West Texas Clergy Education: Courses

This module serves as a foundational module for further biblical studies. It constitutes an introduction to the Old Testament. Consequently, no other modules are necessarily prerequisite for this module. This module, however, should be considered as a prerequisite to other modules which focus on further studies in any portion of the Old Testament.
This module addresses ministerial competencies as outlined in the ability statements listed below. The importance of studying this module’s topic is grounded in one’s view of Scripture. The Nazarene articles of faith describe the Holy Scriptures as inspired and as “inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation” (Manual, Church of the Nazarene, 1997). Accordingly, an understanding of the history and literature of the Old Testament is critical to the faith and practice of ministers in the church. This survey will equip the student for more detailed study in any section of the Old Testament, through introductory acquaintance with the overall events, characters, themes, and historical context of the Old Testament. In addition, this module will serve to introduce the student to important background information for the study of the New Testament.
The knowledge and skills gained from this module should inform, and contribute to, the teaching, preaching, and counseling practices of the ministry. This contribution is especially concerned with informing such ministerial practices with sound biblical understanding.

Telling the New Testament Story of God is a foundational module for understanding the setting and message of the New Testament. This module will introduce the student to the New Testament biblical literature, Bible study methods, and the environment of the Early Church. Special attention will be given to the political, cultural, religious, and geographical setting, the literary genre, and the meaning of the text in its original cultural, historical, and literary context for the purpose of discovering the principles of truth to be applied to our contemporary setting. It provides the basic groundwork for understanding future Course of Study modules in biblical studies, Church history, Christian theology and practics.

This module serves to train the student in one of the most important tasks of pastoral ministry, the preaching of the Word of God. This task is considered foundational to fulfilling the calling of God to the ordained ministry. The Apostle Paul illustrated the importance of proclamation in his charge to Timothy: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage, with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:2.

This module addresses the need for preparation of the preacher as a necessary prerequisite to the preparation and delivery of the sermon, so that both the preacher and the spoken message will have authority. This module will equip the student to go through the process of sermon construction from a hermeneutical study of the Biblical text, through the stages of development, until the sermon is ready to be delivered. Attention will be given to the preaching event as the oral culmination of sermon process, including the call for a decision. In addition, the module will aid the student in understanding the need for planning a preaching program that addresses the needs of the congregation and aids in the overall worship experience of the people of God. The skills developed from this module will also help the minister to be an effective teacher of the Bible to the church.

For maximum benefit, this module should be taken after the student has completed modules in Introduction to the Ordained Ministry, Spiritual Formation, Old Testament, New Testament, Oral and Written Communication, and Hermeneutics since a working knowledge in these areas will be assumed in the instruction.

In order to contribute to the biblical and denominational intent for the Church to become a missional people and because humankind needs to be redeemed, Declaring the Gospel of God will challenge, inform, and equip students to become full participants in Christ’s mission by overcoming personal fears and coping with cultural resistance.

The students will be God-called persons, seeking to be adequately prepared to be both personally involved and to lead others to involvement in Christian mission. These learners usually have limited experience with evangelism and limited exposure to unsaved people; they have few if any unsaved friends. If learning is contained only in the classroom, it will not be sufficient to gain the exposure, motivation, and on-the-job-training which is critical to be adequately prepared to become a leader in the deliberate intention of the Church of the Nazarene to become missional.

The call to serve God includes communicating the Gospel in spoken words or written words. Studying the principles of clear and effective communication can increase the minister’s effectiveness in this Great Commission. However, speaking and writing are skills that require practice as well as understanding. Rigorous thinking, clear expression, and adapting message to audience are skills that develop only through repeated and guided practice.

This module, Communicating with Spoken and Written Language, provides an introduction to the processes of composing and developing the skills necessary for each step. The course also introduces the student to the transactional process of public speaking. Writing and speaking share the principles of understanding and adapting to the audience, identifying the communication purpose, organizing discourse to accomplish that purpose, developing and supporting the main idea with specific data, and revising/practicing to prepare the communication for the audience.

This course is a learn-by-doing experience. Students will receive feedback throughout the composing process and the planning-to-speak process, and then will perform and publish final products. Both written and spoken assignments are sequential and developmental, growing out of typical ministry opportunities.

In this module we will concentrate on religious pluralism. How is one to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in a pluralistic world? More specifically, how is one to do this from within a Wesleyan perspective? Those are the questions this module addresses. If one were to be satisfied with ignoring the pluralistic context in which we live, then the content of this module would be unnecessary. But one who would choose this option would thereby limit his or her range of ministry, would deny the power of the gospel, and could not adequately represent the Wesleyan tradition. To proclaim the gospel in a way that pays attention to the context in which we speak, we must take seriously the pluralism that so extensively characterizes our age.

This module recognizes that in a diminishing world of instant communication and great population varieties, the gospel must “contextualize” into language, gestures, and institutional styles that access the message to those around us. Many of us live in multicultural environments and, if not, we still have responsibilities to the larger world that is fast outpacing our ability to evangelize it.

This module addresses models and varieties of communication, misfired messages, biblical insights into the nature of communication. It samples non-verbal communication forms and message systems. Furthermore, it alerts students to observe their own cultural context, their ministry sphere of influence, and their own personal communication styles, for strengths and weaknesses.