Mission: The courses in this discipline draw on theological principles and teachings to explore issues that confront us on a daily basis, both in our personal lives and in society, and how we can develop skills and attitudes that foster Christian living and further the role of the Christian church in the world.

Core: Courses address basic spiritual disciplines and provide a foundation for Christian ethics.

200 level: Courses develop skills/themes for both individual Christian living and for the role of the church in society, focusing on qualities necessary for Christian leadership.

300 level: Courses address themes of Christian maturity, both as individuals and as a community of faith.

Theme Courses marked with this symbol (at left) are directly related to the theme for the 2007 - 2008 year Changing Times...Changing Seasons, which focuses on Daniel 2:21.

Practical Theology/Christian Living Courses: 2007 - 2008
Mission Accomplishments
A Helpful Overview: FAPC’s Many Outreach Ministries
A Report From Our Youth on Their Summer of 07 Mission Trip
FAPC’s Katrina Mission Trip – Past and Future
Next Ministries Mission Trips and Service Projects
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: The Denomination’s International Relief Effort
Madagascar, Land of Biological, Cultural, and Spiritual Richness
Africa: Sorting out the News
Changing Haiti's Environment
Crossroads Mission Tithes

100 Level
"Lord, Teach Us to Pray"
Reframing: Creative Techniques for Exploring Different Ways of Seeing Things
How to Select a Preschool for Your Child
How Christians Vote
Creating a Vision for Your Life
Overview of the Muslim World via the Gallup World Poll
Mission Accomplishments

200 Level
Handling Data Dumps and Explosive Feelings
Conflict Management: Caring Conduct + Creative Resolution
Speaking the Truth in Love: Giving and Receiving Feedback and Criticism
Forgiveness: The Forgotten Feast
Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Welcoming the Stranger
Transitions and Change: Blessing or Potential Crisis
Spiritual Passages: Growing in Grace
The Bliss of Contentment
Environmental Dimensions of Poverty
Women’s Winter Sabbath 2008 (Stony Point)
A World in Need: Health Care and Human Rights

300 Level
The Quest for Security in an Insecure World
A New World Order: Scenarios for the Future

TERM 1
(Click to print Term 1 Registration Form)

PTCL119 • A Helpful Overview: FAPC’s Many Outreach Ministries
Karen Johnson
Sunday at 1:00 pm
October 14

In the first session of “Mission Accomplishments” Karen Johnson, an active elder and chair of the Outreach Group, will present an overall view of the outreach program of FAPC. The session will“put a face on mission” as some of the dedicated volunteers will tell of their work why they are doing it, and how it has changed their lives.

PTCL119 • A Report From Our Youth on Their Summer of '07 Mission Trip
Jacob Bolton
Sunday at 1:00 pm
October 21

The Youth of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church had a cultural immersion experience as they visited Playa del Carmen, Cancun, and the surrounding areas of Mexico. While in Mexico they observed
and experienced local customs and enjoyed cultural points of interest. The youth also participated in native worship services and helped local church members build worship spaces. In this session the youth and Jacob Bolton, Director of Family Ministries at FAPC, who accompanied the group will present and share their experience.

PTCL119 • FAPC’s Katrina Mission Trip – Past and Future
Deborra Mullins
Sunday at 1:00 pm
October 28

FAPC members have participated in three mission trips to the Gulf Coast to assist local residents as they rebuild homes and lives devastated by Hurricane Katrina. More than two years after the hurricane, life has not returned to normal for many people, especially low income families. Many are still living in FEMA trailers and dealing with financial, psychological and medical problems resulting from the loss of homes and support systems. Debbie Mullins, a member of the Mission Trip Committee who has participated in several mission trips, including two to Pearlington, Mississippi, will lead a discussion about how these trips provide tremendous communal and spiritual growth
opportunities, while providing practical hope and help to hurricane victims.

PTCL287 • Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Welcoming the Stranger
Jill Schaeffer
Mondays, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
September 17 to October 22

This class will explore the meaning of “Welcoming the Stranger” in increasingly multicultural and multifaith life settings. Selected Old and New Testament texts will focus upon the “stranger” and the “enemy,” and how these texts might inform congregational ministries of hospitality. Prior to the first meeting of class, registrants will be asked to submit 400 words on what “stranger” and “enemy” mean to them (200 words on each). On the last day of class, participants together will compose “action guidelines” for welcoming the stranger

Class Size: 30

Book: Christine D. Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999, $18. B

PTCL288 • Transitions and Change: Blessing or Potential Crisis?
Joy Carol
Saturday, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
October 6

More and more of us are in transition because of changes and events that are out of our control - environmental changes, job loss, illness, disability, divorce, death, relocation, job demands, transitions in our churches, and a world filled with terrorism, war, and financial insecurity. Many of us have a fear of being in transition. This workshop explores: recognizing life’s inevitable changes; understanding that some doors will be slammed shut for us, but others will open; identifying our strengths that will help us during times of transition and change; learning how to expand our horizons even during difficult situations; facing life’s challenges with a sense of courage, optimism, and peace of mind; and participating in spiritual exercises and practices that bring us closer to the Divine.

TERM 2
(Click to print Term 2 Registration Form)

PTCL119 • Next Ministries Mission Trips and Service Projects Cherryl Martin
Sunday at 1:00 pm
December 9

Hurricanes. Hunger. Homelessness. What is the appropriate response for Christians and moreover, what is our best hope for lasting change? For FAPC young adults, the answer is simple...“Mission.” Join us then as Cherryl Martin who participated in the 1999 mission trip to Jamaica, leads a discussion on the continuing relevancy that mission has in the 21st century for 20's/30's adults in New York. Highlights include a report from our inaugural mission team to Orange Grove, MS, as well as
our plans for the future.

PTCL120 • Reframing: Creative Techniques for Exploring Different Ways of Seeing Things
Elizabeth Matta
Wednesdays, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
November 7 to December 12

Participants in this course share with each other their “maps of the world” - the world as they see it. Charts with pictures and photos are shown that invite varying interpretations by others. Participants work in pairs, exchanging ideas about the meaning they find in the pictures. They listen with respect and close attention to each others’ thoughts, becoming more “other” oriented in the process. We will uncover spiritual resources within us that help us change unwanted habits that don’t serve us in our Christian lives.

Class size: 16

PTCL122 • How to Select a Preschool for Your Child
Karen and David Liu
Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
November 17

It’s not easy raising a child in New York City! Please join us for a fun, interactive, hands-on workshop exploring the process of selecting the correct preschool for your child. We will discuss how to help your child prepare for preschool, researching schools, what to look for when visiting a school, questions to ask, developmentally appropriate activities, public versus private schools, licensing and standards, transitioning to kindergarten, resources available, and how to make this a “family friendly” journey.

Handouts and homework will be distributed in class.

PTCL211 • Handling Data Dumps and Explosive Feelings
Daryl Hall
Saturday, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
December 15

This is the first of four courses designed to provide you with skills to meet the demands of discipleship in everyday situations and with a variety of “difficult” people (anyone who doesn’t agree with you!).  Each course builds on the skills learned in the earlier courses. This course covers techniques for: Managing the intake and retention of enormous amounts of facts; Managing the environment, emotional filters and our own behaviors that get in the way of communicating with another; Figuring the unspoken message in emotional statements; and Selecting the best techniques for responding to others when they are afraid, angry, sad, and/or happy. Please bring a brown bag lunch; coffee and tea will be provided. You might want to think about also enrolling in the follow-up class – Speaking the Truth in Love – which will take place on Saturday, January 26.

Class size: 20

PTCL290 • Environmental Dimensions of Poverty
Jane Carter Ingram
Mondays, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
November 5 to December 3

This course will explore the environmental dimensions of international development and poverty reduction. The curriculum will address: the connections between the environment and human well being; global trends and changes in the natural world, such as deforestation, climate change, resource degradation and species extinctions; the impact of these environmental changes on human development and poverty reduction efforts; the role of natural resource conservation in international development efforts; and global responses to these challenges, such as the Millenium Development Goals. The majority of the course will focus on these issues in developing countries such as Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Costa Rica.

PTCL294 • The Bliss of Contentment
Janet S. Gibbs
Sundays, 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
November 4 to December 9

Contentment is a gift of grace which like all gifts must be received in order to be given. We all play an active role in achieving contentment. Not everyone has the capacity to do what that requires. We must allow it in order to possess it. In this course we will discuss what leads to contentment: what interferes with it, and what qualities nurture it.

PTCL332 • The Quest for Security in an Insecure World
Robert F. Smylie
Sundays, 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
November 4 to December 9

Terrorism, wars, environmental changes, economic globalization, economic underdevelopment, and energy shortages, among other things, have bred and fostered incredible insecurity in the world, between countries, between religious communities, and between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” What is the Biblical understanding of human security? What might be required to achieve security in the 21st century, what contributions might the United States make to the achievement of security or the continued presence of insecurity, and what might be learned from our theological and ethical traditions? The course will seek to explore these issues through interactive study and discussion.

TERM 3
(Click to print Term 3 Registration Form)

PTCL119 • Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: The Denomination’s International Relief Efforts
Mary Jane Potter
Sunday at 1:00 pm
January 6

PDA supports presbyteries and congregations through the aftermath of natural disasters (hurricanes, floods and tornados) or partner church organizations (the tsunami and international earthquakes) as well as traumatic events where extensive pastoral support is vital for recovery (especially, school shootings). The discussion will highlight PDA’s philosophies and work. Mary Jane Potter, AMREF USA, the USA affiliate of the African Medical and Research Foundation & Flying Doctors, Chair of the Board of Directors will lead the discussion and highlight PDA’s philosophy and its work.

PTCL121 • How Christians Vote
Michael C. Coniaris and Karinne M. Hernandez
Mondays, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
January 14 to February 11 (4 weeks)

As the Iowa Caucus kicks off the race for the presidential nomination, this class examines Christian voting patterns. What are the main issues of Christian voters? Which candidates are they likely to vote for? Are there other factors in play that determine their worldview? What trends come into play when considering their vote? What are the candidates doing to cater to them? This class will use academic research and polling data to help answer these questions.

PTCL212 • Speaking the Truth in Love: Giving and Receiving Feedback and Criticism
Daryl Hall
Saturday, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
January 26

This practical skills course explains how you can tell people the truth and maintain a wonderful relationship. The course covers: What is effective feedback; When should feedback be given; How to give feedback effectively; How to request changes in behavior that empowers the person hearing the request; How to receive and manage feedback; and How to foster God’s ministry on earth with feedback. This course will include case studies, discussion, and skill practice, including skills learned in PTCL211. Please bring a brown bag lunch; coffee and tea will be provided.

Class size: 20

PTCL213 • Conflict Management: Caring Conduct + Creative Resolution
Daryl A. Hall
Saturday, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
February 9

“Conflict” conjures up unpleasant feelings, the possibility of unhappy outcomes, and relationships that are permanently damaged. Like many other day-to-day living skills, con­flict management skills can be learned so that the outcomes provide mutual advantages to all parties involved. This course will use case studies, discussions, interactive exercis­es and skill practice. Outcomes from the course include identifying: Common causes of conflict; The pluses and minuses of conflict and fighting; Your preferred conflict management style; Eight steps to managing conflict; and Five conflict management responses (analysis of situations for applicability). Please bring a brown bag lunch. Coffee and tea will be provided.

Class size: 20

PTCL258 • Women’s Winter Sabbath
Katherine C. Dunn
Friday, January 18, 6:00 pm - Saturday, January 19, 4:00 pm
Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, NY

This overnight retreat will provide women with a Sabbath experience of rest and renew­al, as we study and reflect together on the Book of Ruth and explore themes of friend­ship and covenant. Bible study, worship, and times for personal meditation and reflection will all be a part of our retreat experience, as well as opportunities to get to know and interact with other FAPC women in a fun and relaxing environment. Be sure to sign up early.

Retreat Size: Limited to 60

In addition to the registration fee there is a $5 retreat incidental fee as well as the following fee for housing. Rooms will be reserved on a first come, first served basis. Fees: Gilmore Sloane House, $110 each (double occupancy) and $140 (single occupancy); Lodge, $ 90 each (double occupancy) and $ 115 (single occupancy)

PTCL 291 • A World in Need: Health Care and Human Rights
Holly Atkinson, Oliver Fein, Joseph J. Fins, Daniel W. Fitzgerald, Antonio M. Gotto Jr., Pablo Rodríguez del Pozo, Carol Storey-Johnson
Saturday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
February 2

Poverty has been called the world’s biggest health problem. What is the role of doctors, who have the privilege of serving society, in response to such problems? This interactive workshop will explore questions of physician responsibility and medical ethics, with emphasis on the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. Is health care a human right? Are the principles of medical ethics universal or culture-specific? What responsibility do pharmaceutical companies have in making medicines available to the world’s poor? Is there an obligation to provide quality health care in regions of armed con­flict? What role should physicians play in pro­tecting refugees and victims of torture? You will be able to discuss these and other press­ing issues with Dr. Gotto, Dr. Fins, and a panel of Weill Cornell experts.

TERM 4
(Click to print Term 4 Registration Form)

PTCL119 • Madagascar, Land of Biological, Cultural, and Spiritual Richness
Charles Dougherty, Jacky Radifera, and Kevin Taylor
Sunday at 1:00 pm
February 24, March 2, March 9

In these three-session classes, you will learn about the beautiful island of Madagascar, the homeland of many of our brothers ands sisters at FAPC. The program will provide an overview of Malagasy culture, history, and current social and political events. The class will discuss the results of recent mission trips and generous gifts from FAPC, as well as explore possible future service opportunities. All are welcome, especially those who might consider joining a mission trip group in latespring 2008. Each session will be led by a FAPC member. Charles Dougherty is a well known faculty member of the CCS classes who has taught Bible and Church History courses for many years. In 2004, Jacky, a native of Madagascar, led the first mission trip to Madagascar, and Kevin participated in the second trip in 2006.

PTCL119 • Africa: Sorting out the News
Mary Jane Potter
Sunday at 1:00 pm
March 30

The news from Africa is hopeful and not only dire. This session will offer a discussion of developments
in Africa and provide an overview of some very exciting improvements that are indeed taking
place in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mary Jane Potter who traveled to 20 African countries for business
and non-profit work will lead the discussion.

PTCL119 • Changing Haiti's Environment
Sally Harwood
Sunday at 1:00 pm
April 6

Haiti Fund, Inc., started in 1989, is dedicated to sustainable development work in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Our mission is to cooperate with and assist the people of rural Haiti by initiating, funding, administering and sustaining development programs aimed at increasing self-sufficiency. In this session, Sally Harwood a member of FAPC who has been involved for
many years and participated in mission trips of Haiti’s Fund Work Inc. helping build cisterns and fish ponds, doing health clinics and programs in the schools, will lead a discussion on the many positive results of her work in the lives of the people and their environment.

PTCL102 • “Lord, Teach Us to Pray”
Mercedes Condy
Sundays, 9:30 am - 10:45 am
February 24 to March 30

“Lord, teach us to pray,” asked Jesus’ disciples. Prayer is our pledge of deepest intimacy where we are known to the fullest. We will study how prayer can move us into personal transformations, deeper intimacy with God, and more effective ministry with others. We will learn to understand, experience and produce prayer in its many forms using scriptures, meditation, centering prayer, lectio divina, and other resources.

PTCL123 • Creating a Vision for Your Life
Jill Waymire Paine
Wednesdays, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
February 24 to April 2

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be: it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more. It reminds us that the future does not just descend like a stage set; we construct the future from our own history, desires, and decisions.” (Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School Professor) This class is designed to help you create a vision for your own life. It will help you uncover your life dreams and turn them into accomplishable goals. You will have an oppor­tunity to establish an action plan to help you achieve your vision. The class will also cover the process of change and provide tools to help you manage change in your own life.

Class size: 20

PTCL214 • Forgiveness: The Forgotten Feast
Daryl A. Hall
Saturday, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
April 5

This course deals with forgiveness in our day-to-day activities, both at work and in per­sonal relationships. Its aim is to provide a forum - explore the attitudes and beliefs involved in forgiveness, and to provide practi­cal steps everyone can take to forgive others and themselves. This course will use case studies, discussions, interactive exercises and skill practice, including skills learned in PTCL213. Outcomes from the course include: “Definition of forgiveness - what it is and isn’t”; “Four steps to forgiving others”; and “Seven steps to forgiving yourself.” Please bring a brown bag lunch. Coffee and tea will be provided.

Class size: 20

PTCL289 • Spiritual Passages: Growing in Grace
Joy Carol
Saturday, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
March 15

We live in a society that is afraid of change— especially the aging process. Our society rarely values the wisdom, insight, and knowl­edge of its elders. Although we all experience dramatic changes, we may not be aware that there are patterns that unite the diverse stages of our lives. We may not be able to connect different parts of our journey of life in a meaningful way nor do we visualize pos­sibilities for future direction and growth. This workshop explores: significant moments and events of each phase of our lives; the people who guided and influenced us during each period; the consequences of each phase of our lives; new options open to us in the future; future directions for growth, forgiveness, and understanding; re-contextualizing our lives to make them more meaningful and beneficial; and spiritual exercises that help us harvest the experiences of our life.

Handouts available in class

TERM 5
(Click to print Term 5 Registration Form)

PTCL119 • Crossroads Mission Tithes
Sally Harwood and Karen Johnson
Sunday at 1:00 pm
May 4

In this seminar Sally Harwood, chair of the Benevolence Committee, and Karen Johnson, chair of the Outreach Board, will bring us
up-to-date on the generous gifts given to several groups: who benefited and consequently how our gifts brought change in the lives of in the lives of the recipients.

PTCL124 • Overview of the Muslim World Via the Gallup World Poll
Jamie Kravitz
Tuesdays, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
April 22

This thought-provoking program looks into the views of the Muslim world on the most topical issues of today. Though the Gallup World Poll, those in attendance will discover details of the views of the Muslim world with a depth of insight not usually reported by mainstream media. The Gallup World Poll is the largest undertaking of its kind. The Gallup Organization is measuring the well­being and overall status of the world’s citizens for the next 100 years. Continually polling a sample representing 95% of the Earth’s adult population, the Gallup World Poll provides access to the voices, hearts, and minds of citizens in more than 130 countries and areas. Asking the same core questions across nations over time enables leaders to compare data and identify emerging trends.

PTCL272 • From the Bible to the Balance Sheet: Navigating Your Finances in New York City
Anne Westall, Coordinator
Mondays, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
April 21 to May 19

Living in New York City is stimulating, hectic, exciting, and expensive. Attempting to balance our expenses with a desire to take advantage of opportunities the city offers while also saving for the future and giving towards God’s work as good stewards, can be some­what overwhelming. Thankfully, the Bible is filled with principles that speak to money and the impact it has on our lives. We will explore the different ways God speaks to us about money, discuss how these words can positively impact our lives, and develop hands-on practical solutions geared towards your current financial situation. This course is designed to provide you with tools to help you feel better about how and why you spend your resources.

PTCL333 • A New World Order: Scenarios for the Future
Robert F. Smylie
Sundays, 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
April 20 to May 18

Over sixty years after the end of World War II and the founding of the United Nations and fifteen years after the ending of the “Cold War,” and well into the first decade of the 21st century, the course of the future is still to be determined, a concern of necessary interest for the Church - both ecumenically and domestically. Pundits, scholars, and diplomats wrestle with a number of scenarios and the implications of each. Are there theological and ethical considerations that can help Christians in their response to these forces? The course will examine the implications of each scenario and consider some of the basic literature related to each through both Christian lenses and American lenses.

A packet of resources will be available for a modest fee.

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