Spring 2017/Pasadena
IS503
Mainiero
IS503: PRACTICES OF MISSION (4 Units: 160 hours). Andrew J. Mainiero.
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. IS503 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian mission as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (witness, mercy, reconciliation, advocacy, creation care, friendship, inculturation, and inter-religious dialogue) in order to form students who demonstrate capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Students will have demonstrated capacities to critically reflect on their current and past experiences of Christian practices of mission. (2) Students will have demonstrated through participation in local contexts the capacity to engage in activities and exercises related to Christian spiritual disciplines and practices of mission (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of mission. (4) Students will have articulated how practices of mission 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 class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion (which includes 8 hours of required synchronous and/or asynchronous participation in vocation and formation groups) plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.
REQUIRED READING: 860 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.
Required Textbooks
Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, $35.00 [173 pp. assigned].
Katongole, Emmanuel and Chris Rice. Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing. IVP, 2008. ISBN: 978-0830834518, $17.00 [102 pp. assigned].
Sunquist, Scott W. Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Baker Academic, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801036156, Pub. Price, $34.99 [68 pp. assigned].
Wright, Christopher J.H. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. InterVarsity Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830825714, Pub. Price $45.00 [148 pp. assigned].
Bible Readings from Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Esther, John, Acts, Pauline Letters and Revelation [c. 50 pp. assigned].
See below for additional readings assigned for core practices [total 316 pp. assigned].
CORE PRACTICES
Creation Care
Gnanakan, Ken R. ”Creation and Ecology” from The Global Dictionary of Theology, editors William A. Dyrness and Veli-Matti Karkkainen. IVP Press, 2008, 207-214. Available on eReserves.
Video: “Our Father’s World”. Watch online at: https://vimeo.com/61121345
Reconciliation
Battle, Michael. Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu. The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, 1997 2009. Chpt. 2 pp. 11-34; Afterword pp. 181-182. Available on eReserves.
DeYoung, Curtiss Paul, Michael O. Emerson, George Yancey and Karen Chai Kim. United By Faith: The Multiracial Congregation as Answer to The Problem of Race. Oxford University Press, 2003. Epilogue pp.181-186. Available on eReserves.
Emerson, Michael O., Christian Smith. Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. Oxford University Press, 2000. Chapters 1 and 2 pp. 5 – 50. Available on eReserves.
Panel, “The State of Racial Reconciliation in America” by ERLC, April 1st 2015. Watch online at: https://youtu.be/hbCvYCAjIsI?list=PLKeABqJnPrIt1y9a12ySltgnAX8xaVeT0
“Reconciliation as the Mission of God: Faithful Christian Witness in a World of Destructive Conflicts and Divisions.” Lausanne Occasional Paper #51 (2005). Presented at the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, Pattaya, Thailand, Sept 29 to Oct 5, 2004 [pp. 11-21]. Free download from: https://www.lausanne.org/content/lop/lop-51
Advocacy
“Advocacy in the Foster Care System of Los Angeles County” video interviews fall of 2016 available online. Address to be given in the syllabus.
“Introduction to Advocacy,” Advocacy e-lab, last modified Feb 17, 2014. Watch online at: https://www.youtube.com/user/AdvocacyeLab.
Mercy
Grisez, Germain. The Way of the Lord Jesus, Volume 2: Living a Christian Life. Franciscan Pr, 1993. ISBN: 978-0819909619, Pub. Price $17.99, http://www.twotlj.org/G-2-6-F.html. Chapter 6: Love, Justice, Mercy, and Social Responsibility.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta on Mercy on Irish Television, 1974. Published on Aug 31, 2013. Watch online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2QzJwy8tI
Smith, Efrem. “Compassion, Mercy and Justice” chapter 3 in The Post Black and Post White Church: Becoming the Beloved Community in a Multiethnic World. Jossey-Bass, 2012, 41-64. Available on eReserves.
Witness
Bosch, David J. “Evangelism: Theological Currents and Cross-currents Today.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 11, no. 3 (July 1987): 98-103. Available on eReserves.
DeYmaz, Mark. “The Prayer of Christ” chapter 1 from Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church: Mandate, Commitments and Practices of a Diverse Congregation. Jossey-Bass, 2007, 3 – 12. Available on eReserves.
Inculturation
Martinez, Juan F., “Acculturation” from The Global Dictionary of Theology editors William A. Dyrness and Veli-Matti Karkkainen. IVP Press, 2008, pp. 1 – 2. Available on eReserves.
Ortiz, Manuel. "Who is My Neighbor?" chapter 2 from One New People: Models for Developing a Multiethnic Church. IVP, 1996, pp. 28 – 43. Available on eReserves.
Pocock, Michael, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and Douglas McConnell. "Contextualization." in The Changing Face of World Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends. Baker Academic, 2005, 321-348. Available on eReserves.
Friendship
Fairwood, Birthe-Munck. “Making Friends Cross-Culturally” Intervaristy International Students Ministry Published April 01, 2002. http://ism.intervarsity.org/resource/making-friends-cross-culturally.
Robert, Dana L. “Global Friendship as Incarnational Missional Practice.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 39 no 4 (Oct 2015): 180-184.
Interreligious Dialogue
“Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct.” World Council of Churches, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, World Evangelical Alliance International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Oct 2011) 194-196.
McConnell, C. Douglas. "Missional Principles and Guidelines for Interfaith Dialogue." Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue 1, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 3-5. Available at: McConnell 2010 Interfaith Dialogue EIFD Vol.1 no.1.
Final Integrating Theme
Mission As Presence
Mainiero, Andrew J. “A Mission Theology for Multiethnic Church Formation in North America”. Available on moodle (27 pp.).
Roozen, David A., William McKinney and Jackson W. Carroll. “Religious Presence, Its Definition and History” from chapter 1 in Varieties of Religious Presence: Mission in Public Life. The Pilgrim Press, 1984, pp. 15 – 22. Available on eReserves.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
860 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [50 hours].
Classroom and Vocation Formation Group (VFG) Participation: Students will participate in active learning to foster understanding of and capacity for engaging in theologically-informed reflection in the classroom and through participation in Vocation Formation Groups. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [22 hours+8 hours].
DLAs (Directed Learning Activities): Students will participate in activities related to Advocacy, Reconciliation and Mercy. The activities will include observation and/or participation, interviews and reflection. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3]. [10 hours].
Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of mission (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].
Directed Exercises and Integrative Reflection: Student will participate in disciplines and exercises outside of the classroom over the course of the quarter related to the core practices of the course and reflect on these experiences in a way that integrates experience with course content. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3.] [30 hours].
Mission in Context Reflection: Observe and describe the social, cultural and religious landscape of your neighborhood, community or city around your church and reflect critically on how you and your church engage this context missionally (1,000-1,100 words) (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, #3 and #4]. [10 hours].
Engage another Culture or Religion: Visit a formal religious expression of another religion or ethnicity or visit a multiethnic church and observe and describe what is happening, interview someone from that culture or religion and analyze the experience in light of mission practices. (700-800 words) (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, #3 and #4]. [8 hours].
Final Integrative Assignment: Integration paper that reflects theologically on the practices of this course and their implications for the student’s response to the CIQ and the exercises, habits, and disciplines in their current Rule of Life. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [20 hours].
PREREQUISITES: None. Recommended in first year of study.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets a core integration requirement in the 120 MDiv and the 80 MAT, 80 MATM, 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015).
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.