IST2127-1OL-WI16 - UM Mission of Church in the World

Instructor: Cathie Kelsey, ckelsey@iliff.edu, @revskates

Course Synopsis: Historical, theological, and practical exploration of mission as the energizing and transformative purpose of Christian congregations everywhere - as interpreted in the Methodist movement.

Required texts: (three)

1. Cardoza-Orlandi, Carlos F. and Justo L. Gonzalez, To All Nations from All Nations: A History of the Christian Missionary Movement, Abingdon Press, 2013 ISBN978-1-4267-5489

2. Harnish, James A., You Only Have to Die: Leading Your Congregation to New Life, Abingdon Press, 2004 ISBN 0-687-06688-3

3. ONE of the following texts (your choice): Please note these are not all excellent books. I do not recommend buying them all. They are, however, the better options of what is current. Buy and read one for week 10 then read your colleagues' analyses of the ones they read and consider the others at the end of the term. There are thirteen options here, so look at them online and see what seems interesting to you. Part of the assignment is learning to figure out what books might actually be useful based on what you can learn about them quickly online.  The older ones are often available used quite cheaply.

Bandy, Thomas, Kicking Habits Upgrade Edition: Welcome Relief for Addicted Churches, Abingdon Press, 2001  ISBN 0-687-04934-2

Bandy, Thomas, Moving Off the Map: A Field Guide to Changing the Congregation, Abingdon Press, 1998  ISBN 0-687-06800-2

Cameron, Helen,  Just Mission: Practical Politics for Local Churches, SCM Press (British), 2015  ISBN 978-0-334-05229-6

Cawley, Janet R., Who Is Our Church? Imagining Congregational Identity, Alban Institute, 2006  ISBN 978-1-56699-321-0

Crandall, Ron, Turnaround and Beyond: A Hopeful Future for Small Membership Churches, Abingdon Press, 2008 ISBN 978-0-687-64699-9

Farr, Bob, Renovate or Die: Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission, Abingdon Press, 2011  ISBN 978-1-4267-1586-0

Gaze, Sally, Mission-shaped and Rural: Growing Churches in the Countryside, Church House Publishing (British), 2006  ISBN 978-0-7175-4280-6

Maynard, Phil, Shift: Helping Congregations Get BAck into the Game of Effective Ministry,    ISBN 978-9899223-1-9 also digital (no publisher given in my digital version!)

McCullough-Bade, Robin and John, Our Mission: Discovering God's Call to Us, Augsburg Fortress Press, 2002  ISBN 978-0-8066-4405-9

Reid, John and Maureen Gallagher, The Art of Change: Faith, Vision, and Prophetic Planning, Liguori Pub., 2009  ISBN 978-0-7648-1867-7

Roxburgh, Alan J. Structured for Mission: Renewing the Culture of the Church Intervarsity Press, 2015  ISBN 978-0-8308-4424-1 also digital

Shockley, Kim and Paul Nixon, The Surprise Factor: Gospel Strategies for Changing the Game at Your Church, Abingdon Press, 2012 ISBN 978-1-4267-4239-2

Tenny-Brittian, Julianna Kristina, Top 10 Ways to Defuse Your Congregational Time Bomb, Pilgrim Press, 2008, ISBN978-0-8298-1804-8

Recommended texts:

Bosch, David, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, Orbis, 1991/2011  This is the classic text on missio Dei. You will notice it a lot in footnotes of things we are reading.

Van Gelder, Craig, The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit, Baker Books, 2007  ISBN 978-0-8010-9139-1  This could have been the course text for the last half of this course, the current congregational part. If we were a semester long course it would be required - but we're not, so it's just a recommended summary if you are really into this field.

Course Overview

This course has six parts, plus readings.

1. Tweeting publicly daily

2. A short 2-3 page meditation/opening devotion for your Ad Council  wk 2

3. A 4-5 page paper on mission in a specific region in the 19th-21st centuries wk 4

4. A 4 page analysis of a successful turn-around congregation in your area  wk 9

5. A 4 page statement of your theology of mission  draft wk 6, final wk 10

6. Short posts in weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10

It is set up so that, for the most part, there is a lighter week before each week that a paper is due. 

 Course Objectives/Learning Goals:

1. students will establish the habit of looking for the activity of God around them in the world on a daily basis (assignment 1)
2. students will be able to describe the basic theology of missio Dei in terms that their ministry site leadership or anticipated ministry site can understand (assignment 2, 5)
3. students will explain what assumptions in the theology of 19^th and 20^th century western missionary sending led to the cultural, human rights, and other abuses that typified those centuries (assignment 3)
4. students will begin to identify why some theologies of 19^th and 20^th century mission fostered vibrant anti-colonial Christian faith communities (assignment 3)
5. students will transfer their thinking globally about mission to thinking specifically about congregational and local organizational contexts (assignments 4 and 5)
6. students will articulate their own theology of mission, including their role in it (assignment 5)

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 Monday of the second week.

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.