Winter 2018/Pasadena

IS500

Bolger

IS500: PRACTICES OF VOCATIONAL FORMATION (4 Units: 160 hours). Ryan Bolger.

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. IS500 teaches students a method for integrating resources of theological method into faithful responses to the human condition. As an integrative course, it explores the identity and practices of Christian vocational formation as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (listening, discernment, guidance, lament, rhythms of rest, and stewardship) fashioning them into a Rule of Life that shapes and supports the student’s vocation 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 vocational formation. (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 vocational formation. (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of vocational formation. (4) Students will have articulated how vocational 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 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: 900 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing, including:

A. Placher, William C. Callings: Twenty Centuries of Christian Wisdom on Vocation. Eerdmans, 2005. ISBN: 978-0802829276, Pub. Price $32.00 [approx. 200 pages assigned].

B. Labberton, Mark. Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today. IVP, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830836833, Pub. Price $16.00 [135 pages].

C. Garber, Steven. Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good. IVP, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830836666, Pub. Price $17.00 [135 pages assigned].

D. Funk, Mary Margaret. Thoughts Matter. Liturgical Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0814635254, Pub. Price $18.95. [Approx 200 pp.]

E. Barton, Ruth Haley. Sacred Rhythms. IVP Books, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830833337. Pub. Price $19.00 [135 pp.].

F. 50 pp. of Bible Reading from Old and New Testaments (given in class).

G. CORE PRACTICES:

Articles, chapters, videos, websites, etc., that engage the following required practices (Listening, Guidance, Lament, Discernment, Stewardship, Simplicity, Rhythms of Rest, Honoring the Body) for IS500:

a. Listening:

See Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today, Mark Labberton, above.

b. Guidance:

See Thoughts Matter in Funk, above.

See Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, Steven Garber, above.

c. Lament:

Brueggemann, Walter. Praying the Psalms. Saint Mary's Press, 1986. Chapter One: Letting Experience Touch the Psalter, pp. 15-25; Chapter Four: Christians in Jewish Territory, pp. 51-65. In E-Reserves.

Witvlliet, John. Worship Seeking Understanding. Baker Books, 2003. Chapter Two: Praise and Lament in the Psalms and Liturgical Prayer, pp. 39-63. In E-Reserves.

d. Discernment:

See Thoughts Matter in Funk, above.

See Visions of Vocation in Garber, above.

e. Stewardship:

Miroslav Volf's "God the Giver" from Free of Charge. In E-Reserves.

Walter Brueggemann, “The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity,” Christian Century, March 24–31, 1999, 342-347. In E-Reserves.

f. Simplicity:

Richard Foster, “Simplicity” (Part 3) Celebration of Disciplines Curriculum - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bY8oaNPTI0

Foster, Richard. 1988. “Simplicity” in Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, 3rd Edition. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 79-95. In E-Reserves.

g. Rhythms of Rest:

See “Sabbath: Establishing Rhythms of Work and Rest” and “A Rule of Life: Cultivating Rhythms for Spiritual Transformation” in Barton above.

h. Honoring the Body:

See “Honoring the Body: Flesh and Blood Spirituality” in Barton above.

Students in IS500 are required to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, receive a CoreClarity coaching packet based off of their top 5 strengths, and participate in a 45-minute coaching call with a CoreClarity coach. There will be a $40 charge for StrengthFinder® assessment, Coaching Packet, and Coaching Session which will automatically be charged to your student account.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

900 pp. of required reading, including 50 pages of biblical text, and/or the equivalent time in viewing videos (see list above). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [48 hours].
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. (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [22 hours+8 hours].
Directed Exercises and Disciplines: Student will participate over the quarter in disciplines and exercises outside of the classroom related to the core practices of the course. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [20 hours].
DLAs (Directed Learning Activities): Additional activities and reflections related to directed exercises, directed practices and integrated reflections. (13%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3]. [10 hours].
Integrative Reflections: Students will engage in critical theological reflection on contextualized experiences using a practical theology or similar method. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3.[15 hours]
Fieldwork Activity - StrengthsFinders and CoreClarity Coaching: Students will take the Strengthsfinders/CoreClarity Assessment and debrief the results via a phone call with a professional executive coach to learn more about their strengths and how to better grow them in use for God’s mission in the world. (2%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1 and #2] [2 hours].
Autobiography: Students will create an autobiography related to practices of vocational formation (5%). [2 hours].
Finances and Vocation: Students will write a financial autobiography, use a practical theology method to reflect on finances, and create a resulting financial plan that supports vocational goals. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2 and #3]. [8 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. (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 integrative requirement in the 120 MDiv Program and the 80 MAT, 80 MATM, 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.