Andrew Dyck, PhD (candidate), VU (Vrije Universiteit) Amsterdam Assistant Professor of Ministry Studies

Transcription

1 Congregational Mission and Evangelism, BTS-5380M (3 credit hours) Canadian Mennonite University: Graduate Course Syllabus Winter, January 17 18, February 28 March 1, March 28 29, 8:30am-5:30pm,??classroom number Instructor: Contact info: Andrew Dyck, PhD (candidate), VU (Vrije Universiteit) Amsterdam Assistant Professor of Ministry Studies ext.627 Office B326 (mailbox on office door, and at main reception desk on north campus) Mission statement of Canadian Mennonite University: CMU is an innovative Christian university, rooted in the Anabaptist faith tradition, moved and transformed by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Through teaching, research, and service CMU inspires women and men for lives of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and society. Mission statement of Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary Canada: MBBS exists to educate and equip people who help lead the church in reaching Canada and the world with the good news of Jesus Christ. Course Description: In general, this course examines the historical and theological roots as well as biblical understandings and practices of mission and evangelism. Students will explore the challenges of communicating the Good News of the Christian faith and address issues such as the nature of the church and importance of belonging to a witnessing and reconciling community. (as posted in the CMU Academic Calendar at More specifically, this course examines congregational practices and thus convictions of mission and evangelism in light of biblical understandings as well as historical and theological roots. Students will explore the possibilities and challenges of communicating the Good News of the Christian faith in North American contexts by making class visits to a variety of local congregations (as posted in the Course Descriptions & Timetable Information of the Graduate School of Theology and Ministry at Students in this course will be expected to read and write throughout the semester on both the biblical-theology and praxis of mission and evangelism. Students must begin their first assignments at the start of January, in order to be prepared for the first weekend of classes (see syllabus for details). During the three weekends that the class will meet, much of the time will be spent visiting a sampling of diverse congregations in the Winnipeg area. These visits will be designed to expose students to different congregations approaches to mission and evangelism. The class will seek to identify the convictions that these approaches reveal, and will assess these approaches and convictions in light of the course readings. Class discussion will play a vital role in this course. By the end of the course, students will be expected to express their own convictions and goals for congregational mission and evangelism.

2 Objectives of this course: Students will 1. learn the biblical-theological underpinnings of missio dei and missional church convictions by summarizing and critiquing several seminal works. 2. explore the relationship between biblical-theological convictions and congregational praxis by extrapolating from convictions to appropriate practices, and by analyzing the implicit theology of particular local congregations. 3. be inspired to lead others in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ by describing a variety of congregational approaches, and by generating a contextually specific plan for congregational mission and evangelism. Textbooks and reading materials: The required readings for this course are arranged according to three themes: i. mission of God (missio dei) theology; Wright, Christopher J. H. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible s Grand Narrative. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, (535 pages) ii. missional church theology and praxis; Guder, Darrell L., ed. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998 (268 pages). Barrett, Lois Y., et al. Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004 (172 pages). iii. perspectives on the praxis of congregational mission and evangelism pages (total) taken from three (3) different books that will be chosen by the student from the list at the end of this syllabus. Students must obtain prior permission from the professor to select books not on this list. Other short readings (e.g. articles and book excerpts) may be assigned during the course. Assignments: Students will be required to complete reading and writing assignments before and after each of the class sessions. Students must therefore think of this course as running throughout the entire semester, not only on the specified three weekends. This course involves more writing than is typical in graduate courses because the weekend classes will be largely discussion and experience-based. Assignments Summary: 1. Critical Book Reviews with Appendices 25% Appendices #1 Due: Jan. 17 Review #1 Due: Jan. 31 Review #2 & Appendices #2 Due: Feb Journal Entries 30% #1 Due: Jan. 24 #2 Due: Mar. 6 #3 Due: Apr Questions from Additional Readings 10% Due: Mar Integration Paper 25% Due: Apr. 17

3 5. Participation 10% Due: throughout Assignments Details: 1. Critical book reviews with appendices. Due: *Jan. 17, *Jan. 31, Feb. 28 a. After reading The Mission of God, write a 5-page critical book review on the book. One third of the review should consist of a summary of the book s argument (including the author s thesis). The rest of the review should offer a critique of the book s main argument, drawing on Scripture and on other resources. At the end of the review, add two 1-page appendices. In the first appendix, list congregational practices that you believe would reflect the theology presented in The Mission of God. In the second appendix, list at least six questions that you could ask a congregation about its practices of mission and evangelism in order to help you identify the congregation s implicit theology in light of the theology of The Mission of God. *Note that the appendices are due earlier than the review itself! b. The second critical book review is based on reading both Missional Church and Treasure in Clay Jars. The assignment s requirements are the same as for the first book review. (This time, the review and its appendices are due on the same day.) 2. Journal entries. X3 Due: Jan. 24, Mar. 6, Apr. 3 After each weekend of classes, write a 4-page journal entry. In the first 3 pages, draw on your visits with congregational leaders to suggest the implicit theology of mission and evangelism of three contrasting congregations (choose 3 congregations from the weekend s visits, and write 1 page on each). In the final page, begin to evaluate those theologies in light of the most recent course readings. 3. Questions from Additional Readings: Due: Mar. 28 Select three books by different authors from the list below, and read pages (total) from these books. (Students may select 1 or 2 books not from this list, but must obtain prior permission from the professor. Do not read more than one book by a given author.) Based on these three books, write a 2-page list of questions that you could ask a congregation about its practices of mission and evangelism in order to help you identify the congregation s implicit theology. Also provide the professor with a signed statement confirming which pages you have read from which books. 4. Integration paper Due: Apr. 17 Write a 10-page paper, proposing specific ways of encouraging your congregation to grow in mission and evangelism. At a minimum, the paper should include: - a description of your congregation s current practices; - the theology implicit in those practices; - interaction with the five books read for this course; - concrete proposals for this congregation; and - biblical-theological impulses for those proposals. Organize your paper in a way that makes the most sense for you and your congregational context. 5. Participation Due: throughout

4 Because this course will largely be conducted as a seminar, participation by each student in discussions is essential for this class to form a learning community. The professor will provide students with an explanation of his criteria for grading class participation. Equivalency chart of letter grades to percentage and numerical grades: Letter Grade Percentage Grade Points Descriptor A Exceptional A Excellent B Very Good B Good C Satisfactory C Adequate D Marginal F Failure All grades submitted by CMU s professors are provisional until vetted by the Dean s Council. That process occurs early in January for fall semester grades and early in May for winter semester grades. Course outline/schedule Day-to-day reading schedule, lecture topics, etc. (not needed in prelim. syllabus) Academic Policies: Students are expected to be familiar with CMU s academic policies, as published in the Academic Calendar in the Graduate Student Registration Guide (both are online at Sections of particular relevance include Attendance in Classes, Extensions and Incompletes, Submission of Assignments, Multiple Submissions of the Same Work, Attendance in Classes, Examination Rescheduling, Students with Disabilities, Academic Misconduct, and Appeals. The following comments are supplementary to these policies: Voluntary Withdrawal: The last day for voluntary withdrawal from winter courses without academic penalty is March 20, Academic Writing: Written assignments should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style (online at < and summarized in Diana Hacker s A Pocket Style Manual, fifth edition, which is available in CMU s bookstore). These resources specify details for formatting (e.g. 1-inch margins, formal fonts in 10- to 12-point font size, double-spacing) and for citing sources. Attendance: If a student must miss class due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, it is the student s responsibility to talk with the instructor as soon as possible about

5 missing material. Students missing an excessive number of classes without valid reason may be barred from further class attendance. Extensions: The instructor has full discretion in granting extensions. Extensions must be requested before the due date of an assignment normally at least one class period before the assignment s due date. Submission of assignments: All assignments submitted after the specified due date and time will be penalized one letter grade for each day late (e.g. from B to C+). No assignments will be accepted or graded if the instructor receives them more than five business days after the due date. All assignments may be submitted by . The instructor will notify the student by return of the time and date on which the ed assignment was received. It is the student s responsibility to gain confirmation that the instructor received his/her assignment. Assignments submitted by must be sent as Microsoft Word documents (either.doc or.docx), not in other word-processing formats or as PDF s. It is my commitment to return graded assignments to the students in a timely manner. This will be done by means of student mailboxes. (Graduate students without a student mailbox may choose to receive their graded assignments in the professor s office door mailbox, or at the receptionist s desk on the south campus.) Communication: Students are encouraged to engage the instructor outside of class hours. His contact details and office number are above. Beyond this, will be considered a standard means of communicating. Students should therefore check their CMU regularly. Academic Misconduct: Plagiarism and cheating will be treated very seriously, as outlined in the Academic Catalogue. It is the student s responsibility to be familiar with these published expectations. Students with Disabilities CMU strives to provide a fair and supportive learning environment for academically qualified students with disabilities. The University will seek ways to develop and provide services that support students with disabilities. The Disability Services office coordinates with the Academic Office to provide academic accommodations to eligible students. If you are eligible for these services or have questions about becoming eligible, please contact Sandra Loeppky, Coordinator of Disability Services at sloeppky@cmu.ca or ext Other Academic Supports CMU offers its students academic supports at no cost. Academic tutors are available to all students; see Adelia Neufeld Wiens, Coordinator of Student Advising (anwiens@cmu.ca), to set up a first appointment with one of them. Volunteer tutors are available to work on a one-on-one basis with students; see Adelia Neufeld Wiens for details.

6 Additional Readings (as per the assignment described above): TBA