Time: January 14-16, 2013

Transcription

1 Time: January 14-16, 2013 PL 832 The Missional Church Houston Graduate School of Theology The mission of Houston Graduate School of Theology is empowering spiritual leadership through the intellectual, spiritual, and vocational development of men and women in order to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. Professor: John R. Franke, DPhil, Visiting Professor of Missional Theology, Houston Graduate School of Theology Professor of Missional Theology, Yellowstone Theological Institute (Bozeman, MT) Professor of Religious Studies and Missiology, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit (Belgium) General Coordinator, The Gospel and Our Culture Network (US) Course Description: The impulse for a missional approach to church and theology arises from the notion of mission as a central aspect of the character of God. The actions of the triune God are reflective of this missional character and explain the primacy of mission that is at the heart of the biblical narratives concerning the work of God in human history. This missional perspective involves continual intellectual and imaginative reflection on the interaction between the Gospel and culture and the creative outworking of this activity in socially embodied forms of communal life. This course will introduce a missional approach to Christian witness through an examination of the following topics: the mission of God; the church in the mission of God; and the nature, task, and purpose of a theology for the mission of God. Three hours. PL 832 Required Texts: Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Orbis Books, ISBN-10: Franke, John R. Manifold Witness: The Plurality of Truth. Abingdon Press, ISBN-10: Rah, Soong-Chan, The Next Evangelicalism: Releasing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. InterVarsity, ISBN-10: Sanneh, Lamin, Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel beyond the West. Eerdmans, ISBN-10: Stone, Bryan. Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness. Brazos, ISBN-10: Van Gelder, Craig, and Dwight J Zscheile. Missional Church in Perspective, The: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation. Baker Academic, ISBN-10: Course Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Explain the mission of God in a coherent and compelling fashion. 2. Clearly articulate the leading ideas and distinctive content of a missional understanding of the doctrine of God. 3. Clearly articulate the significance of a missional understanding of God for the life, faith, and witness of the church. 4. Clearly articulate the significance of a missional understanding of God and the church for the nature, task, and purpose of theology. 1

2 5. Develop a working knowledge of current literature and web resources for missional church ministry. 6. Apply missional practice in a local context, whether planting a missional church or helping an existing congregation to become missional. 2 Pre-seminar Assignments: Due January 14, Read the assigned texts and write a 12- to 15-page integrative paper that describes each book and assesses how its proposals complement and/or challenge related concepts and practices in your own ministry. 2. Be prepared to discuss your understanding and assessment of the books and their respective topics during the seminar in January. Post-seminar Assignment: Due March 15, 2014 Students should prepare a 20- to 30-page paper that articulates the content and significance of the missional church perspective in relation to their particular ministry context. The paper will involve two components: 1) the articulation of a coherent understanding of the content and significance of a missional approach to Christian faith for the life and witness of the church in general and 2) the explanation the specific implications of such a perspective for the life and witness of their particular community. Further guidelines will be provided during the seminar. Additional Resources: Works by Self-Identified Proponents of the Missional Church Movement Alan Hirsh. The Forgotten Ways: A Practical Guide for Developing Missional Churches. Grand Rapids, Brazos Press, Barrett, Lois, et al. Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Boren, M. Scott. Missional Small Groups: Becoming a Community That Makes a Difference in the World. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Brownson, James V., et al. Storm Front: The Good News of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Frost, Michael. Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishing, Frost, Michael, and Alan Hirsch. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 st -Century Church. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Guder, Darrell L. The Continuing Conversion of the Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.

3 Guder, Darrell L., ed. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Hirsh, Alan, and Debra Hirsh. Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Hunsberger, George. Bearing the Witness of the Spirit: Lesslie Newbigin s Theology of Cultural Plurality. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Hunsberger, George R., and Craig Van Gelder, eds. The Church between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Keifert, Patrick. We Are Here Now: A New Missional Era. Eagle, ID: Allelon Publishing, McNeal, Reggie. Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Rouse, Rick, and Craig Van Gelder. A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation: Embarking on a Journey of Transformation. Minneapolis: Ausgburg Fortress, Roxburgh, Alan J. Missional Map-making: Skills for Leading in Time of Transition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, The Sky is Falling: Leaders Lost in Transition. Allelon Publishing, Roxburgh, Alan J., and Fred Romanuk. The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Roxburgh, Alan J., and M. Scott Boren. Introducing the Missional Church: What it is, Why It Matters, and How to Become One. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Van Gelder, Craig. The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Van Gelder, Craig, ed. The Missional Church and Leadership Formation: Helping Congregation Develop Leadership Capacity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, The Missional Church in Context: Helping Congregational Develop Contextual Ministry. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Van Gelder, Craig, and Dwight J. Zscheile. The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.

4 4 Scholars Whose Work Provides Foundational and/or Complementary Thinking about Missionality Arias, Mortimer. Announcing the Reign of God: Evangelization and the Subversive Memory of Jesus. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, Bauckham, Richard. The Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, Brueggemann, Walter. An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, Clapp, Rodney. A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Christian Society. Downer s Grove: InterVarsity Press, John G. Flett, The Witness of God: The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth, and the Nature of Christian Community (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010). Franke, John R. The Character of Theology: An Introduction to Its Nature, Task, and Purpose. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Glasser, Arthur F. Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God s Mission in the Bible. Grand Rapids, BakerAcademic, Grenz, Stanley J., and John R. Franke. Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, Hauerwas, Stanley, and William H. Willimon. Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony. Nashville: Abingdon, Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, Jenkins, Philip. The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South. Oxford: Oxford University Press, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Kirk, J. Andrew. The Mission of Theology and Theology as Mission. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press, What is Mission?: Theological Explorations. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000.

5 5 Lindbeck, George A. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. Louisville:Westminster John Knox Press, Lohfink, Gerhard, translated by John P. Galvin. Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, McKnight, Scot. One Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, Newbigin, Lesslie. Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel in Western Culture. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, The Open Secret: An introduction to the Theology of Mission, rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Nussbaum, Stan. A Reader s Guide to Transforming Mission. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, Penner, Myron D., ed. Christianity and the Postmodern Turn: Six Views. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, Smith, James K. A. Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Westphal, Merold. Whose Community? Which Interpretation? Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, Wright, Christopher J. H. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible s Grand Narrative. Downer s Grove: IVP Academic, The Mission of God s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church s Mission. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Wright, N.T. After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. New York: HarperOne, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense. New York: HarperOne, Yoder, John Howard. Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community before the Watching World. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1992.

6 6 Thought Leaders and Practitioners Whose Writings Express and/or Explore Missionality Belcher, Jim. Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional. Downer s Grove: IVP Books, Chilcote, Paul W., and Laceye C. Warner, eds. The Study of Evangelism: Exploring a Missional Practice of the Church. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Claiborne, Shane. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Cole, Neil. Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happen. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Creps, Earl. Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Dally, John A. Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God. Alban Institute, Gibbs, Eddie, and Ryan K. Bolger. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Halter, Hugh, and Matt Smay. And: The Gathered and Scattered Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Jones, Tony. The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Kinnaman, David, and Gabe Lyons. UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Lewis, Robert, with Rob Wilkins. The Church of Irresistible Influence. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, McLaren, Brian D. A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am A Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-Yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished Christian. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004.

7 A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. New York: HarperOne, Nelson, Gary V. Borderland Church: A Congregation s Introduction to Missional Living. St. Louis: Chalice Press, Pagitt, Doug. A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-Filled, Open-Armed, Alive-and-Well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in Us All. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Church in the Inventive Age. Minneapolis: Sparkhouse Press, Pagitt, Doug, and Tony Jones, eds. An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Platt, David. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, Raschke, Carl. The Next Reformation: Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, GloboChrist: The Great Commission Takes a Postmodern Turn. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Schmit, Clayton J. Send and Gathered: A Worship Manual for the Missional Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, Smay, Matt, and Hugh Halter. AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church. Zondervan, Stetzer, Ed. Planting Missional Churches. B&H Publishing Group, Stetzer, Ed, and David Putman. Breaking the Missional Code. B&H Publishing Group, Swanson, Eric, and Rick Rusaw. The Externally Focused Quest: Becoming the Best Church for the Community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Tickle, Phyllis. The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Webber, Robert E. The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, Web-based Resources Groups specifically identified with the Missional Church Movement The Gospel and Our Culture Network (US)

8 8 The Gospel and Our Culture (UK) Allelon The Center for Parish Development Center for Missional Leadership Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN Institute for Missional Theology and Leadership Houston Graduate School of Theology (forthcoming) Groups with Over-Lapping Concerns and Emphases The Ekklesia Project Leadership Network Policies: Following are official HGST academic policies A. Turnitin.com 1. All written assignments are subject to required submission to to check for originality and style. The assignments that are required for submission will be described in the syllabus. 2. Students will create an account at After doing so, the student will join the course page with the code and password supplied by the instructor. A list of assignments and due dates will be available on the course page. 3. Students will submit assignments by the due date and time and may be required to submit the assignments in a hard copy format. B. Electronic Equipment Usage in Classrooms It is expected that students will use technology (cell phones, laptop computers, ipads, etc.) during classes only for the purposes of class work. Therefore, students should turn off cell phones and refrain from texting and using laptop computers during classes except for the purposes of taking notes or doing research specifically authorized by the course instructor. Students who have emergency needs not covered by this policy must ask for an exception from the course instructor. C. Plagiarism Plagiarism is presenting the work of another person as one s own without giving proper credit for the use of the information. Students must not quote or paraphrase books, articles, essays, or Internet sites without giving proper credit to the author(s). Students should guard against plagiarism by crediting the original author through use of proper citations. Internet plagiarism is a particularly easy and tempting form of intellectual theft. Cutting and pasting sentences and paragraphs from the Internet without citations is plagiarism. Failure to cite Internet sources is plagiarism. Any

9 student who is found guilty of plagiarism is subject to a range of consequences as outlined below. 1. If a faculty member suspects plagiarism, the instructor will investigate. If suspicions are confirmed, the faculty member will present the evidence to the appropriate Associate Dean as a record of the offense. If the Associate Dean concurs with the allegations, the following procedures should be implemented as applicable: a. The faculty member may discuss the offense with the student following consultation with the Associate Dean, but the student will meet with the Associate Dean. b. For a first offense, the faculty member, in consultation with the Associate Dean, may give opportunity for a rewrite of the assignment or may assign a grade of zero for the plagiarized assignment. c. For a particularly egregious case of plagiarism on a major assignment, the consequences could result in automatic failure of the course. 2. The student may appeal the above-mentioned decisions of the faculty member in writing to the Academic Dean. 3. The second confirmed offense will result in expulsion from school. The student will be notified by a letter from the Academic Dean. His or her only opportunity for appeal will be to the President in writing. The President s decision will be final. D. Library Usage A student s ability to get the most out of library resources will enhance the possibility of earning a high grade in this class. Therefore, students should consider using, in addition to the HGST library, one or more of the following libraries. Houston Public Library Texas residents can obtain a free Houston Public Library card. Library cardholders have access to all of the books in the library system as well as the use of free interlibrary loans, meaning that HPL cardholders can borrow almost any book available. Cardholders can use the library s website, to search the catalog and manage interlibrary loans. The website also contains links to WorldCat and other online databases that will enhance your research. The HPL location that is closest to HGST, the Collier Regional Branch ( ), is located at 6200 Pinemont, which is less than three miles from campus. A better option would be the newly expanded and renovated Central Library ( ), which is located downtown at 500 McKinney. In addition, HPL has many other locations. The HGST library can give you an application for an HPL library card, or you can print the application form from their website. Fondren Library at Rice University The Fondren Library ( ) is located at 6100 Main. Please visit for more information. The procedure for borrowing books at the Fondren Library is, first, go to the online catalog [ to search for available books; second, go to the HGST library and fill out a form, signed by HGST library personnel, to take with you to the Fondren Library for each book; third, retrieve the book(s) yourself; fourth, take the book(s) and the signed form to the circulation desk to complete checkout (return the yellow copy to the HGST library; when the book(s) are returned to the Fondren 9

10 Library, they will indicate so on the pink and gold copies; return the pink copy to the HGST Library and keep the gold copy for your records). Cardinal Beran Library at St. Mary s Seminary the home of an extensive theological library, St. Mary s Seminary ( ) is located at 9845 Memorial Drive, only 4.6 miles from HGST. For more information, please visit The Doherty Library on the main campus of University of St. Thomas is also an option. Library of the Presbytery of the New Covenant as an HGST student you have borrowing privileges at this library located at 1110 Lovett Blvd, Houston. To search their online catalogue, go to Other options include Harris County Public Library ( Lanier Theological Library ( and the libraries at the University of Houston and Houston Baptist University. Doctor of Ministry Policies: (find the full listing of DMin Policies in the HGST Academic Catalog, pages 28ff) A. Assignments Students in the DMin program will read, research, study, experience, and evaluate applied theology and personal spiritual concepts. This degree promotes research on vital issues affecting the quality of life in faith communities as well as the development of new approaches, strategies, and styles of ministry in a wide variety of institutional and cultural settings. The resulting learning process equips the student for critical evaluation in the context and practice of ministry and fosters an integration of theory and effective pastoral practice with a view toward transforming communities. Pre-seminar assignments are due no later than the course start date. Students are encouraged, however, to bring all written assignments the first day of the seminar week. Students with missing pre-seminar assignments may be dropped from those sections of the seminar, may not be permitted to attend those sections, and may receive a failing grade for those sections. Students should expect approximately 2,000 pages of reading each semester. It is expected that the books will be acquired and that the reading assignments will be completed in order that candidates may be exposed to the material prior to the seminar. Post-seminar written assignments are to be submitted within ninety days after the session ends, at prescribed deadlines. Assignments should be ed directly to professors on or before the due date. Competence will be demonstrated through creative projects and papers, which apply professional experience in connection with course content. These assignments will demonstrate an understanding of the writing skills required for the doctoral level and of the subject matter, bibliography, theory, and methodology covered in the seminar. Written work will follow the prescribed HGST/Turabian style and should meet the deadlines required in each course syllabus. Grades will reflect the meeting of these criteria as well as the content. Students are encouraged to copies of completed assignments to the Director and to keep hard copies and external digital copies on file to protect work from being 10

11 lost due to a computer malfunction. Graded papers are usually available for pick up at the following seminar unless they are returned via . Written assignments for Project and Practicum completion are described and delineated in the Project and Practicum Manual, which is available via the website. The Manual also includes deadlines for Project and Practicum Report completion and all pre-graduation deadlines. B. Extensions and Incomplete Grade Policy Seminar assignments are to be completed and mailed or ed on or before the established due date. However, upon receiving a completed Extension Request Form and payment of $50 per professor, a thirty-day extension (one for each professor) may be granted by the DMin Office. The extension request should be received before the original due date. The professor shall reduce the grade by at least one-half letter grade. Work postmarked after the due date or the one-time thirty-day extension due date is subject to a minimum one letter grade reduction. No class work will be accepted after the close of the semester (except for previously granted 30-day extensions), a grade of F will be given, and the semester will have to be repeated for credit. The student will be placed on Academic Probation at that time until a cumulative GPA of no less than a B average is earned during the next semester. The student will be given one opportunity to make up a failed seminar section, either the next time it is offered or through make-up work, to receive an acceptable grade and raise the overall GPA to an acceptable score. In order for the GPA to move to an acceptable score, the Academic Office may replace the F with a NC so that the make-up work will count appropriately. If the student does not make up the section during the timeframe noted above, the grade will be remain an F, the failing grade will appear on his or her transcript, Academic Stop will go into effect, and the student s file will be sent to the DMin Oversight Committee with recommended action. Notes for Writing Assignments: All writing assignments should conform to Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8 th Edition. This includes matters of style and format. The instructor requires the use of footnotes for documentation when more than one resource is cited. The student should number pages. According to Turabian, page numbers should be in the upper right hand corner, except on pages with major headings (titles). Margins should be one inch on all four sides, except where major headings (titles) require a two-inch top margin. All students should utilize 12-point Times New Roman font throughout. The instructor prefers that the student not use presentation or report binders or folders. She prefers submission of papers with staples or binder clips. Critical, or formal, writing differs from colloquial writing or spoken English at several points. The student should note the following guidelines for critical writing. The instructor expects students to follow these guidelines strictly for academic-style assignments. Failure to do so will be penalized. Avoid 1 st or 2 nd person references ( I, we, or you ). Keep the written projects objective and professional. Remember that imperative forms are second person. Never use contractions. 11

12 Avoid passive voice construction (i.e., The student should write God chose Joshua rather than Joshua was chosen by God. ). Some exceptions are necessary, but limiting the use of passive voice is a good policy. Be sure that number and tense always agree (i.e., Do not write in one place that Brueggemann argues... and at another place Brueggemann argued... ). Subjectverb agreement is imperative. Spellcheck! Spellcheck! Spellcheck! Grammar check works as well! Pronouns should have clear antecedents. Avoiding it is and there is in the paper removes much of the ambiguity of pronoun usage. Sentence fragments are unacceptable. Every sentence must have a subject and a predicate. 12