In this 35 week course you will travel back in time:
 

     ♦ Befriending the Christians of past ages – saints, martyrs, clergy, sinners and regular folk

     ♦ Experiencing great Art, Architecture, and Music of the Church

     ♦ Tasting the foods of the time

     ♦ Discovering the origins of our liturgy, Scriptures, music, spirituality, traditions, and Tradition (capital T )

     ♦ Visiting the places where it all happened through photography, computer generated images, charts, maps, timelines, powerpoints, and diagrams.

               

We will begin in Israel at the birth of the Church, travel to Syria, Asia Minor, North Africa, Constantinople, Great Britain, Egypt, Greece, and of course Rome. We will cover the first five centuries of the Christian Era, and you will never be the same after you experience, “up close and personal,” these glorious foundational years of the Church.

 

There are 2 tracks - you may take either or both:
 

Track 1 – Meets 3 times a month on the 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th Monday evenings at 7:00 for class, with a preceding dinner at 6:30 once a month (a taste of the past!). This track will study the history of the Church beginning at Jerusalem in the first century, and proceed chronologically through the fifth century. This is the ongoing track.
 

Track 2 is a supplement to the first track and will be a series of short courses, meeting on the 3^rd Monday at 7:00 pm, exploring in 1 to 6 classes, special topics of interest in Church History. This will allow those who want a more in depth understanding of certain areas to indulge that interest without bogging down the ongoing series. It is meant to be a supplement, but each short series will be complete in itself and could be taken as a short unit even if you are not taking the ongoing course.

           

                        Examples of Short Courses in Track 2:

                                    ♦ Exploring Ancient Christian Rome
                                    ♦ Tour and History of the Vatican

                                    ♦ The Heresies of Church History t 
                                    ♦ History of the Doctrines related to Mary

                                    ♦ Understanding Church Architecture

                                   

In September, Track 1 will start on September 14^th and begin with the Church at Jerusalem on the 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th Mondays, with the short courses on the 3^rd Mondays (except holidays) to continue through June 2010.

 

Books: 1) The Story of Christianity, Justo Gonzales

              2) Triumph: The Power and the Glory of theCatholic Church, H.W Crocker III
 

You will also have a binder for handouts, maps, etc.