Christian Spirituality and Theology Short Courses 2024/25
Westcott House offers a range of short courses in Christian Spirituality and Theology. These courses are taught as part of our ARU MA degree programmes but are open to anyone. Taught online by world-renowned experts in the field, these short courses bring the world of Christian Spirituality and Theology directly to you. You will have access to our online learning platform where you will find pre-reading, class and lecture information.
These courses are suitable for anyone looking to broaden or deepen their interests in Christian Spirituality and Theology.
If you are interested in taking a course for credit (i.e. completing assignments for the course) either as a standalone or as a pre-cursor to further study on the MA please contact our postgraduate tutor Dr Jenny Leith for further information: j.leith@westcott.cam.ac.uk This mode of study does incur an additional fee.
Course details for 2024-25 are listed below:
Life in Liturgy: Spiritual Traditions of the Christian East
Getting to grips with Orthodox Spirituality. This course is an excellent introduction to some of the essential aspects of Orthodox spirituality, focusing particularly on its liturgical life and its social nature. This course demonstrates the holistic and integrated nature of Orthodox spirituality. Encountering key themes such as Orthodox Trinitarian theology, theosis, the importance of the liturgical, Eucharistic, and sacramental life in the Orthodox Church. Students will examine Orthodox monasticism, prayer, liturgy, mysticism, pastoral theology, and theosis as the ultimate goal of Orthodox spirituality.
- Dates: Tuesdays starting 6 May and finishing 8 July 2025
- Time: 3-5pm
- Mode: Online
- Cost: £230 GBP
- Booking: To register a place and book online for this course, please either click on the poster above or visit Eventbrite
Christian Mysticism East and West
Encountering the Christian Mystics and their Traditions. This course will give students a brilliant overview of the development of the Christian Mystical tradition in both the East and the West. There’s opportunity to learn more about the key themes and debates in the study of Christian Mysticism. Students will read a range of mystical texts and teachings and encounter key figures from across Christian traditions. There will be a focus on the language and images used in the texts and the key doctrinal beliefs associated with Christian mysticism such as apophaticism and deification.
- Dates: Wednesdays starting 7 May, finishing 25 June with a study day on Saturday 11 October 2025 (10-5pm)
- Time: 3.30-6pm
- Mode: Online
- Cost: £230 GBP
- Booking: To register a place and book online for this course, please either click on the poster above or visit Eventbrite
Children’s Spirituality
The spirituality of children is a wondrous and complex thing. This course provides an opportunity to explore the latest research and understanding in Children’s Spirituality drawing on Christian Theology, Child Development Theory, and theologies of childhood movements. What supports or hinders Children’s Spirituality? This course is open to all and will be of particular interest to those who work with children in churches, Paediatric Healthcare Chaplains, and teachers with responsibility for pastoral care in schools.
- Dates: Wednesdays (14 May, 11 June, 24 Sept, 15 Oct and 12 Nov 2025)
- Time: 1.30-6pm
- Mode: Online
- Cost: £230 GBP
- Booking: To register a place and book online for this course, please either click on the poster above or visit Eventbrite
Christianity and Ecology
How do we regard and value the natural world? What is the role of the human in creation and in relation to other creatures? How does this influence the way we live on earth and use its goods? This course is a timely opportunity to engage with some of the underlying questions raised by the environmental crisis. Drawing on the historical Christian tradition, particularly that of the Christian East, this course will enable students to identify the sorts of ecological action that form a natural expression of the Christian faith.
- Dates: Wednesdays (14, 28 May, 11, 25 June, 9, 23 July, 24 Sept, 8, 22 Oct and 5 Nov 2025)
- Time: 2.30-5pm
- Mode: Online
- Cost: £230 GBP
- Booking: To register a place and book online for this course, please either click on the poster above or visit Eventbrite
Ecumenism in Theory and Practice
‘We are one body …’ This course explores the challenges of unity and division within the Christian community. Paying particular attention to ecclesiology, the course explores ecumenism as praxis, dynamic theological enterprise, and a permanent calling to all theology.
Students on this course will engage with a variety of inter-church agreements and theological texts, exploring ecumenism on both the global and the local scale. An essential course for anyone involved in the life of the church.
- Dates: Thursdays (15, 29 May, 12, 26 June, 10, 24 July, 18 Sept, 2, 16 and 30 Oct 2025)
- Time: 3-5.30pm
- Mode: Online
- Cost: £230 GBP
- Booking: To register a place and book online for this course, please either click on the poster above or visit Eventbrite
The Mystery of Love
What is love? This course dives into the philosophical and theological features of love. It will take you on a journey of love from the pre-Christian era up to the 21st century. Exploring key contexts of agape, eros, and philia, you’ll engage in reading primary texts. What kind of love does Christian theology demand? Does love occur spontaneously or is a virtue that must be acquired? Who should we love, and how? All these questions and more are up for discussion and debate through this lively (and lovely!) course.
- Dates: Fridays (16, 30 May, 13, 27 June, 11 July, 26 Sept, 10, 24 Oct, 7 and 21 Nov 2025)
- Time: 3-5.30pm
- Mode: Online
- Cost: £230 GBP
- Booking: To register a place and book online for this course, please either click on the poster above or visit Eventbrite