Spring 2018/Fuller Online

IS503

Hankins

IS503: PRACTICES OF MISSION (4 Units: 160 hours). Frank D. Hankins.

---

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 articulate 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: 880 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing, including 50 assigned pages from the Bible.

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder.Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today.Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, Pub. Price $35.00 [100 pp. assigned].

Bible: Passages from Old and New Testament. [50 pp. assigned].

Elmer, Duane. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. IVP, 2009. ISBN: 978-0830833788, Pub. Price $18.00 [200 pp. assigned].

eReserves [208 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 [100 pp. assigned].

Sunquist, Scott W.Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory.Baker Academic, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801036156, Pub. Price $34.99 [150 pp. assigned].

CORE PRACTICES:

1. Witness

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. 2011. Chapter 3 ”I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel” in Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today.Orbis [Required Text].

Bosch, David J. "Evangelism: Theological Currents and Cross-Currents Today."International Bulletin of Missionary Research11, no. 3 (1987): 98-103. Available on e-Reserves.

Finke, Greg.Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be An Everyday Missionary. TenthPower Publishing, 2014. [Required Text].

Medearis, Carl.Muslims, “Love your Neighbor: Practical Ways to Reach Out to Muslims.” Chapter 8 inChristians, and Jesus: Gaining Understanding and Building Relationship. Bethany House, 2008. [pp. 151-184].Available on e-Reserves.

Sunquist, Scott W. Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Baker Academic, 2013. [Required Text].

2. Mercy

Kirk, J. Andrew.What Is Mission?: Theological Explorations. Fortress Press, 2000. [pp. 96-117.]Available on e-Reserves.

Ross, Cathy and Jonny Baker.2015. “Francis of Assisi: New Monastic Pioneer’ in Pioneering Spirituality.Canterbury Press, ISBN: 978-1848258174, Pub. Price $27.00[10 pp. assigned]. Available on e-Reserves.

3. Reconciliation

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Chapter 5 Unraveling a “Complex Reality” inProphetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today.Orbis, 2011 [Required Text].

Boyle, Greg “Compassion and Kinship” at TEDxConejo, 2012

Walls, Andrew. 2002. “The Ephesian Moment: At a Crossroads in Christian History” in The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History. Maryknoll: Orbis. (10 pp).Available on e-Reserves.

4. Dialogue

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Chapter 2: “’We Were Gentle Among You’ and chapter 6 “Entering Someone Else’s Garden” inProphetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today.Orbis, 2011 [Required Text].

McConnell, C. Douglas. "Missional Principles and Guidelines for Interfaith Dialogue." Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue 1, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 3-5.Available on e-Reserves.

Newbigin, Lesslie. 1995. “The Gospel among the Religions.” Chap. 10 in The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission (30 pp.). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. Available on e-Reserves.

5. Inculturation

Elmer, Duane. 2009. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. Downers Grove: IVP. [Required Text].

Pocock, Michael, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and Douglas McConnell. "Contextualization." Chap. 12 inThe Changing Face of World Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends. Baker Academic, 2005. [pp. 321-48].Available on e-Reserves.

Walls, Andrew. 1996.” The Gospel as Prisoner and Liberator of Culture” in The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith, (16 pp.).Available on e-Reserves.

6. Friendship

Elmer, Duane. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. 2009. Downers Grove: IVP. [Required Text].

Robert, Dana, ed. 2002. “Historical Themes and Current Issues” in Gospel Bearers, Gender Barriers: Missionary Women in the Twentieth Century. Maryknoll: Orbis. Available on e-Reserves.

7. Creation Care

Wright, Christopher J.H. “Mission and God’s Earth.” Chapter 12 in The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. 2006. [pp. 397-440]. Available on e-Reserves.

8. Advocacy

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Chapter 7 “Letting God and Speaking Out” inProphetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today.Orbis, 2011. [Required Text].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society. Eerdmans, 1989. ISBN: 978-0802804266, Pub. Price $25.00.

Pocock, Michael, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and Douglas McConnell.The Changing Face of World Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends. Baker Academic, 2005. ISBN: 978-0801026614, Pub. Price $30.00.

Robert, Dana. Gospel Bearers, Gender Barriers: Missionary Women in the Twentieth Century. Orbis Books, 2002. ISBN: 978-1570754258, Pub. Price $25.00.

Walls, Andrew F. The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History. Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture. Orbis, 2002. ISBN: 978-1570753732, Pub. Price $26.00.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 880 pages reading, which includes 50 pages of biblical text [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3]. [53 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. (40%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3]. [32 hours+8 hours].
3. Directed Exercises and Integrative Reflection: Student will participate in disciplines and exercises and fieldwork 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 (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3]. [40 hours].
4. Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of mission (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].
5. 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]. [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: IS500 encouraged. 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.

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.