Email adunning@iliff.edu or adunning@gostandrew.com (please use the Iliff address unless it fails to work; I'd like to keep my Iliff and St. Andrew communications separate if possible. This minimizes the possibility of dropped messages.)
Phone 720.443.3916
We’ll read excerpts from this book. While the work deals with large congregations, Beaumont’s insights on leadership are based on solid research in the fields of communications and organizational dynamics. This is a book every pastor should read as we think about the best ways to lead the particular congregations we serve.
This is a posthumously published work, and sadly our class begins just a few months before the release of the revised 10 th anniversary edition. It’s far from a perfect book. Friedman wrote it in what seems to me to be a fit of annoyance. His use of Columbus’s voyage as an example of bold leadership is morally appalling and historically ignorant, and his scientific metaphors are loose at best. But it remains a clear-eyed systems approach to the dynamics of leadership, and has been very valuable to me and many others.
McKeown’s book was on several bestseller lists. It’s an easy read and an excellent case for narrowing our focus and doing better ministry by doing less. This will be an important aspect of our discussion of values, vision, mission, and anxiety in congregations.
We’ll read excerpts from Peterson’s memoir. This is a lovely book written by a scholar and pastor who has prayed deeply and thought carefully about the nature of church and the work of being a pastor.
Here again, we’ll read excerpts. Spark, Soerens, and Friesen propound a model of ministry and pastoral leadership that grounds our work in the needs and context of the communities where we live.
Willimon’s book will provide the backbone of our reading. Despite my theological differences with the author, I find this a systematic and theologically thoughtful approach to pastoral roles and the work of being a pastor.
(Additional short readings will be assigned, and made accessible on Canvas or emailed to class members.)
This course will both prepare leaders planning to do ministry and/or serve as a skills enhancement tool for those already doing ministry in the church and other religious agencies. Leadership will be explored both as a matter of individual gifts and skills and as a community practice influenced by shared or contested needs and expectations. Issues of vision, administration, management, and ethical practice shape the course. Particular attention will be given to religious and spiritual dimensions of leadership.
Students will understand the centrality of spiritual life and self-differentiation to effective leadership.
Students will develop an understanding of the importance of ongoing self-development to parish leadership.
Students will learn pragmatic elements of parish leadership pertaining to governance, management, and fund raising.
Students will grapple with issues of personal leadership style and method, and emerge with a sense of how and when various leadership styles may be best applied.
Students will develop a sense of their own leadership styles and become more confident in their ability to lead in a parish or faith community.
This course is based on the premise that students have their own wisdom and experience on which to draw, and sharing that experience and wisdom with one another will benefit all of us.
Final grades will be based on four elements of participation.
1. A total of 15 short discussion posts. Seven of these posts will be responses to questions posted by the instructor on the course's Canvas site. Another seven will be responses to the posts of colleagues in the course. (The first will simply be a video introduction of yourself.) All posts should be thoughtful and engage the material or your colleagues' comments. Generally, discussion posts should be no longer than three paragraphs. Longer entries won't be penalized, but please do take it easy on yourself and spare a thought for the instructor who is reading and responding to all of these posts. It is perfectly possible to satisfy the requirement for an original post or a response with three or fewer thoughtful and well written paragraphs. In some cases, bullet points will do. (60%)
2. A review of one of the books in the bibliography compiled by the instructor. Each book in this bibliography contains insights on some aspect of parish leadership. Some, like the titles on fund raising or the books on team building and running productive meetings, are pragmatic and address specific skills which should be cultivated by all Pastors or faith community leaders. Others, like Margaret Wheatley's Leadership and the New Science, are more abstract but contain useful insights about leadership. The book review assignment summary, with questions to be answered and evaluation criteria, is also posted on Canvas. (15%)
3. A written reflection on an interview with a Pastor or other Parish leader in which you seek your interview subject's opinion on aspects of the course material. Again, a written summary of this assignment is posted on Canvas. (15%)
4. Participation in the Journey Week sessions. Over the course of two days, our class will meet in person for two four hour sessions to discuss course material in a seminar format. The instructor will assess your participation in those gatherings based NOT on word count or volume, but on evidence that you have read and thoughtfully engaged the course material and your colleagues. (10%)
Assignments turned in late will automatically lose 20 percent per day. Thus if an assignment worth 100 points is one day late, it cannot receive a grade higher than 80. If it is two days late, it cannot receive a grade higher than 60, and so on. If Canvas fails to upload an assignment, or if some other technical issue arises, please feel free to email assignments to the instructor at adunning@iliff.edu or adunning@gostandrew.com. In extreme circumstances of personal crisis or illness in which you are unable to complete an assignment, please contact the instructor. He tries not to be a jerk. Opinions vary on his level of success, depending on who you ask.
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, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate. 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.
Writing Lab: Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments. Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft.
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.
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Mar 31, 2017 | Fri | Introduction and our Ministry Contexts | due by 06:00PM |
| Mar 31, 2017 | Fri | Leadership and Pastoral Roles | due by 06:00PM |
| Mar 31, 2017 | Fri | Response to "Leadership and Pastoral Roles" | due by 06:00PM |
| Apr 19, 2017 | Wed | What We Do and What We Don't: Values, Vision, and Mission | due by 05:59AM |
| Apr 21, 2017 | Fri | Response to "What We Do and What We Don't" | due by 05:59AM |
| May 03, 2017 | Wed | Peculiarly Christian: Cruciform, Differentiated Leadership | due by 05:59AM |
| May 05, 2017 | Fri | Response to "Peculiarly Christian" | due by 05:59AM |
| May 17, 2017 | Wed | The Order Thing: Communication, Complexity, Committees | due by 05:59AM |
| May 24, 2017 | Wed | Church Within and Church In-With | due by 05:59AM |
| May 26, 2017 | Fri | Response to "Church Within and Church In-With" | due by 05:59AM |