[version 2023.05]

DK2000/OT2012/NT2011 Biblical Perspectives on Diakonia

This course is designed to equip students with an understanding of and motivation to do diakonia through the Scriptures. Besides introducing the diaconal works in the Bible, some important biblical motifs (e.g., biblical anthropology, suffering) highly related to diakonia will be discussed. Moreover, this course also tries to enhance students’ sensitivity towards the ‘diaconal messages’ revealed in the Bible.

DK2001/MC2015 Mission and Diakonia

This course is designed to equip students with an understanding of the relationships between mission and diakonia, affirming diakonia as a core mission of every Christian and the Church, and exploring how church/faith-based organizations can do missions with diaconal perspectives in a society/community or the world.

DK2002/SW2018 Spirituality and Diakonia

This course is designed to equip students with an understanding of the relationship between diakonia and spirituality, exploring the elements and implications of diaconal spirituality, nurturing students’ diaconal spirituality, and inviting them to reflect on how to nurture that spirituality among their churches/faith-based organizations.

DK2003/CE2004 Family and Parenting

Although families are the basic unit of society, the divorce rate in China and many western countries has been increasing in the past decades. “Have you been divorced?” is a common expressive phrase and a question that people in Mainland China pose these days. Divorce is destructive to family relationships. It negatively impacts couples and their children. This course is designed to increase students’ understanding of the family and its challenges from different perspectives; and to equip students with knowledge and skills in serving families. The main content of the course involves: domestic violence, pre-marriage counselling, couple communication, parent-child relationships, single parents and parenting, and children with special needs.

DK2004 Elderly Ministry

This course is designed to equip students to serve elderly people effectively in their churches and communities. Students are to be equipped in the following areas: biblical perspectives on the elderly; the physical, psychological, social and spiritual characteristics and needs of elderly people; the challenges that elderly people and their families face, and services for the elderly.

DK2005 Youth Ministry

The young people of this age have become a generation of church dropouts. Does the church understand the needs of the youth? Are young people the “future” or the “present” of the church? Has the practice and research of youth ministry been trapped by utilitarianism? Through introducing to students the biblical and theological foundations of youth ministry, youth culture, the challenges that young people are facing today, youth services and the youth ministry of the churches of Hong Kong, this course is designed to equip students with the right attitude, understanding and skills towards young people and youth ministry.

DK2006 Ministry with People with Disabilities

Are people with disabilities assets or burdens to their churches? Is serving them God’s calling to the church or “a poor business decision”? This course is designed to equip students to serve people with disabilities and to build inclusive churches and societies. This is done through equipping students with knowledge in the areas of the biblical and theological foundations of ministries with people with disabilities, and the needs, services and challenges of disabled people and their families.

DK2007 Methods and Skills of Diakonia

Diakonia study is multi-disciplinary. It comprises theology, social analysis, the scientific approach and methodology. Diaconal service is not only remedial and charitable, helping individuals and families to solve their problems. Diaconal service is also preventive (e.g. through community education and other activities to influence social policies). The goal of this course is to equip students with some basic scientific knowledge and the skills for working with individuals, groups or the community, so that they may use different skills or multi-skills to serve people in different situations and needs.

DK2008 Project Planning and Applying for Project Funding

This course introduces project planning and fundraising from an NGO perspective. The goal of the course is to help students learn how to plan projects and apply for funding. This will be done by using the Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) as a basis. Students will create their own hypothetical projects in groups, using the tools provided throughout the course, and will present this at the end of the course. The course will also introduce students to an asset-based approach to development work, called Use Your Talents/Umoja. This method is particularly useful for working with little funding and at the grassroots level.

DK2018 Ministry with People Living in Poverty

This course aims to enhance students’ understanding of the definition of poverty, the poverty situation in Hong Kong and the world, the challenges faced by the people living in poverty, the theologies related to poverty, and the concepts of the church for/with/of the poor. Such understandings help students to reflect on how their churches/faith-based organizations can respond to the challenge of poverty.

DK2019/CH2016 Diaconal Theology and Practices in History

This course is designed to equip students with an understanding of and motivation to do diakonia through historical and systematic theological perspectives. This is done by exploring how diakonia has been practiced and changed throughout the church history. Moreover, the theological concepts (e.g., missiology, ecclesiology) behind those practices and changed will be discussed.

DK3000 Diakonia and Leadership

This course gives an introduction to theories of organization and leadership with relevance for diaconal work. The course will combine general theories with more explicit theological and diaconal scientific perspectives on leadership. The focus will be on challenges for leadership relevant for work in public and civil society/ NGO’s, with special attention to leadership in the church. The relationship between leadership, gender, and power will be addressed.

DK3001 Diaconal Practicum

Practicum studies of diakonia are arranged in: a. the congregation; b. institution/organization; c. mission/international diakonia. Local students may be exempted from the practicum. They will have to take an additional course to fulfill this requirement if they are already involved in a work place. Practicum is about 120-150 hours with 3 credits.