This Weekend School course will take place at The People’s Seminary in the Skagit Valley of Washington State, 1½ hours South of Vancouver. The People’s Seminary is a theological reflection and training center tied to New Earth - Tierra Nueva, (an ecumenical ministry to Mexican migrant farm workers, inmates, ex-offenders and gang members). Immigrants, ex-offenders, gang members and other marginalized people will participate in the course, sharing from their life experiences and ongoing struggles.

The objective of this course is to develop a Biblical, theological and pastoral framework for a ministry of presence and proclamation to people who assume they are rejected by God. This assumption is based on a complex web of life experiences including poverty, misfortune, neglect or abuse from parents and/or exclusion from the dominant culture and from the church because of race, social class or anti-social behaviour. The instructor’s primary experience comes out of over twenty-five years of reading the Bible with people who often consider themselves “damned” – Central American peasants, Mexican migrant farm workers, inmates in Washington State jails, drug dealers, gang members.

Popular, street-level images of God and life will first be explored through required reading and lectures. How do many inmates, immigrants, gang members and drug addicts view God? What are the barriers that keep today’s most obvious “sinners” from believing the gospel? After exploring the context of today’s underclass, the following topics will be studied.

The course will explore the hermeneutical, theological and pastoral issues related to Scripture study, evangelism, and the celebration of the Sacraments with people who feel excluded from the church and society and rejected by God. The course will consist of lectures and discussion that will include a survey of the Biblical messages addressed to the marginalized (slaves, exiles, tax-collectors and sinners, etc.) throughout the scriptures, exegetical study of some of these key texts and discussion about the specific content and function of Biblical and theological concepts and doctrines such as: the Trinity, creation, fall, sin, redemption, call, covenant, judgement, exile, salvation, liberation, healing; unclean/clean—cleansing; demon-possession—deliverance and others. The course will also include practical teaching on effective ways to lead Bible studies, worship and offer other spiritual direction to marginalized people. There will also be a focus on hearing the voice of God while preparing and leading dialogical Bible studies.