MC536/636: Leading an
Emerging Church (4 units)
Mike
Breen, Adjunct Instructor in Church and Mission
Ryan Bolger, Assistant Professor of Church in
Contemporary Culture
Summer 2006 Pasadena
DESCRIPTION:
This course investigates how churches can
be restructured or planted to meaningfully engage and evangelize the postmodern
world. It also seeks to equip students with the skills required to read and
critique a postmodern world, with a particular emphasis on the arts. The course
will explore how students read and apply the Bible to this emerging context and
examine the dimensions of discipleship, providing a practical program in the
form of life skills. The course is designed for those who want to engage in the
church as a disciple-making mission movement that is structured to be
reproducible in a variety of cultural contexts.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES:
· Explore and chart the cultural trends in
emerging culture and their implication for ecclesiology and missiology.
·
Identify models for worship
and communication.
·
Develop skill for forming
and building mission communities.
·
Equip student to develop
mission strategies that are effective in a postmodern context.
COURSE
FORMAT: This course is a one-week
intensive that will meet daily from 8:30 am to 4:50 pm. Class will consist of
lectures and interaction reflecting on the topic assigned for each day.
Students will have opportunity to attend extra sessions with church leaders who
will be attending the conference being planned in conjunction with the course.
REQUIRED READING: Additional book
selections listed in the syllabus. If you have
previously read any of the required texts, please select an alternative text
from the recommended reading list or a book approved by the instructor.
Breen,
Mike and Walt Kallestad. The Passionate
Church. Colorado Springs, CO: A Cook Communications, 2005.
Breen, Mike. The Apostle’s Notebook.
Kingsway, 2002.
Mallon, Paddy. Calling a City Back to God.
Kingsway, 2003..
Mc Lauren, Brian. A New Kind of Christian.
Jossey-Bass, 2001.
Ward, Pete. Liquid Church.
Hendrickson, 2002.
RECOMMENDED
READING: Additional book selections listed in the syllabus.
Burnett,
David. The Clash of Worlds. Monarch
Books, 2002.
Coupland, Douglas. Life after God. Washington
Square Press; Reprint Edition, 1995.
Starkey, Mike. God, Sex and Generation X.
SPCK, 1997.
Kelly, Gerald. Get a Grip on the Future
with out losing your hold on the Past. Monarch, 1999.
Heelas, Paul. Religion, Modernity and
post modernity. Blackwell, 1998.
Heelas, Lash and Morris, Detraditionlization.
Blackwell, 1996.
Hornby, Nick. High Fidelity.
Riverhead Books, 1996.
Fielding, Helen, Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Penguin USA, 1999.
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Write a 3,500 word paper that explores
key issues raised in the course applying it to the student’s understanding of
his/her call to ministry and mission.
2. Read 1500 pages from required and recommended reading lists. See syllabus
for instructions.
3. Complete a book report for each book selected to meet the 1500 page
requirement. See syllabus for further instructions.
PREREQUISITES:
None.
RELATION TO
CURRICULUM: Elective.
FINAL EXAM:
None.