Christ, Culture, and Ministry (TSE 412)
Term: 2025-2026 School Year Spring Semester
Description
What does it mean to serve as a pastor and theologian in age defined by some as post-Christian, some as post-modern, others as secular, and still others as a combination of all three? And what missiological and evangelistic approaches should the reflective practitioner utilize attempting to live into the Gospel mandate: Christ and the church rejecting culture, accommodating to culture, synchronizing the two, living into the paradox, or Christ and the church transforming culture? We will examine whether H.R. Niebuhr’s typologies speak to our times. We will also consider these questions in light of the theological, missiological, and biblical teachings of the church. Consideration will also be given to efficacious concerns of the various approaches when viewed through the prisms of politics, media, the arts, and national civil religion. Through readings, discussion, examination, reflection, and writing, students will be able to not only broaden but develop strategies for the ministerial