Summer 2014/Pasadena
MC500
Bolger
MC500: CHURCH AND MISSION IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT (4 Units: 120 hours). Ryan K. Bolger.
DESCRIPTION: This course serves as a broad introduction to the Church and churches in historical and contemporary contexts. Students will explore a broad variety of ecclesiological formations, exploring the nature of churches, their liturgies, communal life, and their mission in the world. In this course, students will begin to compare and contrast the historical and contemporary church with their own particular tradition.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will examine the global church through the study of local churches in their particular historical and cultural contexts; cite their own relationship to churches outside their ecclesiastical tradition, examining their own assumptions in the process; develop an understanding of the nature and mission of the Church and churches, both theologically and sociologically.
COURSE FORMAT: This class will be conducted as a hybrid+ course with 9 weeks of online instruction totaling approximately 15 hours and one week of classroom instruction totaling 25 hours, aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar. It will include audio and video instruction, forum discussions, group projects, small group interactions.
REQUIRED READING:
Read the majority of each of the following five books, but do not exceed 1500 pages total.
Bolger, Ryan K. ed. Gospel After Christendom. Baker Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-0801039430, Pub. Price $29.99 [416 pp.].
Hanciles, Jehu. Beyond Christendom. Orbis, 2008. ISBN: 978-15707577907, Pub. Price $35.00. [430 pp.].
Kung, Hans. The Catholic Church: A Short History. Modern Library, 2003. ISBN: 978-0812967623, Pub. Price $14.00 [272 pp.].
Miller, Donald, and Tetsunao Yamamori. Global Pentecostalism. Univ. of Calif. Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0520251946, Pub. Price $25.95 [263 pp.].
Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church, New Edition. 1993. ISBN: 978-0140146561, Pub. Price $17.00 [368 pp.].
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Students will visit and practice the spirituality of four church traditions over the course of the term and create group projects in response to those traditions (40%).
Students will write and reflect in online journals and dialogue with other team members (20%).
Students will write a 3000-word term paper comparing their own tradition (in terms of worship, community, mission, and organization) to other historical and contemporary churches (40%).
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: A required core competency course in the MACCS degree (CSCC). Seminary core requirement (SCR) for MATM, MAICS, MAFS, MACL (effective Winter 2010). Meets MDiv core requirement in Missions (MIN 8). Meets globalization (GLBL) requirement for SOT MA programs.
FINAL EXAM: None.