Throughout this year, I will be teaching the following courses multiple times in various places and at various times:

1. What's the Difference?
Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants

With the Catholic Church’s recent response to the Traditional Anglicans, people have become increasingly curious about the differences in the practices and beliefs of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians. This 8-session course helps you gain a deeper understanding of the differences while also strengthening your understanding of the Catholic faith.

This talk aims to help its participants better understand the beliefs of people coming from various Christian traditions. This is so that we can avoid making premature conclusions about other Christians before seeking first to understand what they truly believe.

Session 1 - A Brief Historical Survey
Session 2 - Conversations about Faith
Session 3 - Conversations about God
Session 4 - Conversations about Worship
Session 5 - Conversations about Salvation
Session 6 - Conversations about Leadership
Session 7 - Conversations about Contemporary Issues
Session 8 - The Call to Christian Unity

2. The Splendour of Truth:
Difficult Questions about the Catholic Faith

Why has the Catholic Church committed so many atrocities throughout history? Why must Catholics have Tradition and not just Scripture alone? Do Catholics worship Mary? Why do Catholics communicate with dead people? Is purgatory not just some Catholic superstition? Isn’t indulgence just a money-making mechanism created by the Catholic Church just before the Protestant Reformation? Why does the Catholic Church have seven sacraments? If the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Christ, doesn’t that make Catholics cannibals? Was the Apostle Peter really the first Pope? Is it reasonable to hold that the Pope is infallible? Why must Catholic priests be celibate? Why must Catholic priests always be men?

These are some very crucial questions about the Catholic faith, among many others, asked by a good many people from other Christian communities. Unfortunately, not many Catholics are actually able to answer these questions, especially when other Christians demand evidence for these teachings from the Scriptures. This 8-session course aims to help Catholics to better understand the Scriptural and theological bases for such Catholic beliefs which are usually difficult to explain.

Session 1 - Relationship of the Catholic Church with Other Christians
Session 2 - Difficult Questions about Church History
Session 3 - Difficult Questions about Scripture and Tradition
Session 4 - Difficult Questions about Salvation and the Afterlife
Session 5 - Difficult Questions about the Sacraments
Session 6 - Difficult Questions about the Papacy
Session 7 - Difficult Questions about the Priesthood
Session 8 - Difficult Questions about Mary and the Saints

3. The Hour of the Laity:
Understanding Our Lay Participation in the Mission of Christ

After the Second Vatican Council, there often seems to have been confusion among clergy, religious and laity in the Church on what the differences are in their vocations. As a result, we witness today unprecedented movements in the Church towards the gradual laicisation of the clergy and the clericalisation of the laity. A proper understanding of the roles of clergy, religious and laity needs to be restored.

This need has become particularly pronounced among the laity as the lay faithful have been given more prominent emphasis in the Church since Vatican II. The Church continues to call for the formation of all the lay faithful who share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly mission of Christ in the world. This 6-session course aims to help the lay faithful of the Church - families, married couples, parents, single people, young people, lay leaders - to understand the characteristics of their lay vocation and the roles and responsibilities proper to their vocation. It helps its participants to understand what this all means for their daily lives as the lay faithful of the Church.

Session 1 - Defining the Laity: What They Are Not
Session 2 - Defining the Laity: What They Are
Session 3 - The Priestly Mission of the Laity
Session 4 - The Prophetic Mission of the Laity
Session 5 - The Kingly Mission of the Laity
Session 6 - Mary, the Supreme Model of Lay Vocation

4. Call to Worship:
A Journey towards Being the People of God

The Pentateuch recalls how the people of Israel were called by God to walk in relationship with Him based on a covenant they shared with Him. From once being no people, they were now a people called "Israel".

But being God's people entailed more than just religious rites. It meant a whole new way of life, an entirely new identity which separated them from the identities of their neighbours. In having called them, God had to disciple them and teach them how to be His people.

Similarly, the people called the Church of Jesus Christ are now a people called by His name. We are to walk in relationship with God, to bear His name, and to reflect His nature and character. But what does all this imply for our daily lives as Christians?

This brief series (preferably conducted as a retreat) will explore what it means to be God's people, what God's will is, and how we as His people can live according to His will.

Session 1 - Living as God's People
Session 2 - Living According to God's Will
Session 3 - Living in Trust
Session 4 - Living as Aliens in this World

Note: My schedule for this year is already packed, and will no longer be able to fit in any new engagements. To ensure that requests for sessions in 2011 can be met, it would be good to communicate them to me at least 8 months prior to the intended dates.