Fuller Online
EV514: Fall 2011
Watkins

EV514: URBAN EVANGELISM. Ralph C. Watkins.


DESCRIPTION: In this course we will examine evangelism from a historical and a contemporary perspective. We will rely heavily on perspectives from Scripture to inform our inquiry. We will also look at various contemporary strategies in urban evangelism.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: The course is taught with a practical applied focus. Students can expect to gain

  1. an understanding of the city as both environment and structure for evangelism;

  2. an understanding of evangelism from biblical, historical, and theological perspectives;

  3. an ability to plan outreach programs as well as critique outreach programs, organization, and activities in terms of their faithfulness to theological traditions and effectiveness in reaching particular audiences.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: There are five objectives to this course: (1) that students understand and can articulate a coherent biblical, historical, and theological basis of evangelism; (2) that students understand the importance of urban sociology in the development and facilitation of a potentially successful evangelism plan (how this translates into outreach); (3) that students be aware of the institutional barriers to evangelism in churches and para-church organizations; (4) that students be able to design an effective evangelism plan; (5) that students can better critique outreach programs, organization, and activities in terms of their faithfulness to theological traditions and effectiveness in reaching a particular audience; and (6) that this understanding will in turn motivate them to want to do evangelism.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will be conducted on the Internet using a 10-week lesson program aligned with Fuller's academic calendar. Each week, students and the instructor will interact with the material and each other through threaded discussions and other assignments (see weekly assignments). Lectures / intro-discussion starters for each lesson will be available online. The course will be a centered around practical online activities that help students apply what they are learning. Multimedia approaches to learning will be central to this course. Various songs, movie clips, documentaries, web-resources and other cultural products will be used as a point of interrogation to consider the promise of urban evangelism.

REQUIRED READING:
Butler, Octavia. The Parable of the Sower. Warner Books, 2000. 352 Pages. ISBN 0446675504. $10.19.

Chilcote, Paul, and Laceye C. Warner, eds. The Study of Evangelism: Exploring a Missional Practice of Church. Eerdmans, 2008. 488 Pages. ISBN 9780802803917. $25.08.

Rainer, Thom, and Sam S. Rainer III. Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts. B & H Publishing Group, 2008. 259 Pages. ISBN 9780805443929. $13.59.

Savage, Mike, Alan Warde, and Kevin Warde. Urban Sociology, Capitalism and Modernity. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 272 Pages. ISBN 0333971604. $38.00.

Sider, Ronald. Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works. Baker Academic Press, 2002. 336 Pages. ISBN 978081091330. $14.80.

Stetzer, Ed. Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them. B & H Publishing Group, 2009. 240 Pages. ISBN 0805448780. $12.23.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
  1. Mid-term take-home exam (30%).

  2. An end-of-term project or paper reflecting the student's design for an evangelism strategy adequate to the challenge of the city, which will take seriously the urban situation, a theology of urban ministry, the contribution of the social sciences, and the realistic possibilities within the student's denominational or para-denominational frame of reference. The end-of-term project will be ten to fifteen pages (30%).

  3. Weekly Activities (40%). This course is organized into ten activity weeks. Each activity week involves the following:
I.   Online activities and discussion via Moodle.

II.  Weekly Activities: The weekly activities and discussion topics are designed to actively involve participants in a collaborative learning format, where participation builds and develops your learning in the course. Please remember the importance of sharing your observations, reflections, and topical contributions.

III. Weekly Course Content posting will include seminar notes; reading assignments; activity descriptions, group assignments and posting dates; along with course reference material for that week (video, discussion starters, movie clips, songs, web-resources). The weekly Web material will be posted on Moodle the weekend preceding the Monday start of a course week.
Please plan to log in to the course at least three or four times each week and to be online posting / in discussion groups / chat rooms / synchronous and asynchronous discussions approximately three hours per week. Time will be monitored and recorded via Moodle.

PREREQUISITES: None.


RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in Evangelism (MIN 3).

This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (July 2011)