Winter 2018 / Pasadena

  PM514

Smith

 

PM514:  MISSIONAL CHURCHES AND LEADERSHIP (4 Units: 160 Hours).  Joshua R. Smith.

                                                                             

 

DESCRIPTION:  This is a practical theology course that engages biblical, theological, and practical matters in ecclesiology and leadership. The work of lay and clergy leadership is explored in regard to fostering an environment in which all participants are to be formed into an interpretive community that is engaged with God personally and corporately in congregation formation, spiritual formation, and missional formation. Working from a praxis-theory-praxis perspective, the course will attend to topics as they are integrated in a practical theology methodology with an emphasis on missio Dei.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will (1) articulate an understanding of missional ecclesiology for the student’s anticipated ministry context; (2) articulate an understanding of the tasks of congregational leadership; (3) apply course frameworks for ecclesiology, contexts, and leadership to exercises regarding specific cases; and (4) articulate reflectively concerning one’s own gifts and calling in relationship to course frameworks for ecclesiology, contexts, and leadership.

 

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 six 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 for a total of 40 instructional hours.

 

REQUIRED READING: 1027 pp. required. 

Branson, Mark Lau, and Juan F. Martinez. Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. IVP Academic, 2011. ISBN: 978-0830839261, Pub. Price $27.00 [233 pp. assigned].

Branson, Mark Lau, and Nicholas Warnes. Starting Missional Churches: Life with God in the Neighborhood. InterVarsity, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830841165, Pub. Price $18.00 [185 pp. assigned].

Roxburgh, Alan. Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World. Morehouse, 2015. ISBN: 978-0819232113, Pub. Price $16.00. [127 pp. assigned]

Sedmak, Clemens. Doing Local Theology. Orbis Books, 2003. ISBN: 978-1570754524, Pub. Price $26.00 [161 pp. assigned].

Van Gelder, Craig. The Ministry of the Missional Church. Baker, 2007. ISBN: 978-0801091391, Pub. Price $19.00. [170 pp.]

 

Leadership Articles/Chapters on Canvas.

Argyris, C., “Teaching Smart People How to Learn” Harvard Business Review, 1991 [16 pp.].

Ely, R. and Meyerson, D., “Theories of Gender in Organizations,” Working Paper #8, Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons College, 2000. (www.simmons.edu/som/docs/cgo_wp8_DNC.pdf) [46 pp.].

Fluker, Walter Earl, “Introduction”, “Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King Jr.: Critical Resources in the Development of Ethical Leadership”, & “What is Ethical Leadership?” in Ethical Leadership: The Quest for Character, Civility, and Community. Fortress Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0800663490, Pub. Price $25.00 [56 pp.].

Heifetz, Ronald, “The Work of Leadership” HBR, 2001 [16 pp.].

Senge, Peter, “The Leader’s New Work,” Sloan Management Review, 1990 [17 pp.].

 

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1027 pages of required reading (10%). [65 hours].
2. Online instruction including video lectures, peer and professor presentations, weekly online conference discussions, etc; maintain weekly course checklists. (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3, 4]. [20 hours].
3. Web interaction weekly (DLAs): interactive reflective activities including videos, spiritual disciplines such as group lectio divina, and forum posts [often a 250-word post and follow-up 250-word forum response] (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3, 4]. [15 hours].
4. Campus Classroom: In class instruction including lectures, classroom discussion, directed activities, etc. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3] [20 hours].
5. Write a 500-600 word Adler-style book critique on Roxburgh and on Bransen/Warnes (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2]. [5 hours].
6. Reflective essay (750 words) on your leadership capacities in light of class, midway through class (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2, 4]. [5 hours].
7. Practical Theology Case Study online presentation, per syllabus (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3]. [10 hours].
8. Write a 2,000-word term paper, per syllabus, that integrates issues of ecclesiology, missiology, context, and leader­ship, demonstrating a practical theology method; includes the student’s reflection on progress concerning course goals (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3, 4]. [20 hours].

 

PREREQUISITES:  It is recommended that students take PM514 during or after Field Ed, or toward the end of a masters program. It is also highly recommended that students have completed IS500, IS501, IS502, and IS503.

 

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:  Option to meet the LDR requirement for the 120 MDiv Program and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015). Meets 144 MDiv core requirement MIN6 or the requirement in Ministry Foundations (MIN F) for other master’s degrees.

 

FINAL EXAMINATION:  None.