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Exploring Faiths and Sacred Traditions
The mission of the Faith Learning Initiative is to provide opportunities for religious learning and spiritual growth, helping people know their own traditions better, understand more about the faiths of their neighbors, and live more thoughtfully and compassionately in a complex world.
The Faith Learning Initiative is an opportunity for people of any faith or educational background to study in a seminary setting. Topics range from Bible and spirituality to public and interfaith issues, and there are no admission requirements or pre-requisites to register. Faith Learning Initiative programs typically include short-term courses and single-session workshops and conferences. Semesters run during October and April-May of each year, with schedules announced early in August and March for each coming semester. By clicking on the “Subscribe to Publications” link on the left, you may sign up to be notified as soon as each semester’s schedule is announced.
Share FLI classes with your congregation. Download this insert for your church bulletin.
Spring 2010 Catalogue of Classes and Events
Click one of the events below or scroll down to see the entire list of upcoming events.
Register for Faith Learning Initiative courses at no charge
If you are a group leader bringing at least four paying students, call the Office of Lifelong Theological Education at (317) 931-4224 to arrange to register yourself at no charge.
Take other courses at CTS
Bring CTS speakers to your event or congretation
Meet the FLI planning team
SPIRITUAL GROWTH WORKSHOP
Living with Loss: Discovering Your Life
Rev. Dr. Dan Moseley
Saturday, March 13, 2010
9 am – Noon (registration beginning at 8:30 am) on Saturdays listed below
Location: Friedens United Church of Christ, 8300 S. Meridian Street, Indianapolis
Cost: $25
Deadline: March 5
CEU Contact Hours: 3.0
Co-sponsor: Friedens United Church of Christ
Register Online Now
Loss is the one constant we can count on. It occurs whenever there is a change in life. Some losses are deep and life changing. Others are not as painful. All of them have the potential of opening up new discoveries for our lives. Loss is a genuine gift that clears space for us to see and explore different parts of our lives. By attending to the pain and the emptiness, we can explore significant insights into who we are and who we might become. In this workshop for caregivers, lay leaders, Stephen Ministers, and anyone else seeking to explore spiritual growth in difficult times, Dr. Moseley will share a journey of discovery that is possible when we attend to the losses of our lives. In this unique workshop, you will find the grace to grieve your loss and through careful and thoughtful attention to your journey, you will discover new dimensions of your own life that will enrich you and open you to a new future.
Dan Moseley is the Herald B. Monroe Professor of Practical Parish Ministry Emeritus at CTS. He has been involved in the development of Grief Healing, Inc. and is author of Living with Loss and Healing Relationships: A Preaching Model. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and holds a BD and DMin in ethics from Vanderbilt Divinity School.
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Jewish-Christian Relations Conference
Jews in the Acts of the Apostles: The Apostolic Church and the Gentile Mission
Dr. Jack T. Sanders
Monday, March 22, 2010
9:00 am – 2:30 pm (8:30 am registration)
Common Room, CTS
Cost: $50 for conference and lunch
Deadline: March 15
CEU contact hours: 4.5
Co-sponsors: Jewish Community Relations Council
Register Online Now
These lectures analyze the ways the author of Acts portrays Jews, paying attention to the differences between how Jews appear in the narrative and how the several speakers in Acts—especially Peter and Paul—refer to Jews in their sermons. The first lecture focuses on the "Jerusalem springtime," when thousands of Jews become Christian, and the second lecture focuses on the gentile mission, when Jewish opposition to Christianity develops everywhere. The final lecture explores explanations for this and notes the challenges it presents for Christian preaching today.
Jack T. Sanders received his Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University in southern California. He taught at the University of Oregon, from which he retired in 2002. He is the author of The Jews in Luke-Acts and Schismatics, Sectarians, Dissidents, Deviants: The First One Hundred Years of Jewish-Christian Relations.
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Petticrew Faith-in-Action Program
Health Care: Issues of Ethics, Vocation, and Faith
Dr. William F May, Morning Seminar
Mr. Daniel F. Evans, Jr., Luncheon Address
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Indianapolis Downtown Marriott, 350 W. Maryland Street
Cost: $20 for morning seminar or luncheon; $40 for both seminar and luncheon; $320 for a table of 8 attending seminar and luncheon
Co-sponsor: Clarian Health
For more information, contact Joyce Weidner at
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or (317) 931-4224.
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As Americans address the challenges of how to improve health care, professionals engaged in health care must continue to grapple with the ongoing and fundamental ethical issues that arise in their work. In this crucible of change, questions of vocational identity and faith are more important than ever. Dr. William F. May, renowned medical ethicist, will lead the morning seminar on ways current economic and institutional conditions affect professional practice and identity, and will offer suggestions for constructive responses. A panel of Indianapolis religious and health care leaders will discuss his proposals. At the luncheon Mr. Daniel F. Evans, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Clarian Health, will reflect on the relation between issues he faces as a health care executive and his sense of vocation.
William F. May is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life at the University of Virginia. He retired in 2001 as Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University. He served on the subgroup on “Ethical Foundations” for the Clinton Task Force on Health Care Reform and on the President’s Council on Bioethics (2002-04). He is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA, founder of the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University, and author of The Beleaguered Rulers: the Public Obligation of the Professional.
Daniel F. Evans, Jr. was named President and CEO of Clarian Health in November 2002 and was active on the board of directors prior to this, serving as chairman from 2000-2002. Mr. Evans has also been a partner with Baker & Daniels. He serves on boards and advisory committees such as Indiana Health Information Exchange and Indiana Health Industry Forum and is chairman of the Indiana Legal Foundation and Indy Partnership. Mr. Evans is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is a member of the bars of Indiana, the 7th Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Courses
Living Lean and Green
Wednesday evenings
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
March 10, 17, 24
April 7, 14, 21*
(*steps to reduce energy in your place of worship)
Christian Theological Seminary
Cost: $50 for all classes (*April 21 class only: $15)
Registration Deadline: March 3
Register Online now
Join us for this fun and easy way to save energy, save money and save the planet. A growing number of people want to be green, but don't know exactly how. Calculate your carbon footprint and learn dozens of ways to lower your energy bills, save money and reduce your impact on our planet. Offered by the Citizens Action Coalition Education Fund. The Living Lean and Green Workshop is a total of five consecutive sessions. Each session builds on the previous one. Please plan to attend all five. Pre-registration is required. Class size is limited.
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Faith and Family: An Interfaith Conversation
Hosted by Rev. Callie Smith with Imam Michael Saahir (May 17)
May 3, 10 and 17
Monday evenings, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
CTS, classroom TBA
Cost: $25 (group leaders bringing at least four paying students may register for no charge)
Registration deadline: April 26
Register Online Now
How do we raise faithful children in an “interfaith” world? How do we raise children in our faith while also teaching them to live well with people of other faiths? Kids have plenty of faith questions, themselves, and this is an opportunity for the adults in their lives to reflect on how we answer and live those questions of faith in an interfaith community. Special guest reflections with plenty of time for discussion, this course provides a chance to learn more about what you believe by hearing what local people of different religious traditions are believing and doing in response to this challenging issue.
Callie Smith is a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and works in Lifelong Theological Education at CTS. Michael “Mikal” Saahir is Imam (Muslim Minister) of the Nur-Allah Islamic Center in Indianapolis.
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Dan Brown and The Lost Symbol: Angel or Demon?
Prof. Lorna Shoemaker
May 10, 17 and 24
Monday evenings, 6:30-8:30 pm
CTS, classroom TBA
Cost: $30 (group leaders bringing at least four paying students may register for no charge)
Registration deadline: April 19
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Symbology, noetics, Freemasonry and the capitol of the United States: what ‘hidden in plain sight’ site lines connect these elements in the fevered imagination of best-selling author Dan Brown? Can protagonist Robert Langdon and yet another entrancing female academic make the connections and save the world – again? Those who have read The Lost Symbol know the answers. But there are always more questions. This discussion group will look at the novel’s content and some of the histories underlying Brown’s fiction. We will also consider the formula Brown has developed and why it is so captivating. And we’ll assess the effect of this third novel in relation to its predecessors. Reading The Lost Symbol in advance is a must (knowing Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code is a help).
Lorna Shoemaker is Director of the Library and Assistant Professor of the History of Global Christianity at CTS. She specializes in the middle ages and is an eager reader of fictional mysteries. A Presbyterian, she holds advanced degrees from San Francisco Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley.
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Drinking from the Well: Spiritual Practices for Immersing in Scripture
Sr. Kathleen Yeadon with Rev. Callie Smith
April 20, 27 and May 4, 11
Tuesday evenings, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
CTS, classroom TBA
Cost: $40 (group leaders bringing at least four paying students may register for no charge)
Registration deadline: April 13
Register Online Now
This course will explore spiritual practices for delving into scripture. With large and small group work, lectures, discussion and dramatic performance, class sessions will provide opportunities for experiencing how disciplines like Lectio Divina, quiet time, journaling and creative writing allow us to know the people and the stories of scripture in ever deeper ways.
Kathleen Yeadon, OSB, is a Benedictine Sister from Our Lady of Grace Monastery and teaches scriptures at Bishop Chatard High School. Callie Smith is a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and works in Lifelong Theological Education at CTS.
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Prison Life and the Criminal Justice System in Indiana
Mr. Chris Hitz-Bradley, Mr. Steve Schutte, and Dr. Ed Towne
May 5, 12, 19 and 26
Wednesday evenings, 5:30-7:30 pm
CTS, classroom TBA
Cost: $40 (group leaders bringing at least four paying students may register for no charge)
Registration deadline: April 26
Register Online Now
This course will consider how Indiana's prisons are managed by the Department of Correction and the legal basis of the administration of criminal justice. Along with the instructors, additional speakers familiar with the Indiana system will bring their expertise to class sessions. Depending on class interest and availability, a visit to a prison facility will be arranged. Sessions will explore the legal basis of the criminal justice process (May 5), management of correctional facilities in Indiana (May 12), the experience of imprisonment and “life on the inside” (May 19), and contemporary trends in incarceration (May 26).
Chris Hitz-Bradley is President of the Indiana Information Center on the Abolition of Capital Punishment (IICACP) and Deputy Public Defender for the State of Indiana. Steve Schutte is Deputy Public Defender for the State of Indiana, with practice limited to the death penalty and life without parole cases. Edgar A. Towne is Emeritus Professor of Theology at CTS, where he has taught theology and ethics since 1975.
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In the Beginning: Stories from Genesis
Rabbi Arnold Bienstock
April 29, May 6, 13 and 27
Thursday evenings, 7-9 pm
CTS, classroom TBA
Cost: $40 (group leaders bringing at least 4 paying students may register for no charge)
Registration deadline: April 22
Register Online Now
This course will examine the Genesis narrative using insights from recent Biblical scholarship as well as traditional religious interpretations from the Jewish and Christian traditions. Come prepared to read, reflect, and encounter stories of “the beginning” like you have never encountered them before!
Arnold Bienstock is Rabbi of Congregation Shaarey Tefilla, a conservative synagogue in Carmel. He has studied at Columbia University (B.A.), Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Jewish Theological Seminary in NY, where he earned a B.H.L., Talmud, and M.A. in Jewish Studies and was ordained to the rabbinate in 1980.
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Take Other Courses at Christian Theological Seminary
Consider auditing a semester-long course at CTS. For auditing students, CTS offers very affordable tuition and requires no paper-writing or test-taking. To request a schedule of courses that are open to auditing students, call the Office of the Registrar at (317) 931-2382. More information on auditing at CTS.
Bring CTS speakers to your event or congregation
We are also available to assist you in bringing specialists on Bible, spirituality, public and interfaith issues, and other topics of interest to congregation(s) in your area. Download our leaders and courses list or contact Callie Smith at (317) 931-4225 or
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for more information.
Share FLI classes with your congregation.
Download this insert for your church bulletin.
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Faith Learning Initiative Planning Team
LeRoy Boone, member of University United Methodist Church
Donald Curtis, member of Episcopal Church of the Nativity
Mary Ann Fadae, member of the Jerrahi Order of Sufi Islam
Stacy Hennessy, member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish
Karen Hobson, member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
Steve Mojonnier, member of Friedens United Church of Christ
Khadijah A. Muhammad, Islamic communities in Indianapolis
Andy Pike, member of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
Lev Rothenberg, member of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck
Ginny Sheets, member of Whitelick Presbyterian Church
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Contact the office of Lifelong Theological Education at:
(317) 931-4224
(317) 931-2399 (fax)
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