Summer 2016/Pasadena
IS502
Dufault-Hunter
IS502: PRACTICES OF COMMUNITY (4 Units: 164 hours). Erin Dufault-Hunter.
DESCRIPTION: Christian practices constitute the Christian life. The combined Christian practices of vocational formation, worship, community, and mission facilitate the integration of personal, spiritual, academic, and global formation into the vocational coherence of a Christian leader through reflection, relationships, and practices. IS502 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian community, as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (e.g. hospitality, truth-telling, promise-keeping, forgiveness, Christian formation, gratitude, testimony, and group spiritual direction).
LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Students will reflect on their current and past experiences of Christian practices of community; (2) Students will participate in local contexts and demonstrate the capacity to engage in activities and exercises related to Christian spiritual disciplines and practices of community; (3) Students will demonstrate the capacity to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic practices of community; (4) Students will articulate how community practices impact their response to the Central Integration Question (CIQ) and will identify exercises, habits, and disciplines to embody these practices within their sociocultural context.
COURSE FORMAT: This is a hybrid+ course, meaning that it is a ten-week course with nine weeks of online instruction and one week of classroom instruction during week four of the quarter. The week of classroom instruction will include four hours daily of lecture and discussion, as well as additional lunch meetings and evening sessions (required in hybrid+ courses). Classroom and online instruction will include lecture and discussion (including participation in vocation and formation groups) for a total of 40 instructional hours.
REQUIRED READING: Approximately 951 pages of required reading.
Genesis [50 pages], Exodus 1-24 [53 pages], Deuteronomy [40 pages], The Gospel of Matthew [35 pages].(CEB, TNIV, or NRSV) [approximately 170 pp. total].
Jindra, Michael. “Culture Matters: Diversity in the United States and its Implications,” in Nieves and Priest (eds); This Side of Heaven: Ethnicity, Race, and Christian Faith. Oxford, 2006. ISBN: 978-0195310573, Pub. Price $38.95; available free to Fuller students as an ebook through library database [17 pages].
Katongole, Emmanuel. Mirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith after Genocide in Rwanda. Zondervan, 2009. ISBN: 978-0310284895, Pub. Price $15.99 [176 pages].
Paris, Janell Williams. “Race: Critical Thinking and Transformative Possibilities,” in Nieves and Priest (eds); This Side of Heaven: Ethnicity, Race, and Christian Faith. Oxford, 2006. ISBN: 978-0195310573, Pub. Price $38.95; available free to Fuller students as an ebook through library database [14 pages].
Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices that Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [178 pages assigned].
Smith, James K.A. “Introduction: Beyond Perspectives” and “Homo Liturgicus: The Human Person as Lover,” in Desiring the Kingdom. Baker, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801035777, Pub. Price $22.99 [pp. 17-35 and 37-73; 54 pages]. (Core Practice: Christian Formation).
Swinton, John. "Reflections on autistic love: what does love look like?." Practical Theology 5, no. 3 (December 2012): 259-278 [19 pages].
Swinton, John. “Time, Hospitality, and Belonging: Towards a Practical Theology of Mental Health,” Word & World [serial online]. 2015; 35(2):171-181 [10 pages].
Volf, Miroslav. Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a World Stripped of Grace. Zondervan, 2006. ISBN: 978-0310265740, Pub. Price $15.99 [212 pages assigned]. (Core Practice: Forgiveness).
Wright, Christopher. The Mission of God. InterVarsity, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830825714, Pub. Price $45.00 [101 pp. assigned; chapters available in eReserves].
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
800 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [40 hours].
Classroom: for each practice, students will engage, reflect, create (utilizing instruction, participation, presentation, discussion, engaging practice-based theology cycle for theological reflection, case studies) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3]. [20 + 12 online = 32 hours].
Vocation Formation Group (VFG): In a Vocation Formation Group, students will engage spiritual disciplines, practices, and discussion. Students will study the Bible, and share and listen to stories related to the practices (10%). (Vocation Formation Group Leader (VFGL) will let professor know if students have been present and engaged) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, and #4]. [8 hours].
Students will participate in directed practices and disciplines over the course of the quarter (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [28 hours].
Four fieldwork activities and reflections (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [12 hours + 12 hours of integration with course content = 24 hours].
Autobiography related to core course concept (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [3 hours].
Signature Assignment: 100 word CIQ response and integration paper related to course practices, and Rule of Life (2,500 words total) (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [25 hours].
PREREQUISITES: None. Recommended in first year of study.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets a core integrative requirement in the 120 MDiv Program and the 80 MAT, 80 MATM, 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015).
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.