Winter 2017/Online

IS500

Jensen

IS500:  PRACTICES OF VOCATIONAL FORMATION (4 Units: 160 hours). L. Paul Jensen and Tim Morey, Church Planting Practitioner

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. IS500 teaches students a method for integrating resources of theological method into faithful responses to the human condition. As an integrative course, it explores the identity and practices of Christian vocational formation as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor, practitioner and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (listening, discernment, guidance, lament, rhythms of rest, and stewardship) fashioning them into a Rule of Life that shapes and supports the student’s vocation in order to form students who demonstrate capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Students will have demonstrated capacities to critically reflect on their current and past experiences of Christian practices of vocational formation. (2) Students will have demonstrated through participation in local contexts the capacity to engage in activities and exercises related to Christian spiritual disciplines and practices of vocational formation. (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of vocational formation. (4) Students will have articulated how vocational 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 required synchronous and/or asynchronous 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.

A. Required Textbooks

Barton, Ruth Haley. Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation. IVP Books, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830833337, Pub. Price $19.00 [168 pages].

Labberton, Mark. Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today. IVP Books, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830836833, Pub. Price $16.00 [168 pages].

Placher, William C. Callings: Twenty Centuries of Christian Wisdom on Vocation. Eerdmans, 2005. ISBN: 978-0802829276, Pub. Price $32.00 [150-200 pp. assigned].

Choose One (Read only 150 pages in your choice of books):

Funk, Mary Margaret. Thoughts Matter: The Practice of Spiritual Life. Continuum, 1998. ISBN: 978-0826411648, Pub. Price Varies. [144 pages]. OR

Garber, Steven. Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good. IVP Books, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830836666, Pub. Price $17.00 [224 pages] OR

Morey, Tim. Embodying Our Faith: Becoming a Living, Sharing Practicing Church. IVP Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-0830837298, Pub. Price $16.00 [197 pages].

B. Core Practices

Required articles, chapters, videos and websites that engage the following practices of vocation:

Listening: “Scripture: Encountering God through Lectio Divina” in Sacred Rhythms, IVP Books, 2006. Pp. 45-61 [16 pages].

Discernment: Barton, Ruth Haley. “Discernment: Recognizing and Responding to the Presence of God” in Sacred Rhythms. IVP Books, 2006. Pp. 110-129 [20 pages].

Guidance: Nouwen, Henri. “From Leading to Being Led” in In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership. New York: Crossroad, 1989. Pp. 55-70 [16 pages]. Thompson, Marjorie J. “Companions on the Journey: the Gift of Spiritual Direction” in Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life. John Knox, 1995. Pp. 101-117 [16 pages]. Clinton, J. Robert. “Ongoing Lessons: Guidance and Other Multiphase Processes” in The Making of a Leader. Navpress, 1988. Pp 125-152 [27 pages].

Lament: Rah, Soon Chen. “Introduction” and “Chapter 1”in Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times. IVP Books, 2015, pp. 19-69 [50 pages]. Witvliet, John D. “Praise and Lament in the Psalms and Liturgical Prayer” in Worship Seeking Understanding. Baker Books, 2003. Pp. 39-63 [25 pages].

Rhythms of Rest: Jensen, L. Paul. “The Collapse of Space and Time” and “Jesus’s Rhythms of Spirituality and Mission” in Subversive Spirituality: Transforming Mission through the Collapse of Space and Time. Pickwick, 2009. Pp. 42-110 [68 pages].

Stewardship: Brueggemann, Walter. “The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity” in Christian Century 116, no. 10, 1999. Pp. 342-7. Cormode, Scott. “The Spiritual Sense of Money.” A Word document found on Moodle course site. Volf, Miroslav. “God the Giver” in Free of ChargeGivingand Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace. Pp. 19-54 [35 pages].

C. Integration Resources

Read: Branson, Mark Lau & Juan F. Martinez. “Practical Theology and Multicultural Initiatives” in Churches, Cultures & Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011. Pp. 33-58 [25 pages]. This chapter on a Practical Theology method used at Fuller along with various videos or websites integrates course practices with biblical/theological and contemporary resources. This content also helps integrate historic Christian practices with present experience.

Read a minimum of 50 pages in the Bible (students may use their preferred translation) that connect with practices of vocation formation. Possible Biblical selections for each practice will be given in the week in which the practice is studied and embodied.

D. StrengthsFinders

*Students in IS500 are required to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, receive a CoreClarity coaching packet based off of their top 5 strengths, and participate in a 45-minute coaching call with a CoreClarity coach. There will be a $40 charge for StrengthFinder® assessment, Coaching Packet, and Coaching Session which will automatically be charged to your student account.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 800 pages of reading and videos, including at least 50 pages reading Scripture. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [40 hours].

  2. Online and Vocation Formation Group (VFG) Participation: Students will participate in active learning to foster understanding of and capacity for engaging in theologically-informed reflection in the online classroom and through participation in Vocation Formation Groups. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [32 hours+8 hours].  

  3. Autobiography (750 words): Students will create an autobiography related to practices of vocational formation (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [5 hours].

  4. Directed Exercises and Disciplines: Students will participate in three half day retreats (4, 5 and 6 hours each) for the purpose of developing rhythms of rest, listening, discernment, guidance, and lament in extended personal communion with God in the imitation of Christ’s patterns (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2] [15 hours].

  5. Integrative Reflections: Students will write 2 critical 750 word theological reflections responding to 2 case studies using a practical theology method. (14%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3.] [14 hours].

  6. Fieldwork Activities – (8%). [These assignments are related to learning outcome #1 and #2] [8 hours].

  1. StrengthsFinders and CoreClarity Coaching: Students will take the Strengthsfinders/CoreClarity Assessment and debrief the results via a phone call with a professional executive coach to learn more about their strengths and how to better grow them in use for God’s mission in the world.

  2. Interview person from student’s church or church planting project about their sense of call and their experiences of the practices of vocation covered in this course.

  1. Finances and Vocation: Students will write a financial autobiography, use a practical theology method to reflect on finances, and create a resulting financial plan that supports vocational goals. (8%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1 , #2 and #3]. [8 hours].

  2. Final Integrative Assignment: Integration paper that reflects theologically on the practices of this course and their implications for the student’s response to the CIQ and the exercises, habits, and disciplines in their current Rule of Life. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [25 hours].

  3. Practices of Vocation Journal – Students keep a journal of their Practices of Vocation and their Bible reading about these practices (5%) [5 hours]

NOTE: This course includes a focus on vocational practices in church planting and congregational contexts. A practitioner who is an experienced church planter and pastoral leader will serve on the teaching team to help translate the course into a real leadership setting. A central purpose for these assignments is for you to reflect theologically on and gain experience in various practices of vocation applied to the leadership context to which you are called.

PREREQUISITES: None. Recommended in first year of study.

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

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.

For your convenience, order these texts online through the Archives Bookshop.