SEATTLE PREP THEOLOGY CURRICULUM

 Theology Department Mission

 Grounded in the gospel call and the Jesuit tradition, religious education atSeattlePreparatory Schoolblends theory and practice, doctrine and spirituality, academic knowledge and affective formation. Beginning with the student’s experience, this education combines the history, beliefs, and practices of the Catholic Church with a faith-building method that respects the variety of religious traditions alive in the Prep community and the world at large.

 Theology Department Curriculum

Grade 9 - Foundations in Faith*
This is an overview of Catholic Christianity, with topics including Sacraments, Faith, The Church, Jesus and St. Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits).  Students with also explore various forms of prayer and share perspectives on personal faith experiences.

Understanding Catholic Christianity – St. Mary’s Press
Catholic Youth Bible – St. Mary’s Press

Grade 10 - Scripture and Morality

This course is an overview of the Christian Scriptures, which contain both the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the New Testament.  We will begin with an introduction to the Bible itself: how to use it and how it came into being in the form we now have it. Students will study Scripture from many perspectives: literary, contextual, historical-critical, social and theological.  Our emphasis will be contextual, not literal.

And God Said What?  -- Paulist Press
Catholic Youth Bible -- St. Mary's Press

Grade 11 – Junior Theology: Church/Service/Spirituality 

“Theology is faith seeking understanding” - St.Anselm
This three-part course combines the topics of Contemporary Church Issues, Exploring one’s personal Spirituality and Service to the Community (30 hours required). The Christian Service Journal and The Personal Spirituality Presentation are at the center of the experience in Junior Theology.

Christian Foundations: An Introduction to Faith in our Time – Paulist Press
Jesus before Christianity – Orbis Books
Catholic Youth Bible -- St. Mary's Press

 Grade 12 – Electives (students choose two of the following)

• Bioethics - Students can expect faith-based research and discussion of important contemporary ethical issues including abortion, managing convalescence and dying, capital punishment, complex medical treatments and technologies.
• Faith in Action – This is a hands-on planning and senior peer ministry course. It will provide leadership opportunities in the areas of liturgy, retreats, and service.
• Psychology of Human Relating – An overview of human psychology with regard to relationships with topics including Communication, Parents, Life Choices and Sexuality.
• East-West Meditation Practices - This course will explore various Sacred Traditions and their spiritual practices. We will experience how their teachings and meditative practices can support personal and global change and transformation. Half the class will be devoted to practicing different meditation/prayer methods and half to researching the teachings, cultures and consciousness within them and out of which they emerge. Various Christian Contemplative practices, Buddhist (Zen and Mindfulness practices), and Coast Salish Native spirituality, along with Yoga, Tai Chi, nature skills, music, and movement prayer all will be explored.
• World Religions – This course seeks to undertake the important goal of understanding, collaborating and dialoguing with other religious traditions including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and others.
• Social Justice and Advocacy – This course is intended to provide senior students an opportunity to put their commitment to justice into action. Throughout the semester, students will learn about different issues of injustice, what people are doing to try and solve those injustices, how students can personally get involved to seek justice for those most marginalized in our world, and work to devise and implement their own solutions to injustices.

 SENIOR SEMINAR - All seniors will be required to take a Senior Seminar second semester.  Two of the seminars can be used as a theology credit:
• Economics, Ecology and Ethics explores the dynamics of these three complex fascinating areas and their effects on the future of our nation and planet. The Global Water Crisis will be at the heart of our exploration, examining it through the lens of these three distinct, yet interrelated disciplines.
• Themes in Literature: Forgiveness and Reconciliation will address the issues of forgiveness and reconciliation as students encounter them in their own lives and in the larger world.  It will begin by examining the need for self-forgiveness, move to forgiveness of family and friends, and culminate in the study of the role of forgiveness and reconciliation in a number of global issues with an emphasis on social justice. 

 9th and 10th Grade Collegio also covers the following theological and religious themes and by 2013-2014 students will be awarded a semester’s worth of graded credit in Theology each collegio year (for a total of eight semesters in theology)….
Grade 9 - Scripture, Church History, World Religions

Grade 10 - Catholic Social Teaching, Global Community, World Religions, Christian Service