Fall 2017/Online

IS503

Bolger

IS503:  PRACTICES OF MISSION (4 Units: 160 hours). Ryan Bolger.

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. IS503 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian mission as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (witness, mercy, reconciliation, advocacy, creation care, friendship, inculturation, and inter-religious dialogue) 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 mission. (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 mission. (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of mission. (4) Students will have articulated how practices of mission 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: 1152 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.

A. Bergoglio, Jorge (Pope Francis). Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home. Our Sunday Visitor, 2015. ISBN: 978-1612783864, Pub. Price $12.95 [176 pp.].

B. Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, Pub. Price $35.00 [208 pp. assigned].

C. Delio Ilia. Compassion: Living in the Spirit of St. Francis. St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-1616361624, Pub. Price $14.99 [130 pp.].

D. Reisacher, Evelyne A. Joyful Witness in the Muslim World. Baker Academic, 2016. ISBN: 978-0801030840, Pub. Price: $22.99 [208 pp.].

E. Ross, Cathy and Jonny Baker. Pioneering Spirituality. Canterbury Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-1848258174, Pub. Price $27.00 [256 pp.].

F. Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Beacon Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-0807010297, Pub. Price $16.00 [124 pp.].

G. The Holy Bible. CEB, NRSV, and TNIV translations are acceptable [50 pp. from both Old and New Testaments].

H. Core Practices

a. Friendship
See Reisacher

b. Witness
See Bevans and Schroeder
See Reisacher

c. Reconciliation
See Delio
See Thurman

d. Dialogue
See Bevans and Scroeder

e. Mercy
See Delio

f. Creation Care
See Delio
See Pope Francis

g. Inculturation
See Ross and Baker

h. Advocacy
See Bevans and Schroeder

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1152 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [58 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. (24%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [32 hours+8 hours].  

3. 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. (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3] [16 hours + reading hours from above].

4. Various fieldwork activities and reflections. (16%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2] [8 hours + 8 hours = 16 hours].

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

6. 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 (2,500 words total) (40%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: IS500 encouraged. 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.