Introduction
Welcome to your course in the study of the Church and its history. To lead us through this course, we are privileged to have with us Fr. Joseph Boenzi, SDB, professor at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology in Berkeley, California, and part time professor at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome, Italy.
What does the word “Church” mean? Where did it come from? What does it mean “to be a church,” or “the Church,” or “a part of the Church”?
This course, “Ecclesiology,” or the theology of the Church, will investigate the notion of “Church” from its original appearances in both Scriptural and non-Scriptural sources. It will trace the developments in our understanding of “the Church” up to the present-day, focusing on Vatican II’s project to retrieve the original Scriptural meaning of this term.
Reading
There are no required books for this course.
A highly suggested book to supplement this material is Cardinal Avery Dulles’ Models of the Church.

If you use the above link to buy from Amazon, a portion of the sale will go to the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology, an institution which has been invaluable in the development of the Lay Mission Project.
PLEASE NOTE:
In order to accommodate your calendar, lessons are made available earlier than needed.
Here is a list of the lessons covered at each discussion:
Discussion 1: Lesson 1
Discussion 2: Lessons 2 and 3
Discussion 3: Lessons 4 and 5