Ministerial Craftsmanship –
LAD 602/LAD 402

Centers for Spiritual Living School of Spiritual Leadership”
Florida Campus

Friday, Oct 27 6-9:15 m   Saturday, Oct 28,  10-6 pm

Friday, Nov 17, 6-9:15  pm  Saturday, Nov 18,  10-6 pm

Instructor:  Rev. Dr. Toni LaMotta   thecommunitycsl@gmail.com
(941) 938-3529 cell

Course Description:

This class deals with the day-to-day ecclesiastical work of the minister. The student will study and create an effective order of service, and study a variety of types of services, rituals, and ceremonies. The student will develop skills in setting up and delivering Sunday services, baptisms, weddings, commitment ceremonies, Memorials and Holidays: e.g. Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving; Healing service, Interfaith Service, and New Member and New practitioner ceremonies.

Course Prerequisites: None

Learning Objectives: The student will

  1. Study and create effective ceremonies such as weddings, memorials, adult baptisms; child baptism, baby blessing, class completion, new member recognition, board dedication, volunteer recognition; Easter service, Christmas Service, Cinco de Mayo, Kwanzaa, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Yom Kippur, healing service, youth and teen service. These will also include songs, lyrics, and music.
  2. Learn various ways to create orders of service and develop skills in setting up and delivering a weekly Sunday service. We will also be learning how to use technology to enhance these services.
  1. Gather a portfolio of written materials for services, ceremonies, appropriate pastoral record keeping, articles, and letters for different occasions. (We will share all of these digitally so you will have an awesome resource when the course is completed.)

National Competency Standard

At the conclusion of this course, each student demonstrates the following minimum competencies:

Spiritual Consciousness

–       Enhanced sense of ritual and one’s own sacred life

Knowledge:

–       Understands the nature and purpose of ritual

–       Identifies situations appropriate for conducting ceremonial movements within a church, boards, practitioners, and members of the church community.

–       Understands and can recall guidelines for scripting a ceremony including prayers, meditation, music, and instructions

–       Is knowledgeable about the purpose and application of ceremony and services in the Centers for Spiritual Living and in a spiritual community

Abilities and Skills:

–       To create opportunities for ceremonies, rites of passage, and other rituals

–       To demonstrate the ability to create and lead ceremonies and rituals

–       To begin to compile and create rituals

–       To be able to script out and create a ritual/ceremony

Course Requirements:

  1. Class attendance  (30 pts.)
  2. Display a comprehension of assigned readings and other assignments for each session (10)
  3. Recommended reading report – prepare a 1-2 page review of any one of the recommended books for 2nd weekend.  Make sure the review is your PERSONAL response – not just a rehash of what is in the book. (20 points).
  4. Well-established online (and physical if you wish) manual containing various ceremonies, special Sunday Services completely prepared during the first session, articles, and resources for potential clients – (ongoing) submitted digitally at least 3 days end of class so they will be available for everyone. (40)

 Reading Resources:  (Click on the link to purchase the book on Amazon)

Together we will develop a READING RESOURCE and each student will report on a different one of these sources during the third session. See the website for previous student reports. http://ceremonycreator.tonilamotta.com/books/ 
Currently unavailable -We’ll make it ready for the next group!

Here are some highly regarded suggestions:

Warren, Rick, The Purpose Driven Church: Every Church Is Big in God’s Eyes
– Chap. 14 – Designing Seeker Sensitive Services

Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People

Farmer, Stephen, Sacred Ceremony: How to Create Ceremonies for Healing, Transitions and Celebrations, 2002

Fulghum, Robert, From Beginning to End, The Rituals of Our Lives, Fawcett Columbine, New York, 1995

Kingma, Daphne Rode, Weddings from the Heart, Contemporary and Traditional Ceremonies for an Unforgettable Wedding

Some, Malidoma, Ritual, Power, Healing and Community, Swan/Rayven, Oregon (1993)

Bausch, William, Storytelling, Faith and Imagination,  Publication Date: September 1984 |

Huntley, Karyl: Real Life Rituals – especially  pp. 1-43; 190-245

Evans, Ann Keeler, Promises to Keep, Crafting Your Wedding Ceremony

Graceful Passages: A Companion for Living and Dying (Wisdom of the World) by Ram Dass, The Very Rev. Alan Jones, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Fr. Maximillian Mizzi (Jun 1, 2006)  Use the link here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1577315618/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1577315618&link_code=as3&tag=midlimessa00-20&linkId=34DCTVP6J6XYW5QA

Other somewhat related suggestions:

Wilber, Ken  Integral Vision: A Brief Introduction

Smith, Paul Integral Christianity: The Spirit’s Call to Evolve  Paperback – August 1, 2012

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS

BEFORE THE FIRST SESSION – Read the articles under the RITUALS category on this site, or other articles of your choosing on why do rituals….and come prepared to share what ritual means to you and what was the most significant ceremony/ritual in their life to date.

For 1st weekend:  RITUALS, Understanding Integral and the Three Faces of God, Weddings and Sunday Celebrations

  • Come to class with a prepared ORDER of SERVICE for a “normal” Sunday – be sure to include the THEME for the day and music, meditation and anything else you might use to make it unique. We’ll share these in class.
  • Each of you will be creating a SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE in teams during class – (Come prepared with PowerPoint and/or video meditation, special ritual, music, etc.).  You can choose any holiday or special occasion – you can use but are not limited to the samples listed in the Objectives.
  • Research Wedding ceremonies and all potential circumstances and add-ons – come prepared to share

For Second Weekend: Technology, Memorials, Eulogies

  • Research potential technology to be used on Sundays and special occasions – eg. live streaming,  podcasting, etc. Be prepared to share best practices.
  • Bring Music and stories that can be used for Memorial Services – we will develop them in class
  • Develop 2 forms – Interviews that you can use to help create custom Memorials and Weddings – we will use these to create usable samples
  • READ  Embracing the Aging Process – chapters. 7 & 8 Prepare to Die…(can be purchased through Amazon on the link abov.

Book Reports, All other Ceremonies and Record-Keeping

  • Students will deliver a 10 -15 minute report on the book they researched – how they will use what they have learned; also write a one-page review to help others decide if the book would be beneficial to them.
  • Review other possible occasions and ‘excuses’ for ritual – Prepare at least 3- eg. New Year Burning Bowl; World Day of Prayer; Pride Day; Church Anniversary; Board Renewal; Installations and Ordinations; AGNT celebrations – Global Oneness Day, Season of Non-Violence; Season for Interfaith/Intercultural
  • Discuss the importance and forms of Record Keeping
  • Prepare a closing CLASS RITUAL and celebration

GRADING

A+   96-100

A      92-96

A-     88-91

B+   85-87

B      80-85