Wesleyan Courses in DC

The Institute on Religion & Democracy is joining with Wesley Biblical Seminary this winter to host two academic intensives in Washington, D.C., January 17–21, 2022 at IRD’s office in Washington, DC. A course on Wesleyan Public Theology will be co-taught by Wesley Biblical Seminary’s Ryan Danker and Joy Moore, Professor of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary. A course on Wesleyan Theology of the Body will be taught by Asbury Theological Seminary President Timothy Tennent.  

These Academic Intensives will offer academic credit or can be audited, making them ideal in bringing biblical, Wesleyan teaching to local pastors and lay leaders.  The week will conclude with LifeWatch, the Pro-Life caucus within the United Methodist Church, hosting its annual United Methodist Pro-Life service, with preaching by United Theological Seminary chaplain Tesia Mallory, after which participants can join in the National March for Life.  There will also be commemoration of Martin Luther King’s birthday on January 17, plus panel discussions on Christian political engagement and on Tennent’s book  For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality, and the Human Body, and daily chapel preaching.  

Tennent’s Theology of the Body one-credit course examines what it means to be created in the image of God and how our bodies serve as icons illuminating God’s purposes. Topics include marriage, family, singleness, and friendship, and how the human body has been objectified in art and media today. It also offers a framework for discipling people today in a Christian theology of the body and explores the contours of a robust Christian vision of the body and human sexuality and the variety of different ways we are called into relationships with others. It offers a theological vision that informs our self-understanding, how we treat others, and how we engage today’s controversial and difficult discussions on human sexuality with grace, wisdom, and confidence.

Danker’s and Moore’s Wesleyan Public Theology one-credit hour course will explore the historical, political, and biblical foundations of a Wesleyan approach to the public square with particular attention to the social repercussions of a Wesleyan theology of transformational grace. By studying the historical context of Wesleyanism, the student will be equipped to formulate a contemporary and contextual Wesleyan political theology. In addition to history and theology, the course will include an analysis of biblical texts on public engagement as seen through the lens of Wesleyan biblical interpretation. The course is designed to assist the student to be thoughtfully engaged in the world informed by the riches of the Wesleyan tradition.

These courses are available both on-site in Washington, DC, or live via Zoom. Recordings of each lecture will be made available to all participants.  Cost is $545 per course for credit or $240 to audit both courses.

Register here or contact Ryan Danker for additional info: [email protected].