Chapel Reflections Lab
1.5 units
Starr King School for the Ministry – Graduate Theological Union
Fall 2015 Term
Instructor:
Taya Shere
505.695.5596
Office Hours by appointment
Course Dates:
Tuesdays 10:30 am - noon
September 8 & 29, October 13 & 20, November 3 & 17, December 1 at SKSM & Thursday October 15, 9 am - 5 pm at San Francisco Theological Seminary
Attendance at SKSM Chapel Services (Tuesday 1-1:45 pm PST) required
Course Description:
Chapel Reflections Ritual Lab is an experiential class that workshops SKSM Chapel worship toward creating deeper understanding of and skills for ritual creation. Chapel services are defined as “an opportunity for the whole school to come together for worship and renewal... rooted in Unitarian Universalist practices and heritages present in our community.” Each session of Chapel Reflections / Ritual Lab will workshop ritual leadership demonstrated in the preceding chapels. Through focused reflection, students will have an opportunity to more deepen their understanding and implementation of successful community-building devotional workshop practices.
Course Learning Objectives:
* Understanding key elements in communal worship practice
* Cultivating somatic competency in ritual evaluation and leadership
* Strengthening skills in supporting and leading ritual worship
* Increasing resilience when the unexpected arises in moments of ritual leadership
Course Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
*Identify core elements of ritual and public worship
*Craft public communal worship while working in a team
*Evaluate success of ritual implementation of others and prescribe changes in ritual structure and implementation according to this evaluation
Course Assignments:
In addition to full participation in each class session, students are expected to attend Tuesday afternoon Chapel (1-1:45 pm PST at SKSM or online) and to participate on a leadership or support team for at least 2 Chapels during the Fall semester. Students are expected to write a 3-5 page reflection paper on their experience due within two weeks of their last chapel leadership date, or no later than Dec 1.
Students are expected to attend the day-long Ritual Artistry in Worship Lab at San Francisco Theological Seminary on Thursday October 15 from 9 am - 5 pm and write a reflection paper of 3-5 pages on their experience due by November 3. For low-residence students, an alternate training may be arranged.
Students are write a third 3-5 page reflection paper evaluating their ritual leadership strengths and growing edges according to template provided by instructor, due by December 1.
Grading:
Students are evaluated by their participation in course sessions and chapel, their work supporting or leading assigned chapel services, by their completion of the assigned reading as demonstrated in class discussion and by three 3-5 page reflection papers. The SKSM system is pass/fail and students must request letter grades if desired.
Course Schedule:
September 8 / Session 1: Introduction to Chapel
In this session we will explore guiding principles and purpose of Chapel, inventory our ritual leadership skills and challenges and set goals for the coming semester.
September 29 / Session 2: Chapel as Community-Building Devotional Practice
We will reflect on and workshop the first three weeks of Chapel, and vision what roles the class - individually and collectively - wants to hold in Chapels this semester. We will explore ways Chapel can serve to strengthen and weave the SKSM community.
October 13 / Session 3: Chapel as Individual Devotional Practice
We will reflect on and workshop Chapels weeks 4 and 5, as well as explore how diverse individual worship needs can be met in the collective experience of Chapel.
October 20 / Session 4: Chapel Ritual Successes
We will reflect on and workshop Chapel weeks 6 and 7, as well as highlight successes to-date in Chapel experiences and discover how these successes can serve as a model for creating communal worship experience.
November 3 / Session 5: Challenges of Chapel
We will reflect on and workshop Chapel weeks 8 and 9, as well as consider challenges of Chapel this semester, places where Chapel leadership was on their growing edge and how to most gracefully navigate and learn from places which seek improvement.
November 17 / Session 6: Chapel Visions
We will reflect on and workshop Chapel weeks 10 and 11 as well as vision future iterations of Chapel, and dream into possibilities and successes and growing edges for the coming semester.
December 1 / Session 7: Chapel Completion
We will reflect on Chapel week 12, as well as complete our Chapel Reflections Ritual Lab by harvesting the gifts and learnings of our semester in lab and worship together.
Required Text:
The Art of Public Prayer by Lawrence Hoffman
ISBN: 1893361063 Retail Price: $19.99