Resources for You and Your Congregation

Sabbatical Leave Opportunities at BTSR

Looking for a great base for your sabbatical? BTSR and the surrounding area offer numerous educational opportunities and resources for reflection, renewal, and revitalization. The following information describes several resources, but is by no means comprehensive.

Accommodations

• Stay in one of our fully furnished one-bedroom apartments. Wireless Internet access is included. Rates are $25 per day or $100 per week.
• For short stays of 1-3 nights, rooms are also available in Paisley Hall and Thompson Hall on the Union-PSCE campus. Rooms are comfortably furnished and each has a private bath. Both halls have kitchens. Rate is $40 per night.
• Join the seminary community for lunch in the cafeteria in Lingle Hall, Monday through Friday when classes are in session.

William Smith Morton Library

• Immerse yourself in one of the nation’s finest resources for studies in theology, Bible, and church history. The book collection numbers more than 300,000 volumes and grows at a rate of some 4500 volumes per year. The library receives more than 950 periodicals and scholarly journals. In addition to library holdings, students have access to more than two million volumes in collections made available by the institutions that participate in the Richmond Academic Library Consortium. The library also participates in the Washington Theological Consortium, VIVA/VICULA, and the American Theological Library Association. The Instructional Resource Center houses an extremely rich audio-visual collection which includes over 14,000 sermon and lecture tapes, church-school curriculum, videotapes, digital video discs (DVDs), slides, compact discs (CDs), posters and banners.
• Study carrels are available.

Professional Development

• Depending on the time and length of your sabbatical, you may wish to visit or audit classes, or take a course for credit.
• Choose from courses offered by any of the Richmond Theological Consortium (RTC): Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR), Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education (Union-PSCE), or the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology of Virginia Union University (STVU).
• Consult with a BTSR faculty member on a topic of interest

Personal Development

• Work with a Life Coach.
• Work with a Spiritual Director
• Participate in chapel services and other BTSR events
• Explore the rich history of Richmond

Physical Fitness

• Maintain or improve your fitness with a short-term memberships at Easterling Zacharias Health Institute adjacent to BTSR
• Jog or amble along on the walking trail.

For more information about arranging your sabbatical at BTSR, email us at scminfo@btsr.edu.

Sabbatical Bibliography

Sabbatical Funding Resources

Guided Discussion and Bible Study for Adults: Conversations about Worship—Understanding and Articulating a Theology of Worship
(works of Marva Dawn are used as background reading material)

Session One: Defining Worship
Session Two: Understanding How We Worship – The Elements of Worship
Session Three:  The Church Year and the Lectionary as Tools that Enrich Our Worship
Session Four:  Worshiping With Our Lives: Being Church

Originally designed (Fall 2006)
by Reverend Nancy Rock Poti
for
Trinity Church, Baptist
401 Branchway Road
Richmond, Virginia 23236
Download the study and discussion guide

The Online Connection

Sunday School teachers, small group leaders, children’s workers, youth workers, mission trip teams, ministry teams, as well as many other groups, need training to be better equipped for their ministries. If you have ever attempted to schedule a training session when all group members could attend, you recognize the futility of such efforts. If you are ready to explore offering leadership training, Bible studies, or other educational sessions via the Internet, the Online Connection may be the resource you are looking for.

Through the Online Connection, congregations gain access to the course management system, Blackboard™, used by many academic institutions. Blackboard™ functions as a highly sophisticated e-mail system that accommodates documents, sound and video clips, and interaction among participants. Online, self-paced tutorials guide leaders and participants through the process of using the system.

Your password-protected Blackboard™ site provides a repository for training materials, resources and discussion interactions. Group members can access materials and participate in the discussion whenever it is convenient for them, even if that is at 2:00 AM. Regardless of when they choose to participate, they can fully engage in the on-going discussion by reading and responding to comments that might have been posted several hours or days earlier.
The School of Christian Ministry provides free access to the Online Connection.

Technical assistance is also provided via an online helpdesk. Course design and construction assistance is available at $50 an hour. To get your congregation connected, contact Kim Siegenthaler, ksiegenthaler@btsr.edu.

To see a sample course, go to http://blackboard.btsr.edu
Enter username: visitor
Enter password: visitor
On the top right side of your screen, click the Online Connection demo link

Links for the
School of Christian Ministry
Course Descriptions
Request a catalog
Click Here for the School of Christian Ministry Catalog
(5 Mb Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Click here to download the School of Christian Ministry Registration Form
(163 Kb Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Click here to download the School of Christian Ministry Scholarship Application
Click here for the Online Registration form
Suscribe to the School of Christian Ministry Newsletter