FACULTY Jon Berquist, visiting professor of Old Testament, was excited to see the translation of his book, Judaism in Persiaʼs Shadow, published in Korean by Hagiesowon Publishers in 2020. The translator was Taek-Joo Won. This is Berquist’s second book to appear in translation. The first was Incarnation, which was translated into Italian in 2011 and published by Claudiana Editrice, the publisher for the Waldensian Church, which is the Calvinist/Reformed denomination in Italy. This past year, he has been active in the Presbytery of Riverside, California, working with the New Worshipping Communities Committee. He also provides adult-education instruction on the Bible and immigration for First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo. He is teaching at the Summer Process Institute in 2021. Teresa Chavez Sauceda, director of Advanced Pastoral Studies and senior clinical professor of ministry, reports that the newest concentration in the Doctor of Ministry program is underway with the first cohort of students to complete the last of three required courses in fall 2021. There is increased interest in the chaplaincy/spiritual care research literacy concentration in the Doctor of Ministry program, and it is designed particularly for chaplains, directors of spiritual care, and Association for Clinical Pastoral Education educators working in health care and other settings where literacy in evidence-based research is a critical skill. Increasingly, spiritual care providers in health-care settings are asked to be part of a research team or sit on ethics panels. This concentration, designed and led by Shaw Chaplaincy Institute Director and Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Education Rev. Dr. Laurie GarrettCobbina, provides critical skills and the opportunity for participants to design their own research projects. The core required courses for this concentration are taught in the fall and spring semesters in a hybrid model (weekly synchronous online classes with one weekend on campus at the end of the semester) to better accommodate the
schedules of professional chaplains. The next cycle for the chaplaincy/spiritual care research literacy concentration core courses will start fall 2022. Chavez Sauceda is also teaching a new course, Issues and Methods in Contextual Theology: Dismantling Racism, during the Doctor of Ministry program’s summer session. The course starts with a very personal question: “What is the theology we need to equip ourselves and our communities of faith to be agents of change in the struggle to dismantle the systems and structures of race in our faith communities and the larger society?” The course will focus on exploring theological and biblical studies, and critical race theory. Chavez Sauceda will draw from her work with anti-racism training and cultural proficiency in the PCUSA. The course will examine students’ lived experiences using tools that they may also use with their own congregations or other constituency groups. With the leadership of Associate Director of Advanced Pastoral Studies Rev. Ruth T. West, the course will include a spiritual practice each day to provide space for both personal reflection on students’ conversations and models for sustaining/ nurturing their spiritual lives for this work. Wendy Farley, director of the Christian spirituality program and Rice Family Chair of Spirituality, published Beguiled by Beauty: Cultivating a Life of Contemplation and Compassion (Westminster John Knox Press, 2020). She also published “Becoming Children of Light: Falling in Love with Truth During Dark Times” in Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s Insights in fall 2020 and “Gender and the Image of God” in Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry in spring 2019. In August 2020, Farley led the online retreat, Arise My Fair One: Journeying with the Divine Beloved in Dark Times, and gave a talk: “Arise My Fair One: Thoughts On Radical Compassion and Contemplation in the Work Against Racism.” Farley’s teaching includes developing a section on queer theology for a capstone course, working on incorporating a section on “the spirituality of non-hatred” in spirituality courses, and creating a new course, Interfaith Theology. In this year
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of living digitally, she also attended online retreats exploring Mahamudra, a Buddhist form of meditation; Courage of Care, a retreat combining contemplative practices and social engagement; and Christianity and the mystery religions. Marcia McFee, Ford fellow, Center for Innovation in Ministry, and visiting professor in worship, developed a new course, Practices & Pilgrimages: Event Design and Pedagogy for Spiritual Entrepreneurs, that she will teach in fall 2021. The course is designed for the new Certificate in Spiritual Entrepreneurship offered by the Graduate School of Theology (GST). It is also available as a three-credit course suitable for the Master of Divinity or Master of Arts in Theological Studies electives. The course will be online with two occasions for synchronous online and/or in-person participation. “The art of gathering together for purposes of spiritual growth, support, and nurture is as old as humanity,” says McFee. “Whether within traditional religious institutions or not, spiritual entrepreneurs who are addressing the spiritual needs of society will find themselves gathering people together for various purposes. The ‘events’ in this course are defined as ‘occasions of learning and spiritual growth.’ This can be interpreted in many ways, many practices, many formats, including retreats, travel trips, small group online study, or conferences, for example. The common thread is the possibility of energizing people for their personal and communal spiritual journeys. The ‘design’ of these events will depend on the desired spiritual purpose and pedagogical goal. Students will come up with a project and then move through several ‘building blocks’ that must be considered when designing an event. Special attention is paid to design and facilitation in the communication of a theme and message, as well as skills and organizational/business acumen to carry that out successfully. Whether you consider yourself a ‘spiritual entrepreneur’ or not—and I happen to think churches will benefit from leaders who have these skills—this is a course for exploring how
