2022 Evangelism in Contemporary Contexts

Instructor

Rev. Tom Barlow (he/him), PhD; email tbarlow@iliff.edu (emailing me directly is far, far better than using the Canvas email system)

Cell phone 719-640-6726 (emergencies only, please)
For class questions, I am available pretty much every day except Monday, which I take as a Sabbath day with my wife.

Scheduled check-in times via Zoom:

• Tuesday, April 5, 5:00-6:15pm (Mountain) Zoom link
• Wednesday, May 18, 8:00-9:15am (Mountain) Zoom link

These are the equivalent of office hours. I won't be presenting any new material, and you are not required to participate.

In-person session on campus during Gathering Days:

• Tuesday, April 26, 1:00-5:00pm

Course Description

This course offers critical and practical engagement with why and how Christian faith can be shared while honoring the distinctiveness of others. We will explore the theologies and practices that guide evangelism in modern/postmodern contexts. This course includes practical tools for thinking about who an organization is trying to reach, how to determine the makeup of a given geographic area, and what sorts of engagement will work with them. We will also explore the theological heritage of Methodism as it pertains to the overall aims of the course (other options will be considered for students of other faith traditions - please contact Tom for more information). This course is designed to meet Iliff's revised interpretation of requirements for UM ordination.

Course Overview

Required:

See, Know & Serve the People Within Your Reach, Abingdon Press, 2013, ISBN 978-1426774171

Worship Ways for the People Within Your Reach by Thomas Bandy and Lucinda Holmes, Abingdon Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1426788079

Additional readings will be posted as pdf files on the Canvas course site. 

Course Overview

This course offers critical and practical engagement with why and how Christian faith can be shared while honoring the distinctiveness of others. We will explore the theologies and practices that guide evangelism in modern/postmodern contexts. This course includes practical tools for thinking about who an organization is trying to reach, how to determine the makeup of a given geographic area, and what sorts of engagement will work with them. We will also explore the theological heritage of Methodism as it pertains to the overall aims of the course (other options will be considered for students of other faith traditions). 

Course Objectives

The United Methodist Church requires that all candidates "achieve basic competence in the following areas:"

• Articulation of a definition of evangelism, with awareness of other possible definitions;
• Articulation of the Biblical basis of evangelism;
• Articulation of a theology of evangelism;
• Familiarity with practical tools for helping individuals share the gospel along with the motivation to engage personally in the ministry of evangelism; and
• Familiarity with practical tools for leading a congregation to be evangelistically effective along with the motivation to do so. 

Course Approach

In essence, this course will have two simultaneous threads running through the ten week term. While our primary framework is Methodist/Wesleyan, the essence of our work here crosses denominational lines and theological approaches. The idea of "evangelism" involves the sharing of good news - and that, one hopes, is the aim of all faith traditions represented at Iliff. As we will discuss the first week of the term, evangelism is a problematic word and concept, but if we allow the language to get in the way of our ability to share, we are depriving others of the faith discoveries we have made. 

The first thread of this course focuses on the message that we have to share - that is, the good news itself. Here, we will think theologically about the task, and think - again in practical terms - about the reasons we share. This portion of the course is quite reflective in nature, as we everyone will be invited to think about their personal stories (narratives) and, in doing so, construct an understanding of the reasons we share faith. This thread will be our focus during the early and late stages of the course, but it will persist throughout.

The second thread we are examining is intensely practical, and focuses on ways in which we can understand and engage the needs of geographically-defined communities. The goal in this thread is to identify the groups of people present in the regions which we serve, and explore the ways in which those groups can be reached effectively with the faith message we carry. 

How can you be successful in taking an online class? It can be more than a little challenging - after all, in a face-to-face class, you meet once or twice a week, and, in that time, the instructor can make sure you are on-track in terms of course progress and your understanding of the material. Online, though, is different in some key ways, and your success in the course hinges on understanding those differences.

Communication

You can't participate if you don't know what's going on! In your Canvas Profile (which you can access using the Profile link at the top right of every page), you can specify how you should be contacted. Make sure that your preferred email address is properly set on that page.

From that page, you also have the ability to change your notifications (that is an option on the left menu on that page). Make sure that your notification settings are set so that you are kept reasonably informed of events related to the class. 

As each week progresses, you need to pay attention to class-related activities! Keep an eye on whatever notifications you have chosen to receive. If you choose to ignore them, you can quickly find yourself way behind (and, remember, after two weeks of non-involvement, you may be removed from the class).

Finally, if you have a personal emergency (i.e. family crisis, illness, or even the burdens of life just getting in the way of completing the assignments) please (please please please) contact Tom immediately. The final week of the class is not the right time to initiate a conversation with your instructor about incomplete assignments from earlier in the course! 

Collaboration

Online classes are, by their very nature, highly collaborative in terms of learning. That means that the majority of your learning will take place as you engage other students regarding the material that everyone is reading. 

Collaborative learning is a common approach at Iliff, both in online and face-to-face classes. The discussions and other activities that you participate in here are similar to in-class discussions in the face-to-face session. It is a little harder to "hide" in the online classes than it is in the face-to-face, but, otherwise, the approach is the same. And yes, the readings are the same in the the online and face-to-face classes - the load is no heavier in the online class, although the 3.5 hours of "face time" in the face-to-face class is replaced by reading, thinking about what other students have said and responding online.

Commitment

As with any class, your commitment to learning will greatly impact your success (both in terms of grades and in terms of actually mastering new information). In this class, we don't all meet online at the same time, so it is up to you to set up a schedule that allows you to engage other students about the material. 

There is a significant difference in terms of commitment in an online class, though, and it is this: Since the learning process is highly collaborative (and since different students will be reading material in different ways), your failure to participate will reduce the effectiveness of the class for other students as well. Taking an online class really does require commitment, and a special kind of discipline, in order for everyone to be successful.

Week 1 - Whither Evangelism?

Required Readings:

• Langford Practical Divinity Chs 1 and 2.pdf
• Meadows - Journey of Evangelism.pdf

Week 2 - Evangelism Rethought

Required Readings:

• Carder and Mellor from Heritage.pdf

Week 3 - Connections and Narratives

Required Readings:

• See, Know, & Serve by Bandy (required text) Chapters 1, 2 and 3.

Week 4 - Connections and Narratives, Part II

Required Readings:

• None (initial project work)

Week 5 - Connections and Narratives, Part III

• None (project work and Gathering Days)
• Makeup Lecture - we went through this on-campus during GD, but here's an older video of the lecture for those who couldn't be with us.

Week 6 - Connecting Worship

Required Readings:

• None per se, but this week you will work with Worship Ways by Bandy (required text)

Week 7 - Forming the Message

Required Readings:

• None per se, but this week you will work with Worship Ways by Bandy (required text)

Week 8 - The Great Commission

Required Readings:

• Considering the Great Commission Chs 1 and 2.pdf

Week 9 - Evangelism from Then to Now

Required Readings:

• Considering the Great Commission Ch 9.pdf
• Considering the Great Commission Ch 5.pdf

Week 10 - Wrap-Up

Required Readings:

• None planned

 

 

 

Project Directions and Worksheets

These resources are designed to help you work through the demographics project. 

You will need these three documents (you don't need to print them, though):

Church Research Project Instructions 2022.pdf

Mosaic Lifestyle Segment Worksheet.docx

Worship Lifestyle Segment Worksheet.docx

Optional Google Sheet Matrix

If you are logged into Google under your Iliff account, you should be able to see these two Sheets. Feel free to save copies of them and use them as you wish, inside or outside of the class. 

The Mosaic Data Grid

LUMC 2.5-mile Radius (example data)

Self-Assessments

Two documents from Bandy which may be helpful - these are optional. These are both self-assessments, though, so this is more about self-awareness within your ministry context:

Leadership Inventory (March 2016).docx

Worship Ways Exercises 2015.docx

Optional - A Different Kind of Search (Polygon instead of Radius)

In this course, we will be exploring practical ways to identify and connect with the people in your ministry area (as in, ministry region).

Part of our work will involve an online tool known as MissionInsite (Links to an external site.). In the most basic sense, this site provides demographic data for use in ministry (and NPOs). Getting beyond the basics, though, MissionInsite has partnered with Dr. Tom Bandy to integrate their demographic data with his highly missional approach to church life (and he is using mission in a way that should help us to shed some baggage from our colonial/post-colonial periods).

All United Methodist annual conferences are currently under contract with MissionInsite. These contracts allow churches to obtain demographic reports at no cost. In Tom Barlow's experience, many churches are unaware of these contracts, and therefore are not using any of the available services. For this course, we will be using MissionInsite to obtain demographic data. Please understand that we are not trying to sell you on the use of this tool; rather, it is already the tool that the United Methodist Church presently uses, so we are using it as well. When you have completed this course, you will have fairly advanced practical skills related to this particular tool, and they are likely to transfer to other tools as well. 

Note: You will need access to MissionInsite by the third week of the term, so please address the below items soon!

United Methodist Students

Please start by contacting your home church in order to request access to MissionInsite. This will often require obtaining an Agency Account Number from your district or conference. If you need a letter or email from Tom Barlow in support of this request, feel free to ask. If you cannot obtain access, contact Tom Barlow and he will arrange for student access for you - but this should be a last resort for UM students (it may be the only option for students from other traditions).

Students from Other Traditions

First, check the MissionInsite client list page to see if your tradition is listed. If it is, see if you can arrange to get access as described above. If your tradition is not listed, or you are unable to gain access, contact Tom Barlow for access. MissionInsite has an agreement with Iliff to provide student access for this project at no cost, although you may not be able to obtain demographic reports for the area around your organization (Iliff's access is limited to specific counties in the Denver area) - still, however, this will be a valuable exercise. MissionInsite's services are available to any church in the country for an annual fee, so if you find the project helpful, it may be worth additional conversations at your organization or judicatory. 

 

This was an early effort in video production at Iliff - we need to reshoot parts of it, but it should still be helpful. We've used it in Iliff's UM History course. It's slated for revising over the summer, so if anyone is new to Wesleyan grace and finds it particularly captivating, we might want to sit you down for an interview...

https://youtu.be/_5rjz72NOc4

Page Overview

This video walks you through the contents of this page, and offers a few pointers for the course.

Discussions that Last the Whole Quarter

Introduce Yourself

Coffee Shop