Summer 2016/Fuller Online

IS502

Kinnison

IS502: PRACTICES OF COMMUNITY (4 Units: 160 hours). Quentin P. Kinnison.

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 vocation 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 identity (Hospitality, Truth-telling, Promise-keeping, Forgiveness, Christian Formation, Gratitude, Testimony, and Group Spiritual Direction, Celebration and Lament, and Care for the Sick).

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 the historic practices of community. (4) Students will demonstrate the capacity to embody specific practices of Christian community within their socio-historical context; (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 (which includes 8 hours of 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: 800 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.

Biblical Texts: Exodus [55 pp.] and Matthew [50 pp.].

Lohfink, Gerhard. Jesus and Community. Fortress, 1984. ISBN: 978-0800618025, Pub. Price $29.00 [187 pp. assigned].

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

Smith, C. Christopher & John Pattison. Slow Church. InterVarsity, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830841141, Pub. Price $16.00 [226 pp. assigned].

CORE PRACTICES:

1. Hospitality/Inclusion

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

2. Truth-telling

3. Promise-keeping

4. Forgiveness

Dunn, Larry. Discovering Forgiveness: Pathways through Injury, Apology, and Healing. Cascadia, 2014. ISBN: 978-1680270006, Pub. Price $14.95 [pp. 121. assigned]

5. Christian Education / Formation

Everist, Norma Cook. “A Community of Teachers & Learners” and “Creating Different Learning Environments to be Different Together,” in The Church as Learning Community. Abingdon, 2002. ISBN: 978-0687045006, Pub. Price $31.99 [pp. 21-101].

6. Gratitude

7. Testimony/Story-telling

8. Group Spiritual Direction/Discernment

Morris, Danny E, and Charles M. Olsen. Discerning God’s Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012 (Revised & Updated). ISBN: 978-1566994255, Pub. Price $19.00 [pp. 1-113].

9. Celebration& Lament

Olds, Jacqueline and Richard Schwartz, “The Elephant in the Room,” in The Lonely American: Drifting Apart in the Twenty-first Century. Beacon Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0807000359, Pub. Price $19.00 [pp. 1-12 assigned].

10. Caring for the Sick

Greene-McCreight, Kathryn. “Darkness,” in Darkness is my Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness. Brazos Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-1587433726, Pub. Price $18.99 [pp. 19-35 assigned].

Kinnison, Quentin P. “Theological Reflections for a Christian Perspective on Special Education,” in Welcoming Children with Special Needs: Empowering Christian Special Education through Purpose, Policies, and Procedures. Westbow, 2014. ISBN: 978-1490852607, Pub. Price $11.95 [pp. 1-31].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 800 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [40 hours].
2. Online: for each practice, students will engage, reflect, create (utilizing instruction, participation, presentation, discussion, engaging practiced-based theology, case studies) (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3]. [40 hours].
3. Students will participate in directed practices and disciplines over the course of the quarter. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [15 hours].
4. Four fieldwork activities and reflections. (15%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [8 hours + 8 hours].
5. Autobiography related to core course concept. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].
6. Interview project: students will interview 4-5 people from their church or faith community regarding the nature of community and formative practices that have substantively shaped the experiences of the community and give a report on their findings. (10%) [This assignment relates to learning outcomes #2, 3]. [15 hours].
7. “Vocation formation group” online participation: students will be formed into groups and participate in online “conversations,” prayer, and disciplines together for seven weeks of the quarter. (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 3, 4]. [7 hours].
8. Signature Assignment: 100 word CIQ response, integrative paper related to course practices, and Rule of Life (2,500 words total). (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 3, 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.