Fall 2017/Pasadena

IS503

Lim

IS503: PRACTICE OF MISSION (4 Units: 160 hours). Peter Lim.

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. IS503 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian mission as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (witness, mercy, reconciliation, advocacy, creation care, friendship, inculturation, and inter-religious dialogue) 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 mission; (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 mission (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of mission; (4) Students will articulate how practices of mission 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 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: 1,000 pages of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger P. Schroeder. Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, Pub. Price $35.00 [200 pp. assigned].

Bible texts [50 pp.]

Bosch, David J.Transforming Mission, Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission.Orbis Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759482, Pub. Price $35.00 [140 pp.].

Elmer, Duane. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. IVP Books, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830833788, Pub. Price $18.00 [190 pp. assigned].

Sunquist, Scott W.,Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory. Baker Academic, 2013. ISBN: 978-0801036156, Pub. Price, $34.99 [301 pp. assigned].

CORE PRACTICES: (available on eReserves) [119 pp. assigned].

Witness:

Bosch, David J. "Evangelism: Theological Currents and Cross-Currents Today." International Bulletin of Missionary Research 11, no. 3 (1987). [pp. 98-103 assigned].

Mercy:

Kirk, J. Andrew. What Is Mission?: Theological Explorations. Fortress Press, 2000. [pp. 96-117 assigned].

Reconciliation:

Kirk, J. Andrew. What Is Mission?: Theological Explorations. Fortress Press, 2000. [pp. 143-163 assigned].

Advocacy:

Bevans, Stephen B., and Roger Schroeder. Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today. American Society of Missiology Series No. 30. Orbis Books, 2004. [pp. 88-100 assigned].

Creation Care:

Hennigan, Tom.Caring About Creation for the Right Reasons. Answers Vol. 10. No.4. (2015). [pp.58-62 assigned].

Friendship:

Heuertz, Christopher L., and Christine D. Pohl. Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission. [pp. 119-139].

Inculturation:

Pocock, Michael, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and Douglas McConnell. "Contextualization." Chap. 12 In The Changing Face of World Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends, 321-48. Baker Academic, 2005.

Inter-Religious Dialogue:

McConnell, C. Douglas. "Missional Principles and Guidelines for Interfaith Dialogue." Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue 1, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 3-5.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Lausanne Covenant Documentshttp://www.lausanne.org/en/documents/all.html.

Hartch, Todd. The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity. Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-0199843138, Pub. Price $26.95.

Kirk, J. Andrew. What Is Mission?: Theological Explorations. Fortress Press, 2000. ISBN: 978-0232523263.

Muck, Terry and Frances S. Adeney.Christianity Encountering World Religions, The Practice of Mission in the Twenty-first Century. Baker Academic, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801026607, Pub. Price $30.00.

Newbigin, J.E. Lesslie.The Gospel in a Pluralist Society.Eerdmans, 1989. ISBN: 978-0802804266, Pub. Price $25.00.

Robert, Dana L.American Women in Mission, A Social History of Their Thought and Practice.Mercer University Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0865545496, Pub. Price $40.00.

Sanneh, Lamin. Disciples of All Nations, Pillars of World Christianity.Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0195189612, Pub. Price $21.95.

Shenk, Wilbert R.Changing Frontiers of Mission.Orbis Books, 1999. ISBN: 978-1570752599, Pub. Price $28.00.

Walls, Andrew F.The Missionary Movement in Christian History, Studies in the Transmission of Faith.Orbis Books, 1996. ISBN: 978-1570750595, Pub. Price $26.00.

Wright, Christopher J.H.The Mission of God, Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. IVP Academic, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830825714, Pub. Price $45.00.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1,000 pages reading and videos, including at least 50 pages of biblical text (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [50 hours].

2. Weekly DLAs: Practical application of theory with interaction through videos, posts, and reflective activities [often 250-word forum post and follow-up 250-word response] (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3 & 4]. [40 hours].

3. Classroom and Vocation Formation Group (VFG) Participation: Students will participate in active learning to foster understanding of and capacity for engaging in theologically-informed reflection in the classroom and through participation in Vocation Formation Groups (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [20 hours+8 hours].

4. Directed Exercises and Integrative Reflection: Student will participate in disciplines and exercises outside of the classroom over the course of the quarter related to the core practices of the course and reflect on these experiences in a way that integrates experience with course content (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3]. [15 hours].

5. Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of mission (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [2 hours].

6. 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 (2,500 words total) (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [25 hours].

PREREQUISITES: IS500 encouraged. Recommended in first year of study.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets a core integrative requirement in the 120 MDiv Program and the 80 MAT, 80 MATM, 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.