|
Topics |
Key Questions |
|
Foundations |
|
Introductions and
Expectations;
What do we mean by Presbyterian?
Study Skills
and Resources |
What questions do we have?
Where have we come from?
What are the common elements in
Presbyterian and Reformed identities? |
|
Characteristics and Differences |
How do we describe a Church?
What is the same and different
about Presbyterian order, worship, theology and mission? |
|
Celtic
History and Spirituality
Medieval Scotland |
What do we know about Celtic
Christianity? Why is it popular and what does it mean?
What should we know about Medieval Scotland? |
|
The Reformation then and now |
Who were the key players and
what were the key issues? |
|
John Calvin and
the
foundations of Reformed
theology and church organisation |
What is Calvin's
contribution to the “DNA” of the
Reformed tradition? |
|
Confessions and
Covenants |
Who were the Covenanters? What can we learn from
the Westminster and other Confessions, the people who wrote them and the
times they lived in? |
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Towards a Global Tradition |
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Worship, Revival, Assembly, Presbytery and
Party in 18th Century Scotland |
How did key groups and
institutions take shape in an age of reason and of revival? |
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Renewal in Mission and
the Disruption of 1843 – the story of Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) |
What memories of
Church and Society did Presbyterian Settlers bring to New Zealand? |
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Merchants Migrants and
Missionaries in the global spread of Presbyterian Christianity. |
What was going on as
Presbyterians shared in the “Age of Expansion”? |
Northern and Southern Churches in 19th Century
New Zealand
Rutherford Waddell |
Who were the
characters and issues in the foundation years of New Zealand
Presbyterianism? |
|
Confidence and Decline
in 20th Century New Zealand |
What, looking back, worked well and badly as
Presbyterian and other Kiwi Christians adjusted to change and opportunity? |
|
Towards a Multicultural Church |
Can a monocultural tradition
provide the framework for a multicultural church of Maori, Pakeha, Asian and
Pacific Islander? Can being global help us be more truly local? |
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Diversity and Renewal |
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Leadership
roles and structures for
Persistent Presbyterians |
In what ways do
patterns of organization such as presbyteries and leadership
structures such as the eldership help or hinder mission?
|
|
Baptism and the Great
Commission |
What has grace got to do
with it? |
|
Presbyterian Worship then, now and tomorrow: psalms, hymns, songs, preaching
and communion |
From
nostalgia to principle. How to build a church of innovation and continuity
in the worship of God. |
|
Coping with Controversy
|
What processes work for
Presbyterians when we see truth differently? |
|
Restructuring for a new era
Practical Stuff |
What are the Church of Scotland
and the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand trying to do? |
|
Towards a Reformed Theology of
Mission |
Who is your favourite theologian and why?
What do people like David
Bosch, Lesslie
Newbigin, Michael Welker and Darrell Guder have to teach us, and why does a
theology of mission matter? |