School of Intercultural Studies

Global Christian Worship Concentration

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Overview
Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies’ new concentration in ‘Global Christian Worship’ provides opportunities to study, explore, research and train in effective crosscultural ministry and mission through music. Ethnomusicology, a field that focuses on the cultural study of music, provides the scholarly foundation for addressing many of the questions confronting today’s global Christian church in both the Western and Non-Western world. What should worship and witness look like? What varying roles do the great diversity of musics play in the lives of differing peoples? Most importantly, the concentration seeks to capture the profound influence of each people’s music-culture for the sake of the Kingdom: that is, communicating the Gospel in meaningful and appropriate ways that bring diverse peoples to encounter and engage with the living God . Our desire is that all the earth joins in singing a new song unto the Lord with their whole heart, mind and soul.

Courses Available

*ME 500 Communicating & Serving Cross-Culturally. This course will examine the impact of lifestyle, interpersonal relationships, and social roles on the issues of cross-cultural communication. CSCC. Brewster, King
*ME 506 Communicating the Gospel Cross-Culturally. Principles and processes of communicating from one culture to another. Focus on the relevance of incarnation as the model for intercultural communication of the gospel. Optional Core for ISCC and Th.M. Miss. King

*ME 510 Christian Communication Through Music. Past, present and prospective uses of music in communicating the gospel, in Christian worship, and as a means of instruction in Christian life and belief. King

**ME 513 Perspectives in Global Christian Worship. Leads students through an in-depth theological study of Christian worship, with reference to cross-cultural worship forms. The course focuses on the role, influence, and importance of worship in Christian witness, spiritual formation, and church growth. King

**ME 514 Leading Global Worship. Focuses on four major aspects crucial to dynamic worship. 1) the building of positive relationships within church leadership, i.e. – pastors and worship leaders/musicians and 2) the nurturing and mentoring of worship leaders. In addition, we will study 3) working together as a team in designing, planning, and leading worship, and 4) discerning worship formats that facilitate authentic worship for varying cultural and multi-cultural contexts. Can be taken as elective. King

**ME 515 Communicating Christ through Narrative and Song. Investigates oral communication technologies, including storytelling, songs, and proverbs, with four goals: to seek to understand our audience and how they perceive their world; to discover ways to communicate to oral cultures; to create/develop oral resources for communicating the Gospel; and to design strategies for doing oral communication in Christian witness. King

**MB 556 Qualitative Research. Students see how qualitative research can be included in their overall research design, examine the appropriateness of methodologies for cross-cultural research, and investigate compelling ways to report findings. King

**ME 518 Exegeting a Musical Culture. Develops the introductory essential steps to understanding a musical culture. Includes a survey of world musics, the basics of organology, the role of song, the study of song texts, and researching the function and use of music within a particular culture. King

**ME 519 Ethnomusicology II: Theory and Analysis. A study of issues and theories including the study of music as culture, introduction to transcription and analysis, models, field methods, and approaches for doing ethnomusicology in cross-cultural contexts. King

*ME 572 Practicum. The student has opportunity to apply ethnomusicological principles to field work and integration into mission ministry. Includes fieldwork in cross-cultural contexts. King

* Normally offered once per year
** Normally offered every other year