Missiology in a Multicultural Context

P1220 / ML1240

Spring Semester, 2004

Instructors:  Paul Barton and Jay Alanis

 

Paul Barton:       439-0338                                                                                                                   Jay Alanis:       477-2666  

"mailto:pbarton@etss.edu" pbarton@etss.edu                                       "mailto:revjay3@juno.com"  revjay3@juno.com                       

    

February and March

Mondays:          10:00-11:15 a.m.

Wednesdays:               10:00-11:15 a.m.

 

Course Introduction

 

Course Description

This course builds upon the January immersion course "Mission in a Multicultural Context."  We reflect on the theological and missiological questions that arise from the experiences in the three-week immersion course in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley.  We explore the theological bases necessary to become a church in mission in intercultural settings, as well as paradigms for mission.  Additionally, we explore the question of reconciliation as one model of mission.

 

Goals for the Course

Given the cross-cultural character of the immersion course in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, and the contemporary missional issues, students and instructors will pursue the following goals:

This course will allow students to continue thinking about their immersion course in San Antonio and the implications of the experience for their own lives and ministerial vocation.

This course will expose students to critical literature and perspectives in theologies and practice of mission, with particular attention given to voices from the margins.

This course will provide students with resources for future research on missiological and cross-cultural issues.

This course will expose students to the idea of reconciliation as a fundamental part of the mission of the church.

This course will expose students to a theoretical foundation to begin to develop a cross-cultural awareness in order to minister in a multicultural setting.

 

Overview of the Course

 

Week I:  Reflection Upon Immersion Experience and Introduction to Missiology                

                Considering the implications of the immersion course for our lives and our ministerial vocation

Week 2:  Introduction to Missiology

                A review of mission theory and practices in the twentieth century

Week 3:  Reconciliation as Mission

                Examining the idea of reconciliation as a fundamental element of mission and goal of mission

Week 4:  Biblical and Spiritual Bases for Reconciliation

Week 5:  Reconciliation in the Anglican and Lutheran Contexts

                Examining how reconciliation is conceived and practiced within various traditions

Week 6:  Ministry at the Margins

                Hearing the Stories of laypersons involved in ministries of justice, peace, and evangelism

Week 7:  Mission as Ministry Across Divisions

                Hearing the stories of clergy serving in multicultural congregations

Week 8:  Mission, Reconciliation, and Inclusion

                Exploring ways to help congregations overcome the fear of relating to others who are different from them.

 

 

Ways of Learning

 

Two Reflection Papers

A reflection paper on Titus Presler's Horizons of Mission  is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, February 15. The following are the guidelines for this reflection paper:

1)  Write one paragraph that articulates the chief issues raised by the reading.

2)  Write three statements that show things what you learned that you did not know before.

3)  Write three questions that you need for clarification after reading the text.

 

A reflection paper on reconciliation is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, March 10.  The following are the guidelines for this reflection paper:

1)  Even though the term and concept of reconciliation was not used explicitly by the MACC staff in the mini-pastoral course, what parts of the course addressed the issue of reconciliation?  How did this part, or these parts, of the course conceive of reconciliation?

2)  Focusing on your own denominational tradition, where do you see your denomination, or even a particular church, engaging in the ministry of reconciliation among persons of different races, ethnicities, and cultural groups?  Describe the nature of this ministry of reconciliation and the obstacles it has had to overcome.

 

Adult Education Class Outline

You will write a curriculum for an adult education class on mission for the leadership of your church.  The class will consist of four class sessions, each one about two hours long.  The purpose of the class is to equip the leaders of your church to engage in reconciliation as a form of mission.

Please follow these instructions for the sessions:

Title of the four-week course

Goals for the four-week course.  Specify the desired outcomes for the course.

An Introduction for the curriculum, consisting of a description of the church and the context for its mission-study class

Title for each session

Goals for learning for each session

Outline of each class session

Bibliography for each session  (What sources will you use?)

Some specific content that needs to be included in your course outline:

Helpful definitions of mission, and your preference for understanding mission

Your understanding of culture

The class outline is due the last day of the course, on Wednesday, March 31. 

 

 Evaluation

Evaluation of Student Work

Evaluation of the student work in the class is based on the following assignments:

25%         Reflection Paper on Presler's Horizons of Mission  (due Wednesday, February 11)

25%         Reflection Paper on Reconciliation  (due Wednesday, March 10)

50%         Adult Education Class Outline  (due Wednesday, March 29)

 

Policy on Conditional Grades

A Conditional grade will be given only once for written work (the reflection paper and the Adult Education Class Outline).  A successful completion of all assignments is required to pass the course.

 

Class Participation

You are expected to attend each class session and to arrive on time.  You are expected to read the materials assigned for that particular week and participate in discussion in class on the assigned readings.  You are expected to notify the professor before class if you cannot attend class.  The professor determines the validity of an excused absence.

 

Written Assignments

Written work is to be submitted in a manner that conforms to the academic handbook of ETSS.

 

Late Assignments

Late assignments will be allowed for special circumstances, and then only if you notify the professor at least 24 hours before the date due for the assignment.  The professor has the discretion in deciding whether or not to accept a late assignment.

 

Policy on Disabilities

Every reasonable effort, within the limits of the resources available to the Seminary, will be made to accommodate students with recognize physical disabilities and diagnosed learning disabilities.  See further Academic Code III.C.4.c.-d.

 

Commitment from the Professors

The professors commit to the following:

Return written work within two weeks of submission.

Be available for conversation about your progress and work in the course, as well as to discuss further the issues addressed in the course.

Treat each participant with respect while holding you accountable as an adult learner.

Abide by the terms of the syllabus.

To learn from the students and the course as we, the whole class, interact in the effort to understand mission in a multicultural context

 

Readings

Required Texts

Gittins, Anthony, Ministry at the Margins:  Strategy and Spirituality for Mission.  Maryknoll, NY:  Orbis Books, 2002.  ISBN:  1-57075-417-9

 

Law, Eric H. F.  Inclusion:  Making Room for Grace.  St. Louis, MO:  Chalice Press, 2000.  ISBN:  0-8272-1620-3

 

Presler, Titus. Horizons of Mission. Vol. 11, The New Church's Teaching Series. Cambridge, Boston, MA: Cowley Publications, 2000.  ISBN: 1-56101-190-8

 

Schreiter, Robert J., C.PP.S.,  Reconciliation:  Mission and Ministry in a Changing Social Order.  Vol. 3, Boston Theological Institute Series.  Maryknoll, NY:  Orbis Books; Cambridge, MA:  Boston Theological Institute, 2002.  ISBN:  0-88344-809-2

 

Schreiter, Robert J., C.PP.S. The Ministry of Reconciliation:  Spirituality and Strategies. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002.  ISBN:  1-57075-168-4

 

 

Recommended Texts

Bosch, David J.  Transforming Mission:  Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission.  American Society of Missiology Series, No. 16.  Maryknoll, NY:  Orbis Books, 1997.  587 pp.  ISBN: 0-88344-719-3

 

Carodoza-Orlandi, Carlos.  Mission:  An Essential Guide.  Nashville, TN:  Abingdon, 2001.  ISBN: 0-687-05472-9

 

Douglas, Ian T., ed. Waging Reconciliation:  God's Mission in a Time of Globalization and Crisis. New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2002.  ISBN:  0-89869-378-0

 

De Gruchy, John W.  Reconciliation:  Restoring Justice.  Minneapolis, MN:  Fortress Press, 2002.  ISBN:  0-80063-600-7

 

Law, Eric H. F.  The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb:  Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community.   St. Louis, MO:  Chalice Press, 1993.  ISBN: 0-8272-4231-X

 

 

Additional Articles and Daily Readings

In addition to the above textbooks, students will have occasional additional readings.  These appear under the "Readings" heading for each day of class. 

You are encouraged to refer to the required texts used in the January immersion course:   "Mission in a Multicultural Context."

 

 

Structure of the Course

 

Week I:  Reflection Upon the Immersion Experience

 

       Text for Week 1:  Titus Presler, Horizons of Mission

Monday, February 2

       Introduction to the Course

       Reflections on January immersion course "Mission in a Multicultural Context"

       Organization of the Missiology Course

       Instructors:  Paul Barton and Jay Alanis

 

Wednesday, February 4

       Implications of the January Immersion Experience for Our Lives and Our Vocations as Ministers

       Instructor:  Paul Barton and Jay Alanis

       Text:  The January Immersion Course and Ourselves

 

Burrows, William R. "Reconciling All in Christ:  An Old New Paradigm for Mission." Mission Studies 15, no. 1 (1998): 79-98.

 

Week 2:  Introduction to Missiology

      

       Text for Week 2:  Titus Presler, Horizons of Mission (continued)

      

Monday, February 9

       Models of Mission

       Reconciliation as Mission

       Instructor:  Paul Barton

 

       Bosch, David J.  Transforming Mission:  Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, pp. 1-11.

 

       Potter, Philip. "Mission as Reconciliation in the Power of the Spirit:  Impulses from Canberra." International Review of Mission 80, no. July-October (1991): 305-14.

 

Wednesday, February 11

       Integration:  Class Discussion on Models of Mission and Mission as Reconciliation

       Instructor:  Paul Barton

      

       Schreiter, Robert J., CPPS. "Reconciliation as a Missionary Task." Missiology:  An International Review 20, no. 1 (1992): 3-10.

 

Reflection paper on Presler's Horizons of Mission is due.

 

Week 3:  Reconciliation as Mission

 

Text for Week 3:  Text:  Robert J. Schreiter:  Reconciliation:  Mission and Ministry in a Changing Social Order

 

Monday, February 16

       Violence and Suffering as a Precondition for Reconciliation

       Instructor:  Paul Barton

 

Pagura, Frederico E. "The Cost of Reconciliation." International Review of Mission 85 (April 1996): 209-14.

 

Wednesday, February 18

       Reconciliation as a Basis for Mission and a Goal for Mission

       Mission with Justice and Dignity

       Instructor:  Jay Alanis

       Text:  For Reference:  Alanis, Javier.  "Dignity for the Foreigner:  A Study of the Doctrine of the Imago Dei from a Lutheran Hispanic/Latino/a Perspective.  Ph.D. diss.  Chicago:  Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 2002.

 

Week 4:  Biblical and Spiritual Basis for Reconciliation

 

Text for Week 4:  Robert J. Schreiter, The Ministry of Reconciliation:  Spirituality and Strategies

 

Monday, February 23

       Spirituality as a Basis for Reconciliation and Mission

       Instructor:  Paul Barton

 

Wednesday, February 25

       Biblical Examples of Reconciliation

                Jacob and Essau

                Paul's Treatments on Reconciliation

                Jesus and Reconciliation

       Instructor:  Titus Presler

 

Week 5:  Ministry at the Margins

 

Text for Week 5:  Anthony J. Gittins, Ministry at The Margins

 

Monday, March 1

       Peace and Reconciliation with Justice for the Urban Poor

       Instructor:  Ann Helmke, guest speaker

 

Wednesday, March 3