UM Mission of Church in the World

Note from Instructor. This syllabus is under construction. I am still updating some links and files, but the basic outline of the course as it stands is up to date. All of the assignments and everything you need to begin the first week of the course is available. If you find there are materials you need that are not accessible to you in this moment, please just let me know.

PLEASE WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEO TO ORIENT YOURSELF TO MATTERS THAT COME UP EARLY IN THE COURSE, AS WELL AS SOME COMMENTARY FROM ME ON THE NATURE OF THIS COURSE GIVEN THE SPECIAL GENERAL CONFERENCE. (15:41) https://youtu.be/0rOQje8zvew

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

In this course students will:

1. Examine, critique and consider what it has meant historically and means contemporaneously to embody the stated official mission of the United Methodist Church to "create disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."
2. Become familiar with the theology of missio Dei in the Methodist movement and begin to develop their own theology of mission.
3. Imagine the connection between thinking globally about mission and thinking specifically about congregational and/or local organizational contexts of practice.
4. Consider the ecclesiological structure, practice and theology of mission in the United Methodist Church in light of the special called session of the General Conference in February 2019.

Roberts, Gary L. Massacre at Sand Creek: How Methodists Were Involved In An American Tragedy. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016. 

Steinwert, Tiffany L. Homosexuality and the United Methodist Church: An Ecclesiological Dilemma. Dissertation, Boston University School of Theology, 2009. You can access a digital copy of this dissertation through the University of Denver. PLEASE NOTE that even though you will be directed to a DU screen through this link, you need to enter your Iliff credentials (i.e., a 6100#). You may also order a print-on-demand paper copy of this dissertation through the ProQuest database.

Todd, Julie Marie. Nothing About Us Without Us: LGBTQ Liberation and the United Methodist Church. Onalaska, WI: In Media Res, 2017. Available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-About-Without-Liberation-Methodist/dp/0991100557.

Many other reading, viewing and listening files and links that will be provided from week to week.

1) General Participation: Deep learning is not about receiving information from expert sources; it is about students asking questions and seeking to understand from the materials and all participants. In this class, every participant is a teacher and a learner. I expect students will:

1. Invest in the course by establishing a regular and respectful online presence;
2. Genuinely try to learn the concepts, principles, and material by reading and listening; collaborate in the spirit of learning critically and enthusiastically;
3. Participate in online discussions. Respect other students' preparation by being prepared, having read and watched the assigned materials carefully and thoughtfully;
4. As far as it is possible for you, participate in Zoom Meetings;
5. Turn in assignments in a timely fashion;
6. Communicate with the instructor when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom Meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner.
7. In this particular course, you must also commit to following the Special Session of the General Conference closely, as your schedule permits. The Special Session of the General Conference takes place in St. Louis on February 23-26. The sessions will be livestreamed. Other information will be provided each week alongside the materials to assist you in preparing for the General Conference.

When you evaluate your own learning and accomplishments in this course (see Self Evaluation and Grading Procedures), you must consider each of these seven elements in your initial and final evaluation documents.

Here are some other important general requirements for the course.

2)  Discussion Forums:

This course will rely heavily on online discussions. In an online course, this is where the class primarily takes place. It is a way to share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. Generally, I will post numerous questions related to the week’s course materials. By no means are you expected to answer all of them. Respond to the ones that resonate, pique your interest, compel you or bother you the most. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

You will be judging yourself on how well you participate in the online Discussions through the establishment and implementation of your own Learning Agreement. That being said, here are some of my hopes and expectations for your online participation:

Every week, I request that you post your first, original response to the questions by Wednesday night at 9:00p.m. MST. I encourage you to post earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' ideas who have posted early, and respond to them.

Most of the student-student and student-teacher interaction takes place online in discussions. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. Making your presence known means signing into the course multiple times per week. While you will be evaluating your own participation in the course and discussions, as a general rubric I suggest signing in to the class at least three different times per week, posting original ideas and responding to others’ posts.

Participation in discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussion threads are open on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. There will be some introductory questions to start us off each week, some natural areas during the week to respond to each other. It always seems that two or three major threads emerge within the overall postings.

Here are some suggestions regarding posting in the discussion boards:

• For the discussion to truly be successful, it is important for all of us to do the readings. However, you do not have to wait to participate in the discussions simply because you have not finished the readings. Because we are all online at different times our discussions will occur over a week rather than in one sitting.  If you do all your posting on one day or wait until the end of the week's content matter to participate, you will have difficulty catching up and will receive little if any feedback on your own thoughts and perspectives. 
• Post as many times as you like, but these posts must include at least one original response to the instructor's discussion prompt. Brevity, precision and clarity are valued more than lengthy, unclear, wordy posts. There are, however, no required word limits.
• You are expected to read all threads, but you are not obligated to respond to everyone. Make your posts where you feel they will add the most value to our discussions.
• Try to keep your postings focused on the subject matter at hand.
• Share your thoughts and experiences as your own. Try not to generalize or speak for others.
• Listen to the content of what others say. If you don’t understand someone’s view, ask them to explain, don’t judge.
• Every week, I request that you post your first, original response to the questions by Wednesday night at 9:00p.m. MST. 

3) Reflections on Being a United Methodist and United Methodist missions (there are three of these):

There are different length and content requirements for each of these critical reflections, which you should check under the assignments links for each one. One of these will require more preparation and outside community connections and research than others.

While these assignments are meant to be of a personal-reflective nature, all of them should be critical and substantive. Upload these reflections as documents in the appropriate critical reflection assignment link. If you are so inclined, I encourage you to use more than mere words to express your thoughts in a critical manner. In other words, you may use digital images, poetry, music and other means to engage the topics I assign. Whenever you have the inclination to deviate from what feels like the norm of the assignment, feel free to follow that inclination, check in with me, and know that creativity of all kinds is always welcomed by me.

4) Zoom Meetings (there are four of these):

We will have four different Zoom Meetings throughout the quarter. For this course, we will be having Zoom meetings with three United Methodist leaders, and one to process the Special Session of General Conference after it happens. Because this is an a-synchronous course, If you are not able to make these meetings, you are not required to join these video conferences. However, I would ask you to do everything in your power to try to put them in your schedule, as we will be talking with some leaders in the UMC who have a lot of wisdom and experience around our course topics and who have very important perspectives on the United Methodist Church during these days. These persons have limited schedules and I have asked them to meet with us at their convenience. The guest, the content and possible preparation for each zoom meeting will be delineated in the Zoom Meeting link on the course home page.

Discussion Forums:

This course will rely heavily on online discussions. In an online course, this is where the class primarily takes place. It is a way to share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts and events that are taking place in the context of the United Methodist Church historically and currently. Generally, I will post numerous questions related to the week’s course materials. By no means are you expected to answer all of them. Respond to the ones that resonate, pique your interest, compel you or bother you the most.

You are going to be grading yourself in this course. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able. Here are some of my hopes and expectations for your online participation:

Every week, I request that you post your first, original response to the questions by the end of Wednesday night at midnight. I encourage you to post earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' ideas who have posted early, and respond to them.

Most of the student-student and student-teacher interaction takes place online in discussions. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. Making your presence known means signing into the course multiple times per week. While you will be evaluating your own participation in the course and discussions, as a general rubric I suggest signing in to the class at least three different times per week, posting original ideas and responding to others’ posts at least four times.

Participation in discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. There will be some introductory questions to start us off each week, some natural areas during the week to respond to each other. Here are some suggestions regarding posting in the discussion boards:

• For the discussion to truly be successful, it is important for all of us to do the readings. However, you do not have to wait to participate in the discussions simply because you have not finished the readings. Because we are all online at different times our discussions will occur over a week rather than in one sitting.  If you do all your posting on one day or wait until Sunday night at the end of the week's content matter to participate, you will have difficulty catching up and will receive little if any feedback on your own thoughts and perspectives. 
• Post as many times as you like, but these posts must include at least one original response to the instructor's discussion prompts. 
• Brevity, precision and clarity are valued more than lengthy, unclear, wordy posts.
• You are expected to read all threads, but you are not obligated to respond to everyone. Make your posts where you feel they will add the most value to our discussions.
• Try to keep your postings focused on the subject matter at hand.
• Share your thoughts and experiences as your own. Try not to generalize or speak for others.
• Listen to the content of what others say. If you don’t understand someone’s view, ask them to explain, don’t judge.
• Every week, I request that you post your first, original response to the questions by Wednesday at midnight. 

We will have four different Zoom Meetings throughout the quarter. For this course, we will be having Zoom meetings with three United Methodist leaders, and one to process the Special Session of General Conference after it happens.

If you are accustomed to taking courses with me, you know I always require such meetings, but I usually have a variety of slots you can choose from to meet in order to accommodate online students' busy schedules. For this course I am using Zoom Meetings primarily as a way for us to meet and discuss United Methodist missions and to process the Special Session of the General Conference. The three individual guests have limited availability and therefore the Zoom Meeting time was scheduled at their convenience. These three persons have a lot of wisdom and experience around our course topics and have very important perspectives on the United Methodist Church during these challenging days for the denomination.

These meetings will be structured so that there is some question and answer time between the invited guest and you students. Part of your required assignments is to come up with questions for the people we meet.

Because this is an a-synchronous course, If you are not able to make the meetings with United Methodist leaders, you are not required to join these video conferences. However, I would ask you to do everything in your power to try to put them in your schedule. They will be recorded for those who cannot make it. The guest, the content and possible preparation for each zoom meeting will be delineated in the Zoom Meeting link on the course home page.

Monday January 28, 2019 at 7:00PM Eastern Time, Thomas Kemper, General Secretary of the Board of Global Ministries

Tuesday, February 19, 2019 at 7:00PM Eastern Time THIS TIME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO TUESDAY FEBURARY 12 AT 8PM. Rev. Brian Adkins, Pastor, Open Door United Methodist Church in Richmond, California. Rev. Adkins is one of three openly gay persons who served on The Commission on the Way Forward.

This meeting is not yet scheduled.  EDIT: I was not able to schedule this meeting for a live conversation. I recorded an interview with Rev. Kernell that is posted in Week Six materials. Rev. Chebon Kernell, Executive Secretary of Native American and Indigenous Ministries for the General Board of Global Ministries. Rev. Kernell is also an ordained elder in the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference. This meeting may end up being a recorded interview between Julie and Rev. Kernell if we are not able to find a time to meet that students can reasonably accommodate. Nonetheless, I really wanted you to hear from Rev. Kernell in some form or fashion.

Zoom Meeting to process the Special Session of the General Conference. Here I will give you choices as to when to meet, and we will meet in smaller groups. Monday, March 4 two time choices: Noon Mountain Time/2:00PM Eastern Time or 6:00PM Mountain/8:00PM Eastern. OR Tuesday March 5 two time choices: Noon Mountain Time/2:00PM Eastern Time or 6:00PM Mountain/8:00PM Eastern. Sign up for your time slot ahead of time: HERE.

LEARNING AGREEMENT: I will provide written feedback on assignments, but all students will evaluate their own work in the course and assign themselves a grade. By the end of the second week you should have a clearer picture of the expectations of this course. The learning agreement is an informal learning contract, a narrative description of your intentions for fulfilling all of the course requirements as they are delineated in the syllabus (see the course requirements page, and the actual written assignment links, for more detailed information on many of these items):

1) general, enthusiastic, prepared participation in the course, including doing the reading to the best of your ability

2) weekly online discussions

3) three personal, critical reflections

4) four Zoom meetings PLEASE SEE THE LINK (these are not required because I understand that some of you may not be able to make them), however, you can still judge yourself based on whether or not you made a legitimate attempt to attend and/or listen to the recording of the Zoom meeting.

By reading the syllabus and course assignments, you should be able to reflect upon what you will do. Describe how you will evaluate what you have done in each of these areas by the end of the course.

I also encourage you to include in your learning contract personal challenge goals around being a student (time management, more insightful participation in discussions) and reflecting upon what it means to be a United Methodist in this period of time.

This document will essentially serve as a learning agreement between you and me, and with yourself. This learning contract can be as long or as short as you wish in order to communicate your intentions. You may not be completely sure of what you will do for all of your project/reflections, but you can indicate where you are leaning. At the end of this narrative, please tell me what grade you intend to achieve.

By the last day of the quarter, and making reference to this first learning agreement, evaluate in writing how you think did in achieving your stated objectives and goals throughout the quarter, and whether or not you achieved the grade you anticipated. At the end of this reflection, you must give yourself a final grade.

As the instructor, I am responsible for assigning final grades. In almost all cases, I will assign the grade you give yourself. However, if you wildly overrate or underrate your work, we will enter into negotiations about the final grade.

• Each class week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. I expect that you will communicate with me when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom Meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner..
• If either you missed something or need a refresher, all up-to-date information on the class can be found in the Announcements section.
• The course materials can be accessed in a number of ways. Our class home page contains all syllabus items through links, and at the end of the home page syllabus, a chronological list of items that are due. If you want to view the materials and assignments for each week by week, click on Modules on the left side of the page, then click on the relevant week. Except for discussions, all assignments, including readings (which I have formatted as assignments so you receive due-date reminders), can be also be accessed through the Assignments link on the left-hand side of the page.

Communications Policy: I will log on to the classroom most days. The discussion forum is generally the best place to ask most questions. If there is a question about class requirements or other questions that do not fit into a weekly discussion, I encourage you to use the internal Canvas communication system. If you need to contact me on an individual basis, please email me directly (not through Canvas) and I will try to reply within 24 hours. If you would like to arrange to communicate by Skype, Google, Zoom, or phone, please email me directly (not through Canvas) to set up an appointment.  If you need technical support for anything, you should contact the IT helpdesk at helpdesk@iliff.edu.

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.

Core Values: As a community, Iliff strives to live by this set of Core Values.

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. 

Rev. Julie Todd, Ph.D.

E-mail: jtodd@iliff.edu

John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice and Peace Studies

Rev. Dr. Julie Todd is a scholar-activist living in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She received her Ph.D. in 2012 from University of Denver-Iliff School of Theology Joint Program in Religious and Theological Studies. The title of her dissertation was “Evaluating Violence and (Non)violence: A Critical, Practical Theology of Social Change.” As John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice & Peace Studies, she teaches all of her courses in online and hybrid formats, and primarily teaches courses in the area of justice and peace. Her scholarship focuses on social change theory and praxis, violence and (non)violence, and matters of privilege, oppression and solidarity across axes of difference. She is also the Coordinator of the Identity, Power and Difference (IPD) program at Iliff. She is a published essayist and poet on matters of justice-seeking and the spiritual life. As an activist, she works in her community to create transformative, grassroots spaces for social justice education and practice. As an ordained elder in the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, she works locally and nationally to end the anti-LGBTQ policies and practices of her denomination through the group Love Prevails. She is also a trained herbalist and aromatherapist, working with other healers in Lawrence, MA on collective healing projects.