Unit information: Church: The Big Questions - Authority, Ministry and Sacraments (Trinity and Baptist College) in 2013/14

Unit name	Church: The Big Questions - Authority, Ministry and Sacraments (Trinity and Baptist College)
Unit code	THRS20073
Credit points	10
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Reverend. Sian Murray Williams
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Religion and Theology
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit consists of three parts:

• Taking a historical perspective, the first will concentrate on the critical analysis and application of biblical images and contemporary models of the church. Particular emphasis will be given to contrasting ecclesiological traditions.
• The second will concentrate on emerging patterns of ministry and church order, from biblical, historical and doctrinal perspectives. Particular focus will be given to issues of priesthood, ordination, authority and leadership.
• The place of the sacraments in church order and practice will be considered from biblical, historical and doctrinal perspectives.

The unit aims to

• present the students with an ecumenical context for discussion and discovery in relation to the nature of the Church, its sacraments and its ministry;
• enhance the students’ appreciation of the details and underlying rationale of various models of ecclesiology and their outworking in sacramentality and ministry;
• fund students' understanding - as part of their ministerial training - of the nature of their future vocation and the context within which it will take place.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the unit students should have:

• developed an appreciation of the doctrine of the church and various forms of church order and ministry;
• begun to relate various conceptions or models of the church and ministry to particular historical contexts;
• grasped and appreciated a number of critical components of church order, discipline and practice;
• begun to think towards an appropriate theological basis for the contemporary church and its various forms of ministry.

Teaching Information

The unit consists mainly of classes and some seminars. The integration of a historical and doctrinal approach is designed to lead to considerable cross-fertilisation of ideas. Learning will be enhanced by classroom debate, discussion plus specific project work. Seminars will focus on a number of contextualized examples of church order, ministry and discipline.

Assessment Information

1 x essay of c. 2,500 words (50%) and 1 x 90 minute exam (50%).

Reading and References

• Buchanan, C., Is the Church of England Biblical? An Anglican Ecclesiology (London: DLT, 1998).
• Dulles, A., Models of the Church (Dublin: Gill and MacMillan, 1974).
• Grenz, S.J., Theology for the Community of God (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1994).
• Kärkkäinen, V-M. An Introduction to Ecclesiology (Downers Grove: IVP, 2002).
• Schillebeeckx, E. The Church with a Human Face (London: SCM, 1985).
• Wright, N. Free Church, Free State: The Positive Baptist Vision (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2005).