Fall 2015/Fuller Online

IS502

Gutenson

IS502: PRACTICE OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY (4 Units: 160 hours). Charles Gutenson.

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. IS502 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian community, as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identify (Hospitality, Truth-telling, Promise-keeping, Forgiveness, Christian Formation, Gratitude, Testimony, and Group Spiritual Direction).

LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Students will reflect on their current and past experiences of Christian practices of community; (2) Students will participate in local contexts and demonstrate the capacity to engage in activities, and exercises related to Christian spiritual disciplines and practices of community; (3) Students will demonstrate the capacity to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic practices of community; (4) Students will articulate how community practices impact their response to the Central Integration Question (CIQ) and will identify exercises, habits, and disciplines to embody these practices within their sociocultural context.

COURSE FORMAT: This course meets ten weeks online for a total of 40 instructional hours. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through weekly YouTube mini-lectures, online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.

REQUIRED READING: 800 pp. of required reading

A. Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [178 pp. assigned].

B. Wright, Christopher. The Mission of God. InterVarsity, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830825714, Pub. Price $45.00 [101 pp. assigned].

C. Bolsinger, Tod. It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian. Brazos Presss, 2004. ISBN: 978-1587430893, Pub. Price: $22.00 [81 pages assigned]

D. REQUIRED CORE PRACTICES:

i. Testimony/Story-telling:

Daniel, Lillian. Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005. ISBN: 978-1566993180, Pub. Price $19.00 [55-95, 101-109, 123-162].

ii. Hospitality/Inclusion

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [1-16, 158-176]

Conde-Frazier, Elizabeth. “From Hospitality to Shalom” in A Many Colored Kingdom. Baker, 2004. ISBN: 978-0801027437, Pub. Price $24.00 [pp. 167-210].

iii. Truth Telling

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [110-157]

The Danger of Silence (https://www.ted.com/talks/clint_smith_the_danger_of_silence)

Empire: Tell the Truth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYybTaTBdHs)

iv. Gratitude

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [17-60].

40 Simple Ways to…. (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/40-simple-ways-practice-gratitude.html)

v. Promise Keeping

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [61-110]

vi. Christian Education / Formation

Smith, James K.A. ”Introduction: Beyond Perspectives” and “Homo Liturgicus: The Human Person as Lover,” in Desiring the Kingdom. Baker, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801035777, Pub. Price $22.99 [pp. 17-35 and 37-73].

vii. Forgiveness/Reconciliation:

Volf, Miroslav. “How Can We Forgive,” in Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a World Stripped of Grace. Zondervan, 2005. ISBN: 978-0310265740, Pub. Price $15.99 [pp. 193-224].

Tutu, Desmond, No Future without Forgiveness (http://www.africanafrican.com/folder13/african%20and%20african%20american%20history2/Desmond%20Tutu/desmond-tutu-no-future-without-forgiveness.pdf)

viii. Group Spiritual Discernment

Smith, Gordon. Listening to God in Time of Choice: The Art of Discerning God’s Will. IVP, 1997. ISBN: 978-0830813674, Pub. Price $16.00, [42-147].

Biblical Texts: Deuteronomy [25 pp.], Matthew [25 pp.]

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Read assigned 800 pp. (including 50 pages of biblical texts) and view posted videos and YouTube mini-lectures as scheduled; complete report sheet (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome#3] [50 hours].
2. Online: for each practice, students will engage, reflect, create (utilizing instruction, participation, presentation, discussion, engaging practice-based theology, case studies). Normal engagement will include: Two to three weekly posts (125-250 words) based on prompts posted by the professor. More details in initial course mini-lecture. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, and 3.] [40 hours].
3. Students will participate in directed practices and disciplines over the course of the quarter (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [15 hours].
4. Four fieldwork activities and reflections. Details included in syllabus. (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2.] [16 hours + 8 hours].
5. Autobiography related to core course concept (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, and 3.] [6 hours].
6. Signature Assignment: 100-word CIQ response, integration paper related to course practices, and Rule of Life (2500 words total) (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 3, and 4.] [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None. Recommended in first year of study.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets a core integrative requirement in the 120 MDiv and the 80 MAT, 80 MATM, 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.