Awarded Grants - 3 results
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Evangelism Differently: In Search of Educational Experiences for Reconceiving Evangelism
Proposal abstract :
One of the significant challenges in teaching evangelism is the students’ negatively preconceived notions about the discipline and helping them to reconceive it in a theologically appropriate manner. Some students walk into class gungho with a rather narrow perspective on evangelism as “soul winning,” some with an acute allergic reaction to anything remotely related to evangelism, perhaps even having written off the enterprise completely, and others with a sense of ambivalence not knowing what to make of it. The primary goals of this project are to identify the common misunderstandings of evangelism and to chart pedagogical strategies that can facilitate students to articulate critical and constructive interpretations of the discipline.
Learning Abstract :
The goal of the project "Evangelism Differently: In Search of Educational Experiences for Reconceiving Evangelism" was to address the challenge of helping students to reconceive evangelism in a way that is theologically informed, ethically responsible, and contextually effective. This goal was pursued through coming to terms with students' perceptions and experiences about evangelism, making available readings that are helpful in assessing the checkered history of evangelism, delivering lectures and offering contents that offer both critical and constructive perspectives on evangelism, and empowering students to select a model of evangelism that is appropriate for their own context of ministry. Throughout the course and especially at the end, I learned that there was a significant shift from suspicion, or even apathy and antagonism, to a deeper understanding and appreciation of evangelism. What proved to be significant in the shift of perspective were the following: one, transparency that helped to reveal the history of effects of evangelism, both life-giving and destructive practices; two, a curriculum that was comprehensive in scope and perspectives; and three, freedom to explore diverse models of evangelism and embracing a model that deeply resonated with them.
One of the significant challenges in teaching evangelism is the students’ negatively preconceived notions about the discipline and helping them to reconceive it in a theologically appropriate manner. Some students walk into class gungho with a rather narrow perspective on evangelism as “soul winning,” some with an acute allergic reaction to anything remotely related to evangelism, perhaps even having written off the enterprise completely, and others with a sense of ambivalence not knowing what to make of it. The primary goals of this project are to identify the common misunderstandings of evangelism and to chart pedagogical strategies that can facilitate students to articulate critical and constructive interpretations of the discipline.
Learning Abstract :
The goal of the project "Evangelism Differently: In Search of Educational Experiences for Reconceiving Evangelism" was to address the challenge of helping students to reconceive evangelism in a way that is theologically informed, ethically responsible, and contextually effective. This goal was pursued through coming to terms with students' perceptions and experiences about evangelism, making available readings that are helpful in assessing the checkered history of evangelism, delivering lectures and offering contents that offer both critical and constructive perspectives on evangelism, and empowering students to select a model of evangelism that is appropriate for their own context of ministry. Throughout the course and especially at the end, I learned that there was a significant shift from suspicion, or even apathy and antagonism, to a deeper understanding and appreciation of evangelism. What proved to be significant in the shift of perspective were the following: one, transparency that helped to reveal the history of effects of evangelism, both life-giving and destructive practices; two, a curriculum that was comprehensive in scope and perspectives; and three, freedom to explore diverse models of evangelism and embracing a model that deeply resonated with them.
Developing Intercultural Competence in the Classroom and Beyond
Proposal abstract :
CDSP is attracting an increasingly diverse student body, diverse in gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious background, and nationality. Our graduates are preparing to lead in a church that has struggled to effectively embody the spirit of full inclusion to which we are called by our Christian faith. This situation presents us with the following question: How can we best teach and prepare our students for effective and inclusive ministries marked by mission, discipleship, and evangelism in an increasingly diverse society? Our effectiveness in preparing leaders for the church will be enhanced by incorporating intercultural development into all aspects of teaching and learning at CDSP. We seek funding to support (1) intercultural learning and development for faculty and top-level academic administrators and (2) planning and initial steps to incorporate intercultural development into our pedagogy, curriculum, advisory relationships, and all other campus contexts in which learning and formation take place.
Learning Abstract :
As a result of this project, the entire CDSP faculty and student body is now engaged in focused efforts to improve intercultural competence on our campus and in our ministry outside of the seminary environment. This work is one aspect of our larger efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of CDSP. Project funding supported the intercultural development of all members of the faculty as well as key administrators and provided us with resources to improve our classes and overall curriculum to be more effective in increasing the intercultural competence of our students. As a result of this project, we are able to understand and respond to issues of teaching and learning through a specifically intercultural lens, something of particular benefit to CDSP as a predominantly white institution.
CDSP is attracting an increasingly diverse student body, diverse in gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious background, and nationality. Our graduates are preparing to lead in a church that has struggled to effectively embody the spirit of full inclusion to which we are called by our Christian faith. This situation presents us with the following question: How can we best teach and prepare our students for effective and inclusive ministries marked by mission, discipleship, and evangelism in an increasingly diverse society? Our effectiveness in preparing leaders for the church will be enhanced by incorporating intercultural development into all aspects of teaching and learning at CDSP. We seek funding to support (1) intercultural learning and development for faculty and top-level academic administrators and (2) planning and initial steps to incorporate intercultural development into our pedagogy, curriculum, advisory relationships, and all other campus contexts in which learning and formation take place.
Learning Abstract :
As a result of this project, the entire CDSP faculty and student body is now engaged in focused efforts to improve intercultural competence on our campus and in our ministry outside of the seminary environment. This work is one aspect of our larger efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of CDSP. Project funding supported the intercultural development of all members of the faculty as well as key administrators and provided us with resources to improve our classes and overall curriculum to be more effective in increasing the intercultural competence of our students. As a result of this project, we are able to understand and respond to issues of teaching and learning through a specifically intercultural lens, something of particular benefit to CDSP as a predominantly white institution.
Reimagining the Seminary Classroom to Align Faith and Work Beyond the Church
Proposal abstract :
This project explores the pedagogical implications of current realities for the church and theological education: pastors leaving full-time ministry and seminary students seeking work in a wide variety of non-profit and for-profit sectors. Gathering faculty across the Seminary along with key community partners in a retreat setting, we will envision together the shifts necessary for students to explore their vocation in justice-oriented work in a wide variety of sectors, exploring what it would look like if seminary pedagogy was organized by a desire to help students align their work beyond the church with the justice-oriented values of their faith?
Learning Abstract :
Over the past two years, the Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry (AIM) at Pittsburgh
Seminary has gathered local church and business leaders, social entrepreneurs, and non-profit
directors to think together about ways the Center might better support work for the common good
beyond congregational and denominational agencies. These focus group sessions have become the
basis from which Dr. Scott Hagley (W. Don McClure Associate Professor for World Mission &
Evangelism) and Rev. Karen Rohrer (Director of AIM) have developed a one-year certificate
program "Faith, Work, and the Common Good," which will be launched June 2025.
In the course of these conversations, however, the AIM team recognized the need to reimagine
course design and the classroom space.
2
Because the program will include the rigorous discernment, theological analysis, and practical skills
that characterize all Seminary degree programs along with workplace-specific coaching and
individualized marketplace learning, the AIM team recognized a gap between current educational
models and practices at the Seminary and the needs of the new program. Current educational
models, in which faculty serve as area experts in one or more disciplines within the theological
encyclopedia – systematics, Bible, practical theology, etc. – in order to help students develop the
requisite knowledge and skills for professional ministry, will not address the widespread interests and
vocational goals of students in the program. Depending on interest and vocational discernment,
students will need to learn from a wider range of experts, including small business owners and
entrepreneurs, community organizers and activists, as well as social workers and government
staffers. The Seminary cannot hire instructors and design curriculum to cover the necessary range of
experience and expertise on its own. Therefore, curriculum and classroom need to be reimagined as
spaces for convening conversation, facilitating theological reflection, and discerning vocation. We
need to learn how to pivot course construction and the role of faculty in relationship to student
This project explores the pedagogical implications of current realities for the church and theological education: pastors leaving full-time ministry and seminary students seeking work in a wide variety of non-profit and for-profit sectors. Gathering faculty across the Seminary along with key community partners in a retreat setting, we will envision together the shifts necessary for students to explore their vocation in justice-oriented work in a wide variety of sectors, exploring what it would look like if seminary pedagogy was organized by a desire to help students align their work beyond the church with the justice-oriented values of their faith?
Learning Abstract :
Over the past two years, the Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry (AIM) at Pittsburgh
Seminary has gathered local church and business leaders, social entrepreneurs, and non-profit
directors to think together about ways the Center might better support work for the common good
beyond congregational and denominational agencies. These focus group sessions have become the
basis from which Dr. Scott Hagley (W. Don McClure Associate Professor for World Mission &
Evangelism) and Rev. Karen Rohrer (Director of AIM) have developed a one-year certificate
program "Faith, Work, and the Common Good," which will be launched June 2025.
In the course of these conversations, however, the AIM team recognized the need to reimagine
course design and the classroom space.
2
Because the program will include the rigorous discernment, theological analysis, and practical skills
that characterize all Seminary degree programs along with workplace-specific coaching and
individualized marketplace learning, the AIM team recognized a gap between current educational
models and practices at the Seminary and the needs of the new program. Current educational
models, in which faculty serve as area experts in one or more disciplines within the theological
encyclopedia – systematics, Bible, practical theology, etc. – in order to help students develop the
requisite knowledge and skills for professional ministry, will not address the widespread interests and
vocational goals of students in the program. Depending on interest and vocational discernment,
students will need to learn from a wider range of experts, including small business owners and
entrepreneurs, community organizers and activists, as well as social workers and government
staffers. The Seminary cannot hire instructors and design curriculum to cover the necessary range of
experience and expertise on its own. Therefore, curriculum and classroom need to be reimagined as
spaces for convening conversation, facilitating theological reflection, and discerning vocation. We
need to learn how to pivot course construction and the role of faculty in relationship to student