Winter 2019/Online

IS501

Rhodes

IS501: PRACTICES OF WORSHIP (4 Units: 160 hours). Patricia (Tricia) Rhodes.

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: 800 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing. Note: Several of the required readings are available on e-reserves at no charge to the student. The texts listed below should be purchased before the first class.

Biblical Texts [approximately 50 pages assigned].

Webber, Robert. Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God's Narrative. Baker Books, 2008. ISBN: 978-0801066245, Pub. Price $20.00 [142 pages assigned]

Smith, James K. A. You are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. Brazos Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-1587433801, Pub. Price $19.99 [192 pages assigned].

Barton, R. Ruth. Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence. Expanded Ed. InterVarsity Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0830835454, Pub. Price $20.00 [142 pages assigned]

Online Articles and videos (available on course Canvas page) [equivalent of approximately 325 pp.]

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 800 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text. [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. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [32 hours+8 hours].
  3. Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of worship and prayer (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].
  4. 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] [25 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].
  6. Students will write a reflection paper on their experience of solitude and prayer (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and #3]. [3 hours].
  7. Online Group Project: Students will participate in an online synchronous and asynchronous group worship-planning experience (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and #3]. [10 hours]
  8. As a participant-observer, students will visit three worshiping congregations outside their own church tradition and/or previous experience [Orthodox or Catholic, Pentecostal, New Expression], then prepare a 500-word participant-observation report on each (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [15 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.

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.