Fall 2020/Fuller Online

EV525

Thacker

EV525: CONTEMPORARY CULTURE AND EVANGELISM (4 Units: 160 Hours). Kimberly Thacker.

DESCRIPTION: This is a course in practical theology that will explore ways to share the gospel understandably and relevantly with people in our contemporary culture. We will examine the meaning of evangelism and conversion, the relationship between Christianity and culture, ways to analyze popular culture in order to ascertain people's worldview and values, historical and contemporary strategies for evangelism, and ideas for empowering believers to witness more effectively to those around them. There will be a concentration on understanding postmodern culture and discussing ways to contextualize, communicate, and validate the gospel within it because post modernity is becoming the predominant cultural atmosphere in America as well as strongly influencing many other areas of the world.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated (1) an understanding of the biblical meaning, historical development, and various theological perspectives of evangelism and conversion from a praxis-theory-praxis approach; (2) ability to apply different paradigms, methods and strategies of evangelism within ministry including congregational formation, spiritual formation and missional formation; (3) increased ability to analyze cultural, local, and church or ministry contexts to determine and implement potential outreach activities, strategies, and motivation; (4) an understanding of contemporary culture and its impact on evangelism in culture, church, ministry, and personal relation-ships today; (5) an increased passion for evangelism, exploration of evangelism within my role in Christian ministry, and confidence in personal ability to share about faith in Jesus.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will teach students concepts and skills for Evangelism, which is consistent with the SOT/SIS PLOs that state that, “Students will have demonstrated capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.” (MDiv, MAT, MATM, MAICS), “Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage diverse cultural contexts for transformational discipleship, mission, and ministry,” and “Students will have demonstrated capacities for being theologically reflective practitioners for Christian ministry.”

COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours, which is outlined below in the assignment and assessment section. 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: Approx. 1,300 pp. required.

Coupland, Douglas. Life After God. Pocket Books, 1995. ISBN: 978-0671874346, Pub. Price $22.99 [368 pp.].

Everts, Don and Doug Schaupp. I Once Was Lost. InterVarsity, 2008. ISBN: 978-0830836086, Pub. Price $16.00 [134 pp.].

Jones, Scott J. The Evangelistic Love of God and Neighbor. Abingdon, 2003. ISBN: 978-0687046140, Pub. Price $23.99 [224 pp.].

Peace, Richard. Holy Conversation: Talking about God in Everyday Life. InterVarsity, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830811199, Pub. Price $19.00 [113 pp.].

Teasdale, Mark R. Evangelism for Non-Evangelists. IVP Academic, 2016. ISBN: 978-0830851669, Pub. Price $20.00 [150 pp.].

Note: Further reading from articles and the internet will fulfill required reading for diversity [approx. 300 pp.].

RECOMMENDED READING: A complete list of recommended reading will be available online in Canvas.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Instruction hours through video lectures, outlines, PowerPoint presentations [20 hours; other instructional hours are weekly connecting discussions and feedback interaction with professor].
2. Weekly connecting discussions of initial posts (200-300 words) and responses to classmates’ posts (totaling 200-400 words) reflecting, critiquing, and applying reading and other course material (30%). [These assignments involve interaction with the professor and small group discussion with other students and 15 hours are part of instructional hours] [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [30 hours].
3. Posts (100-200 words) and responses (totaling 100-150 words) sharing websites, cultural examples, and other material with classmates (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [10 hours].
4. Read required texts and articles and complete final reading log (approx. 1,300 pages of reading) (10% plus reflected in assessment of connecting discussions). [70 hours].
5. Write two short papers (800-1,000 words) due during the course of the class; one reflecting on your developing views of evangelism and the gospel and the second reflecting on an interview with someone you know who isn’t Christian (12.5% ea. – 25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-2 first paper and #4-5 second paper]. [5 hours each; total 10 hours].
6. Write one major paper (1,800-2,000 words) due at the end the course applying required course reading and content to your ministry context (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [10 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the EVG requirement in the MDiv or MATM (Fall 2018). Option to meet the C3 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. Meets 144 MDiv core requirement in General Ministry (MIN 1) or Evangelism (MIN 3); also meets the MACL in Integrative Studies requirement for an interdisciplinary course (IDPL).

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.