Children in the Community of Faith

Course Description

Participants in this course will strive to articulate a practical theology of childhood that informs their varied ministries with children. Attention will be given to developmental, historical, ideological, contextual, and theological understandings of childhood as well as to proposals for approaches to educational ministry with children.  Specialized issues such as the worship and sacramental life, spiritual formation, pastoral care, and cultural formation of children will also be addressed, as well as advocacy for the well-being of children inside and outside of the context of the faith community.

Course Overview

 Each week we will have multiple engagements with our colleagues on the Canvas site. Many times we will be discussing shared readings together.  Four times there be a RAIN assignment.  RAIN (Resources, Application, Integration, Next Steps) postings will often involve your seeking and sharing resources to share with the class, moving from the readings to real world situations and applications of the ideas, moments to pull together your thinking about the things we have been working on, or generally taking the learning a step further.  My hope is that the combination of reading and engagement will create an interesting and productive learning opportunity for all of us, and that it will help spread the workload of the class throughout the quarter.

Course Objectives

Students completing this course can expect to:

1. Explore historical and theological understandings of childhood as well as contemporary assumptions about children that shape the response of institutions in which they participate.
2. Develop increased knowledge of age appropriate rituals, approaches and practices for opening safe teaching/learning space for children.
3. Develop skills of observation for discerning social, economic, and cultural patterns that enhance and/or inhibit children’s religious development.
4. Begin to develop a familiarity with and explore strengths and weaknesses in theoretical discussions of ministry with children.
5. Develop and articulate a framework for leadership and teaching practices in ministry with children in the context of their own vocational trajectory.

Texts

I have decided to primarily use uploaded chapters and articles for this class, which will be posted on the Canvas site by the beginning of September.  In addition, I am asking that everyone acquire the following.

Required for all: 

Melton, Joy Thornburg.  Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Sexual Abuse in Your

            Church for Children and Youth. Discipleship Resources, 2008.

Access to the documentary "A Place at the Table" Participant Media/Magnolia Films 2013.  Available streaming through Netflix, but also to purchase or through many local libraries. See http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/ for preview.

Choose one of the following (based on your own interests and vocational goals):

Berryman, Jerome.  Godly Play: An Imaginative Approach to Religious Education. Augsberg Fortress, 1995.

Brown, Carolyn C.  You Can Preach to the Kids, Too. Abingdon, 1997.

Caldwell, Elizabeth Francis. Come Unto Me: Rethinking the Sacraments for Children. United Church Press, 1996.

Fulgham, Nicole Baker.  Educating All God's Children: What Christians Can and Should Do to Improve Education for Low-Income Children. Brazos Press, 2013.

Krych, Margaret.  The Ministry of Children’s Education. Fortress Press, 2004.

Lindsey, Duncan. Child Poverty and Inequality. Oxford University Press, 2009.

May, Scottie, et al.  Children Matter: Celebrating Their Place in the Church, Family, and Community. Eerdmans, 2005.

Mercer, Joyce Ann. Welcoming Children: A Practical Theology of Childhood. Chalice Press, 2005.

Nye, Rebecca.  Children's Spirituality: What is it and why does it matter?

St. John, Warren. Outcasts United: An American Town, A Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference. 2008.

Vogt, Susan V.  Raising Kids Who Will Make a Difference. Chicago, Loyola Press, 2002.

Yust, Karen-Marie. Real Kids, Real Faith. Jossey Bass, 2004.

Evaluation in this class is based on four major elements (each worth 25% of the grade):

1.  Participation: The best learning occurs in online classes when you are regularly participating through: promptness and consistency of significant posting to weekly discussions and activities; completion of course readings (the major content source in the class, carefully selected by your instructor); your contributions to collaborative learning through peer review and response to the input of your colleagues; timeliness of uploading written assignments;  degree of progress over the semester; and evident effort. Grade for this portion will include self-evaluation of your own participation as well as instructor analysis of your ongoing participation in class discussions and activities.
2. RAIN (Resources, Application, Integration, Next Steps): At the end of each module, there is a RAIN activity that asks you to bring in a resource, engage in application or integration of knowledge, or take next steps with the content we have engaged.  Each of these will be about the equivalent of a 2 page, double spaced paper. Please be sure to give us a quality 2 pages...sometimes short papers like this require more digestion and integration of material rather than less. Some RAIN activities require gathering resources, engaging in observation, or other kinds of information-gathering activities.  Each one is worth 25 points, and together they make up 25% of your final grade. 
3. Presentation of a book related to ministry with/for children: You have been asked to choose one text from the list on the TEXTS page that you will be willing to read on behalf of the class and share key insights or learnings with your classmate.  Because most of the readings in this class are single chapters or short articles, this is also a chance for you to see someone working in an extended fashion with approaches to ministry with or advocacy for children. Although the presentation is due in the ninth week of the quarter, you are welcome to post your presentation anytime after the guidelines are posted for the assignment. Also, please be sure to record your book choice here so we can try to not duplicate the same books but spread them out over the whole class.
4. Final Project: In 5-7 pages, you are invited to engage in an integrative and constructive project according to the options found in the assignment guidelines.

Course Expectations

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 week of class.

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. 

Technology Help: The Iliff IT department is eager to help with any technological glitches or questions you have with Canvas.  Please contact them at helpdesk@iliff.edu.

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 their communication, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. 

Degree Learning Goals

The activities of this course are designed to contribute to the following degree learning goal:

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.