As announced on May 27, out of concern for the health and safety of all, the CTS community will remain entirely online for the fall 2020 semester. Although our physical buildings will be closed to the public until 2021, CTS remains an open, rigorous, and vibrant learning and worshiping community. The administration, faculty, and staff are working hard to provide a semester full of rich educational and communal experiences.
During this time, the Counseling Center building will also remain closed, and counseling services will continue to be offered via online platforms. Learn more about the Counseling Center, the services it offers, and how to contact, on the Counseling Centers webpage or by calling the virtual front desk at (317) 924-5205. To meet the needs of the community, the CTS library continues to assist people digitally and will soon open for some curbside services.
Many members of the CTS faculty have been engaging digital tools for instruction for some time, and they are gearing up to provide dynamic online learning opportunities in the fall. Among the many classes being offered are a number of exciting electives, including: Prof. Bill Kincaid’s “Ministers, Churches, and U.S. Presidents,” Prof. Chris Dorsey’s “Theologizing Violence,” Prof. Helene Russell’s “Women and Theology, and Prof. Courtney Buggs’s “Womanism in Religious Studies and Womanist Preaching.”
Associate Dean Robert Saler is offering two courses specifically designed for the broader public. The first, “Social Justice Mysticism: Dorothy Day, Simone Weil, and Maria of Paris,” examines key aspects of the lives and writings of these three women with an eye towards questions such as: how does a life of deep prayer form courage for activism and helping the poor? How does Christian charity manifest itself at both individual and systematic levels? The course will be particularly attentive to how these questions shape our own contemporary discernment for the lives of prayer, ministry, and social justice to which God calls us and the church. Saler’s second course, “What is Prayer For? Historical, Theological, and Ethical Considerations,” considers how Christian prayer functions in the life of the individual, the church, and the world. It will feature historical, Biblical, theological, and artistic lenses of analysis in order to foster discussion around questions at the heart of the Christian life. In addition to these theological and ethical considerations, the course will explore different individual and collective modes of prayer, including some experiential elements. Anyone interested in learning more about either of these courses or registering as an auditor should contact the registrar, Matt Schlimgen, at mschlimgen@cts.edu.
For the fall semester, other important aspects of community life are also moving online. New and returning students will be offered digital orientation and the student body will be invited to a virtual convocation to commemorate the start of the semester. Weekly chapel services, which have long been a central part of the CTS community, will also be offered online. Members of the CTS community and the broader public are invited to join these services, which will be streamed every Wednesday during the semester at 11:30am on Facebook Live.
CTS is planning a number of other exciting virtual events for the coming semester, including an alumni speaker series event and a book launch for Prof. Bill Kincaid’s newest, Letters to the Church: Encouragement and Engagement for the 2020 Election, in September. Be sure to check our calendar and follow us on social media (Facebook and Twitter) for more information and announcements.
