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Disciple Seminary Foundation’s

Certificate of Pastoral Leadership in a Divided World

DSF-Leadership Development - Expressing an Inclusive, Anti-Oppressive Vision for the Church and How to Make it Happen - Pilot

Partner Disciple Seminary Foundation
Learning Pillar Theological Imagination
Rigor Level Medium
What makes a good leader? We will explore the biases and oppressive structures that severely inhibit open, inclusive, collaborative leadership and what it looks like to embody liberative leadership in the church that counters oppression in its many guises. Possible topics include racism, homophobia, white supremacist structures, immigration, violence, poverty, sexism, disability awareness. What are effective ways congregations can partner with faith-based community organizations to make a difference locally and globally?

Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment

Students completing this course successfully will be able to:

  1. Distinguish between service and justice as biblical and theological concepts
  2. Discuss historic and contemporary illustrations of faith-rooted justice work
  3. Begin building a strategy for engaging diverse communities around the work of anti-oppression and inclusion

Course Components

Leadership Development

DSF-Leadership Development - Expressing an Inclusive, Anti-Oppressive Vision for the Church and How to Make it Happen - Pilot

Taught by Sandhya Jha

Explore what it means to embody liberative leadership in the church by confronting biases and oppressive structures while cultivating practices that promote inclusion, justice, and faithful collaboration within and beyond the congregation.

Sandhya Jha

Meet Your Instructor,
Sandhya Jha

Sandhya Jha (they/them) is an anti-oppression consultant currently working on their PhD at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice, with a focus on comparing contemporary progressive and conservative social movements. Sandhya is the founder and former executive director of the Oakland Peace Center and a multifaith community organizer. An ordained pastor with master’s degrees in both divinity and public policy, Sandhya is comfortable in the pulpit, on the picket line, or hanging out with friends and friends-to-be over a good cup of tea and a good story. Sandhya’s fifth book with Chalice Press, Rebels, Despots, and Saints, came out on MLK Day 2023. They are currently heading up a research team at UPenn’s SAFE Lab focused on the cultivation of belonging in digital spaces as a tool in social movement mobilization.

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