Schedule of Courses

Summer 2005 Classes
for the Certificate in Sexuality and Religion

During the summer months, courses that fulfill requirements for the CSR are offered by the GTU Summer Session and by PSR. Registration procedures differ depending on whether the GTU or PSR is offering the course.

Because CLGS cannot directly handle registration requests for these courses, please see the instructions for summer session registration with the GTU and PSR on our Application & Registration page, which also includes the relevant GTU and PSR registration contact information.

Classes offered the week of June 13 – 17

Why the Church Needs LGBT People
M-F, Time: 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m — Instructor: David Kundtz

After a brief treatment of the gifts that LGBT people have given to church life in the past, the course will focus on the abundance of contributions that the lived experience and shared faith of LGBT people make to church and community in the present, and the ever-expanding possibilities of the future. We will explore the question: Is there a specific LGBT ecclesial sensibility?

Each day we will look at a specific issue from a pastoral-theological point of view, with the option of change according to class need: 1) peace and violence: an LGBT take; 2) facing fear: emotionally-based conviction and change; 3) coming out: a metaphor for all (ecclesiastical) seasons; 4) soul-friends: loving one another LGBT style; 5) sex and God: rekindling a friendship

This course is offered by PSR Summer School. To register, please see our PSR Summer School registration instructions.

Homosexuality and World Religions
M-F, Time: 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Instructor: Bernard Schlager

What are the attitudes toward homosexuality in some of the world's great religions and how did they develop? This course will survey theological attitudes toward same-sex desire in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism by examining key foundational texts and theological discussions of these texts.

Special focus will be placed on current understandings of same-sex desire and homosexual activity in each of these faith traditions.

This course is offered by GTU Summer Session. To register, please see our GTU Summer Session registration instructions and/or enroll online via the listing for this course on the GTU Summer Session website.

MCC Polity
M-F, Time: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. — Instructor: The Rev. Nathan Meckley

This course will consider the history, structure and governance of Metropolitan Community Churches and well as the values, theologies and cultures that have shaped MCC. MCC will be explored in the context of LGBTQ liberation movements and the larger religious landscape. Instruction will include special guest presentations. This course satisfies MCC ordination requirement for polity.

NOTE: Syllabus will be provided in advance. Student advance preparation is required in order to complete course work by end of final class session

This course is offered by PSR Summer School. To register, please see our PSR Summer School registration instructions.

Classes offered the week of June 27 – July 1

Theological Explorations of Same-Sex Love
M-F, Time: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. — Instructor: Mary Hunt

Decades of debate in religious circles yield precious little consensus on same-sex love. This course will offer an historical look at how homophobia and heterosexism still hold sway, despite compelling reasons for eradicating them.

We will ask what images of the divine, what anthropological assumptions, and what visions of the common good ground such discrimination. We will outline the counterpoints needed to develop a queer-friendly world using resources from the world’s religions, queer theory, and related data.

This course is offered by PSR Summer School. To register, please see our PSR Summer School registration instructions.

The Bible and Homosexuality
M-F, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Instructor: Mary Tolbert

What does the Bible really say about homosexuality? Together, the class will explore the biblical texts presently at the center of debate in many denominations and churches over the status of lesbians and gay men in Christianity.

After placing these few passages in their historical, social, and cultural contexts, we will examine their meaning for the ancient world and for our own, using the best recent historical and literary scholarship available. We will try to ascertain the ways in which these texts may or may not be responsibly used in contemporary Christian debate.

In examining the current use of these passages, we will also need to look at views of the authority of the Bible and the theological and ethical presuppositions that lie behind those views.

This course is offered by GTU Summer Session. To register, please see our GTU Summer Session registration instructions and/or enroll online via the listing for this course on the GTU Summer Session website.

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