Summer 2017/Online
IS501
Swoboda
IS501: PRACTICES OF WORSHIP (4 Units: 161 hours). A.J. Swoboda.
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. IS501 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian worship and prayer as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (Sabbath-keeping, confession, praise, communion, enacting the prophetic, gathering & sending, prayer, and reading & proclaiming the Word) 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 worship and prayer. (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 worship and prayer. (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of worship and prayer. (4) Students will have articulated how practices of worship and prayer 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: 1500 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.
A. Required Textbooks
Brueggemann, Walter. Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No To a Culture of Now. Westminster John Knox, 2014. ISBN: 978-0664239282, Pub. Price 14.00. [89 pages assigned]
Caccamo, James F., and Todd Johnson, and Lester Ruth. Living Worship: A Multimedia Resource for Students and Leaders. Brazos Press, 2006. ASIN: 1587432951, Pub. Price $27.99 [10 hours of viewing assigned.]
Dawn, Marva. A Royal Waste of Time: The Splendor of Worshipping God and Being Church in the World. Eerdmans, 1999. ISBN: 978-0802845863, Pub. Price $22.00. [377 pages assigned]
Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline: The Path of Spiritual Growth. Harper SanFransisco, 1998. ISBN: 978-0060628390, Pub. Price $14.99. [228 pages assigned]
Swoboda, A.J. The Dusty Ones: Why Wandering Deepens Your Faith. Baker Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0801016974, Pub. Price $15.99. [240 pages assigned]
B. Core Practices
Sabbath-Keeping
Heschel, Abraham. The Sabbath. Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2005. ISBN: 978-0374529758, Pub. Price $15.99. [25 pages assigned in eReserves]
Wirzba, Norman. Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life). Brazos, 2006. ISBN: 978-1587431654, Pub. Price $17.83. [50 pages assigned in eReserves]
Confession
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. “Confession and Community” in Life Together. HarperOne, 2009. ISBN: 978-0060608521, Pub. Price $14.99 [pp. 110-122 in eReserves].
Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte. Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ. Auburn, Me: Christian Books, 1975. Chapter 15: “A New Look at Confession of Sin” [pp. 73-78 in eReserves].
Praise
Brueggemann, Walter. “Praise and the Psalms, The Politics Of Glad Abandonment” in The Psalms & the Life of Faith. Augsburg Fortress Press, 1995. ISBN: 978-0800627331, Pub. Price $26.00 [pp. 112-132 in eReserves].
Kelly, Thomas. “Becoming a Holy Sanctuary of Adoration,” in Foster, Richard J., and James Bryan Smith, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups. HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. ISBN: 978-0060669669, Pub Price $15.99 [pp. 173-179 in eReserves].
Communion
McNichols, Michael. Shadow Meal: Reflections on Eucharist. Wipf and Stock, 2010. ISBN: 978-1608993604, Pub. Price $19.00. [20 pages assigned in eReserves]
T.F. Torrance's "The Paschal Mystery of Christ and the Eucharist" in Theology inReconciliation: Essays Towards Evangelical and Catholic Unity in East and West. Wipf and Stock, 1996. ISBN: 978-1579100230, Pub. Price $31.00 [7 pp. assigned in eReserves].
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, “Confession and Communion” in Life Together. HarperOne, 2009. ISBN: 978-0060608521, Pub. Price $14.99. [pp. 110-130]
Gathering and Sending
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, “Community” and “The Day with Others” in Life Together. HarperOne, 2009. ISBN: 978-0060608521, Pub. Price $14.99. [pp. 17-39; 40-75]
Reading and Proclaiming the Word
Charry, Ellen (ed). Inquiring after God. “Inquiring after God when Meditating on Scripture” and “Inquiring after God when Preaching”. Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. [50pp assigned in eReserves].
Prayer
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, “The Day Alone” in Life Together. HarperOne, 2009. ISBN: 978-0060608521, Pub. Price $14.99. [pp. 76-89]
Enacting the Prophetic
Lynskey, Dorian. 12 October 2014. “U2: “It’s the job of art to be divisive”. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/12/u2-job-art-divisive-interview
C. Integration Resources
Bechtel, Carol M. Touching the Altar: the Old Testament for Christian Worship. Eerdmans, 2008. ISBN: 978-0802828484, Pub. Price $22.00 [100 pages assigned in eReserves]
Howard, Evan B. Praying the Scriptures: A Field Guide for Your Spiritual Journey. IVP, 1999. ISBN: 978-0830822010, Pub. Price $16.00 [6 pp. assigned in eReserves].
Peterson, David. Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. IVP Academic, 2002. ISBN: 978-0830826971, Pub. Price $28.00 [116 pp. assigned in eReserves].
Bible Reading:1 Chronicles 6, 16, 24, and 25; 2 Chronicles 2-7; 2 Samuel 6; Psalms 93, 96, 97, 98; Isaiah 6, 58-59; Luke 7; John 1-4; Acts 10; 1 Corinthians 11-14; Revelation 1-5.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
1500 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [75 hours].
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. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [32 hours+8 hours = 40 hours].
Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of worship and prayer (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [4 hours].
Directed Exercises and Integrative Reflection: Student will participate in disciplines and exercises outside of the classroom over the course of the quarter related to the core practices of the course and reflect on these experiences in a way that integrates experience with course content. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3] [10 hours].
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. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [20 hours].
Three fieldwork activities and reflections. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [6 hours + 6 hours = 12 hours].
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.