Course Descriptions

The Foundational Certificate Program is based on four pillars of formation: intellectual, human, spiritual and pastoral. While these four pillars are woven into the program as a whole, eight of the Saturday classes focus on the intellectual formation. The additional two days emphasize the other areas of formation. Here is additional information about those sessions:

Year I:

• An Overview of Whole-Person Formation
• Praying with Scripture (emphasis on Lectio Divina)

Year II:

• Intercultural and intergenerational competencies
• Becoming Mature Disciples: Temperaments, emotional health and boundaries in ministry

Click HERE for the spiritual, human and pastoral formation sessions.

ICL 101 Foundations of Catholicism 
This course serves as an introduction to the teaching of the Catholic faith as it is rooted in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition and joyfully proclaimed by the Church's magisterium. Focusing on key Catholic doctrines such as the Trinity, Divine Revelation, and the Incarnation, the course will also give a introduction to theological study. Special attention will be given to how the truths of the faith are integrated within the whole plan of God’s revelation.
 
ICL 102 Salvation History: Old Testament                                  
The first of two courses that help students to understand God’s plan of salvation from Genesis to Revelation. This introductory course highlights key themes, figures and events of the Old Testament. The course will touch upon the Patristic (Church Fathers) method of scriptural interpretation, emphasizing the relationship between the Old and New Testaments (typology). The goal of the course is to impart a “big picture” understanding of the Word of God.

ICL 103 Salvation History: New Testament                                         
This course illustrates the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ and provides an introduction to the New Testament through texts and themes in the Gospels and the Epistles. The primary goal is to foster a strong familiarity with the events, mission and life of Jesus and how he calls his followers to share in his work of making disciples of all nations. In addition, the theological and spiritual significance of the New Testament will also be studied.
 
 ICL 104 Jesus Christ: True God and True Man (Christology)  
This course will give students an introduction and a deeper understanding of the person and mission of Jesus Christ as Son of God and Son of Man. By imparting familiarity with the development and significance of key ideas in Christology, the course will focus on some of the Christological controversies of the early Church as well as medieval and modern developments in Christology. Students will survey the New Testament, the early creedal formulae, patristics, and conciliar teachings. The goal of the course is foster a greater love and faith in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of Man.

ICL 105 Theology of the Church: 
Explores the fundamentals of ecclesiology (Theology of the Church), the nature of the Church, its mission ad gentes (to the nations), its Christological and Biblical foundations. In addition, particular attention will be given to understanding the Church as Communion especially as it relates to Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium. Other important themes that will be explored are the Marian dimension of the Church, the relationship between Church and State and ecumenism. A special emphasis will be placed on the domestic church and the mission of evangelization as well as the challenges the Church faces in our time.

Click HERE for the spiritual, human and pastoral formation sessions.

ICL 106 The History of Christendom                                                                

This course surveys and explains the vastness of the Church’s two thousand year history. Through the lenses of its great saints, thinkers and witnesses, students will acquire a panoramic view of the Catholic faith and its rich history. In addition to the historical overview of the major time periods and events, particular attention will be given to the nature and mission of the Church. The course will also focus on the building of Catholic culture and the manner in which Christianity has shaped Western Civilization and the modern world.

 The Church is "in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only 'with the eyes of faith' that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as the bearer of divine life" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 770).

ICL 107 Celebration of the Christian Mystery: Liturgy and Sacraments  
This course serves as an introduction to the theological foundations of the Sacred Liturgy, its development and history. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Christocentric dimension of Christian worship, that it is the mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in the Liturgy. Following this, the course will survey each of the seven sacraments, their development, and their biblical and theological foundations as well as the primacy of grace. The goal of the course is foster in the students a deep love and appreciation for the rich heritage of the Sacred Liturgy as it has developed in the West.

ICL 108 ICL The Human Person: Mystery and Gift
This course is an introduction to the subject of theological anthropology. It seeks to explore the meaning and implications of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God (Imago Dei). The course will examine the relation between nature and grace, original sin, the concept of communion personarum (communion of persons), as well the impact of secularism and modernity on the understanding human person today. The course is a foundational for moral theology

ICL 109 Life in Christ: Morality 
This class provides a framework for understanding the Christian moral life in light of Scripture and articulated by the magisterium of the Catholic Church. The course will be rooted in an understanding of the nature and dignity of the human person as created in God’s image and likeness (theological anthropology). Additional areas of focus will be: the natural law, the moral act, the relationship between freedom and truth, conscience, the virtues, as well as the realities of sin and grace. In this way, students will be equipped with the essential moral teachings of the Catholic faith so that they may more confidently take up their place in the mission of the New Evangelization. Some readings include Pope St. John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor and the Catechism.
 
ICL 110 Prayer & Beatitude                                                    
This course will offer a survey of Catholic spirituality – the aim of which is the true and lasting happiness found in relationship with the Triune God. The cornerstone of the class will be the last section of the Catechism, which is a beautiful exploration of the role of prayer in the Christian life. Students will also have the opportunity to study the Liturgy of the Hours, spiritual classics, as well as the lives of men and women who serve as models of prayer and holiness. From the “little way” of St. Therese of Lisieux to the Marian devotion of Pope St. John Paul II, this course is designed to inspire participants to move towards “nothing less than transformation in God.” (St. John of the Cross).

Please be advised, that while education enhances the opportunities for a potential candidate to secure a position within the Church, completion of a Foundational Certificate does not guarantee that candidate a position.