The Institute’s curriculum is composed of eight courses. Six courses are taken online (utilizing digital educational platforms and video conferencing) and 2 intensive retreat courses (Winter and Summer). Students are able to choose two electives courses. The cost is $363.16 per course. (inclusive of payPal fees)
A payment plan is available only for students who are taking two courses in a given semester. A payment plan Agreement must be completed along with the initial deposit made in order to receive course syllabi. All payments are non-refundable.
Students who successfully complete the program receive a certificate of completion and are eligible to receive any of the considerations and benefits given to the program through its academic and ecclesial relationships. The programs curriculum is listed below.
Online Core Courses
Introduction To Paleo-orthodoxy
This course is normally a 12-week online course which introduces students to the twenty-first century Protestant theological movement. We are now offering a special 6-week intensive version of this course at a reduced price. The course focuses on the recovery of classical consensual Christian orthodoxy. From a theological framework, students will examine how the classical consensual method of interpreting Scripture acts as a corrective to modernity’s historical critical method. From a religious educational framework, students will explore both the various ecclesiological forms within Paleo-Orthodoxy along with the sociological process for how each form develops and hands on Christian Orthodox truth to its adherents.
Church History & Historical Theology
This course is a 12-week online exploration of the development and founding of the early Christian church with a particular emphasis on the classical consensual teaching of the church within the first thousand years before the Great Schism. It will also survey the development of Christian thought and theology within the same time period exposing students to the Fathers, traditions, creeds, heresies and confessions from the apostolic era until the Reformation.
Historic Christian Leadership & The Development Of Ordination
This course is a 12-week course which covers the biblical, theological, historical and philosophical foundations of organic and institutional Christian ministry. In particular, it will give emphasis to the nature and call of the offices of Deacon, Priest and Bishop. These offices will be explored within the realms of ecclesiology and Christology ultimately discovering both the function and presence of Christian ministry and leadership within an ancient/future perspective. Students will survey the diverse ancient models of leadership in hopes of constructing an effective postmodern leadership philosophy along with examining religious ways of developing strong sense for an emotional and spiritual self-care.
Sacramental & Liturgical Theology
This 12-week online course will introduce students to the liturgical and sacramental life of sacred Christian worship through its historical, philosophical and theological developments. Attention will be given to the development of corporate worship through prayer books, liturgical calendars and theological constructs. Students will be exposed to various renewal movements surrounding the liturgical and sacramental theology of the church along with their key characters and events. In particular the sacrament of the Eucharist as an act of praise and thanksgiving, along with Baptism will be surveyed as the outlined in the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order documents.
Introduction To Patristics
This 12 week course will introduce students to the earliest Christian thinkers as well as examine the development of Christian theology during the patristic period. The course centers around the reading and discussion of key patristic theological texts and will look at selected themes treated by various Fathers of the Church (such as Christology, Trinity, Anthropology, Sin, Passion, Death and Exegesis. Further study of particular Fathers, authors and literature include, but are not limited to: Melito of Sardis, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity, Origen, Tertullian, Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose, Augustine, and John Chrysostom, Dionysius and St Maximus.
Intensive Retreat Courses
Rubrics, Rites & Rituals
This course is taken as a 5-day intensive retreat, in the Summer. The course introduces students to the rites and rituals of the Christian church along with their rubrical directions, methods and techniques. The course will also offer students the opportunity to examine the various rubrical resources available for aiding celebrants towards “Orderly movement, orderly patterns of worship and orderly common prayer.” Students will be exposed intensively to the 1979 (Anglican) Book of Common Prayer, yet an attempt will also be made to consider, compare and contrast Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican processes of functional liturgy. This course is taught as form of church curriculum and utilizes psychomotor learning techniques which will require movement and coordination. The goal of this course is for each student to develop and exhibit levels of automaticity pertaining to the right practice and administration of the 7 sacraments of the church.
Special Issues In Worship & Theology
This course is taken as a 5-day intensive retreat, in the Winter. It examines extensively the Convergence Worship Movement, (Evangelical, Charismatic/Pentecostal & liturgical/Sacramental). Students will also explore how the successful amalgamation of the three streams in regard to sign and symbol, scripture and spirit within renewal movements both past and present, have identified a convergent Christian practice as an answer to the question, “by what is the Christian church constituted?” Key historical, theological and philosophical dimensions of each movement will be examined uncovering key events, characters and teachings vital to each of the streams.
Online Electives
Biblical Exegesis
This course comprised of 12 -week online sessions designed to introduce and discuss the theory and practice of two of the Critical Historical Method. It encourages critical use of the perspectives, tools and methods of biblical scholarship. The goal of all biblical exegesis is to draw out what the text meant for its original audience, in its original historical setting in hopes of providing a contextual hermeneutic for today’s proclaiming of the “Good News for God’s people.” Toward this end, each session will focus on an aspect of the exegetical method and complete their work with a piece of proclamation, anchored in exegesis.
After the course the students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the tasks and methods involved in biblical interpretation, acquiring the skills needed in biblical exegesis. They will also cultivate a greater understanding for both the theoretical methods of biblical interpretation, as well as the hermeneutical proximity found in the writings of the Early Church Fathers.
Church Renewal & Missiology
This 12-week online course will introduce students to the historical leading of the Spirit within movements particular recognized within the Christian tradition as “Renewal.” Students will survey the various Spirit lead ecclesiological developments beginning from the first century to John Wesley identifying events, character and dates that correspond to each. This course will also explore how “Renewal Movements,” within the Christian traditions have impacted the church’s missiological understanding and practice.
Introduction To Celtic Spirituality
This 10 week online course will introduce students to the organic ethos of the Convergence Worship Movement through Celtic Christian contemplative spirituality, missional perspectives and organizational dynamics. Students will explore the roots of Celtic Christianity as the native Christian faith of the British Isles along with its evangelistic method and message for postmodern North American Christianity in the West.
Introduction To A Pentecostal Orthodoxy
This 12-week online course will introduce students to elements of a Neo-Pentecostal recovery of Christian orthodoxy. Students will examine the various foundational elements of the Pentecostal tradition along with exploring its various modern and postmodern shifts towards classical consensual orthodoxy. An emphasis will be placed on the Pentecostal interplay between orthodoxy, orthopraxis and orthopathy in regard to the historical understanding of the ecstatic manifestations of the Spirit in relation to a sacramental and liturgical theology. Students will also explore the religious educational dynamics interrelated within Pentecostal spirituality.