Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Program Philosophy: Contextualized Teaching and Learning

Effective spiritual and prophetic leadership is always rooted in human experience and the histories, traditions, and cultures of communities. The Course of Study proposes to prepare spiritual and prophetic pastoral leaders for the church. While acknowledging that the Gospel is transcendent and therefore transcultural, it must also be affirmed that faith finds its meaning in life.

It becomes important then to develop diverse methods of teaching that are suitable to diverse contexts. Effective teaching for the formation of pastoral leaders requires the consideration of diverse factors which shape students' experiences and faith convictions. It must also consider the context of the student's ministry. Language, culture, economics, ecclesial and political realities, are all part of the social context in which persons express their pastoral leadership.

Examples:

• A preaching course might be taught allowing for those who come from oral traditions to focus on the development of their oral presentation of the sermon over and above the development of the sermon in manuscript form.
• A Bible course could include an examination of the life circumstances of the community where the pastor is serving. This would provide the pastor with the opportunity to enhance his or her ability to teach scripture in ways that are most meaningful to those in the congregation as the pastoral teaching becomes grounded in the daily struggles and joys of the people.

• Evangelism may need to be taught recognizing that effective evangelism in urban settings is different from effective evangelism in rural contexts.

Required Courses