DESCRIPTION: The course identifies characteristics of churches in postmodern and post-Christian contexts. We will examine and consider how these communities embody their faith and what value it has for the broader Church. The class will explore the dynamics of the sacred/secular split, forms of community, contextual forms of apologetics, hospitality, new forms of participation, creativity, leadership, and the spirituality of everyday life. Theologically, the class will explore how the reign of God might manifest in worship, in formation, and in witness in postmodern cultures.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will (1) assess the nature of postmodern cultural contexts; (2) gain tools to engage postmodernity through worship, spirituality and witness ; (3) learn how to exegete and shape the connection between the theology/ecclesiology/missiology of a local church and its missional life and witness.

COURSE FORMAT: The class will be conducted on the Internet using a 10-week lesson program aligned with Fuller's academic calendar. Each week, class interaction will take place around threaded discussions, book reviews, and the sharing of work.

REQUIRED READING: If you have previously read any of the required texts, please discuss alternatives with the instructor.

Read the following three books:

Gibbs, Eddie, and Bolger, Ryan. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005 (352 pp.).

Grenz, Stanley J., and John R. Franke. Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001 (298 pp.).

Jones, Tony. The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008 (288 pp.).

Read one of these:

McLaren, Brian. A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. New York: HarperOne, 2010 (320 pp.).

McLaren, Brian. Generous Orthodoxy. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004 (304 pp.).

Read one of these:

Pagitt, Doug. A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-Filled, Open-Armed, Alive-and-well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in Us All. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008 (242 pp.).

Pagitt, Doug. Church Reimagined: The Spiritual Formation of People in Communities of Faith. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005 (240 pp.).

Read one of these:

Rollins, Peter. The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief. Orleans, MA: Paraclete Press, 2008 (196 pp.).

Smith, James K.A., Who's Afraid of Postmoderism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006 (160pp.).

1. An introductory, 1000 word, reflection paper discussing some initial assumptions about the nature and purpose of the church as well as familiarity with the Emerging Church discussion/movement (30 points - 12%).

2. Six two-page book reviews (10 points ea. - 24%).

3. 10 weekly threaded discussions (6 points ea. - 24%).

4. A final, 3500 word paper, which draws upon course material, Internet research, etc. as a means of summarizing the central characteristics of the Emerging Church discussion/movement and their personal/practical implications for a student's own context, church, or ministry (100 points - 40%).