NACOS 2025 Sessions
NACOS 2025 Spring Session
NACOS 523: Evangelism
Course Description: This course introduces students to the theology and practices of evangelism as an expression of the mission of God.
Prerequisite Courses: NACOS 121 & 122
Instructor: Carol Lakota Eastin, M.Div, M.A.
Online Zoom Sessions: March 18, 20, 25, 27, & April 1, 3, 8, 10
Session Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:00 - 5:00 PM US Central
Final Papers/Projects Due: April 30, 2025
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1. Reflect on and articulate the meaning of the Gospel with an understanding of the Church as bearers of God’s Word to the world.
2. Ground a theology of evangelism through scripture, the Gospel, and the mission of God.
3. Interpret the Wesleyan heritage of evangelism.
4. Reflect on and implement strategies and models for evangelism by the congregation.
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Texts (Required):
Henry Knight & F Douglass Powe: Transforming Evangelism: The Wesleyan Way of Sharing, 2006
Richard Twiss, Rescuing the Gospel From The Cowboys, Intervarsity Press, 2015
Jack Harnish, 30 Days with E. Stanley Jones, 2022
Supplemental: First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament, Intervarsity Press
NACOS 2025 Summer Sessions
NACOS 124: Transformative Leadership
Course Description: TBA
Instructor: Michelle Oberwise Lacock
Online Sessions: June 16 - July 3rd, 2025
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TBA
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TBA
NACOS 522: Theology in the Contemporary Church
Course Description: This course covers significant individuals, movements, events, and theological developments from the nineteenth century to the present in light of GBHEM goals.
Class Prerequisite Courses: NACOS 100/200, 322 & 422
Instructor: Rev. Dr. Jerome R. (Jerry) DeVine
Online Sessions: June 16 - July 3rd, 2025
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At the end of this course, Students will be able to:
Explore the current theological situation with an eye to joining tradition and innovation and responding to the realities of our time. The Reformation is always reforming and we need a theology as lively as the world in which we live.
Understand the origins and theological tenets of theological liberalism from the early
19th century to the present, including its influence on ecumenism and process theology.
Understand and distinguish reactions to liberalism, including Fundamentalism, and Neo‐Orthodoxy, and Evangelicalism. Also exploring current trends toward white Christian nationalism in the U.S.
Understand the historical development and theology of the Holiness Movement, Pentecostalism, and the Charismatic Movement.
Understand the origins and tenets of Liberation, Environmental, Feminist and Contextual Theologies
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To give the student an awareness of the major themes that the Church dealt with in the modern era. To help the student to begin to grapple with “post-modern” Christianity. To aid the student in beginning to envision what the Church may look like in the 21st century. To have the student encounter non-Western expressions of Christianity. To invite the student to deepen their own theological development.
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Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology. 4th Edition. Daniel Migliore. Eerdmans Press. 2023
Note: Additional required texts, reading and online sources will be in final syllabus.
NACOS 2025 Fall Sessions - Grand Rapids, Michigan
This following courses will be hybrid courses with both in person and zoom classes. Registration will open in May, 2025.
NACOS 223 Worship and Sacraments (Prerequisite Courses: NACOS 121 & 122)
NACOS 321 Bible III: Gospels (Prerequisite Courses: NACOS 121, 122 & 221)
NACOS 324: Preaching (Prerequisite Courses: NACOS 121 & 122)
NACOS 524: Theological Reflection/Practice of Ministry (Students should have completed at least 16 courses to be eligible for this class)
How to Sign Up for a NACOS Course
Step 1
Select Course(s) by clicking on the “Register” button(s). Each click will add a $75 registration fee to your Cart.
Step 2
Click on the Pay COS xxx Tuition button. A $300 Course Fee will be added to your Cart.
All students must have DS and Registrar approval signatures, even if they are returning students. Follow all instructions on the form.
Step 3
Go to the Cart and Checkout.*
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History
In response to needs identified by members of the West Michigan Indian Workers Conference, and a Racial Ethnic Task Force report of 1998, serious conversation about starting a Native American Course of Study was begun. Classes began in the Spring of 2003.
Content
The intent is to make pastoral training economically accessible, culturally interpreted, contextually relevant and communally comfortable for those attending the class. A typical course includes: Two four-day sessions, reading texts and preparing papers prior to class, interactive sessions with dialogue, field application and feedback that will include some written and oral work.
Who May Attend
Our mission is to educate and train Native American local pastors in the United Methodist Church. The school uniquely prepares students to work cross-culturally in a variety of settings. In addition to Native Americans, NACOS is open to pastors of all races/ethnicities serving Native American people within their congregations and communities, as well as those pastors responding to a call to work in Native American Ministries.
Accreditation
This school is an extension school of the Course of Study School of Ohio at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. It is under the accreditation of the United Methodist General Board of Higher Education, and has been approved as a national school, accredited for both the basic and advanced course of study. Although a course of study does not terminate in a degree, classes are accredited and can be applied toward a seminary degree.
An Extension of Methodist Theological School of Ohio
A Course of Study Program Under the accreditation of the United Methodist General Board of Higher Education