Fall 2017/Fuller Online
IS503
Herppich
IS503: PRACTICES OF MISSION (4 Units: 160 hours). Birgit Herppich.
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: 870 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.
Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, $35.00 [138 pp. assigned].
Finke, Greg. Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary. TenthPower Publishing, 2014. ISBN: 978-1938840029, Pub. Price $15.99 [75 pp. assigned].
Muck, Terry and Frances S. Adeney. Christianity Encountering World Religions, The Practice of Mission in the Twenty-first Century. Baker Academic, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801026607, Pub. Price $30.00 [145 pp. assigned].
Sunqust, Scott W., Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Baker Academic, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801036156, Pub. Price, $34.99 [262 pp. assigned].
Bible Readings from Exodus, Deuteronomy, Luke, Acts, Philippians. [c. 50 pp. assigned].
E-Reserves Course Reader. See below for the most important additional readings assigned for Core Practices [Total c.200 pp. assigned].
CORE PRACTICES
Witness
Bosch, David J. “Evangelism: Theological Currents and Cross-currents Today.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 11, no. 3 (July 1987): 98-103. Available on eReserves.
Russell, Chris. “Why evangelism is always non-negotiable” Church Times, 06 Jun 2014. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/6-june/comment/opinion/why-evangelism-is-always-non-negotiable.
Mercy
Grisez, Germain. The Way of the Lord Jesus, Volume 2: Living a Christian Life. Franciscan Pr, 1993. ISBN: 978-0819909619, Pub. Price $17.99, http://www.twotlj.org/G-2-6-F.html. Chapter 6: Love, Justice, Mercy, and Social Responsibility.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta on Mercy on Irish Television, 1974. Published on Aug 31, 2013. Watch online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2QzJwy8tI
Reconciliation
“Reconciliation as the Mission of God: Faithful Christian Witness in a World of Destructive Conflicts and Divisions.” Lausanne Occasional Paper #51 (2005). Presented at the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, Pattaya, Thailand, Sept 29 to Oct 5, 2004 [pp. 11-21]. Free download from: https://www.lausanne.org/content/lop/lop-51
Tutu, Desmond. 2008. Apartheid, Perpetrators, Forgiveness. Watch online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRDBWoV_hA0
Advocacy
“Introduction to Advocacy,” Advocacy e-lab, last modified Feb 17, 2014. Watch online at: https://www.youtube.com/user/AdvocacyeLab.
Evangelical Advocacy: A Response to Global Poverty, "Mission of Church and Role of Advocacy" (2002). Papers, PDF Files, and Presentations. Book 5. [11 pp. assigned]. Free download from: http://place.asburyseminary.edu/engaginggovernmentpapers/5.
Inculturation
Pocock, Michael, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and Douglas McConnell. "Contextualization." in The Changing Face of World Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends. Baker Academic, 2005, 321-348. Available on eReserves.
Shenk, Wilbert R. "Three Varieties of Mission." In Changing Frontiers of Mission. Orbis Books, 1999, 48-58. Available on eReserves.
Sanneh, Lamin “The Significance of the Translation Principle” Ch. 2 in Greenman, Jeffrey P. and Gene L. Green. Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective. (IVP 2012): 33-49. Available on eReserves.
Friendship
Fairwood, Birthe-Munck. “Making Friends Cross-Culturally” Intervaristy International Students Ministry Published April 01, 2002. http://ism.intervarsity.org/resource/making-friends-cross-culturally.
Robert, Dana L. “Global Friendship as Incarnational Missional Practice.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 39 no 4 (Oct 2015): 180-184.
Interreligious Dialogue
“Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct.” World Council of Churches, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, World Evangelical Alliance International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Oct 2011) 194-196.
McConnell, C. Douglas. "Missional Principles and Guidelines for Interfaith Dialogue." Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue 1, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 3-5. Available at: McConnell 2010 Interfaith Dialogue EIFD Vol.1 no.1.
Creation Care
Wright, Christopher J.H. ”Mission and God’s Earth” Ch. 12 in The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. IVP Academic, 2006, 397-420. Available on eReserves.
Video: Our Father’s World. Watch online at: https://vimeo.com/61121345
OPTIONAL PRACTICE (recommended books)
Healing, Signs, and Wonders
Alexander, Paul. Signs and Wonders: Why Pentecostalism is the World’s Fastest Growing Faith. Jossey-Bass, 2009. ISBN: 978-0470183960. List Price: $26.95.
Kraft, Charles. Christianity with Power. Wipf & Stock, 2005. ISBN: 978-1597523097, List Price: $21.99.
Ma, Wonsuk and Julie C. Ma. Mission in the Spirit: Towards a Pentecostal/Charismatic Missiology. Regnum Studies in Mission. Regnum, 2011. ISBN: 9781610970181. List Price: $39.00.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
870 pages reading and videos, including c. 50 pages of biblical text [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [50 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. (16%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [32 hours + 8 hours].
Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of mission (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 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. (32%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and #3]. [32 hours].
Community Map and Description: Observe and describe the social and religious landscape of your neighborhood or the community around your church and reflect critically on how you and your church engage this context missionally (1,000-1,100 words) (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, #3 and #4]. [10 hours].
Engage another World Religion: Visit a formal religious expression of another World Religion, observe and describe what is happening, and analyze the experience in light of mission practices (700-800 words) (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, #3 and #4]. [6 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. (22%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #3, and #4]. [20 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.