‘A Church in Crises’ – New, Free, Online Course at SHMS

Sacred Heart Major Seminary (SHMS) is offering a new, free, online course entitled “A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward.”  The course is set to begin on Sunday February 27, and runs through Friday April 8.

Dr. Ralph Martin, Professor of Theology and Director of Graduate Programs in the New Evangelization is hosting the course.

As SHMS’ announcement for the course states, “Consider this a Lenten study or retreat experience, done at your own pace.  This is an opportunity to grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord and with others.”

As the announcement further states, “The Church today faces significant challenges: an increasingly secularized society, disruptive culture, scandals, and a growing polarization caused by lack of clarity about what the Church teaches.”

Course Structure

This free, non-credit course is offered online using the seminary’s learning management system, Canvas. Upon signing up for the course, students will receive a username and password for accessing the online class.

The online course gives students the freedom to engage with the material and complete course tasks around their own schedule. The class will consist of six modules. Each module can be completed according to the individual’s own pace.

Each of the modules will be taught/hosted by Dr. Martin.

Each module will include:

– Lecture Video (~20 minutes)
– Lectio Divina Exercise (~10 minutes)
– Personal Assessment Quiz (~5 minutes)
– Supplemental Reading Material

About the Course

In this course Dr. Ralph Martin, director of programs in the New Evangelization, offers a detailed look at the growing hostility to the Catholic Church and the dilution of its teaching. This course seeks to uncover the forces working to undermine the Body of Christ and offers hope to those looking for clarity and seeking truth in our modern world. The curriculum is based on Dr. Martin’s book A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward [October, 2020].

The course consists of six modules.

#1: What Is the Crisis?
#2: The Shield of Faith
#3: Sexual Morality and Sacred Scripture
#4: The Virus of Universalism
#5: Prophetic Insight
#6: What We Can Do Personally

The goal of the course is not to deliver a high level of rigor or stress, but instead engage Catholics who want to learn more about their faith.

In a short video on SHMS’ website, Dr. Martin says the course will cover:

• The sexual revolution, how it’s reaching its crazy conclusion;
• A virus that’s even worse than Covid that’s spreading through the Church – the virus of Universalism;
• How we need to recover our confidence in the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture;
• Personal things we can do in our own life to make sure that we stand strong and don’t cave in on the increasing pressures against Christ and the Church.

About Dr. Martin

Dr. Ralph Martin is Professor of Theology, and Director of Graduate Programs in the New Evangelization at SHMS.  He holds an MA in Theology from Sacred Heart School of Theology in the Archdiocese of Detroit, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas (the “Angelicum”) in Rome.

Martin is also president of Renewal Ministries and the host of The Choices We Face, a weekly Catholic television and radio program distributed throughout the world.  He also serves as a visiting professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Pope Benedict XVI named him consultor to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.

Dr. Martin is also the author of a number of books, the most recent of which are The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call; The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints, and Will Many Be Saved? What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization. He and his wife Anne have six children and fifteen grandchildren and reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

For more information, or to register for the course, click on this link.