Core Class Descriptions
3 credits per class

Introduction to Theology (Theology I)
Taught by Pastor Chip Heim
A survey of the major themes of the Bible: The Bible, God, Jesus Christ, Human Beings, Sin, the Atonement, the Holy Spirit and the Christian life, the Church, and End Times. Students will gain a better understanding of these theological truths and how to apply them to their lives.

The Art of Mentoring
Taught by Pastor Nathan Harrison
This course is designed to assist in the personal assessment of an individual’s personality strengths as they pertain to mentoring (understanding how God made you). Students will also gain a better understanding of how to mentor, and how to select a person to work with in a mentoring relationship. This class will advocate a broad-based process of disciple-making (Relationships, Investment, and Modeling) versus an event or programmatic process of mentoring.

Foundations for the Effective Leader
Taught by Robert Franz (Elder at East Side GBC)
Yogi Berra said “It’s pretty tough to make prediction, especially about the future.” This class promises to provide highly interactive educational sessions that will inform, entertain, and enable current and future leaders to visualize what might or could be, as well as a day to day strategic approach to leadership issues and challenges. This class is built upon a modular by Wharton Business School.

Introduction to Christian Counseling
Taught By Dr. Douglas Kramer and Connie Kramer (MA in Counseling)
This course will provide an overview of common psychiatric disorders. Students will also learn the differences in interaction between psychiatric disorders and problems which occur as the result of sin nature and immature personality development. The course will cover basic principles of learning cognition, and behavior change. Finally, this course will cover practical aspects of listening, providing emotional support and managing healthy boundaries for individuals involved in Christian ministry.

Scripture and Interpretation
Taught by Dr. Edward DeZago, Grace Polaris
This course is designed to present the history of biblical interpretation, to introduce the student to the main principles of biblical interpretation, and to provide opportunities to develop skills in relating hermeneutical principles to various portion of the biblical text.

Christianity Today
Taught by Pastor Chip Heim
Christianity Today uses 1 Corinthians as a spring board to think through the challenges of ministry today.  The course is organized around eight case studies that connect challenges in the Corinth church to the church today.  The case studies focus on leadership, church discipline, disagreements between believers, marriage, gray areas, and worship.