Section outline

  • Women and Leadership Photo

    Women and Leadership in Early Christianity (3 credits)

    Instructor: Henry Reyenga

    Content Provider: Dr. Carolyn Osiek

    Need help: CLI Help Desk (helpdesk@christianleaders.net)

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    Overview: This course surveys the historical data available concerning women in early Christianity, starting from the ministry of Jesus through the first several centuries of the Catholic church. This course will help them see the Biblical role of women in ministry. For women called to ministry, this course will give confidence in their calling to ministry.

    What was it like to be a woman of faith in the time of Jesus and the early church? What historical evidence do we have concerning women's leadership in various forms? Dr. Carol Osiek leads this class. She has her Ph.D. from Harvard Divinity School. She has been on the writing team of two critically acclaimed books on women in early Christianity. One book is A Women's Place, and the other book is Ordained Women in the Early Church. While it is not possible to offer the texts of these books, CLI students may want to purchase these books. 

    Ordained Women in the Early Church

    A women's place








    Course Outcomes:

    1. Acquire historical intelligence about the role of women in early Christianity.
    2. Grow in confidence for ministry inspired by the lives and work of women in early Christianity. 
    3. Develop an early Christianity sociological framework for women and family relationships that the Gospel of Jesus Christ impacted.
    4. Be confirmed in your calling for minister and ordination to ministry. 


    Assignments:

    1. Read the assigned materials. Reading assignments are used with permission from the Christian History Institute and Wikipedia. 
    2. Watch online video lectures for each unit. 
    3. Take the online quiz for each unit. You will have 75 minutes to answer 20 multiple-choice questions for each quiz. Once a quiz starts, you must finish it and can't retake it. So be ready to take the entire assessment in one sitting every time. Each quiz covers readings and video lectures for that unit. While taking the quiz, you may use your notes and refer to articles and other materials. Tip: First, answer all the questions you know. Then try to look up answers to questions you don't know. When you have entered an answer for every question, submit the quiz for grading before the 75-minute limit. 


    *The course has a total of 240 points: 20 points for each of the twelve quizzes.


    Grading Scale:


    A 95-100%   A- 90-94%   B+ 87-89%   B 83-86%   B- 80-82%   C+ 77-79%   C 73-76%   C- 70-72%    D+ 67-69%   D 63-66%   D- 60-62%   F 0-59%


    Your average grade     must be at least 60%. Otherwise, you will fail the class and will receive no course credit.


    Deadline: You have 180 days to finish the course. Complete all assignments before the final deadline, or you will be automatically unenrolled, and all coursework will be removed. You will have to start over and retake the class to receive credit.