Winter Term (January-March)

Course Description: This course covers the history of the Anglican Church chronologically from its beginnings in the Celtic period to the modern day. Particular attention will be paid to the major themes and tensions that have arisen regularly over the last 1800 years. The end goal of the course is a historically-informed sense of the identity of the Anglican Church, so that we can approach the current struggles and questions with wisdom.

Faculty: The Rev. Steven E. Breedlove

Steven Breedlove is the vicar of Church of the Incarnation in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Classics, where he was twice awarded the Epps Prize, given annually to the student showing the greatest promise in Greek language, literature, and history. He taught Greek, Latin, Rhetoric, and Philosophy at Veritas Christian Academy in Asheville, NC, and later obtained his M.A. in Education Leadership at Columbia University in New York City. After returning to serve as principal of Veritas, he went on to obtain his M.Div. from Beeson Divinity School, where he received the James Earl Massey Preaching Award and the Most Distinguished Student Award. He was ordained a priest in the ACNA in 2017 and began his work as a church planter in the Diocese of Christ our Hope in early 2018. His academic interests include theology, Greek and Latin literature, philosophy, and history. He is married to Courtney, and they have three children. As a family, they love the outdoors, books, games, and good meals with friends.

Spring Term (April-June)

Course Description: This course explores the sacraments and their role in the life of the church through the lens of Scripture, the church fathers, and the Anglican formularies. Along with developing an Anglican sacramentology, the course also will provide practical instruction in how the sacraments are celebrated and administered in the church.

Faculty: The Rev. Canon Dr. Ben Sharpe

Ben Sharpe has served in pastoral ministry since 1987 and has been planting churches since 1995.  In 2023 Ben began his new role as full time Canon Missioner for West Virginia and Appalachia in the Diocese of Christ Our Hope. Ben is a native North Carolinian, born in Chapel Hill and spending most of his childhood in the Sandhills region of the state. He earned his B.A. in History from UNC, Chapel Hill and his Master of Divinity from the Divinity School of Duke University. Ben received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Nashotah House with a special emphasis in catechesis. He is the author of the Foundations Course: A Catechism in Mere Christianity. He credits encountering the early church fathers while at Duke as one of the reasons he became an Anglican priest. Ben has been deeply influenced by patristic Christianity and has a particular passion for forming men for the priesthood. Ben is married to his childhood sweetheart, Lisa. Together they have three beautiful daughters and three grandchildren.

Summer Term (July-September)

Course Description: This course provides an overview of Anglican theology and ethics, in both historical and topical perspective, with attention given to the development of Anglican theology from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. This will be done in conversation with key theologians and theological movements, and applied to contemporary questions of ministry today.

Faculty: The Rev. Canon Dr. Jeff Bailey

Jeff Bailey, Ph.D., is the Canon for Leadership Development in the Diocese of Christ Our Hope. Prior to this, Jeff and his family lived in England for eight years, where he enjoyed Arsenal, pubs, and the BBC, but never cricket. Following his Ph.D. under Prof. David Ford, he taught theology at the University of Cambridge, and tutored ordinands in the Church of England. He was also engaged in Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogue as a consultant with the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, and is co-editor of the Eerdman’s Reader in Contemporary Political Theology. His research on faith and politics led him to the Centre for Social Justice, a policy think tank in London, where he became Managing Director and worked with the British government on issues of poverty and economic opportunity. After moving back to the United States he worked with university presidents, NGO leaders, and corporate executives as a strategy consultant, and during this time was also ordained a priest in the ACNA, joining the staff of the Diocese of Christ Our Hope soon thereafter. He is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Cambridge, and continues to sit on various boards for organizations working at the intersection of faith and public life. He and his wife Alicia have three teenage children, live in the Takoma neighborhood of Washington DC, and worship at Church of the Advent.

Fall Term (October-December)

Course Description: This course seeks to foster spiritual formation by studying the historical development and spiritual resources of the Anglican tradition and its relationship with the broader Biblical, historical, and ecumenical context. We will explore the integration of the Anglican spiritual tradition and practical theology. The course concerns both the individual's spiritual life and the special responsibilities of the ordained person for assisting in the spiritual development of others.

Faculty: The Rev. Canon Art Going

Art Going is the recently retired Canon For Spiritual Health of the Diocese of Christ Our Hope, where his ministry focused on leadership development, liturgy, and the spiritual health of clergy and parishes. He will continue ministry as a teacher, spiritual director, and coach. Educated at Princeton University, Indiana University, Christ Seminary, Covenant Seminary, and the University of Chicago, Art was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1981, as an Anglican priest in 2010. He has served as parish pastor and church planter in Germany, Chicago, Augusta, St. Louis, St Paul, Plano, and Louisville. He has been married for 42 years to Dr. Nancy Going; they live in Nashville and have two adult children and six grandchildren. Art loves all kinds of music, from Bach to Bluegrass, hymns new and old. He loves to cook and he loves baseball, particularly the St. Louis Cardinals.