Faith Formation and Spirituality: Children CHM583E
This course helps students develop the necessary foundations for understanding how God鈥檚 presence is known, experienced, and nurtured in the lives of children under 13. It has one goal: to deepen students鈥� capacity to wisely guide children and their adult companions to make it as likely as possible that they will all grow in faith and join God鈥檚 work of grace, healing, and hope. At the service of this goal, class content and activities will do two things. The first is to consider how to receive children as subjects rather than objects 鈥� to engage children as real people. The second is to think carefully about how best to nurture the emerging faith of children and strengthen their resilience in the face of a variety of domination systems. Course content will include biblical and theological foundations for understanding childhood; identification of domination systems that challenge children鈥檚 flourishing; Christian practices of resistance to those domination systems; the full-orbed soul care of children; and the ongoing training of adult companions for children as they all grow up in faith.