Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

Northern Seminary TE 417 SEXUAL ETHICS AND THE FAMILY Fall 2017 Mon 7:00-9:40 p.m. Dr. David Fitch [email protected] ** 630-620-2124

Course Description and Objectives

TE 417 covers the fundamental moral issues concerning the Christian ordering of human sexuality in the life of the Christian and our life together as Christians in the church. Sexuality raises questions about our theological understandings of intimacy, love, God and creation. It also raises practical questions about the nature of moral discernment, personal character, celibacy and "how do we marry?" It raises questions about brokenness, sin, grace, reconciliation and the church as redeeming community. Finally it raises questions about mission. How does the church live in and among the world of alternative sexualities, narratives and ideologies and give witness to the redemption in Christ God is working for our sexual lives? This course will provide a foundation for addressing all of these issues in the Christian life.

Through this course the student will critically interact with multiple theological points of view from a standpoint that attempts to be faithful to Evangelical commitments and the historical orthodoxy of the church. In the process the student should:

1. Gain a foundation in the historical teachings of the church/historical theology on the subject matters of sexuality, celibacy, marriage and the family.

2. Develop practical skill in the application of the theological and moral resources of the Christian faith and the Church to the issues of sexuality, celibacy and the family.

3. Come away with a framework for moral discernment and leadership for their own lives as well as lead their congregations in this crucial area of church life, and mission.

The first half of the course will provide a historical foundation, theological method, and a general theological-ethical framework for dealing with issues of human sexuality, marriage and the family. The second half of the course will apply these frameworks to specific practical issues in sexuality and the family.

Course Organization

Each class will be comprised of (A.) a first half lecture covering the material, (B.) a second half focused discussion based upon the readings, lecture and any additional research the students are engaged in. There will be a specific focus upon the application of the lectures and reading to concrete situations in the life of the church leader/pastor and the life of following Christ.

Course Requirements

800 pages of reading including the chosen texts (450 pages), daily articles/sections for class reading (120 pages) and an additional 250 pages of supplemental research to write the final paper.

15 pages of writing

Required Texts (for Purchase):

Hauerwas, Stanley. A Community of Character. Notre Dame IN: Univ of Notre Dame Press, 1991. ISBN-13: 978-0268007355;

Hollinger, Dennis. The Meaning of Sex. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-8010-3571-5; 272 pages; $24.00.

Matzo-McCarthy, David. Sex and Love in the Home. London: SCM Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0334029465; 314 pages; $23.00.

Otto, Tim. Oriented to Faith. Eugene OR: Cascade Books. 2014. ISBN-13: 978-1625649768 154 pages $17.00

We will be using many small pieces/videos/films featuring people of color, alternative sexual identity, written/filmed for various magazines and periodicals, including people like Rachel Cromidas (Chicago Tribune), Michael Brown, RuePaul (Comedian), Charles Blow (NT Times), Judith Butler (queer theorist), Abigail Rine (feminist professor) , Brandon Ambrosino, Alan Chambers, Jesse Single (NY Magazine) and many others. .

Masters students will be responsible for the following:

1. Students must read approximately 800 pages of reading from among the required and optional readings of the class. These readings are selected as background for lecture topics of the given day. These readings will also inform the student’s classroom discussion. Additional readings are offered as supplement for writing of practical papers on each church function. The student should read 800 pages in total to complete the reading requirement for this class.

2. Basic Sexual Ethics paper (12-15 pages). In this paper, the student will work out his or her moral theology in relation to one concrete situation regarding sexual issues and/or family within the church. The student will select one of the topics in sexual ethics treated in class during weeks V- X. The student will be required to make a small 20 minute presentation of his or her paper in 2nd half of that class period.

The aim of the paper is to apply the theological understandings gained through reading and class work towards the discerning of a specific issue in one’s life and/or one’s church. This will be comprised of:

o A description of a practical issue for discernment, What is the dilemma? o A presentation of options and possible courses of action or response. o The theological considerations that are to be applied to the situation. The cultural considerations applied to the situation. What should Christians consider in discerning the response? o Your resultant theological discernment and pastoral directive towards the issue. Due: Last Friday of Quarter Midnight

3. A Short One-Half Hour Exam on the First Five Weeks of Reading/Class lectures: an exam will be given at the beginning of the 6th week class. There will be one essay question and a series of multiple-choice questions in order to test the student on his or her overall comprehension of the readings and lectures of the first four weeks.

4. Reading List: that lists all reading the student read for the class signed by the student. Students are required to read a total of 800 pages for this class.

Grade Breakdown

The student grade will come from 80% theology paper, 20% Exam.

Grading Scale

A = 100-95 A- = 94-90 B+ = 89-87 B = 86-83 B- = 82-80 C+ = 79-77 C = 76-73 C- = 72-70 D+ = 69-67 D = 66-63 D- = 62-60 F = 59 and below

Certificate/Diploma Credit Students In order for the student to receive certificate/diploma credit for this course, the student must:

1. Read the Holllinger text only as well as required articles.

2. Hand in a 5 page review of the Hollinger text on the last day of class. In the review paper the student must articulate a.) one positive thing learned for understanding the claims of Christ on sexuality for the Christian life, b.) one critique of Holinger’s book based on class time and other readings.

3. Certificate students are excused from the midterm quiz.

Schedule and Readings: *Indicates readings are articles located at reference desk of library All readings are referenced in the Bibliography

I. Historical Foundations: Roman Catholicism / Reformation / Puritanism / Protestant Liberalism / Augustine/Aquinas/Luther/Modern Protestants

Required Reading: Margaret Farley (1988, 1575-1588)*.

Additional Readings: Peter Brown (1988) , Eric Fuchs (1983), Gustafson (1978)

II. Theological Method: Approaches to Discerning the Rights and Wrongs/ the Goods of Sexuality and Family. Teleology/ Natural law/ Divine Command/ Protestant Liberalism/ Feminism/ Ethic of Virtue.

Required Reading: Hollinger ch. 1, 2, 3

Additional Readings: Philip Turner (1983) (1984), James Gustafson (1981).

III. Gender and Sex/Culture and Nature. What is Gender? How does/should Gender Define Roles in Marriage, Church, and Society?

Required Readings: McCarthy ch. 5-6, 8-9. Cherith Fee Nordling “Gender” 2010 David Fitch “Some Postmodern Words for the Present State of Gender Relations in the Church Today” Church and Postmodern Culture Blog Aug 3, 2007 http://churchandpomo.typepad.com/conversation/2007/08/postmodern-word.html David Fitch “Women in the In Between Times” (unpublished – on reserve)

Additional Readings: Miroslav Volf ch. 4 Exclusion and Embrace (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996)

IV. Gender and Sex/Culture and Nature. How is Gender Shaped? Subjectivity, Performativity, and Queer Theory: Why Every Christian Should Understand It.

Required Readings: Chris Weedon. Identity and Culture: Narratives of Difference and Belonging New York: Open University Press, 2004. Ch. 1 Subjectivity and Identity (Available as pdf. Online)

Anita Brady and Tony Shirato. Understanding Judith Butler London: Sage Publications, 2011. Ch. 1 Subjectivity, identity and desire. (Available as pdf. Online)

Additional: Judith Butler: http://bigthink.com/videos/your-behavior-creates-your-gender. “Gender is Performative” Intelligence Squared Debate: Same Sex Marriage Should Not Be Legalized http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/stories/2012/06/25/3530504.htm Annamarie Jagose, Queer Theory (New York: NY University Press, 1996)

V. The Structure of Desire: Desire, Orientation and “Technologies of the Self.” What’s your doctrine of Sanctification?

Required Reading: McCarthy (2001) ch. 1, 3-4

Additional Readings: Bell (2001) 9-32, Ward (2001) 52-77, Foucault (1980) 1-73*

VI. Marriage and The Ends of Human Sexuality: To What Ends Shall We Be Chaste? Premarital Sex? The elevated role of Singleness/Celibacy in the Christian Church. Is There Ever a Situation Where Premarital Sexual Activity is Right? Masturbation? What does Celibacy Really Mean?

Required Readings: Hollinger ch 4,5,6 McCarthy ch.2, 7

Additional Readings: Paul Ricouer (1964, 133-141), Beverly Wildung Harrison (1984) Eric Fuchs(1983) ch. 4. Augustine , On the Good of Marriage; On Marriage and Concupesance, Martin Luther, Sermon on Marriage

VII. Marriage/Celibacy as Part of Church (Social Life Together)

Required Readings: Stanley Hauerwas Community of Character Notre Dame IN: Univ of Notre Dame Press, 1991 155-195 Additional Reading: Ken Wilson A Letter to My Congregation Canton MI: Read The Spirit Books, 2014

VIII. Alternative Sexualities: LGBTQ Relations, Same Sex Marriage and the Christian? When? Why or Why Not?

Required Readings: Hollinger ch. 7; Rowan Williams, The Body’s Grace (Available Online);

Richard B Hays The Moral Vision of the New Testament 1996. ch. 16 (on reserve)

Additional Readings: Matthew Vines God and the Gay Christian New York: Convergent Books, 2014; Robert Jewett (1994)*; Lutheran Church in America(1986)*

IX. Divorce and the Idea of a Christian Marriage: The Church, Marriage as Sacramental, and the role of the church in the initiation into/sustaining of Christian Marriage; Abortion / Contraception/ Reproductive Technology; If Abortion is Wrong, Is any form of Contraception Right?

Required Readings:; Robt Guelich “Marriage in the Sayings of Jesus” (on reserve); Hollinger ch. 8; Stanley Hauerwas “Abortion: Theologically Understood” (online)

Additional Readings: Lisa Sowle Cahill (1983)*; Song (1988) ch. 13; Richard B. Hays (1996) ch.15; McCormick (1993); Amy Laura Hall (2004)

X. The Church as Christ’s Healing/Reconciling Presence in the World: The Idea of a Welcoming and Mutually Transforming Community

Required Readings: Hollinger ch. 9 Pre-Marital Counseling Documents – Life on the Vine Church David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw, Prodigal Christianity 2013 ch. 8. Tim Otto Oriented to Faith.

Technology Use in the Classroom

Unless it is directly tied to note-taking or research for the class, students are expected to refrain from cell phone or laptop use during class.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Sexual Ethics

Cahill, Lisa Sowle. Between the Sexes: Foundations for a Christian Ethics of Sexuality. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985. ______. Sex, Gender and Christian Ethics. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996. ______. “Sex, Marriage and Community in Christian Ethics.” Thought, v.58, 1983, 72-81. ______. “Sexual Ethics.” The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics. Edited by James F. Childress and John Macquarrie. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986, 579-583. Countryman, L. William. Dirt, Greed and Sex. Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985. Chopp, Rebecca. The Power to Speak, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Wipf & Stock, 2002. Clapp, Rodney. Families at the Crossroads: Beyond Traditional and Modern Options. Downers Grove: InterVaristy, 1993. Dawn, Marva. Sexual Character: Beyond Technique to Intimacy. Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1993. Dyson, Michael Eric. “When you Divide Body and Soul Problems Multiply: The Black Church and Sex," in Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality. Ed. Rudolph Byrd and Beverly Guy-Sheftall. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press 2001. 308-326. Everett, William Johnson. Blessed Be the Bond: Christian Perspectives on Marriage and Family. and Family. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985. Farley, Margaret. “Sexual Ethics.” Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Edited by Warren T. Reich. New York: Free Press, 1978, 4, 1575-1588. Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality Vo. 1,2,3. New York: Random House, 1978. Grenz, Stanley. Sexual Ethics: A Biblical Perspective. Dallas: Word, 1990. Guindon, Andre. The Sexual Creators: An Ethical Proposal for Concerned Christians. Washington DC: University Press of America, 1986. Gustafson, James M. “Marriage and Family.” Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984, 153-184. ______. "Nature, Sin, and Covenant: Three Bases for Sexual Ethics." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, v.24, Spring 1981, 493-497. Hall, Amy Laura. "Unwanted Interruptions: Why is our Culture so Hostile to Children Inside and Outside the Womb?" Christianity Today, July 2004, 43-44.

Harrison, Beverly Wildung. “Human Sexuality and Mutuality.” Christian Feminism. Edited by Judith L. Weidman. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. Hauerwas, Stanley "The Moral Value of the Family." “The Family: Theological and Ethical Reflections" and “Why Abortion is a Religious Issue”; “Abortion: Why the Arguments Fail.” In A Community of Character. Nortre Dame IN: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1982, 155-174; 196-229. Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1996. Kosnick, Anthony, et al. Human Sexuality: New Directions in American Catholic Thought. New York: Paulist, 1977. Lebacqz, Karen. “Appropriate Vulnerability: A Sexual Ethic For Singles.” The Christian Century, May 6,1987, 435-438. Matzo-McCarthy, David. Sex and Love in the Home . London: SCM Press, 2001. Nelson, James B. Embodiment: An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1978. ______. Between Two Gardens. New York: Pilgrim, 1983. ______. The Intimate Connection. Male Sexuality, Masculine Spirituality. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1988. Nordling, Cherith Fee “Gender,” Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Ch. 32 Oppenheim, Helen. “Marriage.” The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics. Edited by James Childress and John Macquarrie. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986, 366-368. Ramsey, Paul. One Flesh. Bramcote Notts: Grove Books, 175. Ricoeur, Paul. “Wonder, Eroticism and Enigma.” Cross Currents, XIV, Spring 1964, 133-141. Scruton, Roger. Sexual Desire: A Philosophical Investigation. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986. Solomon, Robert C. and Judith Rose Sanders. “Sexual Identity.” Encyclopedia of Bioethics . Edited by Warren T. Reich. New York: Free Press, 1978, v. 4: 1589-1596. Spong, John Shelby. Living in Sin? San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1988. Thielicke, Helmut. The Ethics of Sex. New York: Harper & Row, 1964. Turner, Philip. “The Marriage Canons of the Episcopal Church.” Anglican Theological Review LXV (October 1983) 4: 371-393 and LXVI (January 1984) 1: 1-22. ______. Sex, Money and Power. Cambridge, MA: Cowley, 1985, 29-70. Winner, Lauren. Real Sex : The Naked Truth about Chastity . Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2005.

LGBTQ Issues

Atkinson, D.J. Homosexuals in the Christian Fellowship. Oxford: Latimer House, 1979. Bailey, D. Sherwin. Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition .(London: Longman’s, 1955. Batchelor, Edward, Jr., ed. Homosexuality and Ethics. New York: Pilgrim, 1980. Bell, A. and M. Weinberg. Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women. New York: Simon and Schuester, 1978. Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980. Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble New York: Routledge, 1999. Church of England. “The Working Party of the Board for Social Responsibility.” Homosexual Relationships: A Contribution to Discussion. London: Church Information Office, 1979.

Coleman, Eli, ed. Integrated Identity for Gay Men and Lesbians. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1988. Coleman, Peter. Christian Attitudes to Homosexuality. London: S.P.C.K., 1980. ______. Gay Christians: A Moral Dilemma. London: S.P.C.K., 1989. Green, Richard. The Sissy Boy Syndrome and the Development of Homosexuality. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1987. Greenberg, David F. The Construction of Homosexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. Grenz, Stanley. Welcoming but Not Affirming. Louisville: WJK 1998. Hays, Richard B. “A Response to John Boswell’s Exegesis of Romans.” The Journal of Religious Ethics 14/1 (Spring 1986): 184-216. Jewett, Robert. “The Hazard of Denouncing ‘Heterosexism’ in the Church.” Unpl. Prepared for the Conference on “Ministry, Heterosexism, Reconciliation: Challenge and Hope for the Church.” Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary April 25-27, 1994. Jones, Stanton L., and Mark Yarhouse. Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church’s Moral Debate. Downers Grove: IVP, 2000. Klein, F., and T. Wolf, eds. Bisexualities: Theory and Research. New York: Haworth Press, 1985. Lee, Justin. Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate. New York: Jericho Books, 2013. Lutheran Church in America. A Study of Issues Concerning Homosexuality Available from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, Il 60631. 1986. Masters, William, and Virginia Johnson. Homosexualities in Perspective. New York: Bantam, 1979. Money, John. Gay, Straight and In Between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation. New York: Oxford, 1988. Nelson, James B. “Homosexuality.” The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics. Edited by James Childress and John Macquarrie. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986. Olyan, Saul and Martha Nussbaum ,eds. Sexual Orientation and Human Rights in American Religious Discourse. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998. O’Donovan, Oliver. The Church in Crisis: The Gay Controversy and the Anglican Communion. Eugene OR: Wipf and Stock, 2008 Paris, Jenell Williams The End of Sexual Identity. Downers Grove: IVP, 2011. Scanzoni, Letha and Virginia Mollenkott. Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? Philadelphia: Harper and Row, 1978. Scroggs, Robin. The New Testament and Homosexuality. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983. Thompson, Chad W. Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2004. Tripp, C.A. The Homosexual Matrix. New York: McGaw Hill, 1975. Via, Dan O. and Robert A.J. Gagnon. Homosexuality and the Bible : Two Views. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. Yarhouse, Mark A. Homosexuality and the Christian: A Guide for Parents, Pastors, and Friends. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2010.

Historical Studies Classics

Aries, Philippe. Western Sexuality. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1985.

Augustine. “The Good of Marriage.” In The Fathers of the Church : A New Translation, v.15. Edited by Roy Joseph Deferrari. Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1968, 9-51. ______. “On Marriage and Concupiscence.” In Nicene and Post –Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, ed Philip Schaff. New York: The Christian Literature Co. 1887, 263- 308. Bell, Daniel. Liberation Theology after the End of History. London: Routledge, 2001. Brown, Peter. “Augustine and Sexuality,” Protocol of the Center for Hermeneutical Studies 46. Edited by Mary Ann Donovan. Berkeley, CA: The Center for Hermeneutical Studies, 1983. ______. The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1988. Brundage, James A. Law, Sex and Christian Society in Medieval Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Bullough, Vern L. Sexual Variance in Society and History. Chicago: Uniersity of Chicago Press, 1976. D’Emilio, John and Estelle B. Freedman. Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality. Translated by Robert Hurley. Vol. 1 An Introduction. New York: Vintage, 1980; Vol. 2. The Use of Pleasure. New York: Pantheon, 1985; Vol. 3. The Care of the Self. New York: Pantheon, 1986. Fuchs, Eric. Sexual Desire and Love: Origins and History of the Christian Ethic of Sexuality and Marriage. London: Clarke & Co. 1983. Gagnon, John H. and William Simon. Sexual Conduct: The Social Sources of Human Sexuality. New York: Aldine, 1973. Gordon, Linda. Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman, 1976. Gustafson, James. Protestant and Roman Catholic Ethics. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1978. Keener, Craig S. And Marries Another. Peabody MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991. Luther, Martin. “Sermon at Marriage of Sigismund Von Lindenau.” In Luther’s Works. Edited by John W. Doberstein. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1959, 357-367. MacFarlane, Alan. Marriage and Love in England: Modes of Reproduction, 1300-1840. New York: Oxford University Press,1986. McCormick, Richard A. “Humanae Vitae: Twenty-Five Years After,” America v.169 no. 2 (1993): 6-12. Payer, Pierre J. Sex and the Penitentials: The Development of a Sexual Code 550-1150. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984. Pagels, Elaine. Adam, Eve and the Serpent. New York, Random House, 1988. Rogers, Eugene F. Sexuality and the Christian Body. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Reed, James. From Private Vice to Public Virtues: The Birth Control Movement and American Society Since 1830. New York: Basic Books, 1978. Singer, Irving. The Nature of Love. Vol. 1. Plato to Luther. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1984; Vol. 2. Courtly and Romantic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984; Vol. 3. The Modern World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987) Sniktow, Ann, Christine Stansell, and Sharon Thompson, eds. Powers of Desires: The Politics of Sexuality. New York:Monthly Review Press, 1983.

Stone, Lawrence. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500-1800. New York: Penguin, 1979). Ward, Graham. Cities of God. London: Routledge, 2000. Webb, William J. Slaves, Women and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis. Downers Grove: IVP, 2001.

On Being Christian and the Single Calling

Brown, Gabrielle. The New Celibacy New York, McGraw-Hill. 1980 Farmer, Andrew. The Rich Single, Life PDI Ministries1998 Hoffeditz, David. They Were Single Too: 8 Biblical Role Models, New York: Kregel Pub, 2005.

Additional Texts

Colon, Christine and Bonnie Field. Singled Out: Why Celibacy Must Be Reinvented in Today’s Church Grand Rapids, Brazos Prtess, 2009.

Nelson, James. Embodiment. 1978 . A classic text written from the tradition of Protestant Liberalism.

Cahill, Lisa Sowle. Between the Sexes: Foundations for a Christian Ethics of Sexuality. 1985. A classic text written from the tradition of a modern Roman Catholic.

Turner, Phillip. Sex, Money and Power. 1985. A classic sexual ethics text written from a Mainline Episcopalian stance.

Batchelor, Edward, Jr. Homosexuality and Ethics. 1980. A compilation of articles evaluating the morality of homosexuality from varied points of View

Clapp, Rodney. Families at the Crossroads: Beyond Traditional and Modern Options. 1993. Clapp’s book is an insightful analysis from a post-liberal viewpoint. He provides an in depth critique of current modern practices of marriage and family and the loss of a distinctive Christian formation of marriage in the American church. It is a brilliant description of where we have come from and what options Christians are faced with as they seek to marry and have children in the post Christian America.

Hauerwas, Stanley. A Community of Character. 1982. An important author whose section on sexual ethics and the family will be used in the class.

Winner, Lauren F. Real Sex. 2005. A more popular book arguing for chastity as being a spiritual discipline of the Christian life for the shaping of our lives for marriage, and/or service to the Mission of God.

POLICIES FOR ALL MASTERS CLASSES

NOTE: All communications from the seminary will go to your seminary email account. Contact All Covered at (877) 224-8911 if you need help forwarding your seminary email address to your personal email address.

As a seminary community we hold integrity/hospitality as core values. Individuals are able to do their best work and thinking when their peers are fully present and engaged. We expect each person to both participate in class and carefully listen to others with the belief that everyone’s contribution is equally important. Therefore, the following policies have been established in order to provide clarity in regard to attendance expectations and relationships in the classroom.

Diploma/Certificate Student Course Requirements The amount of work required of Diploma/Certificate students will be at the discretion of the professor. Students will be responsible for contacting the professor about what assignments are required.

Class Attendance Policy It is expected that students will attend and participate in all class sessions. Failure to attend at least 80% of class sessions is grounds for automatic failure. A professor may set other more strict attendance expectations for a given course. Students are always expected to communicate with a professor in advance if they will be absent. Attendance expectations are higher for online, intensive courses, and integrative seminar (see syllabus for specific requirements).

Class Tardiness Policy The third time a student is late to the start of class, it will be counted as a class absence. It is also expected that students will return from a break by the time specified by the professor.

Food in the Classroom Drinks are welcome in the classroom. Food should only be consumed in the student commons and the breakroom. Please limit eating to before, after or during breaks from class.

Late Work Policy If a student cannot complete the work for a course by the due date listed on the syllabus, they must submit a “Request for a Grade of Incomplete” form to the Registrar by 4:30 of the last day of the term. The form must be signed by the instructor and Dean of Students. The professor may set stipulations and grade reductions. In the absence of a formal request form, the student will receive a grade based upon work completed by the last day of the term.

Turabian Format All papers, including footnotes and bibliography, must be submitted in the correct format according to Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8th ed., 2013.

Plagiarism Plagiarism is the act of passing off as one’s own the words or ideas of someone else without providing proper acknowledgement or documentation. See the “Academic Honesty Policy” in the Seminary Catalog for more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Electronic Format Unless otherwise specified by the professor, all work submitted electronically must be in a Word document format (.doc, .docx).

Technology Use in the Classroom Unless it is directly tied to note-taking or research for the class, students are expected to refrain from using cell phones, laptops, or other electronic devices during class.