Catechism Level 6: Living in Christ

This is a year-long advanced Catechism guided reading and seminar on The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St John Climacus.

Objective
Grow in love for God and His Church through deeper knowledge of Theology, Scripture, Saints, History, and Spirituality in order to live and share these truths.

Overview
This is a year-long advanced Catechism guided reading and seminar on Unseen Warfare, by St. Theophan the Recluse (Available from www.svspress.com). Each class meeting will follow this “liturgical format,” consisting of a prayerful atmosphere in the classroom upon entering, a brief welcome 2-3 minutes, a prayer 2-3 minutes, then a “spiritual reflection” presentation by a student and any discussion that follows 5-7 minutes, “housekeeping” (reminders and questions regarding assignments and the class in general) lead by the teacher 3-5 minutes, a “synopsis presentation” (overview of the reading and a kick off question) by a student 5-7 minutes, a discussion lead by the instructor 45 minutes, an introduction to next week’s reading 2 minutes, a time for free Questions and Answers 15 minutes, and then a closing prayer 1-2 minutes. I’ll be available for office hours following class and by appointment.

Students commit to:

keeping the fasts and feasts
praying morning and evening
participating in the sacraments of confession and communion carefully and regularly
reading the Holy Scriptures daily
sharing with parents and other family members the reading and discussions of the class
keeping a spiritual journal.

Required Materials:
Books and supplies are not included in the purchase of the course.

Rotation 2: 2024-2025

The Ladder of Divine Ascent by Saint John Climacus

Rotation 1: 2025-2026

Unseen Warfare, by St.Theophan the Recluse (Available from www.svspress.com)

Dn. Michael DeHaven began his teaching career as a graduate student at the University of Kansas in 2008 and has taught several subjects in different capacities since then. Prior to that, he served for a little more than 10 years in the Air Force (Security Forces) and spent some time in the IT world as a help desk analyst and later as an operations engineer.
He holds a BA in German from Washburn University and an MA and PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures from the University of Kansas but started off his college adventure as a Physics major and still maintains an active interest in science. While still in graduate school, he completed the St. Stephen’s Course in Orthodox Theology and was ordained to the Deaconate by His Grace Bishop Basil on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in 2017.
Dn. Michael serves at Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Topeka, KS. He has been married to his wife Sandra since 1991 and has two grown daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys dabbling in languages, trying to improve his woodworking skills, and volunteering with the Civil Air Patrol. [email protected]

Father Noah Bushelli is grateful to be married to a living saint, Khouria Elizabeth, who homeschools their 7 marvelous children. He met his wife at a vespers service in Alaska and still remembers the joyous and awkward moment. He is an archpriest in the Antiochian Archdiocese and was received into the Orthodox Church in 1994. He graduated from University of Alaska Anchorage with a BEd in 2000, and then he and his wife moved to St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He graduated with an MDiv in 2004. His thesis explored St. John Chrysostom’s notion of the Church as a spiritual hospital. After serving St. Nicholas in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for three years, they moved to St. Philip in Souderton, Pennsylvania, in 2006. Fr. Noah is grateful to raise his family in this warm, generous, faithful, and vibrant community and is working very hard to meet the demands of parish life as well as focusing on “the one thing needful.” He spends his downtime taking walks, reading theology, changing diapers, telling stories to his children, and playing a little guitar. He is grateful for the success of St. Raphael School and Scholé Academy, excited to share his love for God and the Church with students, and looking forward to stretching his teaching skills into cyberspace. He thanks you for your prayers for him, his family, parishioners, and students! [email protected]

Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.

High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.

Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)

Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm

Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:

Visit zoom.us/download.
Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
Open and run the installer on your computer.
In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.

Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.

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