IST2006-1OL-FA13 - Congregations

IST 2006 1 Congregations

Fall 201 3

Instructor:        Bo Yong Lee

Email: byleeus@yahoo.co m (email is the best way to contact me during the week)

Course Description

This course introduces the social scientific literature on congre­gations.  Students will learn basic methodology for analyzing congregations and their surrounding communities. A review of the empirical literature on congregations will cover issue such as congregational cultures, leadership styles, adaptation to community change, racial/ethnic diversity, fund-raising, and membership growth and decline.

Course Objectives

The course aims to introduce students to the following:

1. Variations in congregational cultures.
2. Basic methodology for conducting an analysis of a congregation.
3. How congregations are affected by denominational and other institutional contexts.
4. How congregations reflect racial, ethnic, and theological traditions.
5. The relationships between congregations and their communities.
6. The challenges financial issues pose to congregational leaders.
7. Being critical consumers of social scientific research on religion.

Degree Learning Goals

This course contributes to the following degree learning goals:

MDiv

1.2. Demonstrate awareness of Christianity as a historically-situated movement that interacted and changed in relationship to its surrounding cultures and subcultures over time, resulting in various expressions of Christianity located within and influenced by social structures, historical events, and ethnic and cultural ideologies.

 2.2. Identify and critically evaluate the symbolic systems and religious meanings at play in everyday events and interactions, institutional structures, and cultural artifacts.

 3.5. Engage in social analysis of contemporary religious traditions and institutions in order to assess current religious practices and to design meaningful practices of ministry within particular contexts.

Course Readings

1. The following books are required texts for the course. 

• Ammerman, Nancy. 1997. Congregation and Community. Rutgers, NJ: RutgersUniversity Press.
• Ammerman, Nancy, Jackson Carroll, Carl Dudley, and William McKinney. 1998. Studying Congregations: A New Handbook.  Nashville: Abingdon Press.
• Becker, Penny Edgell. 1999. Congregations in Conflict: Cultural Models of Local Religious Life. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
• Christopher, J. Clif. 2008. Not Your Parents’ Offering Plate: A New Vision for Financial Stewardship. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
• Wellman, James K. 2008. Evangelical vs. Liberal: The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  

2. The following readings are journal articles available through the Iliff library website. I will post pdf versions on Canvas for your convenience. Marti’s chapter is also on Canvas. 

• Bader-Saye, Scott. 2004. “The Emergent Matrix: A New Kind of Church?” The Christian Century 121 (November 30): 20-27.
• Kim, Sharon. 2010. “Shifting Boundaries within Second-Generation Korean American Churches.” Sociology of Religion 71:98-122.
• Marti, Gerardo. 2012. “The Diversity-Affirming Latino: Ethnic Options and the Ethnic Transcendent Expression of American Latino Religious Identity.” Pp. 25-45 in Sustaining Faith Tradition: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion among the Latino and Asian American Second Generation. New York: New York University Press.

3. The following readings are available for free download.

• Hadaway, C. Kirk. 2011. FACTs on Growth 2010. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research. http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/facts-growth-2010
• Lummis, Adair T. 2003. What Do Lay People Want in Pastors? Answers from Lay Search Committee Chairs and Regional Judicatory Leaders. Durham, NC: Duke Divinity School http://pulpitandpew.org/pulpit-pew-research-reports
• Mamiya, Larry. 2006. River of Struggle, River of Freedom: Trends among Black Churches and Black Pastoral Leadership. Durham, NC: Duke Divinity School. http://pulpitandpew.org/pulpit-pew-research-reports
• McKnight, Scot. 2007. “Five Streams of the Emerging Church: Key Elements of the Most Controversial and Misunderstood Movement in the Church Today.” Christianity Today 51 (February). http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/february/11.35.html
• Roozen, David A. 2011. A Decade of Change in American Congregations 2000-2010. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research. http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/decade-change
• Royle, Marjorie H. 2012. FACTs on Worship: 2010. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research. http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/report-facts-on-worship
• Thumma, Scott. 2012. Virtually Religious: Technology and Internet Use in American Congregations. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research. http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/report-congregations-and-their-use-internet-technologies
• Thumma, Scott and Warren Bird. 2011. A New Decade of Megachurches: 2011 Profile of Large Attendance Churches in the United States. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research. http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/megachurches_research.html
• Thumma, Scott and Warren Bird. 2009. Not Who You Think They Are: The Real Story of People Who Attend America’s Megachurches. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research. (Note that the title on the webpage does not quite match the title in the pdf document.) http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/megachurches_research.html

Evaluation

Assignments

1. The first type of assignment in the course will be regular postings on Canvas. These will be once a week (with the exception of the first and final week) with deadlines on Thursdays at noon Denver time. You will be expected at minimum to make two kinds of posts for each deadline day. First, you should make a substantive response to the assignment question. (The assignment questions will be posted in advance on Canvas). Second, you should make a substantive response to another person’s posting. The responses should involve more than simply saying “I agree” or “I disagree” by adding more analysis (e.g. discussing why the statement may be true), nuance (e.g. saying that you believe the statement is true in some cases but not in others), or application (e.g. here are some implications for pastors of congregations). Feel free to post more times, but I am more concerned about the quality of posts than the quantity. See the sections on grading and forum conduct below. One practical suggestion: it might be safer to compose your post in a Word file and then cut and paste it into Canvas so that you do not have to worry about losing it.

The standard practice at Iliff is for the instructors to have minimal participation in the discussion forums so that we do not disrupt the flow of the conversations. I may step in to correct a mistake (e.g. a misreading of one of the course readings) but will otherwise stay out of the conversations.

2. Each student must choose a congregation and write up a pilot research report. The due date is noon on November 15, posted on Canvas.  It should be between 16-20 pages (double-spaced) and include the following:

• Brief history of the congregation.
• Demographics of the immediate location.
• Profile of the leader(s) and an analysis of their style(s) of leadership.
• Profile of the membership.
• Denominational and other relevant networks.
• Current goals and challenges for the leaders and for the congregation as a whole.
• A list of 3-4 research questions that you would investigate if you had time and money for a lengthier study. Discuss why these questions are important and how they can be answered. You should include an interview protocol (questionnaire and description of whom you would interview) if answering the research questions will involve interviews.
• Throughout the report, you should make references to the course readings. For example, you can argue, “this congregation looks like Becker’s family model” or “this congregation does not fit neatly into any of Becker’s congregational models.” Papers that do not reference the course readings will be marked down significantly.

The research for this report will likely involve some combination of observing services and other meetings and interviewing congregation members and clergy. Since this is a short-term project, it is okay for your findings to be tentative and for you to discuss what you suspect might be true in the congregation. Just be sure to discuss what observations lead you to your speculations.

Students often draw from official church histories. It is best to paraphrase and use select quotation where helpful. In other words, do not cut and paste several pages of text!

As with all Iliff papers, be sure to use proper citation for sources and quotations. I do not specify which citation style you need to use, so use whichever one you prefer. 

Forum Conduct

The course should involve a free exchange of ideas, which means you are welcome to express your viewpoint and to disagree with the viewpoints of the instructor or your fellow students. This should always be done in a way that shows respect for the other people involved in the course. Refer to the Iliff Community Covenant for more details. Also, remember to adhere to Iliff’s inclusive language policy.

Grading

Postings: 40%

Research Project: 60%

My working assumption is that students in a master’s program can be expected to produce above average academic work. Therefore, the modal grade I assign is B+. An assignment will earn a B+ if it 1) fulfills all of the requirements and 2) demonstrates that the student has a solid (though not necessarily flawless) understanding of the con­cepts in the course readings and lectures. An assignment will earn a grade higher than a B+ if it fulfills the assignment and demonstrates exceptional insight into the course concepts. An assignment will earn a grade of B or B- if there are minor to moderate shortcomings in either fulfilling the assignment or demonstrating understanding of course concepts. Grades below B- are reserved for assignments with major shortcomings in either area.

This course may be taken pass/fail, but you must request this (by email) during the first two weeks. You do not need to provide a reason for your request.