DESCRIPTION:

How is the church to take seriously its task of "equipping the saints for the work of ministry" (Eph. 4:11-12)? How can adults be adequately established, rooted, built up, and equipped for the varying ministries to which God is calling them? A strong, well-developed adult ministry in the local church can be a major tool for building healthy, effective Christians and spiritually vital congregations. This course is designed to "equip the equippers" to produce such through a study of philosophy, practice, and skills in adult education. Subject areas include biblical and theological foundations for adult education; adult characteristics, needs, life cycles, and learning patterns; societal and cultural impact on learning; learning theories; gender strengths; developing or adapting curriculum; planning and implementing an adult spirituality and discipleship ministry in the church.

This course helps those who minister to adults understand how adults learn, teaches skills to enable adults to move on in spiritual maturity, and equips with philosophy and means for planning and carrying out the ministry to and by adults in the church.

Cognitively: The learner will become conscious of the role of adults in God's plan, the impact of adult development, and principles for how adults learn, with implementation guidelines. Affectively: The learner will develop appreciation for adults' participation in their growth and will become enthused about cultivating such. Behaviorally: Learners will participate in discovering their own images of adulthood and will actively construct new paradigms incorporating learning experiences from class. Existentially: The learner will become a person who recognizes his/her responsibility as an adult in God's kingdom and will cultivate continued integration and implementation of concepts taught in class in the scope of his/her ministry.

Conducted online, the ten week lessons align with Fuller's academic calendar. Video lectures for each lesson will be available online. Each week students will interact with the course material, readings and each other through small groups, and journaling. This course is very interactive and presented from a cumulative learning perspective and also formational learning. Therefore, the small group interaction and journaling is read and graded as part of the learning process. In lieu of exams there are four projects and one final summary project that build one upon the other in the process of learning and grasping adult Christian formation and discipleship. Grading is based on robust graduate level interaction and processing of the material. Therefore, the overall course methodology is one that elicits deep reflection, thinking, and also enables skill building in becoming equipped to work with adults.

CF560: Adult Formation and Discipleship, Course Reader (supplied in the course).

Hagberg, J. & R. Guelich. The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith. Sheffield Publishing, 2005, second edition. ISBN: 1879215497. $23.95.

Kimball, Dan. The Emerging Church. Zondervan, 2003. ISBN: 0310245648. $13.75.

Merriam, Sharan B. & Rosemary S. Caffarella. Learning in Adulthood. 3rd ed. Jossey-Bass, 2007. ISBN: 9780787975883. $50.00.

Ogden, Greg. Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time. InterVarsity Press, 2003. ISBN: 0830823883. $12.00.

Parks, Sharon Daloz. Big Questions, Worthy Dreams. Jossey-Bass, 2000. ISBN: 0787941719. $22.50.

Webber, Robert E. Who Gets to Narrate the World? Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals. InterVarsity Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780830834815. $12.00.

1. Weekly threaded discussions and reading (27%)

2. Journaling exercises (18%)

3. Four Interactive Short Essay Projects (40%)

4. Final Summary Project (15%)