Summer 2018/Non-campus

ME513

King

 

ME513: GLOBAL CHRISTIAN WORSHIP AND WITNESS (GCOMM) (4 Units: 160 hours).  Roberta R. King.

 

DESCRIPTION: This course will theologically and culturally engage global arts in the pursuit of relevant, contextualized Christian worship and witness worldwide. With the phenomenal growth of the Church in the global South, there is a need to learn about, from, and with the Global Church, discovering the essential dynamics of encountering God and engaging with people in meaningful and transformative ways for the sake of the Gospel. Developing culturally appropriate worship and witness requires addressing the intersection of key elements in the contextualization process: Word, culture, local faith communities, and spiritual formation. This course focuses particularly on the role, influence, and importance of the global arts as expressive languages that critically shape Christian worship, witness, spiritual formation, and church growth, across diverse cultural contexts. A Biblical foundation and practical framework for effectively contextualizing, creating and leading in meaningful Christian worship and witness will be developed.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

  1. Students will be able to articulate a Biblical theology of worship and witness, particularly as it relates to mission and cultural diversity.
  2. Students will learn and engage with missiological precedents for contextualizing worship and witness via the global arts.
  3. Students will develop practical tools for planning and leading worship and witness in cross-cultural contexts.
  4. Students will gain essential skills in doing ethnography for contextualizing worship and witness.

 

COURSE FORMAT: Hybrid/Online. This course will be conducted on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller Seminary’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours. This class will meet in conjunction with the Global Consultation on Music and Mission (GCoMM) in Nairobi, Kenya, August 6-9, 2018. It will be bookended with a worship ethnography exercise in the city and orientation to contextualized worship and witness arts in Africa before GCoMM and will conclude with a half-day, post-conference debriefing. During the 10-day sojourn in East Africa (Aug 3-10, 2018), course content will include background lectures from Fuller and local lecturers, attendance at conference talks and worship events, panel discussions, experiential participation in contextualized worship and witness, guided discussion groups, and reflective debriefings.  

 

REGISTRATION NOTE: Students are not permitted to register for a class that meets during the same period as a non-campus immersion class unless they obtain faculty approval. If the faculty grants permission to miss class meeting(s) in order to attend the immersion class, it is the student's responsibility to be familiar with that faculty's attendance policy, including any penalties that would result from the planned absence. Students must work with their advisor to register in such cases.

 

REQUIRED READING:  1,265 pages required. If you have previously read any of the required texts, please select an alternative text from the recommended reading list or a book approved by the instructor.

Best, Harold M. Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts. InterVarsity Press, 2003. ISBN: 978-0830832293, Pub. Price: $20.00. [226 pages]

King, Roberta R. Global Arts and Christian Witness. Grand Rapids, 2019. Pre-publication Copy. Pub. Price: $24.99. [224 pages]

King, Roberta, Jean Ngoya Kidula, James R. Krabill, and Thomas A. Oduro. Music in the Life of the African Church. Baylor University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-1602580220. Pub. Price: $29.95. [190 pages]

Krabill, James R., Frank Fortunato, Robin P. Harris, Brian Schrag, Eds. Worship and Mission for the

Global Church: An Ethnodoxology Handbook. William Carey Library, 2013. ISBN: 978-0878084937. Pub. Price: $37.49. [400 pages]

Van Opstal, Sandra Maria. The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World. InterVarsity Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0830841295. Pub. Price: $18.00. [225 pages]

 

RECOMMENDED READING:

Davis, Josh and Nikki Lerner. Worship Together in Your Church as in Heaven. Abingdon Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-1630884284. Pub. Price: $22.99.

Hawn, C. Michael. One Bread, One Body: Exploring Cultural Diversity in Worship. The Alban Institute, 2003. ISBN: 978-1566992770. Pub. Price: $16.00.

Kreider, Alan and Eleanor Kreidor. Worship & Mission After Christendom. Herald Press, 2011.

ISBN: 978-0836195545. Pub. Price: $19.99.

McGann, Mary E. Exploring Music as Worship and Theology. The Liturgical Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0814628249. Pub. Price: $9.95.

Shahriari, Andrew. Popular World Music, 2nd. Ed., Routledge, 2017. ISBN: 978-1138684478. Pub. Price: $79.95.

 

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT: TOTAL: 160 hours

  1. 5-10 Minute video or essay (300-400 words) which serves as an introduction for the student and outlines the student’s experiences in cross-cultural worship and witness, and artistic expertise such as music preferences, instrumental capabilities, and aspirations (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [3 hours].
  2. 1,265 pages of required reading with reading log. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1-4]. [84 hours]
  3. Online class participation, which includes required readings, four threaded discussions reflecting on course content (200-300-word min.) and 2 responses to classmate per post (100-150 words) (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1, 2]. [8 hours].
  4. Journal - daily reflections and memos on GCoMM conference content, concert and worship events, cross-cultural interactions, and spiritual formation in a cross-cultural setting (2,500 words total) (20%). [10 hours].
  5. One worship-in-the-city: Nairobi ethnography based on participant-observation and a 1,200-word report (15%). [12 hours].
  6. Attendance of and participation in class orientation, debrief and daily class meetings at GCoMM-Nairobi (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3, and 4]. [12 hours].
  7. Attendance of selected papers, plenary sessions, and evening concerts at GCoMM- Nairobi (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, and 4]. [16 hours].
  8. Signature Assignment: Personal Philosophy of Christian Worship and Witness in a Diverse World. A 2500-word paper addressing critical issues in contextualized worship and witness through the global arts with implications for the student’s ministry context, due at the end of week 10 (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2]. [15 hours].

 

PREREQUISITES: None.

 

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.

 

FINAL EXAM: None.

This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (10/17)


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.