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BTI Consortium | Last Updated May 22, 2026 - 1:00PM
PRACTICAL & PASTORAL THEOLOGY
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPS7018
Death and Dying
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
The study of death and dying is a complex, multidimensional, and evolving field. This course draws on contemporary theory and research to explore death and dying from multiple perspectives, including religious, theological, pastoral, and psychological. Topics include societal attitudes toward death; facing one's own death; cultural features of death and dying; end-of-life issues; children and death; funerals and the use of ritual in ministry to the dying; pastoral sensitivities and skills for ministering to the dying; and pressing contemporary concerns, such as death in the workplace, institutional death, violent death, and death in global perspective.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Kelley, Melissa M
T
09:30AM-12:20PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPS7093
Introduction to Pastoral Care and Counseling: A Narrative Approach
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
In this foundational course, we develop an understanding of critical dimensions of competent and compassionate pastoral care and counseling today. Drawing substantially on a narrative approach to care, we explore pastoral care and counseling from contemporary pastoral-theological, social-scientific, and cultural perspectives. Particular topics addressed are family systems theory; implicit bias and racism; domestic violence; suicide; power and boundaries; resilience and self-care; and skills for pastoral care.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Kelley, Melissa M
F
01:00PM-04:00PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPS7278
Socio-spiritual Care
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Spiritual care does not occur in a vacuum; it is mediated through identity and history. Topics in this course include: bodies, intersectionality, narratives, social connection, self-care, healing justice, meaning-making, trust, and organizational dynamics. Course materials include secular social theory and psychology as well as Christian theology. Students from other religious traditions and none are welcome. Assignments include a weekly journal, a presentation, and a paper. This is a discussion-based (not lecture-based) class. Close reading is required.
Professor
Class Day & Time
DuBois, Heather
R
09:30AM-11:50AM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPT7248
Screening Theology: Theology In and Through Film
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Highlighting the possibility and potential of a theology of culture, this course explores the ways in which recent Hollywood movies can be used as resources to think about and even to rethink the meaning of key theological concepts such as ideas of God, human nature, sin, Christ/human redemption, and eschatological hope. Through brief lecture presentations, reading materials, the viewing of movies, and class discussions, students will be encouraged to consider how an appreciative and critical engagement with popular culture can allow for a relevant and contemporary practical theology.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Valentin, Benjamin
T
03:30PM-06:20PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 704
Introduction to Pastoral Care
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Pastoral care is the art of ministry, chaplaincy, and counseling as it relates to the theological, psychological, and sociocultural needs of individuals and communities of faith. This course introduces various theories, methods, and practices of spiritual care and cognate disciplines for students to interpret and examine individuals and their communities as they are shaped by their own communal and sociocultural contexts. Students will have an opportunity to explore some of the personal, interpersonal, and communal issues that pastoral caregivers encounter as they engage in the work of care within congregations, hospitals, schools, the military, workplaces, and faith-based agencies. Furthermore, because of its deep commitment to social justice, pastoral care pays close attention to how social advantages and disadvantages contribute to unjust policies and systems that produce injustices based on class, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other aspects of one's social identity.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Cho, Eunil
M
11am-1:45 pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Boston
MC/SE602
Church & Community: Intro to Public Ministry Church
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
This course introduces students to important strategies for social ministry, such as, congregation based community organizing, community development, and others, designed to facilitate a holistic social ministry and prophetic role in the community and exploring as avenues towards gospel faithfulness and shalom in the city. The biblical/theological bases for social responsibility are explored.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Wright, Annette
S
8:30am-4:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Saturdays: Sept. 26, Oct. 24, Nov. 21, Dec. 12
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2156
The Public Church: Bearing Christian Witness through Community Engagement
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
This course explores how Christian theology, scripture, and congregational life inform and sustain faithful public witness through transformative community engagement. Grounded in theological reflection, ethical inquiry, and practical training, the course emphasizes the role of relational power, leadership development, and collective action in addressing systemic injustice and cultivating the common good.Through case studies, field-tested organizing tools (including 1:1 relational meetings, house meetings, and power analysis), students will examine how these tools have been used by Christian communities to pursue practices of community empowerment, advocacy, and broad-based organizing in partnership with ecumenical, interfaith, and civic/secular coalitions.While the course explores Christian theological frameworks and practices of public engagement, students from other religious or ethical traditions are welcome and encouraged to bring their own perspectives into dialogue with the course material, reflecting on how the model of “The Public Church” might resonate with or challenge their own commitments and inform leadership practice in their own faith or moral communities.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hammond
TBD
TBD
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Students interested in taking this course should attend the first day of classes and submit a one-paragraph statement of purpose (SOP) to the instructor summarizing the reasons for their interest and how the course will contribute to their degree goals.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3280
Spiritual Care for Nones
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
This course is designed for people training to be chaplains in situations in which they might serve nonreligious folks. We will be discussing what chaplaincy and/or ministry is when practiced outside of traditional religion. We will also be learning practical skills in order to build out your spiritual care toolkit for serving religious nones.For the bulk of the course we will be using novels to suss out what we think chaplaincy for non-religious people can mean and what it can look like. We will also use these texts in order to practice using secular texts as if they were sacred ones; one of the spiritual tools we will be practicing.In this course we all talk about storytelling, nail-painting, tarot and tea reading, eye contact, listening to music and other activities as sacred. Students should leave this class with an idea of what their chaplaincy is and with a firm idea of several tools that they can use in order to do that work.
Professor
Class Day & Time
TBD
TBD
TBD
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This is a limited enrollment course and will use a waitlist. Students can add themselves to the waitlist by adding the course to their Crimson Cart and using the "enroll" button. The course will then appear in the "Waitlist" portion of the Crimson Cart. Near the start of the term, the instructor will review and approve students from the waitlist. BTI students should contact HDS xreg
School
Hartford International
WS-605, Sect 2
Rites of Passage
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Rites of passage are the hinges of human life, allowing individuals and communities to negotiate complex transitions meaningfully in relationship to one another, to the roles and responsibilities of one’s community, to the land and creatures among whom one lives, and to the transcendent dimension of human experience. Yet as traditional cultural and religious traditions erode, many individuals, families, and communities are left without the psychic/ communal structures these rites once provided. This course will examine the importance of rites of passage in human development, the impact of their widespread loss in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood today, and the creation of new or renewed forms of such rites for healthy and resilient human-ecological flourishing. Course fulfills the following curricular requirements:
MAIRS - Interreligious Studies Elective
MAIRS - Islamic Studies Elective
MAIRS - Ministerial Studies: Arts of Ministry
MAIRS - Ministerial Studies: Beliefs and Practices
MAC - Elective
MAC - Islamic Chaplaincy Elective
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dahill
T
7:00-9:00pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
ONLINE SECTION
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
PAST 6011 H1
Theology of Pastoral Care I
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
As one part of your journey here at Holy Cross, this course, the Theology of Pastoral Care I, is intended to help you integrate and apply the knowledge you have acquired in other classes into your own life and in pastoral care situations. As a Field Education Course for hospital ministry, you will be placed in a local hospital for the semester. Specifically, we will explore hospital ministry as one aspect of pastoral care, as we develop a theology of pastoral care. The intent of this class is not to provide you with the right answers for pastoral situations. Rather, this course is designed, with the readings, class discussions, theological reflection groups, and assignments to develop your knowledge and skills related to hospital ministry as well as your personal identity as an Orthodox Christian seminarian and future minister or priest.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dr. Philip Mamalakis
TR
9:10 - 10:30 AM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Theology of Pastoral Care I-IV
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
PAST 6662 H1
Pastoral Care & Mental Health
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Issues of mental illness and health continue to challenge pastors and ministers as they seek to guide their parishes and communities. Recent events related to the pandemic have increased the rates of mental illness in our communities, heightened the need for pastors to possess a basic level of competency related to understanding mental health and illness. Mental illness and health, how we define it, how we identify it, and how we address it calls into question how we understand God, human nature, the person, free will/personal agency, and the relationship that these issues, theologically, have with the broad field of mental health, commonly referred to as psychology. This class will explore these issues as they apply to the most prevalent issues of mental health that a pastor/priest/minister will encounter in the parish. Special emphasis will be placed on the relationship between theology and psychology and the role of the pastor/priest/minister in ministering to people struggling with issues of mental health in the parish.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dr. Philip Mamalakis
W
2:10-4:30 PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Pastoral Care & Mental I-IV
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPS7090
Ministry in a Diverse Church: Latino Perspectives and Beyond
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Catholicism in the United States is presently shaped by rich cultural traditions that demand creative approaches to ministry in the midst of diversity. Nearly 45% of all Catholics in the country are Hispanic, 40% Euro-American, 4% Asian-American, 3.7% African-American, among others. Students in this course explore key questions and discuss ministerial strategies that will help them develop cultural competencies for effective ministry today. The course builds on the U.S. Latino/a Catholic experience as a case study while addressing core issues in ministry that affect everyone in the Church. Ecumenical and international perspectives are welcomed into this conversation.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Ospino, Hosffman
W
04:00PM-06:20PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPS7182
Pastoral Care in/with Communities of Faith: Creating Networks of Care
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Life is in inherently relational, multidimensional, interconnected, and located within larger systems and structures - i.e. communities. Thus, our practices of pastoral care and counseling must likewise attend to the multidimensional and systemic nature of relationality. This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore personal, pastoral, and communal processes of creating networks of care in communities of faith and para-church organizations. Both pastoral and lay leaders will learn how to engage and utilize systems theory, conflict theory, therapeutic skills and processes, and theological and spiritual resources to navigate conflict, foster dialogue, and build constructive solutions and possibilities in community as part of an overarching practice of pastoral care. Particular attention will be given to one's self-in-relationship and the capacity to remain a non-anxious, non-reactive constructive presence.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Roozeboom, William D
ASYNC
ASYNC
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPS7279
Conflict Transformation
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Conflict theory can enable constructive responses to situational disagreements and long-term relationship building. This course combines resources from secular conflict theory and Christian theology and ministry to foster transformation of micro (interpersonal), meso (communal), and macro (societal, international) level conflicts. Most texts reference the U.S. context, but other cultural perspectives are welcome. Assignments include regular short papers and a presentation. This is a discussion-based (not lecture-based) class; close reading is required.
Professor
Class Day & Time
DuBois, Heather
W
06:30PM-09:00PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry
TMPT8106
Spirituality and Justice: Twentieth Century Writings
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
This course will survey spiritual writings from the twentieth century, examining the generative themes that are suggestive for our time and foundational in the construction of a contemporary spirituality. Authors will include Thomas Merton, Evelyn Underhill, Teilhard de Chardin, Dorothy Day, Annie Dillard, Johannes Baptist Metz, and Martin Buber. The course is taught with an eye toward leadership in spiritual formation.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Griffith, Colleen M
F
09:30AM-12:00PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
(Prerequisite: Foundations or Fundamental)(Free-Form Text)
School
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Hamilton
CO/MC/SF642
Ministering to Women in Pain
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
In this course, students develop an adequate theodicy for dealing with pain and a deeper understanding of the complex presenting problems many women experience. The course focuses on helping students refine their pastoral care to such women including identifying effective ways to help women manage painful events or circumstances in their lives, within the context of a truthful Christian theodicy.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Mason, Karen
T
1:30-4:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Hamilton
WM662
NGOs and Development in Mission
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
This course is an overview of the role of non governmental agencies (NGOs) and development in Christian mission. It covers biblical, theological, historical, and current perspectives on the global trend toward integration of development and mission. The course also looks at the role of globalization in the spread of the gospel. It examines plans made by Christians to alleviate social problems.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Johnson, Todd
R
6-9pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2930
Spiritual Care in Psychedelic Settings
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
With the resurgence of psychedelics in research and clinical settings, the field of psychedelic chaplaincy has burgeoned. The spiritual, existential, religious, and theological experiences that psychedelics engender positions chaplains to compassionately and skillfully provide care to those receiving treatment in these settings. This course focuses on the theory and practice of spiritual care for people receiving psychedelic treatment with particular attention paid to spiritual care competencies, assessments, and interventions; the history and contemporary state of therapeutic psychedelics; and the development of one’s identity as a spiritual care provider. Students will gain the ability to articulate the role of a chaplain in the preparation, guidance, integration, and community support for patients undergoing psychedelic treatments; facilitate spiritual health and growth; and attend to the unique epistemic, spiritual, and even ontological aspects of non-ordinary, mystical, and transcendent states of consciousness.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Deonauth
TBD
TBD
Grading Option
HDS Student Option (LG/SUS/AUD)
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This is a limited enrollment course and requires instructor permission. Prospective students may email the instructor prior to the first class meeting to express their interest and should attend the first course meeting. In the event that the course is overenrolled, prospective students will be asked to write a short paragraph during the first class meeting expressing their interest and aspirations for the class. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course by the end of the first week of classes.
School
Hartford International
WS-605, Sect 1
Rites of Passage
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Rites of passage are the hinges of human life, allowing individuals and communities to negotiate complex transitions meaningfully in relationship to one another, to the roles and responsibilities of one’s community, to the land and creatures among whom one lives, and to the transcendent dimension of human experience. Yet as traditional cultural and religious traditions erode, many individuals, families, and communities are left without the psychic/ communal structures these rites once provided. This course will examine the importance of rites of passage in human development, the impact of their widespread loss in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood today, and the creation of new or renewed forms of such rites for healthy and resilient human-ecological flourishing. Course fulfills the following curricular requirements:
MAIRS - Interreligious Studies Elective
MAIRS - Islamic Studies Elective
MAIRS - Ministerial Studies: Arts of Ministry
MAIRS - Ministerial Studies: Beliefs and Practices
MAC - Elective
MAC - Islamic Chaplaincy Elective
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dahill
T
7:00-9:00pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
PAST 6011 A
Theology of Pastoral Care I Field E
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
Field Education
Professor
Class Day & Time
Stavroula Gurguliatos
TBA
TBA
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
0
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Theology of Pastoral Care I Field I-IV
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
PAST 6601 H1
Grief, Death, and Dying
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA26
One cannot overstate the significance of death, and preparing for death, in understanding life and, particularly, life in Christ. Pastors and ministers are certain to be called upon to minister to those facing death and those grieving the loss of a loved one. In this course, students will develop a pastoral approach to the dying and those experiencing grief through a survey the existing literature on grief and bereavement in the context of the Orthodox theology of life after death. Students will explore the art and skill of ministering to the dying and the bereaved and develop their understanding of a theological framework for caring for the dying and the bereaved. Necessarily, this topic will touch upon our own personal experiences of loss and death, and students will be invited to explore how their own beliefs and experiences can inform and enhance their pastoral approach.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dr. Philip Mamalakis
R
2:10-4:30 PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Grief Death and I-IV
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