GB 5K83 – Seminar: Social Justice and Reconciliation
The Church and the City:
Frameworks for Missional Impact
Instructors: Leonard Allen, Holly Duncan, & Shawn Duncan
Lipscomb University, MDiv Travel Course
Atlanta, GA | July 31-August 4, 2017
PURPOSE
The 2017 MDiv travel course addresses how churches engage their local context in
healthy, transformative ways. The Church and the City will locate the Western church
within a missiological and sociological context, describe core principles and competences
for healthy community engagement, and allow participants to visit practitioners from a
wide variety of social contexts with missional paradigms that embody these
frameworks.
Participants in The Church and The City will:
 See healthy practices for missional engagement within a variety of contexts
 Distinguish between effective vs. ineffective models of community engagement
 Interpret their own context through these principles and frameworks diagnosing
their own community engagement paradigms
REQUIRED COURSEWORK & ASSIGNMENTS
Before the Travel Course
1. ONLINE LEARNING
a. Seeking Shalom: How Reimagining Charity Can Transform Lives and
Restore Communities. Each student will receive an email by May 30th
inviting them to register for The Lupton Center’s online course entitled
Seeking Shalom, a 6-part, video-based curriculum that examines
traditional charity and lays the groundwork for a healthier approach.
Students should complete all 6 sessions by July 5th, answering all the
questions built into each session and responding to at least three other
students’ answers in each of the 6 sessions (that’s 18 total responses).
Students will be graded on completion of the curriculum as well as quality
of participation. The video content will account for 50 pages of reading
and the reflection questions after each video will account for 4 pages of
writing.
2.
READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS
*Important: As the required length for many papers is short, you are expected to
produce a concise, quality paper. Do not assume that a short paper means less work.
Express ideas with tight, careful writing. Also do not assume that a short paper is an
invitation for a casual writing style - even if the paper is an opinion paper. Exercise
discipline in how your organize and express your thoughts. You are not asked in any of
the following writing assignments to summarize the text. Quotations of the texts within
your papers are unnecessary. Turn in all assignments via email: Send to
[email protected]
a.
Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens, and Dwight J. Friesen, The New Parish: How
Neighborhood Churches Are Transforming Mission, Discipleship, and Community
(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2014). 183 pgs
i.
Assignment: W rite a 4-page critical analysis. This is not a reflection or opinion
paper. The paper should critically examine the implicit and explicit theological
frameworks within the text (2 pages) and offer a thoughtful response to the implications
of the text for your church (1 page) and your own Christian identity (1 page). Four pages,
double-spaced not including title, name, etc. Due June 22.
b. Mary Jo Leddy, The Other Face of God: When the Stranger Calls Us
Home (New York: Orbis Books, 2011). 139 pgs
i.
Assignment: Write a 2-page response paper on the implications of this text for
your congregational context if the postures, practices, and principles described in the text
were embraced. Two pages, double-spaced not including title, name, etc. Due July 12.
c.
Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World Only read pages 7-79 (72 pgs)
OR David Bosch, Spirituality for the Road
.
Assignment: Choose one text and write a 3-page response paper critically
analyzing the book’s arguments and their implications for your congregational context.
Spend 2 pages discussing how the author’s core arguments challenge the traditional
dichotomies of the church “gathered” and the church “scattered” and/or how the author
collapses the distance between the categories of “spirituality” and “mission.” Then in one
page compare and contrast their presentation of the inherent missional nature of liturgy
and spirituality with the way these things are understood and practiced in your
congregational context. Three pages, double-spaced not including title, name, etc. Due
July 21.
d. Joan Chittister, OSB, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily Only read chapters
4, 10, & 12 (35 pgs) and Rowan Williams, A Ray of Darkness Only read
chapters 44 & 45. (23 pgs)
i.
Assignment: Read these chapters as close as possible to the time you leave to
come to Atlanta. A grade will be given for completion of these reading. This is no writing
assignment for these texts.
After the Course
Reading
HBR’s 10 Must Reads On Change Management (Articles 1, 3, & 7) and Andy Odle, ed.
Joining Lives: A Primer on the Ministry of Reconciliation (Chapter 4 - This will be
handed out to you during the last day of the travel course). There is no direct writing
assignment for these texts. It is expected that these texts will influence your Final Project
(see below).
Final Project (two options)
1. Missional Formation Process - Design an embodied missional formation process
for a small group of early adopters from your congregation. This
project should implement all 5 components shared during the final day of the
travel course (disruption, invitation, immersion, revelation, and encounter). The
first 2 pages should define the focus of and overview of the formation process.
Then write one page each (5 total) on how the 5 components will be integrated
into this formation process. Finally, write a 1 page conclusion that defines
expected results, success, and how you think this process will effect the greater
church body. Due Aug 13
OR
2.
Outreach Diagnostic and Change Strategy - Chose one outreach, mission, or
benevolence initiative in which your congregation is currently engaged. Use the five
principles from Seeking Shalom (Mutuality, Participatory, Holistic, Mind, and Impact)
and diagnose this initiative. Do a one-page diagnostic per principle. This is not much
space. Write carefully and concisely. Take 1 page to propose a new model for this
ministry and 2 pages to outline an effective change strategy that gets your church from
where they are to where you propose that they go. Due Aug 13
COURSE PLAN
June 1 – July 21 – Readings and written assignments
July 31 – August 01 - Travel Course
August 13 - Final assignment due
(No final examination)
GRADING
A = 92-100
B = 79-91
C = 65-78
POLICIES
Academic Integrity
Because Lipscomb’s primary mission is to integrate Christian faith and practice with
academic excellence, integrity is important in this course. As your instructor, I will deal
with each student fairly and honestly. As participants in the course of study, you are
expected to do your own work on all assignments unless I indicate that collaboration is
allowed on a specific assignment. Penalties for integrity violations will range from failure
on the assignment involved to failure in the course. The instructor also reserves the right
to report violations to members of the administration. For clarification, refer to the
University’s Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity Policy (see
http://academics.lipscomb.edu/page.asp?SID=12&Page=822)
Accommodations for students with disabilities
In compliance with the Lipscomb University policy and equal access laws, I am available
to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that may be required for student with
disabilities. Requests for academic accommodations are to be made during the first three
weeks of the semester, except for unusual circumstances, so arrangements can be made.
Students are encouraged to register with Student Disability Services to verify their
eligibility for appropriate accommodations.