PROGRAM OVERVIEW

An 18-credit certificate offered online for teachers, parish religious educators, other part-time and volunteer parish ministers, and others who are generally interested in the program. For some, the program further prepares them for parish service and/or religious education; for others it serves as enrichment. For those who wish the 18 credits accrued may be applied towards the 36 credit Master of Arts degree with concentrations in Religious Education, Spirituality, or Pastoral Studies.

Enrollment in the Certificate Program requires completion of an undergraduate degree. 

The competencies outlined by the United States Bishops in their document Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord are included in the courses offered in the Certificate Program in Faith Formation through the venue of a total course or components within the courses in the curriculum. 

Co-Workers indicates that the following are core elements to be included, “to varying extents,” with all programs:

• Scripture and its interpretation. This element includes the historical and social contexts of the biblical writings, recognition of their literary forms, and the Catholic exegetical tradition of the Fathers of the Church and medieval commentaries.
• Dogmatic theology. This includes the Trinity, Christology, ecclesiology, Christian anthropology, and eschatology.
• Church history
• Liturgical and sacramental theology
• Moral theology and Catholic social teaching.
• Pastoral theology. This dimension seeks guiding principles for the practice of ministry in a given context.
• Spirituality. Spiritual intellectual formation includes the history of Christian religious experience and diverse types of spirituality.
• Canon law. Canon law study should in particular cover those elements relevant to the lives of the faithful, such as their canonical rights and responsibilities, the sacramental life of the Church, and diocesan and parish structures.
  (Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord, p. 46)
   
   
   

Instruction will include the following content:
1 course in Ecclesiology
1 course in Scripture (New Testament)
4 courses to be chosen from the following areas: Liturgy, Sacraments, Spirituality, Religious Education, and Partners in Healing.
 
Online courses offered by the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Studies at Fordham University may be taken during the fall, spring and summer semesters and do not require time on campus. Professors structure the classes to pace your studies over the semester and include reading and writing assignments that keep you connected with your classmates.
   

APPLICATION AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
  
The application and registration form can be obtained by contacting the GSRRE Admissions Office at 718-817-4800 or downloaded from:
www.fordham.edu/gre/certificate
An application is not considered complete without official transcripts from all colleges and schools of higher education previously attended. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that these are sent to the Admissions Office:
GSRRE Office of Admissions
Fordham University
441 East Fordham Road, Keating 303A
Bronx, NY 10458-9993
Attn: Bert Binder
 
An application fee is not required
 

TUITION AND FEES
  

2007-2008 Graduate Tuition:	$650 per credit
General Fee (per term)	$100
Technology Access Fee (per term)	$ 85
Application fee	$ 0

                          
SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT
Click here to for more information on financial assistance available to GSRRE students.

ATTENDANCE, CALENDAR & CLASS SIZE
 
CLASS ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance in online courses is expected throughout the length of the term. Students who do not attend within the first week of a term will be dropped from the course roster and will not be allowed to submit further course work.
 
ACADEMIC CALENDAR
SPRING 2008: January 14 to May 9Z
SUMMER 2008: June 23 to August 1
FALL 2008: September 3 to December 19

CLASS SIZE
15 Students Maximum
 

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
 
CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY, 3 Credits
The course considers the major figures and themes and Christian spirituality inthe modern period. Students get to know key spiritual writers from the 16th to the 20th century. The focus is on how these writes thought mystically and how they applied that focus to their world. Themes from traditional and mystical thinking are used to address today’s issues. Faculty: Fr. Anthony Ciorra
 
CHRISTOLOGY, 3 Credits
This course presents a comprehensive review, from a Roman Catholic perspective, of the many different ways that the Church has understood Jesus Christ through the centuries. We will examine Biblical Christologies, and the final part concentrates on some contemporary Christologies. Faculty: Fr. Claudio Burgaleta
 
CHURCH AND SOCIETY, 3 Credits
Explores various ways of envisioning how faith communities can structure their internal lives and their relationship to the world. Includes a historical survey of understandings of church and society from biblical times to the present, with specific emphasis placed on using the resources of Scripture and Christian Traditions to help faith communities discern what God is enabling and requiring of them in the world today. Faculty: Fr. Claudio Burgaleta
 
EDUCATION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, 3 Credits
Focuses on developing a greater understanding of the social ministry of the Christian churches. After a historical survey of Christian attitudes toward peace and justice, 0participants will explore ways of bringing a concern for peace and justice issues into liturgy, preaching, religious education and pastoral ministry. The course also examines how to relate Christian understandings of peace and justice to everyday work, and civic, political and family life. Faculty: Harold D. Horell
 
HUMAN GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT, 3 Credits
This course will explore the development from birth and adolescence through the tasks and crisis of middle and later life. Stage theories, cognitive, social and emotional development will be the focus of this course. Special consideration will be given to spiritual life issues throughout the developmental process. Faculty: Kirk Bingaman
 
MORAL EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT, 3 Credits
Provides a framework for exploring foundational issues of morality and moral development, including how our understandings of the human person, community and attitude toward the natural environment shape our moral outlook. Emphasis is placed on enabling religious educators and pastoral ministers to make moral formation an integral dimension of education in Christian faith. Faculty: Harold D. Horell
 
PSYCHOLOGY & RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY, 3 Credits
Ongoing issues as well as points of integration between psychology and religion/spirituality. A transpersonal model of the human psyche building bridges between psychology and spirituality. Faculty: Lisa Cataldo
 
SACRAMENTAL SPIRITUALITY, 3 Credits
An exploration of present-day theological reflection, contemporary spirituality, and pastoral practice for ministry of the sacraments of initiation (RCIA) and the healing sacraments (reconciliation and anointing). The study and discussion will be biblical and ecumenical, interdisciplinary and multicultural. Faculty: Fr. Claudio Burgaleta
  
SOCIAL & CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF COUNSELING, 3 Credits
This course will explore the multicultural dimensions of counseling. It will elaborate the social and cultural goals of therapy from this perspective. Various theories, research and practice of counseling will be developed, including the spiritual dimensions of the theory. Faculty: Kirk A. Bingaman
 
THEOLOGY OF MINISTRY, 3 Credits
An exploration of the theology of ministry as derived from biblical foundations, the history of theology, and contemporary theologians. Self-understanding and kinds of ministry within the tradition for laity, religious and clerics appropriate to the contemporary church. Faculty: Fr. Anthony Ciorra
 
THEOLOGY OF PASTORAL COUSELING AND SPIRITUAL CARE, 3 Credits
This course addresses theological and spiritual issues in the field of pastoral care and counseling and proposes a theological method for reflecting on these issues. Faculty: Kirk A. Bingaman
 
THOMAS MERTON: SPIRITUAL MENTOR FOR THE 21st CENTURY, 3 Credits
This course will not only focus on the life and writings of Thomas Merton but also invite the student to get to know how he thought and to apply that vision to the 21st century. Faculty: Fr. Anthony Ciorra
 
YOUTH & YOUNG ADULTHOOD, 3 Credits
This course is intended for any faith-filled adult who lives with, or works among, youth and young adults. It will share a review of the supportive literature and research, offer concrete examples of application, critically explore present ministerial practices and principles associated with this age group, and structure reflective conversation among students regarding their own opportunities and experiences related to the spiritual formation of youth and young adults. Faculty: Harold D. Horell
 

ONLINE FACULTY
 
Anthony Ciorra, Dean of the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education. B.A., M. Div., M.A., Seton Hall; M.A., St. Bonaventure; Ph.D., Fordham
 
Kirk A. Bingaman, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Counseling. B.A., Messiah College, Grantham, PA; M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ; Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA; Licensed Mental Health Counselor, New York; Fellow, American Association of Pastoral Counselors
 
Claudio Burgaleta, S.J., Assistant Professor of Theology. B.A., Fordham;M.Div., S.T.L., Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; Ph.D., Boston College
 
Lisa Cataldo: BA, Brown University, Providence, RI; MBA, Columbia University, New York, NY; M.Div. and Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY. Graduate, National Institute for the Psychotherapies, New York, NY. Licensed Psychoanalyst in New York State.
 
Harold D. Horell, Assistant Professor of Religious Education. B.A., M.A., Dayton; M.T.S., Harvard Div., Ph.D., Boston College

Fordham University
Graduate School of Religion and Religious Studies
441 East Fordham Road
Keating Hall 3rd Floor
Bronx, NY 10458-9993
 
Phone: (718) 817-4800
FAX: (718) 817-3352
Email: gre@fordham.edu