Spring 2020/Houston

PM514

Herrington

PM514: MISSIONAL CHURCHES AND LEADERSHIP (4 Units: 161 Hours). Jim Herrington.

DESCRIPTION: This is a practical theology course that engages biblical, theological, and practical matters in ecclesiology and leadership. The work of lay and clergy leadership is explored in regard to fostering an environment in which all participants are to be formed into an interpretive community that is engaged with God personally and corporately in congregation formation, spiritual formation, and missional formation. Working from a praxis-theory-praxis perspective, the course will attend to topics as they are integrated in a practical theology methodology with an emphasis on missio Dei.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will (1) articulate an understanding of missional ecclesiology for the student’s anticipated ministry context; (2) articulate an understanding of the tasks of congregational leadership; (3) apply course frameworks for ecclesiology, contexts, and leadership to exercises regarding specific cases; and (4) articulate reflectively concerning one’s own gifts and calling in relationship to course frameworks for ecclesiology, contexts, and leadership.

RELATIONSHIP TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES: LDR courses fulfill the MDiv, MATM, and MDiv PLO that states “Students will have demonstrated capacities for historically informed theological and ethical reflection” and the MATM PLO that states “Students will have demonstrated academic capacities for being theologically reflective practitioners for Christian ministries”.

COURSE FORMAT: Course time will include lectures, individual and group exercises, reflective discussions of materials and experiences, and guest speakers. Each week students and the professor will interact on Canvas concerning readings and class presentations. This course meets on four Saturdays [April 4, 18; May 2, 23 from 9 AM to 4 PM in Houston] for a total of 24 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 16 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: 1,170 pp. required.

Branson, Mark Lau, and Juan F. Martinez. Churches, Cultures and Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. IVP Academic, 2011. ISBN: 978-0830839261, Pub. Price $30.00. [233 pp. assigned]

Herrington, Jim, Trisha Taylor and Robert Creech. The Leader’s Journey 2nd Edition: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation. Baker Academics, 2020. ISBN: 978-1540960528, Pub. Price $24.99. [188 pp.]

Roxburgh, Alan. Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World. Morehouse, 2015. ISBN: 978-0819232113, Pub. Price $16.95. [127 pp.]

Sparks, Paul, Tim Soerens, and Dwight Friesen. The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community. InterVarsity, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830841158, Pub. Price $18.00. [190 pp.]

Van Gelder, Craig. Ministry of the Missional Church. Baker, 2007. ISBN: 978-0801091391, Pub. Price $21.00. [170 pp.]

Wimberly, Anne Streaty. Soul Stories: African American Christian Education. Rev. ed. Abingdon, 2005. ISBN: 978-0687494323, Pub. Price $22.99. [167 pp.]

Articles/Chapters on Canvas

Argyris, C., “Teaching Smart People How to Learn” Harvard Business Review, 1991 [16 pp.].

Ely, R. and Meyerson, D., “Theories of Gender in Organizations,” Working Paper #8, Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons College , 2000. (www.simmons.edu/som/docs/cgo_wp8_DNC.pdf) [46 pp.].

Heifetz, Ronald, “The Work of Leadership” HBR, 2001 [16 pp.].

Senge, Peter, “The Leader’s New Work,” Sloan Management Review, 1990 [17 pp.].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. Instruction time [24 hours] [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-4].
  2. 1170 pp. of required reading; weekly lectures and class participation (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-4] [65 hours].
  3. Write a 3,000-word narrative case study of a church leadership team that did the work of exegeting its community as it prepared to plant a church (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3] [25 hours].
  4. Listen to “The Power of Creative Tension” (https://theleadersjourney.us/ep32/) and write a 750-word reflection on your response to the content and the personal challenges you will face in fostering this kind of tension in congregational life (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2, #4] [6 hours].
  5. Use the story-linking process and write a 750 page narrative that demonstrates application of the four stages of story-linking. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [5 hours].
  6. Write a 500-600 word Adler-style book critique on Branson/Martinez and on Roxburgh (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2]. [5 hours].
  7. Reflective essay (750 words) on your leadership capacities in light of class, midway through semester (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2, 4]. [6 hours].
  8. Write a 2,500 word term paper, per syllabus, based on a current ministry context, integrating issues of ecclesiology, missiology, context, and leader­ship, demonstrating a PT method; includes the student’s reflection (perhaps in a final section of 500 – 600 words) on personal progress concerning course goals (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 4]. [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: It is recommended that students take PM514 during or after Field Ed, or toward the end of a masters program. It is also highly recommended that students have completed IS500, IS501, IS502, and IS503.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the LDR requirement for the 120 MDiv Program and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015). Meets 144 MDiv core requirement MIN6 or the requirement in Ministry Foundations (MIN F) for other master’s degrees.

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. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.