Winter 2018/Pasadena
IS501
Peace
IS501: PRACTICES OF WORSHIP (4 Units: 160 hours). Richard Peace.
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. IS501 is an integrative course that explores the identity and practices of Christian worship and prayer as a people called, gathered, and sent by God. Together, professor and students study and enact historic Christian disciplines necessitated by this distinctive identity (Sabbath-keeping, confession, praise, communion, enacting the prophetic, gathering & sending, prayer, reading & proclaiming the Word, and liturgical year) 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 worship and prayer. (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 worship and prayer. (3) Students will have demonstrated capacities to engage scripture, tradition, and contemporary resources to reflect theologically on historic and personal practices of worship and prayer. (4) Students will have articulated how practices of worship and prayer 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 twice weekly for two hour sessions for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion (which includes 8 hours of required synchronous and/or asynchronous participation in vocation and formation groups).
REQUIRED READING: 1,000 pp. of required reading and/or the equivalent time in viewing.
A. Required Textbooks
The Holy Bible. CEB, NRSV, or TNIV translation. [50 pp. assigned].
Anderson, Herbert & Edward Foley. Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals: Weaving Together the Human and the Divine. Jossey-Bass, 2001. ISBN: 978-0787956486, Pub. Price $18.95. [91 pages assigned].
Caccamo, James F., Todd Johnson, and Lester Ruth. Living Worship: A Multimedia Resource for Students and Leaders. Brazos Press, 2010. ASIN: 1587432951, Published Price: $27.99 [1.5 hours of viewing assigned].
Gilbert, Marlea & Christopher Grundy, Eric Myers, Stephanie Perdew. The Work of the People: What We Do in Worship & Why. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006. ISBN: 978-1566993371, Pub. Price $20.00 [78 pages assigned].
Laird, Martin. A Sunlit Absence: Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation. Oxford, 2011. ISBN: 978-0195378726, Pub. Price: $18.95 [88 pp. assigned].
Meyers, Ruth. Missional Worship, Worshipful Mission. Eerdmans, 2014. ISBN: 978-0802868008, Pub. Price $26.00 [131 pages assigned].
Nouwen, Henri. The Way of the Heart. Ballantine Books, 1981, 2003. ISBN: 978-0345463357, Pub. Price $15.00. [74 pages assigned]
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity Press, 2102. ISBN: 978-0830838219, Pub. Price: $17.00 [146 pages assigned].
Peterson, Eugene. Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity. Eerdmans, 1989. ISBN: 978-0802802651, Pub. Price $20.00 [98 pages assigned].
B. Core Practices
Sabbath-Keeping
Dawn, Marva. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. Eerdmans, 1989. pp. x-16, 53-64, 101-110, 153-165. [55 pp.] In eReserves.
Smith, Christopher & John Pattison. Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus. InterVarsity, 2014, pp. 138-152. [14 pp.] In eReserves.
Confession
Anderson & Foley: Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals. Jossey-Bass, 2001, pp. 3-19, 167-183. [33 pp.]
Bonheoffer, Dietrich. Life Together. Harper One, 2009. pp. 110-122. [13 pp.] In eReserves.
Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline, rev. ed., Harper, 1988, pp. 143-157. [15 pp.] In eReserves.
Meyers, Ruth. Missional Worship, Worshipful Mission. Eerdmans, 2014, pp. 128-149. [22 pp.]
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2102, pp. 69-84. [16 pp.]
Praise
Ford, David & Daniel Hardy. Living in Praise: Worshipping and Knowing God. Baker. 2005, pp. 1-59. [60 pp.] In eReserves.
Gathering & Sending
Meyers, Ruth. Missional Worship, Worshipful Mission. Eerdmans, 2014, pp. 46-73, 181-196. [44 pp.]
Gilbert, Grundy, Myers, Perdew. The Work of the People. Alban Books, 2007, 19-43, 93-99. [32 pp.]
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2102, pp. 11-36. [26 pp.]
Reading & Proclaiming the Word
Gilbert, Grundy, Myers, Perdew. The Work of the People. Alban Books, 2007, 45-69. [25 pp.]
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2102, pp. 85-101. [17 pp.]
Peterson, Eugene. Working the Angles. Eerdmans, 1978, pp. 61-99. [39 pp.]
Meyers, Ruth. Missional Worship, Worshipful Mission. Eerdmans, 2014, pp. 74-107. [34 pp.]
Mulholland, Robert. Shaped by the Word: The Power of Scripture in Spiritual Formation. rev. ed. Upper Room Books, 2000, pp. 15-30. [16 pp.] In eReserves.
Prayer
Gilbert, Grundy, Myers, Perdew. The Work of the People. Alban Books, 2007, 71-91. [21 pp.]
Laird, Martin. A Sunlit Absence. Oxford, 2011, pp. 1-87. [88 pp.]
Nouwen, Henri. The Way of the Heart. Ballantine Books, 1981, pp. 1-73. [74 pp.]
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2102, pp. 37-68. [32 pp.]
Peterson, Eugene. Working the Angles. Eerdmans, 1978, pp. 1-58. [59 pp.]
Communion
Meyers, Ruth. Missional Worship, Worshipful Mission. Eerdmans, 2014, pp. 150-180. [31 pp.]
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2102, pp. 121-138. [18 pp.]
Enacting the Prophetic
Anderson & Foley: Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals. Jossey-Bass, 2001, pp. 20-35, 125-166. [58 pp.]
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2102, pp. 103-119. [17 pp.]
Liturgical Year
Klein, Patricia. Worship Without Words: The Signs and Symbols of our Faith. Paraclete Press, 2000, pp. ix-xiv. [6 pp.] In eReserves.
Peace, Richard. Noticing God. InterVarsity, 2102, pp. 139-156. [17 pp.]
Stookey, Laurence Hull. Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church. Abingdon, 1996, pp. 17-52. [36 pp.] In eReserves.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
1000 pages reading and 10 hours of viewing, including at least 50 pages of biblical text (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [60 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. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3 and #4]. [40 hours].
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. These consist of three parts:
• Formational Practices consisting of one-hour per week of spiritual practices/exercises related to the class topic plus reflection paper, including a worship & prayer autobiography for week 2 (25%) [15 hours]
• Class Preparation & Participation consisting of weekly exercises to be used in class; (25%) [15 hours]
• Contemplative Retreat, a six-hour retreat on February 16 plus reflection paper (10%) [10 hours].
[These assignments are related to learning outcomes #1, #2 and #3].
Final Integrative Assignment: Integration paper (2,500 words total) 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. (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #3, and #4]. [20 hours].
PREREQUISITES: IS500 encouraged. Recommended in first year of study.
REGISTRATION NOTE: Students will participate in a one-day class retreat on Friday, February 16 from 8:45am-3:30pm. The retreat will take place at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, 700 N Sunnyside Ave, Sierra Madre, CA 91024. A $30 retreat fee will be charged to the student's account at the time of registration. The fee covers the per-person cost for use of facility only. If a student has an unavoidable conflict with the class retreat, an alternative individual retreat may be arranged with the permission of the instructor. The retreat fees will still be charged. An Advisor Override may be needed.
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.