Ministry Praxis: Funerals

Instructor: Phil Campbell, M.Div, D.Min
E-mail: pcampbell@iliff.edu

Course Synopsis

A praxis course is designed to provide experiential education in the practices of ministry that students at Iliff are likely to engage in their professional lives. They are an occasion to work on the integration of theory and practice in a specific area of ministry, in this case ministry at the end of life. In this praxis we hope to engage actual practices of ministry involved in accompanying the dying and bereaved, such as meeting with the family, planning a service, providing pastoral care, conducting the funeral using the ritual of your tradition, etc.

In this course, we will address ministry encounters that may arise at the time of death. We will employ various approaches including reading and discussion, field research, and role play. It will be important for all the participants to engage all the activities and assignments. Please note that there are advanced assignments that you need to complete between now and our gathering on March 1 and 2. There is not a post seminar paper to write , so your successful completion of this Ministry Praxis depends on your completing the advanced assignments, and your engaged participation in the in-person weekend. This is a pass/fail course. The attached course intro letter provides greater detail (click to download):

Campbell. Funerals Ministry Praxis. IST2061.Winter.2019.docx

Materials for the Course (Long and Lynch, and Wherry readings are to be completed prior to in-person portion or course):

Long, Thomas G., and Lynch, Thomas. The Good Funeral: Death, Grief, and a Community of Car e, Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2013.  ISBN 10: 066423853X or ISBN  13: 978-0664238537 (Please read Chapters 2,3,4, 7-10). Purchase or access through a library. To be read prior to in-person section of course.

Wherry, Peter M . Preaching Funerals in the Black Church: Bringing Perspective to Pain . Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2013. Two chapters posted below at "Reading - Funerals in the Black Church;" no need to purchase.

Section of your denomination/tradition’s book of worship resources for the time of death and funerals (e.g. The United Methodist Book of Worship , The UCC Book of Worship , etc.). The book may have more theologically-oriented terms for this section, such as memorial, thanksgiving, services of death and resurrection, and so on. Please bring this text to the praxis , as you will likely have opportunity to utilize it in the role playing exercises. Alternately, if you are not part of a tradition that produces such resources, search online or elsewherefor materials of interest to you and bring them to the praxis.

Optional : Kalanithi, Paul. When Breath Becomes Air, New York: Random House, 2016. ISBN 9780812988406. Reading this book and planning a memorial service for the author is one of three assignments you can choose for the online portion of the course.

Suggested : McFarlane, Doreen M. Funerals with Today's Families in Mind: A Resource for Pastors, Pilgrim Press, 2008. ISBN-10: 0829817867. There are no assigned readings from this text, but it is a practical resource regarding various funeral situations; praxis participants might find  it useful.

Course Overview and Objectives

A praxis course is designed to provide experiential education in the practices of ministry that students at Iliff are likely to engage in their professional lives. They are an occasion to work on the integration of theory and practice in a specific area of ministry, in this case ministry at the end of life. In this praxis we hope to engage actual practices of ministry involved in accompanying the dying and bereaved, such as meeting with the family, planning a service, providing pastoral care, conducting the funeral using the ritual of your tradition, etc.

 In this course, we will be making use of a variety of learning styles including reading and discussion, field research and role play in order to allow participants to have embodied experience with various ministry encounters that may arise at the time of death. It will be important for all the participants to engage in the full range of learning styles. Please note that there are three advanced assignments that you need to complete between now and our gathering on February 19 and 20th. There is not a post seminar paper to write, so your successful completion of this Ministry Praxis depends on your engaged participation and completing the advanced assignments. This course will be graded on a pass/fail basis. 

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate 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. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. 

Degree Learning Goals

Theology and Religious Practices (PR):  engage, construct, and apply theological and interdisciplinary analyses in relation to contemporary religious traditions, practices, and institutions in order to assess, design, and perform transformative leadership and meaningful communal practices with sensitivity to contextual realities and theoretical constructions.

Care and Education Tasks.docx