Study Program Seminars
Seminars for International Church Leaders,
Missionaries, Mission Executives, Pastors,
Educators, Students, and Lay Leaders
Study program brochure: September 2011 to May 2012 [PDF]
Previous annual brochures are available on request.
If you are designated as a representative of a seminar cosponsor (click here for the list), the seminar registration fee is waived. To register as a representative of a seminar cosponsor, register below and list the cosponsor in the comment box.
"Strengthening the Christian World Mission"
Spring 2012
February 27–March 2
Christian Mission, the Environment,
and Culture.
Dr. Allison M. Howell, Akrofi-Christaller Institute for Theology, Mission, and Culture, Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana, considers Christian responses to climate change—something that is not new in human history—and the catastrophes that often accompany climate change, so as to provide a framework for Christian mission in facing new crises. Cosponsored by United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
March 5–9
Contextualizing Theology for Mission in Asia.
Dr. Enoch Wan, Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon, unfolds a Sino-Asian approach to theologizing that is strategically relevant for mission to Asians.
March 19–23
Issues in Mission Theology.
Dr. Charles Van Engen, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, surveys current theological challenges facing students of mission. Cosponsored by First Korean Presbyterian Church of Greater Hartford (Manchester, Connecticut).
March 26–30
Pentecostal Spirituality, Mission, and Discipleship in Africa.
Dr. J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Trinity Theological Seminary, Accra, Ghana, and senior mission scholar in residence at OMSC, uses the lens of contemporary African Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity to focus on mission as renewal and revitalization. Cosponsored by Bay Area Community Church (Annapolis, Maryland).
April 9–13
Teaching and Preaching the Gospel of Peace: New Testament Perspectives.
Dr. Willard M. Swartley, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, presents the missing peace in New Testament theology and its implications for mission and ethics. Cosponsored by Mennonite Central Committee.
April 23–27
Music and Mission.
Dr. James Krabill, Mennonite Mission Network, builds upon insights from musicology and two decades of missionary experience in West Africa to unfold the dynamic role of music in mission. Cosponsored by United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
April 30–May 4
Transformational Leadership: An Entrepreneurial Approach.
Rev. George Kovoor, Trinity College, Bristol, United Kingdom, brings wide ecclesiastical and international experience to evaluation of differing models of leadership for mission. Cosponsored by Christian Reformed World Missions.
May 7–11
Spiritual Renewal in the
Missionary Community.
Rev. Stanley W. Green, Mennonite Mission Network, and Dr. Christine Sine, Mustard Seed Associates, blend classroom instruction and one-on-one sessions to offer counsel and spiritual direction for Christian workers. Cosponsored by Mennonite Mission Network.
"Astonished by God's Love, Renewed for God's Mission"
Fall 2012
September 5, 2012
A public reception to welcome the 2012–2013 OMSC international community of residents will be held Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. All are invited.
September 6-7
U.S. Churches Today.
Rev. Geoffrey A. Little, All Nations Christian Church (New Haven), provides an overview with a guided tour of New Haven and area churches.
September 17–20
How to Develop Mission and Church Archives.
Ms. Martha Lund Smalley, Yale Divinity School Library, New Haven, Connecticut, helps missionaries and church leaders identify, organize, and preserve essential records.
September 24–27
Doing Oral History: Helping Christians Tell Their Own Story.
Dr. Jean-Paul Wiest, Jesuit Beijing Center, Beijing, China, and Ms. Michèle Sigg, Dictionary of African Christian Biography, Nairobi, Kenya, share skills and techniques for documenting mission and church history.
October 1–5
The Internet and Mission: Getting Started.
Mr. Wilson Thomas, Wilson Thomas Systems, Bedford, New Hampshire, and Dr. Dwight P. Baker, Overseas Ministries Study Center, in a hands-on workshop show how to get the most out of the World Wide Web for mission research.
October 8–11
Nurturing and Educating Transcultural Kids.
Ms. Janet Blomberg, Interaction International, and Ms. Elizabeth Stephens, of Libby Stephens: Humanizing the Transition Experience, help you help your children meet the challenges they face as third culture persons.
October 16
Mission in Acts 16.
Ms. Barbara Hüfner-Kemper, psychotherapist and missionary, White Plains, New York, will creatively studies the mission encounters recorded in Acts 16 to help participants consider their own understandings of Christian mission in this special one-day seminar.
October 22-25
Themes in Worldwide Christianity: Bible, Theology, Renewal, and Other Religions.
Dr. Michael McClymond, Saint Louis University, explores concrete examples of how Bible commentaries, theologies, renewal movements, and interreligious relations take shape on a worldwide scale.
October 29–November 1
A Biblical Theology of Mission and Practical Lessons in Church-Planting.
Dr. Timothy Kiho Park, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, uses the Scriptures and years of experience in instructing about cross-cultural church planting.
November 5-9
Critical Developments in African and Asian Christianity, 1800-1950.
Dr. Andrew F. Walls, honorary professor, University of Edinburgh, and former director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World, will use material that starts from a Methodist focus and explore developments common to the missions of the period—OMSC's seventh Distinguished Mission Lectureship series—five lectures with discussions.
November 12–15
Church and Mission in Europe—East and West.
Dr. Peter Kuzmič, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Boston, Massachusetts, and Evangelical Theological Seminary, Osijek, Croatia, examines the new context and new roles for churches and missions in a changed Europe, both East and West.
November 26–29
Iranian Shi'ite Muslims and Christianity.
Dr. Sasan Tavassoli, Evangelical Church of Iran, instructs about Shi'ite Islam as well as some of the ways that contemporary Iranian Shi'ite intellectuals are interacting with the Christian faith.
December 3-6
The Gospel of Peace in Dynamic Engagement with the Peace of Islam.
Dr. David W. Shenk, Eastern Mennonite Missions, explores the church's calling to bear witness to the Gospel of peace in its engagement with Muslims whether in contexts of militancy or in settings of moderation.
December 10–13
Leadership, Fund-raising, and Donor Development for Missions.
Mr. Rob Martin, First Fruit Institute, Newport Beach, California, outlines steps for building the support base, including foundation funding, for mission.
Friday Mornings, September-December 2012
Special Friday "Hot Topics" Series.
On select Friday mornings, OMSC Residents and other interested participants will attend and debrief open panel discussions led by Yale World Fellows, mid-career leaders in various fields from all over the world. On other select Friday mornings, OMSC residents will lead seminars on topics about which they have special concern, experience, and expertise.
January 2013 Student Seminars on World Mission
January 7–11, 2013
Missionaries in the Movies.
Dr. Dwight P. Baker, Overseas Ministries Study Center, draws upon both video clips and full-length feature films to examine the way missionaries have been represented in the movies over the past century.
January 14–18
The Drama of God's Mission.
Dr. Gregory R. Perry, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, will put forward two primary questions as coordinates between which we as God's people can evaluate our improvisational roles in God's mission: 1) Are our improvs faithful to the Story of Scripture? and 2) Are our improvs fitting to the Stage on which they are played out?
January 21–25
Culture, Values, and Worldview: Anthropology for Mission Practice.
Dr. Darrell Whiteman, The Mission Society, shows how one's worldview and theology of culture affect cross-cultural mission.
January 28–February 1
The City in Mission.
Dr. Dale T. Irvin, New York Theological Seminary, considers the city in the mission of God. The seminar includes a day-trip in New York City.
Spring 2013
February 26–28, 2013
Common Missionary Challenges: Stress, Conflict, and Counseling.
Ms. Barbara Hüfner-Kemper, psychotherapist and United Methodist missionary, White Plains, New York, utilizes her expertise and personal experience in walking with participants through the common experiences of stress, interpersonal conflict, and counseling ministry during this three-day seminar.
March 4–8
Music and Mission.
Dr. James Krabill, Mennonite Mission Network, builds upon insights from musicology and two decades of missionary experience in West Africa to unfold the dynamic role of music in mission.
March 11–15
Christianity in America.
Dr. Edith L. Blumhofer, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, introduces participants to the formative role Christianity has played throughout U.S. history.
March 18–22
Spirituality for Pastoral Life: Imitation of the Character of Christ.
Dr. Won Sang Lee, SEED International and Korean Central Presbyterian Church, Centreville, Virginia, points participants toward spiritually fervent and Christ-like service of God and others.
April 1–5
Servant Mission in a Troubled World.
Dr. Jonathan J. Bonk, OMSC's executive director, examines theological, ethical and missiological implications of political violence, human dislocation, economic inequity, and religious ideology as contexts for Christian life and witness.
April 8–12
Ethnicity as Gift and Barrier: Human Identity and Christian Mission.
Dr. Tite Tiénou, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, works from first-hand experience in Africa to identify the "tribal" issues faced by the global church in mission.
April 22–26
Transformational Leadership: An Entrepreneurial Approach.
Rev. George Kovoor, Trinity College, Bristol, United Kingdom, brings wide ecclesiastical and international experience to evaluation of differing models of leadership for mission.
April 29–May 3
Christian Mission, the Environment, and Culture.
Dr. Allison M. Howell, Akrofi-Christaller Institute for Theology, Mission, and Culture, Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana, considers Christian responses to climate change—something that is not new in human history—and the catastrophes that often accompany climate change, so as to provide a framework for Christian mission in facing new crises.
May 6–10
Spiritual Renewal in the Missionary Community.
Rev. Stanley W. Green, Mennonite Mission Network, and Dr. Christine Sine, Mustard Seed Associates, blend classroom instruction and one-on-one sessions to offer counsel and spiritual direction for Christian workers.
OMSC is committed to a policy of non-discrimination with
regard to race and sex for admission to all OMSC programs.
Request for INFORMATION ABOUT LONG-TERM
RESIDENCE and SEMINAR REGISTRATION
LONG-TERM RESIDENCE: Send an e-mail to residence@OMSC.org if you wish to apply for residence of one month to one year, including registration for four or more consecutive seminars. Information with an APPLICATION FOR STUDY AND RESIDENCE will be mailed to you.
SEMINAR REGISTRATION: Fill out the SEMINAR REGISTRATION form (above) if you wish to apply for individual seminars (up to three).
Due to the labor involved in obtaining visas, applicants from a number of countries are encouraged not to apply for study periods shorter than six months.
