Spring 2020/Houston

IS502

Huffman

IS502: PRACTICES OF COMMUNITY (4 Units: 160 hours). Kristin M. Huffman.

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, gratitude) 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.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course will provide students with further opportunity to develop and/or master skills in integrating theological and missiological content with life experience and context through engaging a variety of spiritual practices related to the practice of worship, which is consistent with the SOT/SIS PLO “Students will have demonstrated capacities to cultivate a theologically reflective practice of Christian discipleship.” (MDiv, MAT, MATM, MAICS). The emphases on integration in this course provides introduction to the MAICS learning outcome related to critical thinking and integration (MAICS). This course may also contribute to various learning outcomes in the MAGL related to integrating theology and praxis in ministry and mission, and related to spiritual formation (MAGL).

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 required synchronous and/or asynchronous participation in vocation and formation groups) plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: approx. 1050 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.

Pohl, Christine. Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802849854, Pub. Price $20.00 [178 pp. assigned]. Available on Kindle and as an E-Book in the Fuller Library.

Tutu, Desmond and Mpho Tutu. The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and our World. Harper Colling, 2014. ISBN: 978-0062203571. Pub Price $16.99. Available on Kindle. [225 pp. assigned]

Smith, C. Christopher & John Pattison. Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus. IVP Books, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830841141, Pub. Price $18.00 [226 pp. assigned]. Available on Kindle and as an E-Book in the Fuller Library.

INTEGRATION RESOURCES: other resources that engage theology (ecclesiology), contemporary challenges (culture) and practice

General

Smith, James K.A.”Introduction: Beyond Perspectives” and “Homo Liturgicus: The Human Person as Lover,” in Desiring the Kingdom. Baker Academic, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801035777, Pub. Price $24.99 [pp. 17-35 and 37-73]. [available on e-Reserves].

Calhoun, Adele. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook revised and expanded edition. InterVarsity Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-0830846054, Pub. Price $24.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library. [19 pp. assigned].

Tiersma Watson, Jude. "Learning the Unforced Rhythms of Grace." Fuller Youth Institute. February 26, 2014. http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/articles/learning-the-unforced-rhythms-of-grace. [5pp]

Dykstra, Craig and Bass, Dorothy. ‘A Theological Understanding of Christian Practices’ in Miroslav Volf and Dorothy Bass, eds. Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life, 13-32. Eerdmans, 2002. [20 pp. assigned]

Pauw, Amy. “Attending to the Gaps between Beliefs and Practices” in Volf, Miroslav; Bass, Dorothy. Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life. Eerdmans, 2002. ISBN: 978-0802849311 [33-49]

Bruggeman, Walter. Mandate to Difference: An Invitation to the Contemporary Church. Westminster John Knox, 2007. ISBN: 978-066423127, Pub. Price $20.00 [Ch 1, p1-7 and Ch 9, p159-184] [32 pages assigned].

Core Practices

Essays, articles, and videos including, but not limited to:

Hospitality

Required text: Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

Conde-Frazier, Elizabeth. “From Hospitality to Shalom” in A Many Colored Kingdom.

Baker Academic, 2004. ISBN: 978-0801027437 , Pub. Price $26.00 [pp. 167-210].

[available as an E-Book in Fuller Library]

Olds, Jacqueline and Richard S. Schwartz. “The Elephant in the Room” in The Lonely

American. Beacon Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0807000359, Pub. Price $19.00 [pp. 1-12].

[available as an E-Book in the Fuller Library]

Wimberly, Anne-Streaty. “Called to Listen: The Imperative Vocation of Listening in

Twenty-First Century Faith Communities.” International Review of Mission LXXXVII,

No. 346:pp. 331-341 [available on e-Reserves or Canvas].

Yong, Amos. Hospitality and the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices and the Neighbor . Orbis Books (April 1, 2008) ISBN-13: 978-1570757723 Ch. 4 “Performing Hospitality” p 99-128 (29pages) [available on e-reserves]

Truth-Telling

Required text: Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

Ted Talk: The Danger of Silence. http://www.ted.com/talks/clint_smith_the_danger_of_silence

Calhoun, Adele. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

Promise-Keeping

Required text: Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

Videos on website: http://becauseisaidiwould.com/category/video/

Calhoun, Adele. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

Forgiveness

Augsburger, David: https://www.nacr.org/resource-center-on-emotional-and-relational-health/the-f-word-forgiveness-and-its-imitations [9pp]

Volf, Miroslav. “How Can We Forgive,” in Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a

World Stripped of Grace. Zondervan, 2005. ISBN: 978-0310265740, Pub. Price $15.99

[pp. 193-224]. [available on e-Reserves].

Tutu, Desmond and Mpho Tutu. The Book of Forgiving

Flowers, Rachel. 'Refusal to Forgive: Indigenous Women's Love and

Rage' Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 4:2 (2015): 32-49 [18 pp.

assigned] [available on e-Reserves].

Gratitude

Required text: Pohl, Christine. Living into Community.

40 ways to practice gratitude: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/40-simple-ways-practice-gratitude.html [2pp]

Au, Wilkie and Noreen Cannon Au. The Grateful Heart: Living the Christian Message. Paulist Press, 2011 ISBN: 978-0809147359, Pub. Price 19.95. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [175 pp. assigned]. One or more chapters…(found as E-book in Fuller Library]

Calhoun, Adele. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

Testimony

Drury, Amanda Hontz. “Testimony in Practice,” in Saying is Believing. InterVarsity, 2015. ISBN: 978-0830840656, Pub. Price $22.00 [pp.125-167]. [available on e-Reserves].

Peace, Richard. Holy Conversation: Talking About God in Everyday Life. IVP Connect,

2006. ISBN: 978-0830811199, Pub. Price: $19.00. (Great workbook with helpful

reflections and assignments that will change established mental models about testimony

being a 3-minute talk). [25 pp. assigned] [Available as an e-book in the Fuller Library].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1050 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text. (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [60 hours].
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 outcome #1, #2, #3]. [22 hours].

Plus: 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. The VFG groups will meet the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th* weeks of the course. (Vocation Formation Group Leader (VFGL) will let professor know if students have been present and engaged)

[This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, and #4]. [8 hours + 22 hours=30 hours]. (10% for both)

Students will participate in directed practices and spiritual disciplines over the course of the quarter. One of the assignments will be to participate in a guided silent retreat. There will be instructions in the syllabus and on canvas. The student will turn in a 500 word reflection as a response to the silent retreat and the other activities (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [15 hours].
Four fieldwork activities and reflections that involve the student in integration of practices of this course with their lives and ministries (25%) ([This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [8 hours + 8 hours = 16 hours].
Autobiography. Students will create an autobiography related to the practices of community. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].
DLA’s (Distributed Learning Activities) The students will interact with one another in groups throughout the weeks of the course. They will participate in eight forum discussions regarding the course readings, videos and scripture, writing initial posts (approx..250 words) and responding to two of their groupmates (approx. 150 words) (15%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #3 & #4]. [12 hours]
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. related to course practices, and Rule of Life (2,500 words total) (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None. 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.