Instructor: Antony Alumkal
Office Phone: 303-765-3131
Email:
aalumkal@iliff.edu
Section 2 Leader:
R. J. Hernández-Díaz
Email:
rhernandez-diaz@iliff.edu
An introduction to 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.
The course aims to introduce students to the following:
1. The following books are required texts for the course. They are available from the DU bookstore, but you are free to purchase them anywhere. They are also on reserve in the Iliff library.
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 available as pdfs on the Canvas site:
Floyd-Thomas et al. 2007. Black Church Studies: An Introduction. Nashville: Abingdon Press. Chapter 7.
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.
Marti, Gerardo and Gladys Ganiel. 2014. The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press. Introduction.
3. The following readings are available for free download.
Bird, Warren and Scott Thumma. 2011. A New Decade of Megachurches.
http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/megachurches_research.html
Hadaway, C. Kirk. 2011. FACTs on Growth 2010. Hartford: Hartford Institute for Religious Research.
http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/facts-growth-2010
Mamiya, Larry. 2006. River of Struggle, River of Freedom: Trends among Black Churches and Black Pastoral Leadership. Durham, NC: DukeDivinitySchool.
http://pulpitandpew.org/pulpit-pew-research-reports
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. 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
The first type of assignment in the course will be regular postings on Canvas. These will be twice a week (with the exception of the final week of the course and around Gathering Days) with deadlines on Mondays and Thursdays at midnight Denver time. The class will be split up into smaller posting forums to keep the conversations manageable. 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 post from the previous posting day. (If it is Thursday, you should respond to a post from Monday. If it is Monday, you should respond to a post from the previous Thursday). 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). Multiplying two (times a weeks) by two (types of posts) means a minimum of four posts a week. Feel free to post more times, but I am more concerned about the quality of posts than the quantity. 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.
If you post at all required times and your posts are good quality, you can expect to get full credit (that mean an A). I will contact students individually after two weeks to give feedback on posts, and anytime I see areas of concern (e.g. someone’s posts are too brief). Feel free to contact me if you are ever unsure.
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 wait until the conversation is well along before commenting.
Students are required to attend the two Gathering Days sessions: February 6, 1-5 pm and February 7, 8 am-Noon.
My working assumption is that students in a masters 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.
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.
Each week there will be two written lectures (Word file) posted on Canvas along with a short podcast (mp3 file) providing additional information.
I plan to do two Google hangouts, one before Gathering Days and one after. I will give more details in a Canvas announcement. These are optional times for additional conversation.
Students are responsible for following the procedures outlined in the Student Handbook.
Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to accommodate reasonably student needs. Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations. The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146.
We will be holding a couple Google Hangouts during the quarter. The first one will be during week 4 and the second sometime after Gathering Days. Since one of the advantages to hybrid/online courses is their asynchronicity, these Hangouts are optional. If you can join us, however, we hope you do.
Please make sure to try a practice Hangout before our class Hangout. If you've never been in a Google Hangout, you’ll need to make sure you have the appropriate hardware and software setup. Iliff’s IT department has made a very useful introduction to Google Hangout that will guide you through the basic procedure. They've also created a set of step-by-step instruction on how to join or start a Hangout.
If you have any questions, you can also contact Iliff’s friendly Helpdesk (helpdesk@iliff.edu). The IT folks are more than willing to practice a hangout with you (see above). But please plan ahead. Remember that your emergency is not their emergency. :-)
Please sign up for our hangout either on Tuesday 1/27 at 11 am OR Thursday 1/29 at 7pm (well, I suppose you could sign up for both, if you have a lot of questions or just want more face time with you classmates). Simply place your name in the appropriate column on the Sign Up page.
Please sign up for our hangout either on Wednesday 3/4 at 7 pm OR Thursday 3/5 at 11 am. Simply place your name in the appropriate column on the Sign Up page. This will be a good time to ask questions/get advice on your final projects/ research papers.
Email is usually the best way to contact me during the week. If you have lengthy issues to discuss, we can set up a time for a phone conversation. If you will be in Denver, it is also possible to arrange for a face-to-face meeting.
Click here to download the Winter 2015 course Syllabus
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Jan 06, 2015 | Tue | Introduction—Sociology of Religion | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 09, 2015 | Fri | Congregational Cultures 1 | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 13, 2015 | Tue | Congregational Cultures 2 | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 16, 2015 | Fri | Congregational Cultures 3 | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 20, 2015 | Tue | Megachurches and the Emerging/Emergent Church | due by 06:59AM |
| Jan 23, 2015 | Fri | Methodology for Congregational Analysis 1 | due by 06:59AM |
| Feb 06, 2015 | Fri | (Travel to Gathering Days) No Assignment | due by 06:59AM |
| Feb 06, 2015 | Fri | (Gathering Days): Congregational Case Studies | due by 08:00PM |
| Feb 10, 2015 | Tue | (Recovery from Gathering Days) No Assignment | due by 06:59AM |
| Mar 10, 2015 | Tue | Church Growth and Decline | due by 05:59AM |