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BC 504 Pedagogies of Liberation and the Black Church Tradition 4 hours
This course will explore the role of education ministry within the Black Church
context. Emphasis will be placed upon the synthesis of African heritage, biblical
faith, and educational approaches that are relevant to the needs and conditions
of African American people. This course will examine the tasks and purposes of
Christian Education, the unique challenges that confront Christian educators in
the Black Church as well as Afro-centric models for Christian Education.
BC 505 History of the Black Church
4 hours
An examination and interpretation of the history of the black church, including the
seven historic American black denominations: the African Methodist Episcopal
Church; the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the African Methodist Episcopal
Zion Church; the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; the National Baptist
Convention, U.S.A., Incorporated; the National Baptist Convention of America,
Unincorporated; the Progressive National Baptist Convention; and the Church of
God in Christ. The role of the black church in the black community will be
emphasized along with the contributions to and distinctives within American
Protestantism which the black church offers.
BC 510 Call to Ministry and the Black Church Tradition
4 hours
This course is a general introduction to call to ministry from an African American
perspective. The call phenomenon has been a central tenet in the Black Church
experience. The call to ministry has focused the church’s ministry on the
existential plight of African Americans. The course will examine the biblical,
theological and historical basis of call to ministry from a Black perspective,
especially the changing dynamics that the church faces in the post Civil Frights
era.
BC 512 Music in the Black Church
4 hours
This course examines the role of music in the Black Church and the prominent
role African Americans have had in the evolution of music as it finds expression in
the Christian tradition. This course will assist church leaders in teaching those in
their context of ministry the importance of music both from a biblical and sociocultural
perspective as well as the importance of context in song.
BC 520 Ethical Leadership and the Black Church Tradition 4 hours
The Black Church has historically been the center of black communal life in America
as well as serving as an instrument for positive social change. This class will focus
on the religious and ethical teachings of the Black Church. Various ethical stances
will be discussed: nonviolent resistance, gradualism, social protest and liberation.
Various ethicists will be examined: Martin Luther King, Jr., James Crone, W.E.B.
DuBois and Malcolm X.
BC 601 Spirituality in the Black Tradition
4 hours
This course is designed to be an exploration into primary and secondary sources
in the African American religious experience in an effort to uncover indigenous
material that reflects a distinctively African American spiritual formation tradition.
In that regard the course will consider specific primary African American spiritual
formation genres – slave narratives, conversion narratives, call narratives, prayers,
sermons, art – as well as the life and works of selected personalities.
BC 603 Black Theology
4 hours
This course examines the development of the discipline of black theology in
America since 1960. Focus will be placed upon the leading thinkers in black
theology today, such as James Cone, J. Deotis Roberts and Gayraud Wilmore. A
historical perspective of the richness of the black theological tradition will also be
offered with references to the works of W.E.B. DuBois, Benjamin E. Mays, Howard
Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr.
BC 604 Race, Gender, and the Bible
4 hours
A graduate seminar that focuses specifically on the intersection surrounding
race, gender, sexuality and the Bible. It is part of a substitution theory of postcolonial
biblical interpretation that takes seriously the hermeneutical shift from
centering to decentering the politics of interpretation. A great deal of emphasis
is placed on reading, reflection and dialogue.
BC 605 The Life and Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.
4 hours
This course examines in detail the enormous contribution of one of the greatest
religious leaders of the 20th century. King’s life and contribution to the black
church and the Civil Rights Movement will be addressed. His work as a theologian
and an ethicist will be studied with reference to his primary works, such as his
speeches, sermons, essays and books. The course will discern the major themes
of King’s works, such as his doctrine of life and his ethic of non-violent
resistance.
BC 606 The Life and Thought of Howard Thurman
4 hours
This course is an examination of the life, works, and contributions of Howard
Thurman.
BC 607 Martin and Malcolm
4 hours
This course is a comparison and contrast, as well as an examination of the life,
works, and contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in America.
BC 610 African American Biblical Interpretation
4 hours
This course will examine the historical roots of hermeneutical ideologies and
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