Fall 2015/Sacramento

IS502

Oden

IS502: PRACTICES OF COMMUNITY (4 Units: 160 hours). Patrick Oden.

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, Truth-telling, Promise-keeping, Forgiveness, Christian Formation, Gratitude, Testimony, and Group Spiritual Direction).

LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Students will reflect on their current and past experiences of Christian practices of community. (2) Students will participate in local contexts and demonstrate the capacity to engage in activities and exercisesrelated to Christian spiritual disciplines and practices of community. (3) Students will demonstrate the capacity to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic practices of community. (4) Students will articulate 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 class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion (which includes 8 hours of participation in vocation and formation groups) plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: 980 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.

Biblical Text [at least 50 pp.]

Banks, Robert. Paul’s Idea of Community, revised ed. Baker Academics, 1994. ISBN: 978-0801045547, Pub. Price $24.00 [160 pp assigned].

Cassian, John. The Conferences. Paulist Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0809104840, Pub. Price $54.95 [selected sections ~160pp] available free online at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3508.htm

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. IVP, 2005. ISBN: 978-0830833306, Pub.

Price $20.00 (for use in class exercises).

Huckins, Jon. Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community. The House Studio, 2012. ISBN: 978-0834128873, Pub. Price $12.99 [132 pp assigned].

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [178 pp. assigned].

Vanier, Jean. Community and Growth, 2^nd rev. ed. Paulist Press, 1989. ISBN: 978-0809131358, Pub. Price $22.95 [300 pp assigned].

Hospitality

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

Huckins, Jon. Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community.

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

Vanier, Jean. Community and Growth.

Truth-Telling

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

Promise-Keeping

Required text:

Cassian, John. The Conferences.

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

Forgiveness

Cassian, John. The Conferences.

Vanier, Jean. Community and Growth.

Gratitude

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

Huckins, Jon. Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community.

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

Vanier, Jean. Community and Growth.

Christian Formation

Cassian, John. The Conferences.

Huckins, Jon. Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community.

Vanier, Jean. Community and Growth.

Testimony

Vanier, Jean. Community and Growth.

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

Huckins, Jon. Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community.

Group Spiritual Direction

Cassian, John. The Conferences.

Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

Huckins, Jon. Thin Places: Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 980 pages reading, including at least 50 pages of biblical text. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3] [50 hours].
2. Classroom: for each practice, students will engage, reflect, create (utilizing instruction, participation, presentation, discussion, engaging practice-based theology cycle for theological reflection, case studies). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 3] [22 hours].
3. Vocation Formation Group (VFG) - In a Vocation Formation Group, students will engage spiritual disciplines, practices, and discussion. Students will study the Bible, and share and listen to stories related to the practices (Vocation Formation Group Leader (VFGL) will let professor know if students have been present and engaged). (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 4] [8 hours].
4. Students will participate in directed practices and disciplines over the course of the quarter. (8%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2] [15 hours].
5. Four fieldwork activities and reflections. (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2] [8 hours + 8 hours].
6. Autobiography related to core course concept. (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [2 hours].    
7. Signature Assignment: 100 word CIQ response, Integration paper related to course practices, and Rule of Life (2,500 words total). (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 3, 4] [25 hours].
8. DLA’s (Distributed Learning Activities): Weekly 250 word reading integration response (on Moodle). (12%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 3] [10 hours].
9. With partners, prepare a one-hour interactive expression of a course discipline for one class session. (15%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3] [1 hour in class, 5 hours preparation].
10. Choose a movie that exemplifies your understanding of community and write 5 pages reflecting on this movie in light of your experiences and course content. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 4] [6 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None. 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.