Act Five Courses
The Academic Program for Act Five
The following courses are embedded into the weekly rhythms of Act Five. Beyond the classroom, students learn together around dining room tables, at the edge of riverbeds, around the campfire, in coffee shops, church sanctuaries and on farms. Each course is equivalent to a first-year university level 3-credit course and is accepted as transfer credit at participating academic institutions. Notice that we have shifted course names and descriptions and added some courses for the 2024-25 academic year.
Biblical Foundations (Formerly “The Six Acts”)
*A full year course
This course is taught by Act Five director, Jon Berends, and it explores the unfolding of the biblical story. The course begins with a study of creation at Russet House Farm with Bible Scholars, Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh and goes all the way through the end of the story, with our final hope of the New Creation. Over the course of the full year, students learn to see God’s character and mission of homemaking through the Big Story and come to wrestle with their own place in this Story. Students think through their own perspectives on scripture, learn to read well and chew on scripture, and hopefully encounter God in new ways, all in the midst of the many competing worldviews from the world around us.
Place, Home & Land
Wendell Berry writes of “[going] to wilderness places to be restored, to be instructed in the natural economies of fertility and healing, to admire what we cannot make.” This course is highly experiential and invites a new way of learning, beginning in the wilderness of Temagami, followed by a month spent digging into life in Hamilton, and finally time spent learning from and alongside Indigenous communities in Canada, both locally and on Manitoulin Island. Students learn everything from practices of paying attention, gardening, canoeing, and First Nations beading, along with why it matters that we care about where we live as Christians.
Outdoor Education: Place, Home and Land II (new 2024)
Steven Bouma-Prediger writes that “we care for only what we love. We love only what we know. We truly know only what we experience.” This course takes students to the classroom of the wilderness, to discover their place outside of urban environments and consider the deeper implications of what it means to be instructed by the natural economy. Students will build on their knowledge of local watersheds, flora and fauna identification, and wilderness survival through three major wilderness trips as well as local wilderness experiences and participation.
Spiritual Disciplines
*A full year course
This course invites students to consider their rhythms of life and the possibilities for living their days faithfully by examining spiritual disciplines as a pathway to spiritual formation. This is a course that celebrates the diversity of the body of Christ and the role imagination plays in expanding our capacity for empathy and compassion. Throughout the year, students will hear many different stories of people working out their faith, wrestling with God and seeking to follow Jesus along the way.
Christian Vocation and Discernment (Formerly Vocation & Praxis)
Description coming soon.
Field Placement INT-180
*A second term course
In term two, after learning more of their core values, strengths and interests, students step into the community to work in local businesses, non-profits, the trades and other organizations. This experience is designed to give students an opportunity to further engage in the city, gain experience working alongside Christians committed to the work of restoration, and consider post-secondary career and education pathways. Students will apply to their placements during term one, honing their interview and resume-building skills for future endeavours.
