CRW 501-001 - 003
Introduction to Theological Education @ Drew
A Guide for Your Journey from Survival to Flourishing in Drew’s Global Theological Education
Fall, 2025
Titus Kaphar, “Jesus Noir,” 2020, Oil on Canvas and Duct Tape, 92 x 72 in.
Theological education is supposed to open up sites where we enter the struggle to rethink our people. We think them again, but now with others who must rethink their people. And in this thinking together we begin to see what we had not seen before: we belong to each other, we belong together. Theological education must capture its central work—to form us in the art of cultivating belonging.
—Willie James Jennings
Instructors: Althea Spencer-Miller, Francisco Peláez-Díaz, and Dong Sung Kim
Meeting Time/Place: Zoom: Tuesday - https://drew.zoom.us/j/96005771260
Wednesday - https://drew.zoom.us/j/93464403312
Office Hours: By appointment (Zoom or in person)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides a cohort-based introduction to graduate theological studies at Drew Theological School. The course is designed to help students reflect on the meaning and implications of beginning their theological education at DTS in this particular moment and place, and to connect that reflection to their own personal, sociohistorical, and vocational journeys. Through open conversations, contemplative reading and writing, and practical training in essential academic skills, the course will prepare students to thrive in their continued education in the M.Div. and MATM programs.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will:
1. Contextualize and articulate the vocation and practices of theological study by mapping their own callings within Drew’s academic, spiritual, ministerial, and communal life and explaining connections to broader sociopolitical and religious contexts.
2. Analyze and evaluate Drew’s commitments to justice and inclusivity by examining racial, gender, LGBTQIA+, economic, and ecological perspectives and applying these insights to theological reflection and practice.
3. Compare, interpret, and synthesize diverse theological voices and traditions to facilitate dialogue across difference and collaborate effectively in diverse communities.
4. Apply and demonstrate essential academic and digital literacy skills by conducting research, critiquing sources, producing graduate-level writing with proper citation, and managing time, organization, and ethically using digital resources/technologies.
5. Integrate and design connections between intellectual, spiritual, and vocational formation by constructing practices that link coursework with ministry, activism, community leadership, and assessing approaches to self and communal care.
Learning Outcomes
After successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Define, contextualize, and articulate the purposes and scope of theological education—explaining justice-oriented, global-contextual dimensions—and outlining a plan to flourish at Drew in relation to vocation and public ministry.
2. Identify, analyze, and evaluate Drew Theological School’s shared values (racial, gender, LGBTQIA+, economic, ecological justice) and apply these frameworks to theological reflection and practice.
3. Compare, interpret, and synthesize diverse theological voices and traditions to facilitate dialogue across difference and demonstrate cultural and theological capaciousness in community life.
4. Locate, assess, and integrate scholarly sources to apply and demonstrate graduate-level research, critical reading, and argumentation—producing properly cited essays, reflections, and research papers.
5. Demonstrate proficiency with academic and digital tools (library databases, citation managers, LMS/Moodle, Zoom, calendars) and practice responsible, ethical digital research and communication, including basic archival habits.
6. Design and produce a justice-focused project that connects theological learning with practices of ministry, activism, and community-based leadership; communicate findings in clear written/oral/visual formats.
7. Construct and articulate a vocational statement that links personal calling with theological education and public engagement, and identify next steps using Drew’s comprehensive curriculum and resources.
8. Communicate and collaborate effectively with cohort peers, advisors, and instructors; manage time and tasks; and evaluate one’s participation in communal practices (e.g., chapel, events) to revise goals for continued growth.
Required / Core Texts (on Moodle)
1. Cetuk, Virginia Samuel. What to Expect in Seminary (selections).
2. Palmer, Parker J. Let Your Life Speak.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Attendance and Participation (10%)
• Your presence is the foundation on which to build our learning community in this class.
• Make every effort to attend all class meetings. Three unexcused absences will significantly reduce your grade.
• Each student is expected to offer informed and meaningful comments during class sessions.
• It is better that you speak your comments into the room conversation.
• However, there may be times when Zoom Chat offers you an opportunity to expand your comments, clarify your thoughts, or to say something that the flow of conversation squeezed out.
• Also, seek out your instructor for follow up conversations at any time.
Assignments – Due dates to be announced
• Three Reflection Papers 30%
2–3 pages each.
• Vocational Statement – 10%
3–4 pp theological reflection (+ optional visual/recorded component).
• Final Integrative Essay – 20%
6–8 pp synthesis of readings, practices, digital ethics, next steps.
Total: 100%
COURSE SCHEDULE
MODULE 1 – BUILDING COHORT & KNOWING YOURSELF
August 26/27— Orientation & Drew’s Commitments: What is Theological Education?
• In class: Introductions; vocational storytelling LMS & course overview.
September 2/3– Self, Context, and Community
• In class: Finding Your Place and History in Theological Education; Identity and Social, Religious, and Cultural Contexts
• Read: Work on “A Self-Inventory for Bible Readers” in Curtis Paul DeYoung, et al., eds., People’s Companion to the Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010), xxix–xxxii (on Moodle).
Preparation for September 9/10
• Complete the Inventory. Store your notes for later retrieval.
• Samuel Cetuk, Virginia, Ch. 2 “Wrestling with Holy Things: reframing Theological Education” in Samuel Cetuk, What to Expect in Seminary
September 9/10 — Theological Education and You
• In class:
o Discuss the Cetuk Reading
o Work on Concepts of Holiness
o Reflect on Changes Already Happening
Preparation for September 16/17
• Review your MATM and MDIV Pathways in the Student Handbook
MODULE 1 ASSIGNMENT: Context & Community Mapping: Describe two concrete communities (congregation, family, neighborhood, online spaces, movement, school, people met along the way, etc) that formed your faith understanding and thinking to this point. Narrate how they have influenced your readiness for Theological School. The due date is Friday, Oct. 3
MODULE 2 – INSTITUTIONAL, TECHNICAL, and ACADEMIC BASICS
September 16/17 Communication & Advising Relationships & Vocational Discernment
• In class: Mentorship and Advising; Effective and Responsible Ways of Communication; Understanding Healthy Boundaries; share your thoughts or questions about Pathway.
• In class: Mentorship; boundaries; discernment practices; academic planning.
Preparation for September 23/24
• Identify two areas in which you are digitally challenged.
• Read the plagiarism guide in UKnow (I will circulate an excerpt.)
• Download Zotero @ https://www.zotero.org/ Experiment with installing a citation manager and create one collection (attach PDFs if possible).
• Turabian excerpts; Library research guide (To be provided)
September 23/24 — Academic Tools & Digital Literacy I (Library + Citation)
• In class: Library databases; research strategies; plagiarism/citation ethics; Zotero, Moodle practice.
• Examining Turabian Excerpts
• Practicing areas of digital challenge
Preparation for September 30/31:
• Read Samuel Cetuk, Virginia. Ch. 3 “The Call to Ministry” in What to Expect in Seminary, pp. 48-70
o Identify the following:
The main point (Thesis)
Identify at least two supporting points
Create an outline of the chapter
Note how quotations and references are treated in the chapter.
September 30/31 — Reading, Writing, and Argument in Theology
• In class: Close reading; argument structure; drafting & revision; note-taking systems.
o Working Chapter: Samuel Cetuk, Virginia. Ch. 3 “The Call to Ministry” in What to Expect in Seminary, pp. 48-70
o Thinking, Reading, and Writing Theologically?
o Annotative Reading (Ask First, Second, Third-Order Questions)
o Academic Writing (Structure, Process, and Format/Citation)
o Writing with Authenticity in the Age of A.I.
Preparation for October 7/8:
Introduction to Theological Education @ Drew
A Guide for Your Journey from Survival to Flourishing in Drew’s Global Theological Education
Fall, 2025
Titus Kaphar, “Jesus Noir,” 2020, Oil on Canvas and Duct Tape, 92 x 72 in.
Theological education is supposed to open up sites where we enter the struggle to rethink our people. We think them again, but now with others who must rethink their people. And in this thinking together we begin to see what we had not seen before: we belong to each other, we belong together. Theological education must capture its central work—to form us in the art of cultivating belonging.
—Willie James Jennings
Instructors: Althea Spencer-Miller, Francisco Peláez-Díaz, and Dong Sung Kim
Meeting Time/Place: Zoom: Tuesday - https://drew.zoom.us/j/96005771260
Wednesday - https://drew.zoom.us/j/93464403312
Office Hours: By appointment (Zoom or in person)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides a cohort-based introduction to graduate theological studies at Drew Theological School. The course is designed to help students reflect on the meaning and implications of beginning their theological education at DTS in this particular moment and place, and to connect that reflection to their own personal, sociohistorical, and vocational journeys. Through open conversations, contemplative reading and writing, and practical training in essential academic skills, the course will prepare students to thrive in their continued education in the M.Div. and MATM programs.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will:
1. Contextualize and articulate the vocation and practices of theological study by mapping their own callings within Drew’s academic, spiritual, ministerial, and communal life and explaining connections to broader sociopolitical and religious contexts.
2. Analyze and evaluate Drew’s commitments to justice and inclusivity by examining racial, gender, LGBTQIA+, economic, and ecological perspectives and applying these insights to theological reflection and practice.
3. Compare, interpret, and synthesize diverse theological voices and traditions to facilitate dialogue across difference and collaborate effectively in diverse communities.
4. Apply and demonstrate essential academic and digital literacy skills by conducting research, critiquing sources, producing graduate-level writing with proper citation, and managing time, organization, and ethically using digital resources/technologies.
5. Integrate and design connections between intellectual, spiritual, and vocational formation by constructing practices that link coursework with ministry, activism, community leadership, and assessing approaches to self and communal care.
Learning Outcomes
After successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Define, contextualize, and articulate the purposes and scope of theological education—explaining justice-oriented, global-contextual dimensions—and outlining a plan to flourish at Drew in relation to vocation and public ministry.
2. Identify, analyze, and evaluate Drew Theological School’s shared values (racial, gender, LGBTQIA+, economic, ecological justice) and apply these frameworks to theological reflection and practice.
3. Compare, interpret, and synthesize diverse theological voices and traditions to facilitate dialogue across difference and demonstrate cultural and theological capaciousness in community life.
4. Locate, assess, and integrate scholarly sources to apply and demonstrate graduate-level research, critical reading, and argumentation—producing properly cited essays, reflections, and research papers.
5. Demonstrate proficiency with academic and digital tools (library databases, citation managers, LMS/Moodle, Zoom, calendars) and practice responsible, ethical digital research and communication, including basic archival habits.
6. Design and produce a justice-focused project that connects theological learning with practices of ministry, activism, and community-based leadership; communicate findings in clear written/oral/visual formats.
7. Construct and articulate a vocational statement that links personal calling with theological education and public engagement, and identify next steps using Drew’s comprehensive curriculum and resources.
8. Communicate and collaborate effectively with cohort peers, advisors, and instructors; manage time and tasks; and evaluate one’s participation in communal practices (e.g., chapel, events) to revise goals for continued growth.
Required / Core Texts (on Moodle)
1. Cetuk, Virginia Samuel. What to Expect in Seminary (selections).
2. Palmer, Parker J. Let Your Life Speak.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Attendance and Participation (10%)
• Your presence is the foundation on which to build our learning community in this class.
• Make every effort to attend all class meetings. Three unexcused absences will significantly reduce your grade.
• Each student is expected to offer informed and meaningful comments during class sessions.
• It is better that you speak your comments into the room conversation.
• However, there may be times when Zoom Chat offers you an opportunity to expand your comments, clarify your thoughts, or to say something that the flow of conversation squeezed out.
• Also, seek out your instructor for follow up conversations at any time.
Assignments – Due dates to be announced
• Three Reflection Papers 30%
2–3 pages each.
• Vocational Statement – 10%
3–4 pp theological reflection (+ optional visual/recorded component).
• Final Integrative Essay – 20%
6–8 pp synthesis of readings, practices, digital ethics, next steps.
Total: 100%
COURSE SCHEDULE
MODULE 1 – BUILDING COHORT & KNOWING YOURSELF
August 26/27— Orientation & Drew’s Commitments: What is Theological Education?
• In class: Introductions; vocational storytelling LMS & course overview.
September 2/3– Self, Context, and Community
• In class: Finding Your Place and History in Theological Education; Identity and Social, Religious, and Cultural Contexts
• Read: Work on “A Self-Inventory for Bible Readers” in Curtis Paul DeYoung, et al., eds., People’s Companion to the Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010), xxix–xxxii (on Moodle).
Preparation for September 9/10
• Complete the Inventory. Store your notes for later retrieval.
• Samuel Cetuk, Virginia, Ch. 2 “Wrestling with Holy Things: reframing Theological Education” in Samuel Cetuk, What to Expect in Seminary
September 9/10 — Theological Education and You
• In class:
o Discuss the Cetuk Reading
o Work on Concepts of Holiness
o Reflect on Changes Already Happening
Preparation for September 16/17
• Review your MATM and MDIV Pathways in the Student Handbook
MODULE 1 ASSIGNMENT: Context & Community Mapping: Describe two concrete communities (congregation, family, neighborhood, online spaces, movement, school, people met along the way, etc) that formed your faith understanding and thinking to this point. Narrate how they have influenced your readiness for Theological School. The due date is Friday, Oct. 3
MODULE 2 – INSTITUTIONAL, TECHNICAL, and ACADEMIC BASICS
September 16/17 Communication & Advising Relationships & Vocational Discernment
• In class: Mentorship and Advising; Effective and Responsible Ways of Communication; Understanding Healthy Boundaries; share your thoughts or questions about Pathway.
• In class: Mentorship; boundaries; discernment practices; academic planning.
Preparation for September 23/24
• Identify two areas in which you are digitally challenged.
• Read the plagiarism guide in UKnow (I will circulate an excerpt.)
• Download Zotero @ https://www.zotero.org/ Experiment with installing a citation manager and create one collection (attach PDFs if possible).
• Turabian excerpts; Library research guide (To be provided)
September 23/24 — Academic Tools & Digital Literacy I (Library + Citation)
• In class: Library databases; research strategies; plagiarism/citation ethics; Zotero, Moodle practice.
• Examining Turabian Excerpts
• Practicing areas of digital challenge
Preparation for September 30/31:
• Read Samuel Cetuk, Virginia. Ch. 3 “The Call to Ministry” in What to Expect in Seminary, pp. 48-70
o Identify the following:
The main point (Thesis)
Identify at least two supporting points
Create an outline of the chapter
Note how quotations and references are treated in the chapter.
September 30/31 — Reading, Writing, and Argument in Theology
• In class: Close reading; argument structure; drafting & revision; note-taking systems.
o Working Chapter: Samuel Cetuk, Virginia. Ch. 3 “The Call to Ministry” in What to Expect in Seminary, pp. 48-70
o Thinking, Reading, and Writing Theologically?
o Annotative Reading (Ask First, Second, Third-Order Questions)
o Academic Writing (Structure, Process, and Format/Citation)
o Writing with Authenticity in the Age of A.I.
Preparation for October 7/8:
- Teacher: Althea Spencer-Miller