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BTI Consortium | Last Updated November 14 - 9:00AM
PRACTICAL & PASTORAL THEOLOGY
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3272
The Role of Human Motivation and Emotion in Spiritual Care
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This course explores practical applications of spiritual care, emphasizing the integration of cognition, emotion, and behavior to cultivate solution-oriented problem-solving and assessment skills. Students will investigate the complex conscious and unconscious dimensions that influence religious and spiritual needs, including the ways these overlap with psychological needs such as autonomy, competence and relatedness. Key themes include intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, social dynamics, personal control, self-awareness, personality development, cultural influences, and pathways to healing and growth. Students will be encouraged to develop their own intervention strategies, building a comprehensive spiritual care toolkit informed by course principles. Through theoretical exploration, case studies, and experiential role plays, students will gain insights into how cognitive, emotional, and behavioral sciences intersect with spiritual care practices. This integrated approach aims to provide holistic care models for effective support and compassionate co-presence.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Sears
W
6:00-8:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Hamilton
MC701
Pastoral Ministry
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Examines the roles and functions of pastoral work as designated in Scripture and various traditions. Ministerial identity and foundational pastoral tasks are discussed. Emphasizes practical aspects of pastoral ministry.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Lin, Davi
R
9am-12pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Synchronous
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hartford International
IP-511 (Non-MAP)
Healing Trauma from the Inside Out: Using Reflective Practice to Support Self, Community, Systemic, and Global Healing
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Just as personal trauma can impact individuals, collective trauma can color and shape how groups of people experience reality and relate to one another. This course will inform our peacebuilding work through deepening our understanding of the effects of collective trauma and how to respond to it. This is a history course, but we will engage with ideas and methods drawn from theology, psychology, neurobiology, sociology, and literature as we seek to understand the enduring legacies of trauma and its impact on current relationships. Formerly offered as "Restorative History: Building Peace After Collective Trauma".
Professor
Class Day & Time
Shanmugavelayutham
W
4-7pm
Grading Option
P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
PAST 6011 A
Theology of Pastoral Care I Field E
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Filed Education
Professor
Class Day & Time
Stavroula Gurguliatos
TBA
TBA
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
0
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
TBA
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMPS7006
Grief & Loss
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Grief may be understood as the response to a significant loss. We will explore pastoral, theological, religious, and secular perspectives on grief and loss and seek to integrate these perspectives where appropriate. We'll consider important new research in thanatology and review traditional psychological theories of grief in light of contemporary critiques. We will explore the experience of grief in light of context and culture and consider which features may be universal. We will attend to often unrecognized dimensions of grief�disenfranchised grief and the grief born of injustice. We'll focus on how to respond pastorally to grieving individuals and communities.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Melissa Kelley
T
12:30-3:20
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMPS7182
Pastoral Care in/with Communities of Faith: Creating Networks of Care
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
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
William Roozeboom
ASYNC
ASYN
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
ASYN
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMPT8132
Theology, Race, and Critical Race Theory
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
A social construction at its core, the modern idea of race has been given power through the years. Accruing strength and mostly negative use over time it has cut across the private sphere and become a portentous social idea in the form of systemic racism, institutionalized within government, laws, medical science, religion, culture, and society. This course explores the historical foundations of race and racism, and ranges over different manifestations of institutional racism in the spheres of criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power, education, and religious and congregational life. It also looks into recent movements for racial justice in thought and practice, and considers ways in which theological ideas and church practices can be refocused to contribute to racial justice within the academy, ecclesial communities, and the larger landscape of society.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Benjamin Valentin
T
3:30-6:20
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Fundamental Theology, Theological Foundations in Practical Perspective, or equivalent.
School
Boston College Department of Theology
THEO5505-01
Sacraments and Art
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Much of our artistic heritage was commissioned to embellish places of worship and to deepen understanding of the ceremonies celebrated there. These works of art offer often-ignored insights into Christian sacraments that complements more traditional theological approaches. This course seeks to deepen our appreciation of Christian sacraments by acknowledging painting, sculpture and architecture as a locus theologicus. Both historical and thematic in approach, it explores sacramentality, incarnation, iconoclasm, typology as well as selected themes from sacramental theology. The course will include off-site visits.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Bergin
W
2-4:20p
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
UNDERGRAD/GRAD SPLIT
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 829
Spiritual Autobiographies
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
In the course, students will explore classic and contemporary spiritual autobiographies. These autobiographies reveal the diverse paths of religious seekers, the crises and epiphanies that became focal points of meaning and revelation. Students will learn about the practices of faith that sustained and challenged religious people from Augustine to Teresa of Avila to Tolstoy. Through close, empathetic, and critical examination of the texts, students will reflect on their own spiritual journeys and identities. They also will engage first-hand in the crafting of spiritual autobiography, and students will have the opportunity to work intensively in small groups throughout the writing and sharing process. Throughout the course, students will explore potential uses of spiritual autobiography as pathways of discernment and growth in congregational and retreat settings, small faith groups, spiritual formation and companionship.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Claire Wolfteich
T
12:30-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 814
Embodying the Kin(g)dom
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Not Yet Available
Professor
Class Day & Time
Courtney Goto
M
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 704
Intro to Spiritual Care
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Spiritual 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 spiritual 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, spiritual 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
Eunil David Cho
M
6:30-9:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 834
Empathy and pluralism: Understanding, developmentally, varieties of faith among and within us
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Not Yet Available
Professor
Class Day & Time
Chris Schlauch
W
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2161
Spiritual Formation in Community
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This course explores how Christian communities have taught and formed their members in faith both historically and in the recent past, and charts new directions for spiritual formation in the 21st century. It is especially geared towards those who anticipate having responsibility for a community�s spiritual formation. Students will think critically about the efficacy and appropriateness of inherited educational models, and will be equipped to design and cultivate informed and innovative opportunities for spiritual formation in their own ministry context. Students should leave the course with their own holistic theology of spiritual formation across the lifespan. Readings include classic texts (Augustine, George Herbert, Bonhoeffer) alongside pastoral theologians (John Westerhoff, Maria Harris, Eugene Peterson) and studies by sociologists, developmental psychologists, and educational theorists from religious and secular contexts. May be used to meet MDiv Denominational Polity distribution requirement for Episcopal/Anglican.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Walton
T
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3270
Cycles of Consciousness: Psychological Approaches to Spiritual Care
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This course provides a comprehensive understanding of how psychological principles inform spiritual care practices. It reflects on individual, communal, and contextual theories of consciousness through a rigorous engagement with psychological and religious thinkers who contemplate notions of self, relationship, community, and personal development in light of religious experience and spiritual judgment. The course will equip students with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills to integrate psychological insights into their evolving spiritual care methodologies, preparing them to care for the complex spiritual and psychological needs of individuals and communities across diverse religious settings. Readings include texts by William James, W.E.B. DuBois, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Phillis Sheppard, Layli Maparyan, Audre Lorde, among others.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Sears
W
2:00-4:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hartford International
IP-510 (Non-MAP)
Constructive Conflict Intervention
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This class will train each student to be a mediating presence in interpersonal and community conflicts. The instructor will teach conflict transformation ideology and tools for conflict analysis to build student’s capacity to understand and respond to conflict in ways which advance justice. In conflict transformation-inspired mediation, the primary goal is to improve the relationships between the parties to allow them to chart their own solutions. Students will learn the five-stage mediation process so that they could conduct a complete formal mediation. However, the emphasis will be on understanding the goals and practices of each stage so that they can informally and effectively intervene in the conflicts in their own lives and their own communities. The class will use case studies to build skills in conflict analysis. Students will also practice skills through partner exercises and small group mediation role plays. Students will also be asked to use the skills outside the classroom, and reflect on those experiences verbally or in writing.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Milliken
W
9-12pm
Grading Option
P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hartford International
CH-524
University Chaplaincy
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This course is an introduction to university/higher education chaplaincy as well as an opportunity to deep one’s understanding of the work and the field, with attention to effective methods, best practices, traditions and innovations in higher education chaplaincy. Since the work is organically interfaith in nature, much of the work may be applicable to other chaplaincies as well. The outcome of this course will be to equip students with the necessary tools to excel when entering into positions of chaplaincy in higher education settings. Students will learn how to understand and navigate university structures and politics, campus and community organizations, student intersectional identity development and working with student organizations, diversity and antiracism work, interfaith relations, basic pastoral counseling, community and personal grief, crisis management, and boundaries and self-care necessary to the work.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Fuller
R
7-9pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
PAST 6011
Theology of Pastoral Care I
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
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. Course is cross-listed as FLED 6101.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Rev. Fr. Gregory N. Christakos
TR
9:10-10:30 AM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMPS7093
Introduction to Pastoral Care and Counseling
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
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
Melissa Kelley
F
9:00-12:00
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMPT8106
Spirituality and Justice: 20th Century Writings
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
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
Colleen M.�Griffith
R
9:30-11:50
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Foundations or Fundamental
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMST7057
Theological Foundations in Practical Perspective
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Taught from a pastoral perspective, this course offers an overview of contemporary Christian theology, introducing basic theological themes reflected in Co-Workers e.g. the cultural context in which we do theology, God, being human, Jesus, reign of God, Church. It considers theological methods and investigates the sources that contribute constructions of theological positions.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Colleen M. Griffith
T
9:30-12:10
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTE 811
Doing Theology Aesthetically
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Not Yet Available
Professor
Class Day & Time
Courtney Goto
A-Term course: August 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, and Sept 12
ARR- see note
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 839
Suffering and Healing
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This course will examine the understanding of human suffering in personal and communal space and explore the possibilities of healing in church and ministry. Through a range of readings, films, case studies, and a church or non-profit organization site visit, students will critically reflect on various conditions of human suffering including sickness, joblessness, homelessness, racial prejudices, immigration issues and others. The course will employ interdisciplinary study methods, from pastoral/practical theology to cultural studies. Building from these experiences and reflections, students will work to develop practical ministries that aim to restore and heal individuals and communities.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hee An Choi
9:00am-4:00pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Meets Sept 13, 14, Oct 11, 12, Nov 15, 16
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 909
Spiritual Autobiographies
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Participants in this course will read selected spiritual autobiographies in order to gain an understanding of the varieties of religious experience and the interrelationship between spirituality, theology, and historical and cultural context. We will examine the nature of religious experience and the difficulties in translating this experience into language. Moreover, we will explore the important issue of how spirituality relates to the institutional churches, and the various shapes spirituality takes outside these institutions. Through close, empathetic, and critical examination of the texts, participants also will reflect on their own spiritual journeys and spiritual identities. They will prepare written analyses of course texts and, by the end of the course, will write a portion of their own spiritual autobiography.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Claire Wolfteich
T
12:30-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Doctoral
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 842
Pastoral Psychology of Healing
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
Every person, in her or his personal relationships and professional activities, is guided by a complex, often tacit, theory of healing, comprised of judgments about illness/suffering (what's wrong?); health/well-being (what's possible? what's ideal?); the trajectory from one to the other (how do we get there?); and factors that enhance as well as inhibit movement along that trajectory (what should we do?). Examining and comparing a range of theories of healing--in psychology, medicine, Christian traditions, world religions, and non-Western cultures--equips us critically to reflect upon, amend, if not reconstruct our respective theories of healing.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Chris Schlauch
M
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 926
Couple and Family Dynamics (Doctoral)
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This course includes a comprehensive overview of the field of family systems and family therapy. It will serve as an introduction to the theory and techniques of couples and family therapy. An attempt will be made to integrate theory and practice through assignments, class activities, and personal and professional self-reflection. Students will have the opportunity to reflect upon how they might actually use course content professionaly in their respective disciplines.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Steven Sandage, Sarah Crabtree
W
6:30-9:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Doctoral
School
Saint John's Seminary
THMT613
Theology of the Body
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA24
This course will engage students in a close reading of key texts by Pope Saint John Paul II: Love and Responsibility and, in particular, the theology of the body. It will examine the relationship between nature and person in the anti-Humanae Vitae worldview and indicate its roots in the thought of Bacon and Descartes before contrasting this Cartesian perspective with that of Paul VI in Humanae Vitae and John Paul II.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dr. Franks
R
2:45-4:45 pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
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