Study the Church - What It Is and What it Does
“Communion, Participation, and Mission,” the theme for the Synod on Synodality reflects the life and aspiration of the Catholic Church. How do we come together in Christ with our human diversity? How do we contribute through our various vocations and ministries to the shared life of faith? And how do we carry the message of the Gospel out into the world in fruitful ways? In this course we reflect on these issues of being church as well as the Church’s teaching role, sacramentality, differences of culture, and the tension between the Church’s transcendent nature and its engagement with the human world.
Do you think of the Church as Spirit-led? Do you think of the Church as a vehicle or an obstacle of hope? We will explore two essays authored by Fr. Richard Lennan. In “The Church: Got Hope?” Lennan discusses the Church’s relationship to hope. In a second essay, “The Holy Spirit and the Pilgrimage of Faith,” Lennan partners with Nancy Pineda-Madrid to summarize the teaching of Vatican II on the Holy Spirit and show how Victor Codina, S.J., and Elizabeth A. Johnson build on the Council’s teaching.
Jesus’s words are as true as ever with today’s volatile economies and extreme financial inequality. In pursuit of a 21st Century Christian discipleship, join a guided conversation focused on the many faces of poverty. Explore the biblical and theological roots of the Church’s continuing commitment to the poor, evaluate several proposals about ways to respond to poverty, and converse with others about what it means to be a Church of and for the poor. This course uses the issue of C21 Resources The Poor: What Did Jesus Preach? What Does the Church Teach? edited by Rev. Kenneth R. Himes, O.F.M.
With a range of scandals contributing to a breakdown in trust, the Church is in a time of challenge and uncertainty. Engage with an alternative perspective to discuss the potential for renewal and revitalization.
It is a challenging time in the Church. Leadership, governance, and the sexual abuse scandal have all contributed to a breakdown in trust among its members and brought about serious questions around its viability. This course offers an alternative way to view the situation by considering the potential for renewal and revitalization. Articles from the Summer 2019 C21 Resources and video segments provide material for reflection, contextual understanding, and practical strategies for moving towards reform.
Church history tells the stories that are woven into the fiber of the Church as people of God and as institution. The Church's beliefs, practices, and relationships have been formed by believers of every generation as they endeavored to live lives of faith in their own time and place. In this course we explore the people and events that shaped culture and society as well as the Church across the centuries. We look at both the epoch forming events as well as the people behind them.
About STM Online: Crossroads
STM Online: Crossroads, a program of Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, offers non-credit online courses for adult spiritual enrichment and faith formation. With a focus on shared reflection in an online learning community, Crossroads models the kind of conversation and participation that lead to deeper understanding and personal growth in faith. As part of our commitment to the centrality of conversation to adult learning, each of our courses (except for the Online Book Club) are based on at least two content voices.
We also offer certificates for individuals who are looking for a structured way to extend their study, who need to document their preparation to volunteer for ministry in a parish or school.