DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to equip Korean students with a biblical and psychological understanding of divorce and remarriage. It will enable students to be more effective in ministering to the divorced and the remarried through counseling and education. It will also teach students how to understand and work with the children of the divorced. Finally, it will familiarize students with clergy self-care, which is essential in working with people in distress.

Korean families in the USA and Korea are undergoing a myriad of serious family problems. The number of divorcing couples, single parents, blended families, and troubled children of the divorced continue to increase. This reality is forcing Korean churches to initiate healing ministries for families in pain. However, Korean church leaders are not properly trained to minister to such families. This course aims to equip Korean church leaders with the ability to initiate family ministry for the divorced and remarried that is theologically solid as well as suitable for Korean families and churches.

The course will utilize lectures, student presentations, discussion, and video-tapes. The class will meet weekly for three-hour sessions for ten weeks.

Backus, W. Learning to Tell Myself the Truth. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1994.

Olson, R. P. and C. D. Pia-Terry. Ministry with Remarried Persons. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1984.

Oswald, R. M. Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry. New York: Alban Institute, 1995.

Smoke, J. Growing through Divorce. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995.

Worthington, E. L. Counseling before Marriage: A How-To Approach. Dallas: Word, 1990.

Cloud, Henry and John Townsend. Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say No to Take Control of Your Life. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992.

Dunn, D. New Faces in the Frame. Nashville: Life Way Press, 1994.

Ferguson, D.; T. Ferguson; B. Walker; and J. Walker. Discovering Intimacy. Austin: Intimacy Press, 1998.

House, H. W., ed. Divorce and Remarriage: Four Christian Views. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1990.

Nouwen, H. The Wounded Healer. New York: Doubleday, 1972.

1. A fifteen-page paper on ministry to the divorced or the remarried, or on clergy self-care.

2. Conducting two sessions of an education program on divorce and remarriage at a local church or in an informal setting.

3. One class presentation.

Understanding Korean. (English may be used for class presentations and for papers.) No audits.

Meets MDiv core requirement in Pastoral Counseling (MIN 5) and concentration in family life education and pastoral family counseling.