Winter 2019/Online

IS502

Thacker

IS502: PRACTICES OF COMMUNITY (4 Units: 160 hours). Kimberly Thacker.

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. IS502 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian community as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (hospitality, forgiveness, promise-keeping, truth-telling, gratitude, and testimony) 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 community. (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 community. (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of community. (4) Students will have articulated how community practices 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.

Biblical Texts: 80 pp selected from: Exodus, Isaiah, Matthew, Luke, John, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Hebrews, James

Required Textbooks:

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [178 pp. assigned].

Brueggemann, Walter. Mandate to Difference: An Invitation to the Contemporary Church. Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0664231217, Pub. Price $20.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [72 pp. assigned].

Peace, Richard. Holy Conversation: Talking about God in Everyday Life. InterVarsity Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830811199, Pub. Price $18.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [114 pp. assigned].

Voskamp, Ann. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Zondervan, 2011. ISBN: 978-0310321910, Pub. Price $18.99 [112 pp. assigned].

Core Practices (all of the reading below not from the required textbooks is available on eReserves in the course Canvas page; the required textbooks listed above are the only books you need to purchase)

Forgiveness:

Textbook: Richard Peace, Holy Conversation

Augsburger, David. "The F Word: Forgiveness and its Limitations." The National Association for Christian Recovery. June 20, 2008. Accessed June, 2016. [apx 10 pp. assigned]. http://www.nacronline.com/wordpress/160/the-f-word-forgiveness-and-its-imitations

Volf, Miroslav. "How Can We Forgive," in Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a World Stripped of Grace. Zondervan, 2006. ISBN: 978-0310265740, Pub. Price $15.99 [pp. 193-224 assigned].

Gratitude:

Textbook: Christine Pohl, Living into Community

Textbook: Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

Smith, C. Christopher and John Pattison "Gratitude" in Slow Church. InterVarsity, 2014. ISBN 978-0830841141, Pub. Price $17.00 [pp. 174-191].

Conlin, Ciara. "40 Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude." Accessed June, 2016. [apx 2 pp. assigned]. (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/40-simple-ways-practice-gratitude.html)

Fredrick, Marla. “Gratitude and Empathy” in Between the Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith, 63-73. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.

Hospitality:

Textbook: Christine Pohl, Living into Community

Conde-Fraser, Elizabeth. "From Hospitality to Shalom" in A Many Colored Kingdom. Baker, 2004. ISBN: 978-0801027437, Pub. Price $24.00 [pp. 167-210].

Yong, Amos. “Guests of Religious Others: Theological Education in the Pluralistic World,” Theological Education 47:1 (2012): 75-83.

Promise-Keeping:

Textbook: Christine Pohl, Living into Community

Testimony:

Textbook: Richard Peace, Holy Conversation

Truth-Telling and Accountability:

Textbook: Christine Pohl, Living into Community

The Danger of Silence (https://www.ted.com/talks/clint_smith_the_danger_of_silence) [5 min]

Celebration and Lament:

Textbook: Voskamp

Generosity:

Stearns, Richard. "The Greatest Challenge of the New Millennium" in The Hole in Our Gospel. Thomas Nelson, 2009. ISBN: 978-0849947001, Pub. Price $16.00 [pp. 97-105].

Additional Resources for Church Community and the Prayer of Examen (all of the reading below not from the required textbooks is available on eReserves in the course Canvas page; the required textbooks listed above are the only books you need to purchase)

Bolsinger, Tod. "It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian" and "Transforming Word II: Reading at the Table" in It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian. Brazos, 2004. ISBN: 978-1587430893, Pub. Price $22.00 [pp. 21-27, 127-136]

Peace, Richard. "God in the Ordinary" and "The Still Small Voice" in Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2012. ISBN: 978-0830838219, Pub. Price $17.00 [pp. 37-68]

Smith, C. Christopher and John Pattison "A Theological Vision for Slow Church" in Slow Church. InterVarsity, 2014. ISBN 978-0830841141, Pub. Price $17.00 [pp. 21-35].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 800 pages reading and videos, including 80 pages of biblical text. Students will submit a reading log at the end of the course as part of the grade (10%) and understanding of content is also expected in discussions and papers. [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 community (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [4 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. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3] [36 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. Online brainstorming and initial thoughts and/or posting websites interacting about topics before reading and other assignments in wikis or forums. (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [5 hours].
  7. Online Presentation: personal sharing/distribution of information with regard to the practice you choose to explore. Each student will pick one week/practice to share perspective and thoughts regarding the practice with peers through blogging, powerpoint, Storify, video, prezi, emaze, Visme, and/or any other creative means approved by the course Instructor and will respond to other students' presentations from their VF group (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #3]. [10 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.