Serving the Present Age: Methodism and Modernity course
This course begins by placing Methodist theological emphases in their original historical contexts, then examines their implications and potential benefit for today’s Church.
The morning will be divided into three sessions which take as their starting point key Methodist theological tenets as illustrated by primary texts. All were controversial in their day and speak to the challenges and labours of the Church today.
1) “Things so long disjoined”: Methodism and a holistic faith
This session focuses on the tendency in the Church to prioritise or emphasise particular activities or approaches based on one’s theological “stable” and explores the way in which the Church might learn from early Methodism by embracing a more rounded appreciation of the Christian life.
2) “Opinions” and a “Catholic” spirit: division, disagreement and mission
This session will explore current major disagreements among Christians and seek to refocus them in the light of some Wesleyan ecclesiological convictions.
3) Growing into Love: the possibility of human transformation
This session will reflect on Wesley’s often-contested notion of Christian “perfection” in dialogue with current topical questions including those relating to violence, marginalisation and human flourishing.
About the course leader
Jonathan Dean is Director of Learning for Ministry for the Methodist Church and Chair of the London District of the Methodist Church, working alongside London’s 200+ Methodist congregations, and with missional and chaplaincy projects across the capital. He is the author of five published books on themes in Christian history and historical theology, including A Heart Strangely Warmed: John and Charles Wesley and their Writings.
A Methodist presbyter, he has served in a variety of appointments in the local church, in a range of chaplaincy contexts, and in theological and higher education, all in both the UK and the US.
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