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Faith, Identity, Community, and Calling

Partner Disciples Seminary Foundation
Learning Pillar Intentional Creation
Rigor Level Medium

In this course, we will explore why you have enrolled in this program.  What brings you here at this point in time?  This course will provide a time of vocational discernment and exploration of discipleship and values.  How do you understand faith?  What does it mean to feel called to ministry? Does your calling feel more individual or communal, and what might be the difference?  What questions and concerns do you bring with you? 

Competency Areas

Aligned with the Template for Ten Personal Qualifications

Ten Personal Qualifications

  1. Faith in Jesus Christ, commitment to a life of Christian discipleship, and nurturing spiritual practice
  2. A sense of call to ministry affirmed by the church
  3. An understanding of ministerial identity
  4. Capacity to engage in theological reflection
  5. Strong moral character and personal integrity
  6. Commitment to spiritual, physical, and emotional wellness sufficient for a healthy ministry
  7. Care and compassion for all people with appropriate relational skills.
  8. Responsible personal financial management
  9. Wide and generous stewardship in the use of God’s gifts
  10. Skills and abilities necessary for the rigorous pastoral tasks of ministry (As Listed in the Sixteen Competency Areas)

Faith, Identity, Community, and Calling

Taught by Rev. Dr. José Francisco Morales Torres

This course invites you to reflect on why you have entered this program and what is shaping your sense of vocation at this moment. Together, we will explore your understanding of faith, discipleship, and personal values, as well as what it means to feel called to ministry. You will consider whether your calling feels individual or communal and identify the questions and concerns you bring with you as you continue discerning your path.

This course is part of the DSF Certificate Program.

Rev. Dr. José Francisco Morales Torres

Meet Your Instructor,
Rev. Dr. José Francisco Morales Torres

Rev. Dr. José Francisco Morales Torres (DSF/CST graduate, Ph.D./2019) is the Associate Professor of Comparative Theology and Philosophy at Chicago Theological Seminary. He places historical voices into conversation with historically marginalized voices, within and beyond the Christian tradition, offering radical re-articulations of the Christian faith for today’s realities. His areas of interest include: comparative methods in theology and philosophy; liberation theologies, theological and philosophical anthropologies; philosophies of race; and history of Latin American philosophy. His first book proposes a new theological anthropology informed by the experience of wonder. Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology: Opened by the World (Lexington Books, 2023). He has also contributed chapters in In Sheep’s Clothing: The Idolatry of White Christian Nationalism (Eds. G.Yancy & B. Bywater, Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), and Moved by the Spirit: Religion and the Movement for Black Lives (C. Ringer, T. Smallwood, E. Townes, Lexington Books, 2023). He is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is married to Rev. Daphne M. Gascot Arias, also an ordained minister with the Disciples of Christ and a Ph.D. student (Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies). They share life and laughs with their daughters Daphne Magnolia and Yael Marie.

Join this course’s forum conversations