May 18, 2024  
2018-2019 Theological School Catalog 
    
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2018-2019 Theological School Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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DMIN 904 - Minister in the Mirror

3 credits
This course invites you to explore ideas about “the minister” in three concentric circles: the first, your own ideas about this profession; second, ideas and expectations of “the minister” in your ministry setting; and third, ideas, images and depictions of the minister that circulate in public, in the larger society.  The course begins in that third concentric circle, and works inward toward the center.   Where do our ideas about “the minister” come from?  To what degree are ideas and expectations shaped by popular and mass culture – novels, magazines, radio, TV, movies, video games, social media, and other forms of popular culture?   In such media, why are ministers sometimes valued positively, and at (many) other times presented or interpreted as irrelevant, or worse, as objects of satire and scorn?  In the middle of all this, how does a minister strive for authenticity?  This course is intended to foster constructive reflection on the challenge of doing ministry (and being a minister) in the contexts of a rapidly changing, highly mediatized cultural landscape. 


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