Winter 2020/Fuller Online

IS503

Herppich

IS503: PRACTICES OF MISSION (4 Units: 160 hours). Birgit Herppich.

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.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will provide students with further opportunity to develop and/or master skills in integrating theological and missiological content with life experience and context through engaging a variety of spiritual practices related to the practice of mission, which is consistent with the SOT/SIS PLO “Students will have demonstrated capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.” (MDiv, MAT, MATM, MAICS). Content in this course contributes to all MAICS learning outcomes (MAICS). This course may also contribute to various learning outcomes in the MAGL related to integrating theology and praxis in ministry and mission, and related to spiritual formation (MAGL).

COURSE FORMAT: This course meets ten weeks online (which includes required synchronous and/or asynchronous participation in vocation and formation groups) for a total of 40 instructional hours. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.

REQUIRED READING: 890 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, $35.00 Available as e-book from the Fuller Library [138 pp. assigned].

Finke, Greg. Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary. TenthPower Publishing, 2014. ISBN: 978-1938840029, Pub. Price $15.99 Available as e-book from Kindle [75 pp. assigned].

Muck, Terry and Frances S. Adeney. Christianity Encountering World Religions, The Practice of Mission in the Twenty-first Century. Baker Academic, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801026607, Pub. Price $30.00 Available as e-book from the Fuller Library [145 pp. assigned].

Sunquist, Scott W., Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Baker Academic, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801036156, Pub. Price, $34.99 Available as e-book from the Fuller Library [262 pp. assigned].

Bible Readings from Exodus, Deuteronomy, Luke, Acts, Philippians. [c. 50 pp. assigned].

E-Reserves Course Reader. See below for the most important additional readings assigned for each Core Practice [Total c.200 pp. assigned].

CORE PRACTICES

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.

Russell, Chris. “Why evangelism is always non-negotiable” Church Times, 06 Jun 2014. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/6-june/comment/opinion/why-evangelism-is-always-non-negotiable.

Reconciliation

“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

Tutu, Desmond. 2008. Apartheid, Perpetrators, Forgiveness. Watch online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRDBWoV_hA0 [10:01]

Mercy

Grisez, Germain. The Way of the Lord Jesus, Volume 2: Living a Christian Life. Franciscan Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0819909619, Pub. Price $17.99, Chapter 6: Love, Justice, Mercy, and Social Responsibility. Available at: http://www.twotlj.org/G-2-6-F.html

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[29:41]

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.

Advocacy

“Introduction to Advocacy,” Advocacy e-lab, last modified Feb 17, 2014. Watch online at: https://www.youtube.com/user/AdvocacyeLab.

Evangelical Advocacy: A Response to Global Poverty, "Mission of Church and Role of Advocacy" (2002). Papers, PDF Files, and Presentations. Book 5. [11 pp. assigned]. Free download from: http://place.asburyseminary.edu/engaginggovernmentpapers/5.

Inculturation

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.

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.

Maggay, Melba Padilla, and William A. Dyrness, “Culture and Society” from The Global Dictionary of Theology editors William A. Dyrness and Veli-Matti Karkkainen. IVP Press, 2008, pp. 217-223. Available on eReserves.

Friendship

Robert, Dana L. “Global Friendship as Incarnational Missional Practice.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 39 no 4 (Oct 2015): 180-184.

Fairwood, Birthe-Munck “Making Friends Cross-Culturally” (April 01, 2002) From: http://ism.intervarsity.org/resource/making-friends-cross-culturally

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.

Creation Care

Wright, Christopher J.H. ”Mission and God’s Earth” Ch. 12 in The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. IVP Academic, 2006, 397-420. Available on eReserves.

Video: Our Father’s World. Watch online at: https://vimeo.com/61121345 [26:45]

Healing, Signs, and Wonders (recommended book)

Ma, Wonsuk and Julie C. Ma. Mission in the Spirit: Towards a Pentecostal/Charismatic Missiology. Regnum Studies in Mission. Wipf & Stock, 2011. ISBN: 9781610970181. List Price: $39.00. Available as e-book from the Fuller Library.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 890 pp. reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing, including c. 50 pages of biblical text [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [50 hours].
  2. Online 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 online classroom and through participation in Vocation Formation Groups (some of them in prearranged synchronous video conferences). (16%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [32 hours + 8 hours].
  3. Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of mission (500 words) (6%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].
  4. Directed Exercises and Integrative Reflection: Students will participate in the disciplines of missiological Bible reading and intercession as well as weekly 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 (in weekly forum posts and responses). (32%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and #3]. [32 hours].
  5. Community Context Analysis: Students will observe and describe the social and religious landscape of their neighborhood or the community around their church and reflect critically on how they and their church engage this context missionally in an Integration Paper (1,000 words) (14%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, #3 and #4]. [8 hours].
  6. Engage another World Religion: Students will visit a formal religious expression of another World Religion, observe and describe what is happening, and analyze the experience in light of mission practices in an Integration Paper (800 words) (12%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, #3 and #4]. [8 hours].
  7. Final Integrative Assignment: Students will write an 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 (2,500 words in total) (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #3, and #4]. [20 hours].

PREREQUISITES: IS500 encouraged. 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.

NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.