the Church?," we will ask "What should the Church look like today?" in an age of ever-widening global inequality and overconsumption, rising secularism and fundamentalism, institutional decline, and climate crisis. Students will design a final project focused on a tradition of their choice and reflecting their vocational aspirations.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Walton, Regina
W
3:00-5:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
CLAW 6012
Canon Law
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
A study of the holy canons understood as practical expressions of doctrinal truth, and their application in the life of the Church. The administrative structute of the local church will also be examined.
Professor
Class Day & Time
V. Rev. Bartholomew J Mercado
W
2:10-4:30PM
Grading Option
Letter, PF, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
School
Saint John's Seminary
MM502
Survey of Canon Law
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
This course introduces ecclesiastical discipline through a preliminary overview of Books I, II, III, IV and VI of the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC 1983). Relying on textual analysis of canons and extra-codicial sources, the course will cover the tria munera of governing, teaching, and sanctifying, and the exercise of these offices within a given pastoral context. This will include general norms, sacred ministers or clerics, the teaching office of the Church, parochial governance, sacramental law (Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, and Holy Eucharist), and sanctions. The course will also briefly cover the history and sources of canon law, as well as the jurisprudence of the Apostolic Signatura.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Fr. Ricci
W
9:00-11:40AM
Grading Option
Letter/Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMPS8121
Introduction to Canon Law
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
This course examines the nature, history, and sources of Canon Law in the Catholic Church. It presents an overview of the norms provided in the 1983 Code of Canon Law and relevant complementary canonical legislation. This course will focus on general norms (Book I), the People of God (Book II), the teaching munus of the Church (Book III), temporal goods (Book V). Given the current circumstances and issues about the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis, a brief presentation of penal law (Book VI) and processes (Book VII) will be offered. This course is recommended as a foundational background for "Canon Law of the Sacraments."
Professor
Class Day & Time
Andrea Ponzone
W
1:00-3:00
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
Y
Notes
One year of graduate level theology
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMST8021
Priesthood: Theology and Practice
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
This Level Two course is open to all students and focuses on ordained ministry of the Roman Catholic priesthood in terms of its biblical & theological foundations, historical development, contemporary issues, pastoral practice, & priestly spirituality, especially as treated in the pertinent ecclesial documents. Also treated are the cooperation between laity and clergy and the roles of lay ecclesial ministry as well as both tensions and critiques arising out of the Church's reservation of the priesthood to males and mandatory celibacy. Ecclesiology is a pre-requisite for counting this course for the Ecclesial Ministry requirement in the M.Div. curriculum.
Professor
Class Day & Time
John F. Baldovin, SJ
T
12:30-3:20
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
Y
Notes
PREREQ: The Church
School
Boston University School of Theology
STH TH821
United Methodist History and Doctrine
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
An exploration of Methodist origins, the Wesleys, the rise of Methodism in England, and the distinctive doctrines of Wesleyan theology. There is a particular focus on the development of the various United Methodist traditions in America and their impact on society. The course is designed to meet one of the requirements for membership in a UMC Annual Conference.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Christopher Evans
R
3:30-6:15
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2955
United Methodist Polity
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
This course is designed to prepare United Methodist students for ordination. The major purpose of the course is to understand the nature and functioning of the United Methodist Church as the institutional expression of its theological assumptions. Through case studies, readings, lectures, and discussions, the course will explore the theology and practice of connectionalism and collegiality as reflected in the Discipline. Methodist students may meet requirements for courses in United Methodist doctrine and history through Boston Theological Institute course offerings.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Fisher, Amy
F
9:00-11:00am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
CLAW 6045
CanonicalAspects/1923PanOrthoCongre
BTI Category
Semester
Church Polity/Cannon Law
FA23
This course will examine the various canonical questions presented at the 1923 Pan-Orthodox Congress held in Constantinople. This examination will be accomplished by analyzing the Acts and the decisions of the Congress and contextualizing them within our Orthodox canonical tradition. The course will focus on a number of issues such as, for example, the remarriage of clergy, marriage after ordination, and the calendar issue.
Professor
Class Day & Time
V. Rev. Bartholomew J Mercado
M
2:10-4:30PM
Grading Option
Letter, PF, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisite?
N
Notes
N
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