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Continuing Education: Rural Christian Formation
March 1, 2021 @ 6:00 pm - March 26, 2021 @ 12:00 am
$50.00
This ONLINE course will be held via the CANVAS platform.
This online four week course explores distinctive components of rural Christian education and faith formation including incorporating re-learning history, incorporating place based education, and reading the Bible from a country perspective. Students will select an area they want to focus on for the four weeks (children, youth, adult, community, etc.) and explore that area of ministry through articles, lectures, music, movies and more. While this course is asynchronous, the instructor has regularly scheduled office hours and is willing to schedule individual meetings at the student’s convenience. At the end of the course, the student will have a collection of lesson planning and community based resources for engaging faith formation in their time and place.
Instructional Time: 1-1.5 hours of lecture (to listen to on your own time) plus a curated space of 2-3 hours per week including course discussion, project work, and engaging course discussion. (Approximately 5-6 hours of time spent per week on course work including instructional and reading/work time)
The goal is about 20 hours of engagement total.
Dr. Jonathan LeMaster-Smith holds a Ph.D. in Christian Education and Congregational Studies from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. With over ten years in local church experience and five years of teaching for many colleges and seminaries, he continues to enjoy connecting with Christians who love to learn. His primary focus is rural ministry but teaches faith formation and United Methodist studies regularly. He, and his wife Rev. Shannon LeMaster-Smith, live in Hildebran, North Carolina. Jonathan, or Dr. J, as many call him, enjoys hiking, cooking, and playing board games.
Required Texts:
Fashion Me a People By Maria Harris
Reclaiming the Spirituals by Yolanda Smith
Register for this Class Online
Purchase Required Text: Fashion Me A People
Purchase Required Text: Reclaiming The Spirituals