Mccormick Theological Seminary

McCormick Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry Program

The Church in the World Today T/H/E 601

September 24-28, 2012

Professor David D. Daniels

Pre-course Assignments Due: Two weeks and one week before first day of class. See description.

Course/Ministry Project Assignment Due: December 1, 2012

Dr. David D. Daniels McCormick Theological Seminary 5460 S. University Ave Chicago, IL 60615

773-947-6342 [email protected]

Course Description:

The church in the world today finds itself in a rapidly changing landscape. The contemporary North American context has its own particular challenges for the church that would be faithful and effective. Ministry in increasingly urbanized environments calls for forms of church life that will be more responsive to urban realities. New immigrant Christianity offers the infusion of Christian faith from the Global South into the Global North. Religious pluralism presents new opportunities for interfaith engagement and partnerships. The global and ecumenical horizon lifts our visions to the wider church beyond its local expressions. What does this changed landscape with its new realities mean for congregational life as we seek to envision and build community in local churches and in the wider contexts they seek to serve?

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:  identify and explain key connections between the Church in North American and current realities of Global Christianity, ecumenism, immigrant congregations, and interreligious relations;

1  imagine and plan strategies for engaging local and congregational contexts in practices that respond to the current realities of Global Christianity, ecumenism, immigrant congregations, and interreligious relations;

Focused Questions: This course is structured around questions that are raised by thoughtful ministerial practice for the church in the world today: (1) What is the nature and purpose of the church and its ministry? (2) How does the contemporary historical context in which the church engages in ministry shape that ministry? (3) In particular, what are the challenges and opportunities of doing ministry in the North American context? What does the increasingly global, trans-national, ecumenical and religiously pluralistic environment call forth from the church’s ministry? (4) How are these realities shaping your local context of ministry? How may your church or ministry setting respond in ways that are faithful and effective?

Attendance: For each class session, students are expected to arrive on time, attend, and participate actively.

Worship: We will participate in an opening and closing worship along with three occasions for morning prayer. Students should come prepared with liturgical resources to co-lead a morning prayer and the closing worship. The morning prayer should be 10 minutes or less.

Required Texts (The amount of assigned reading is intentionally less than your average doctoral course in order to allow time for you to review the texts after the initial reading as well as time to write the various written assignments. While the amount of reading is less, the assigned texts are packed with concepts, distinctions, and information that will aid in exploring the church in the world today.)

Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Community (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), revised and expanded edition (Read for overarching themes and analysis—not details)

Robert Wuthnow, America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005)

Online Reader (uploaded on Moodle) Note that the combined pages for the online reader total approximately 249 pages.

Martin Marty, “North America” in The Oxford History of Christianity, edited by John McManners (New York: Oxford University Press, 196-436.

2 Two Chapters from Bass and Dykstra (2008), 39 pages: Dorothy C. Bass, “Way of Life Abundant” in For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry, edited by Dorothy C. Bass and Craig Dykstra, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 21-40.

Craig Dykstra, “Pastoral and Ecclesial Imagination” in For Life Abundant: Practical Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry, edited by Dorothy C. Bass and Craig Dykstra, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 41-61.

Sections from David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 1991), 77 pages “Mission as the Church-With-Others,” 368-389 “Mission as Missio Dei,” 389-393 “Mission as Contextualization,” 420-432 “Mission as Liberation,” 432-447 “Mission as Inculturation,” 447-457 “Mission as Witness to People of Other Living Faiths,” 474-489.

Four Chapters from Neal D. Presa (2010), 12 pages: Anna Case-Winters, “The Ecumenical Stance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A): The Nature of the Unity We Seek” in That They All Be One, Celebrating the World Communion of Reformed Churches, edited by Neal D. Presa (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 95-99.

Eugene Turner, “Christian Unity in the 21st Century” in That They All Be One, Celebrating the World Communion of Reformed Churches, edited by Neal D. Presa (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 100-104.

Michael Kinnamon, “Political Advocacy as a Dimension of Ecumenism” in That They All Be One, Celebrating the World Communion of Reformed Churches, edited by Neal D. Presa (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 110-114.

Neal D. Presa, “Whenever You Eat This Bread and Drink This Cup: Being a Communion of Churches” in That They All Be One, Celebrating the World Communion of Reformed Churches, edited by Neal D. Presa (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 137-143.

From Catherine Keller, Michael Nausner, Mayra Rivera, Post-Colonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2004), 19 pages “Introduction: Alien/Nation, Liberation, and the Postcolonial Underground,” 1-19

Entries from Daniel Patte, ed., The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 67 pages:

3 Canada, 166-168 United States of America, 1266-1278 Church, Concepts and Life, Cluster, 225-233 Justice, Christian Theological Views, Practices, Cluster, 668-675 African Religion and Christianity Cluster, 17-21 Buddhism and Christianity Cluster, 151-154 Confucianism and Christianity Cluster, 265-267 Islam and Christianity Cluster, 617-625 Judaism and Christianity Cluster, 658-664

Two Chapters from Balia and Kim (2010), 47 pages: “Christian Mission among other Faiths” and “Christian Communities in Contemporary Contexts” in Edinburgh 2010: Witnessing to Christ Today, edited by Daryl Balia and Kirsteen Kim (Oxford, UK: Regnum Books International, 2010), 34-60, 175-198.

Jehu J. Hanciles, “Sacred Canopies: Immigrant Congregations and American Religious Life” in Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Immigration, and the Transformation of the West by Jehu J. Hanciles (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 2008), 276-302.

Assignments and Evaluation:

Written assignments are to be posted on the Moodle course site. (Please upload on Moodle the book reviews, reading responses, and religious map essay as a single word document rather than as separate documents. Plagarism must be avoided; review the plagiarism policy in the student manual.)

Pre-Class: Two Brief Book Reviews (250 words each; see format below) Five Brief Reading Responses (250 words each; see instructions below) Map Exercise (see instructions below) Religious Map Essay (250 words; see instructions below) Case Study (750 to 1250 words; see instructions below) Post-Class: Ministry Project (3750 to 5000 words, 15-20 pages; see format below)

Pre-Class: 1. Read all required readings before class and write two brief book reviews, five reading response papers, and religious map essay. Place the book reviews, reading responses, and religious map essay into a single word document; upload this word document onto Moodle. Due two weeks prior to class. (20 percent of the grade):

A. Two book reviews. Write a 250 word (one page) book review for each of the two required books (Jenkins and Wuthnow). The book review should include

4 these eight sections provide: (1) the full citation of the book (author, title, publisher, etc.) in the heading; (2) the author’s thesis; (3) a statement of the thesis that the student will develop or argue in the book review; (4) a summary of the major themes and topics of the book; (5) a summary of the arguments developed in the book; (6) a critique (the strengths and limits) of the book; (7) your personal reflections about the book; (8) citations (footnotes/endnotes) of all the quotations and ideas cited in the review which are not your own.

B. Five reading responses (250 words or one page each). (1) In the first reading response explore how ecumenism is framed in the four assigned chapters from the Neal D. Presa edited book. (2) In the second reading response explore how interreligious realities are framed by Bosch’s “Mission as Witness to People of Other Living Faiths” and the chapter on “Christian Mission among other Faiths” in Balia and Kim. (3) In the third reading response compare, contrast, and react to one of the interfaith clusters (African Religion, Buddhism, Confusianism, Islam, or Judaism) in the Daniel Patte edited dictionary. (4) In the fourth reading response compare and contrast Christianity in Canada with the United States as presented by Martin Marty and in Patte’s entries on Canada and the United States by highlighting the similarities and differences. (5) In the fifth reading response discuss how the church is envision as different images or framed as different models by David Bosch and in Patte’s “Church, Concepts and Life, Cluster.”

C. Religious Map Essay (250 words or one page). Write an essay based on your completed religious map in which you discuss the religious environment of your ministry site. Identify the approximate number of religious congregations within your ministry site’s environment. Identify how many are Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox Christian; note the distance that the other congregations are from your site; and mention the congregations to which your ministry site relates. Identify how many are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Yoruban or another World Religion; note the distance that the other congregations are from your site; and mention the congregations to which your ministry site relates. Identify how many Christian congregations are immigrant congregations; cite the immigrant congregations to which your ministry site relates. Identify how many congregations affiliated with other World Religions are immigrant congregation; cite the ones to which your ministry site relates. Make some generalizations about the ecumenical and interreligious environment in which your ministry site is located.

Do the readings, book reviews, and reading responses before writing your Case Study.

2. Mapping Exercise (Draw A Religious Map of Your Ministry Site’s Neighborhood; 5% of the grade) Complete the map three weeks prior to class and submit the map on first day of class. Step A: Determine the geographic boundaries of the community. Focus on a one-mile radius from your ministry site. If by chance your ministry site is the only

5 congregation within a one-mile radius or one among a few, expand the radius to be able to include at least 12 congregations. On the other hand, If by chance your ministry site is located in a one-mile radius that has more than 12 congregations, then approximate the number of congregations and select 12 congregations that represent the Christian (Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox Christian) and interreligious (Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Yoruban, or another World Religion) spectrum.

Step B: Identify religious congregations by walking around part of the neighborhood and driving around the whole neighborhood. Check the names of religious congregations in your telephone directory (Yellow Pages), both print and online; also check your local council of churches, clergy association, council of World Religions, or other religious association for a list of religious congregations in your designated area. Include house gatherings that regularly meet.

Step C: Collect the names and addresses of religious congregations in your neighborhood. Label each congregation as Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Yoruban, etc. Also label each congregation as Immigrant or Native.

Step D: Mapping (hand drawn or computer generated): Plot the religious congregations on a map of your neighborhood map that delineates main streets, boulevards, railroad tracks, and highways, malls along with major entities that occupy large swats of land such as shopping plazas, factories, stock yards, junk yards, and commercial buildings.

3. Prepare a 3-5 page (750 to 1250 words) Case Study following the format detailed below. The case will deal with a theological/ethical issue you have encountered in your context of ministry that is related to the focused questions of the course. It is important to make use of the relevant readings for the course in interpreting the case. The case will be shared and processed in a small group setting during the course week. Please bring four paper copies to class since we will share these in small group sessions. Instructions for writing the Case Study follow this section. (20% of the grade) Due one week before class.

4. Students will lead the discussion of the reading(s) assigned for a particular session. Each student will be assigned on Monday of the class week two specific sessions to co- lead; time will be set aside for teams to prepare for their leadership of the discussion. Each team will prepare a one-page outline that states the thesis/theses of the assigned reading(s) as well as summarizes (briefly) the major themes of the reading(s) along with framing two or three interesting open-ended questions for the class to engage. Informed participation by the entire class in this and all class discussions is anticipated. (15% of the grade)

Post-Class:

6 5. After the class, complete a ministry project in which you explore more fully (and take action in relation to) a significant theological/ethical issue pertinent to the focused questions and learning outcomes of the course. This may be the issue you brought in your Case Study or some other you later select. You should follow the basic outline suggested for the Case Study. For the ministry project you will expand each of the sections to incorporate learnings from the course. You will also add an account of the interventions conducted and an evaluation of the outcomes along with a discussion of your learnings. Be sure to make appropriate use of the texts, concepts, and resources of the course. Do review the guidelines under “The Ministry Project” listed below. Project should be 15-20 pages. (40% of the grade) Due December 1, 2012.

7 The Case Study

Case method in theology and ethics is theological and ethical reflection in direct connection to issues of practice raised by a concrete situation. Readers of your case study bring their own perspectives to the discussion and share them in a common effort to broaden theological and ethical understandings which guide the practice of ministry. Remember that you are to work on an issue that is connected to the focused questions and learning outcomes of the course. Include a title, clearly framed hypothesis, introductory and concluding paragraphs, citations, and bibliography page. [Plagarism must be avoided; see the student manual on plagiarism.]

A complete case study includes the following elements: a. Lodge your ministry site with its historical context. Use the insights gleaned from the mapping exercise as well as concepts/distinctions explored in the the historical readings, especially by Jenkins, Wuthnow, Hanciles, Marty, and others. b. Describe a current situation in your context of ministry which presents a theological/ethical issue (or issues) to be addressed. What persons, relations, and ideas are germane to the situation? What concrete problem(s) need to be resolved? Use pertinent readings to illumine your analysis of the situation. c. What theological/ethical resources illumine the challenge? Present and argue for a vision or model of the church and its ministry that illumines the challenge and guides response to it. This work should evidence your grappling with the texts for the course and/or other resources of the Christian tradition (i.e., Scripture, creeds and confessions, theology, etc.). d. How do you think the challenge or problem should be addressed or resolved? What alternatives present themselves? e. What strategy might you employ for involving and leading the community through assessment, decision-making, and action in relation to this issue? What are the possible courses of actions/interventions that seem reasonable to consider in your preliminary assessment? f. How would you go about evaluating the outcome of such courses of action/interventions?

The Ministry Project

The ministry project explores more fully (and takes action in relation to) a significant theological/ethical issue that the student selected which is pertinent to the focused questions and learning outcomes of the course. This may be the issue you brought in your Case Study or some other you later select. Be sure to make appropriate use of the texts, concepts, and resources of the course. Project should be 15-20 pages. [Plagarism must be avoided; review the plagiarism policy in the student manual.] (40% of the grade) Due December 1, 2012. A complete ministry project includes the following elements: a. Creative title and clearly framed thesis; b. The lodging of your ministry site within its historical context with insights gleaned from the mapping exercise as well as concepts/distinctions explored in the the historical readings, especially by Jenkins, Wuthnow, Hanciles, Marty, and others. c. A description of a current situation in your context of ministry in which theological/ethical issue (or issues) is/are addressed, including the persons, relations, and ideas are germane to the situation; the concrete problem(s) being addressed or resolved. Pertinent readings are employed to illumine your analysis of the situation. d. Theological/ethical/historical resources are utilized to illumine the challenge. A vision or model of the church and its ministry is used to illumine the challenge and guides response to it. This work should evidence your grappling with the texts for the course and/or other resources of the Christian tradition (i.e., Scripture, creeds and confessions, liturgy, Christian practices, theology, etc.).

e. An exploration of the challenge/problem being addressed or resolved, including a discussion of the other related challenges/problems that are present.

f. A discussion of the strategy you employed in involving and leading the community through assessment, decision-making, and action in relation to the issue. g. A discussion of intervention(s) or transformative action(s) implemented along with the rationale for why it was selected and how it relates or grew out of the vision or model of the church.

h. An evaluative discussion of the outcomes related to the implemented intervention(s) or transformative action(s). i. Learning gleaned from the ministry project. j. Bibliography

9 Select Key Terms (Select terms and distinctions introduced by the readings): Global South Global North Inculturation Translation Worldview Secularity Pluralist Inclusivist Exclusivist Assimilation Christian Practices Pastoral Imagination Ecclesial Imagination De-Europeanization Christian unity as gift of God Christian unity as calling of God Ecumenical Advocacy Generous Orthodoxy Martyria Agnostic Pluralism Anonymous Christians Power Encounter Reconciliation Reverse Mission Abrahamic Faiths Suppressionism CEBs Interhuman Justice Solidarity Missio Dei Praxis Poiesis

Class Schedule 10 Monday, September (1:00 pm-5:00 pm): Opening Worship, Introductions and Overview Topic: North American Christianity on the Changing Landscape of Global Christianity Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom Martin Marty, “North America”. Entries from Patte: Canada; United States of America

Tuesday, September (9:00 am-5:00 pm) Topic: Changing Landscape of Global Christianity, part II Jenkins, Marty, et al

Topic: Visions, Images, and Models of the Church and Its Ministry Chapters from Bass & Dystra: Dorothy C. Bass, “Way of Life Abundant” Craig Dykstra, “Pastoral and Ecclesial Imagination”

Sections from David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: “Mission as the Church-With-Others,” 368-389 “Mission as Missio Dei,” 389-393 “Mission as Contextualization,” 420-432 “Mission as Liberation,” 432-447 “Mission as Inculturation,” 447-457

From Catherine Keller, et al, Post-Colonial Theologies: “Introduction: Alien/Nation, Liberation, and the Postcolonial Underground,” 1-19

Entries from Patte: Church, Concepts and Life, Cluster; Justice, Christian Theological Views, Practices Cluster

Chapter from Balia and Kim: “Christian Communities in Contemporary Contexts”

Topic: North American Christianity and the Changing Ecumenical Landscape Chapters from Presa: Anna Case-Winters, “The Ecumenical Stance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A): The Nature of the Unity We Seek” Eugene Turner, “Christian Unity in the 21st Century” Michael Kinnamon, “Political Advocacy as a Dimension of Ecumenism” Neal D. Presa, “Whenever You Eat This Bread and Drink This Cup: Being a Communion of Churches”

Wednesday, September (9:00 am-5:00 pm) Topic: North American Immigrant Churches: The Global South in the Global North Jehu J. Hanciles, “Sacred Canopies: Immigrant Congregations and American Religious Life”

Topic: North American Christianity and the Changing Interreligious Landscape

11 Robert Wuthnow, America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity

Section from David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: “Mission as Witness to People of Other Living Faiths,” 474-489.

Chapter from Balia and Kim: “Christian Mission among other Faiths”

Entries from Patte: African Religion and Christianity Cluster Buddhism and Christianity Cluster Confucianism and Christianity Cluster Islam and Christianity Cluster Judaism and Christianity Cluster

Thursday, September (9:00 am-5:00 pm) Topic: Changing Ecumenical and Interreligious Landscapes Site visit to religious congregation in Metropolitan Chicago Panel Discussion

Friday, September (9:00 am-12:00 pm) Topic: Reimagining the Church amidst the Changing Historical Landscape Closing Worship

Select List of Christian Denominations Based in the Global South

12 Coptic Church Ethiopian Orthodox Church Assyrian Church of the East Mar Toma Church Syriac Orthodox Church Maronite Catholic Church Armenian Evangelical Church Armenian Apostolic Church Jesus Is Lord Church True Jesus Church The Pentecostal Mission Redeemed Christian of God Church of Pentecost Christ Healing Evangelical Church Deeper Life Christian Church Lighthouse International Church Apostolic Faith Mission Winner’s Chapel African Church of the Holy Spirit Universal Church of the Kingdom of God Christian Congregation of Brazil Brazil for Christ Charismatic Church of God El Shaddai Christian Brotherhood Light of the World