Department: Black Church Studies

Code Name Description
BCS5500 INTRO TO BLACK CHURCH STUDIES This course will examine the enduring institution and changing dynamics of the Black Church from its inception in America to present. It will explore its changing history, theology, interpretation of the Bible, culture, education, ethics, nurture and...
BCS5505 HISTORY OF THE BLACK CHURCH 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 Zion Church; the Christian Methodist Episcopal Ch...
BCS5511 BLACK THEOLOGY This course examines the development of the discipline of black theology in America since 1960. Focus will highlight the works of the founder of Black Theology, James Cone, the early voices such as J. Deotis Roberts and Gayraud Wilmore, as well as ot...
BCS5515 AF/AM BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION This course will examine the historical roots of hermeneutical ideologies and methodologies that have ignored and/or denied the influence of people of African descent in the Bible and upon the Bible. More basically, the course will examine the de-Afr...
BCS5520 SPR FRM 1: RDGS/REFLECTION This course explores primary and secondary sources in the African American religious experience in an effort to uncover indigenous material that reflects a distinctively Black spiritual formation tradition. Students will explore different genres - sl...
BCS5521 SPR FRM 2: RDGS/REFLECTION This course explores primary and secondary sources in the African American religious experience in an effort to uncover indigenous material that reflects a distinctively Black spiritual formation tradition. Students will explore different genres - sl...
BCS5522 SPR FRM 3: WORKSHOP/RETREAT This course explores the heritage and modalities of spiritual formation in the Black Tradition and engages students in traditional and contemporary practices and activities by means of workshops, seminars, or retreat formats. Particular attention wil...
BCS5523 SPR FRM 4: WORKSHOP/RETREAT This course explores the heritage and modalities of spiritual formation in the Black Tradition and engages students in traditional and contemporary practices and activities by means of workshops, seminars, or retreat formats. Particular attention wil...
BCS5527 DYN BL CHURCH/FAM/MINISTER This course will present an overview of issues, concepts, events, heritage, as well as customs that have evolved to comprise a general African American world view. The course will outline and explore the elements of Black culture that are expressed i...
BCS5530 WOMANIST HERMENEUTICS/LIT This course is an introduction to the historical, methodological, ideological, interdisciplinary, multidimensional, global scholarship of womanist scholars. It builds upon the work of first generation scholarship that was primarily a challenge to fem...
BCS5540 Spiritual Form in Black Church Tradition This course explores primary and secondary sources in the African American Religious experience in an effort to uncover indigenous material that reflects a distinctively Black spiritual formation tradition. Students will explore different genres - s...
BCS5541 SPF IN BLACK TRAD RDGS/REF I This course explores primary and secondary sources in the African American Religious experience in an effort to uncover indigenous material that reflects a distinctively Black spiritual formation tradition. Students will explore different genres - s...
BCS5542 Spf Bl Trad Wrksp/Retreat I This course explores the heritage and modalities of spiritual formation in the Black Tradition and engages students in traditional and contemporary practices and activities by means of workshops, seminars, or retreat formats. Particular attention wi...
BCS5543 SPF IN BLACK TRAD RDGS/REFL 2 No Description Set
BCS5544 Spf Bl Trad Wrksp/Retreat 2 No Description Set
BCS6600 RACE/GENDER/CLASS/SEX & BIB A graduate seminar that focuses specifically on the intersection surrounding race, gender, sexuality and the Bible. It is part of a substitution theory of post-colonial biblical interpretation that takes seriously the hermeneutical shift from centeri...
BCS6601 SPIRITUALITY IN BL TRADITION No Description Set
BCS6605 ETH LEADERSHIP & BLACK CHURCH 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 stan...
BCS6610 PEDAGOGIES OF LIBERATION 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 Afric...
BCS6615 PREACHING IN BLACK TRADITION This course is intended to introduce students to the history of the black preaching tradition in the United States, and to the various forms of preaching that are presently employed by black preachers throughout the country. The primary emphasis will...
BCS6620 CALL TO MINISTRY BL CH TRAD 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 pli...
BCS6625 PASTORAL CARE IN BL CHURCH The primary objective of this course is to acquaint students with the reality of the uniqueness of pastoral care in African American Christian church experience. In conveying this perspective we will address the issues of 1) the range or scope of pas...
BCS6630 MUSIC IN THE BLACK CHURCH 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 thei...
BCS6635 BLACK CHURCH ADMINISTRATION This course will provide students with an overview of Church Administration with a specific emphasis on the African American cultural context. It will examine the Biblical understanding of leader-administrator as a servant of God and a servant of peo...
BCS6640 MODELS OF YOUTH MINISTRY This course is a general introduction to youth ministry from a Black perspective that will acquaint students to the historical landscape of youth ministry in the Black Church, as well as look at various models of youth ministry. This course will also...
BCS6645 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT YTH MIN This course is a conversation of 21st century dynamics, issues (race, culture and sexuality), concerns and strategies regarding black youth and youth ministry in inner city America. The complexity of this conversation will necessitate interdisciplina...
BCS6650 LIFE/WORKS OF M.L. KING JR 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 e...
BCS6655 LIFE/WORKS OF HOWARD THURMAN This course is an examination of the life, works, and contributions of Howard Thurman.
BCS6660 M. L. KING JR & MALCOLM 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.
BCS6665 POST COLONIAL APPR TO BIB STD One of the defining characteristics of postcolonial biblical interpretation is distinguishing between the biblical reading strategies of dominant cultures and dominated cultures. Drawing especially upon cultural criticism, cultural studies, social lo...
BCS7700 INTERNSHIP IN BL CHURCH I This course engages students in an Internship in Black Church Studies under the supervision of a mentor. The primary goal of the Internship is to connect the student holistically and intimately with the life of the institution so that the student is...
BCS7705 INTERNSHIP IN BLACK CHURCH II This course engages students in an Internship in Black Church Studies under the supervision of a mentor. The primary goal of the Internship is to connect the student holistically and intimately with the life of the institution so that the student is...
BCS7710 ON CAMPUS SEMINAR/LECTURE Credit is available for those who attend approved conferences and seminars. Students should check with the department chairperson for reading and writing requirements associated with attendance at approved conferences and seminars.
BCS7790 Pilot Course in Blk Ch Studies Uncatalogued courses are offered occasionally to enrich the offerings of the major and to tap the resources of department faculty and visiting scholars. Specific course titles and descriptions are available when the course is scheduled.
BCS7794 IND STUDY IN BLACK CHURCH STD Independent Studies are designed to cover specialized material not usually included in a course offering listed in the catalog.