Ferment and Renewal: The Missional Church Today (DM9509P)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit will explore the challenge facing the Christian churches in societies variously shaped by Christendom. It will examine trends within, and analysis of, the current context. Attention will be paid to the major cultural movements which have defined the Australian church: Christendom and its dying influence; the Enlightenment, its legacy of modernity; and, the challenges of post-modernity and globalization. Against this backdrop, the unit will explore and critique recent missionary models of the church, especially, missional and emergent church and fresh expressions. The course will include engagement with particular communities responding in particular ways to the missional challenges.

Unit code: DM9509P

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Missiology

Delivery Mode: Online

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Understand and articulate different theories describing the religious shape of Western societies, including the significance of such themes as Christendom, Modernity/Post-modernity, secularization, and globalization, and the way these inform religious belonging.
2.

Give a critical account of the emerging models of the contemporary church and its mission in Australia.
3.

Describe and critique models of missional church and Fresh Expressions with reference to the ecclesial and cultural contexts in which they have developed.
4.

Assess the range of central theological ideas informing the missional church/Fresh Expressions debate and consider the implications of their assessment for the vocation of the church in contemporary Australia.

Pedagogy

Online learning materials, tasks and tutorial discussion

Indicative Bibliography

  • Mission-shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context. London: Church House Publishing, 2004.
  • Burgess, Neil. “Seeking Fresh Expressions of Ministry.” Modern Believing 48, no. 4 (2007): 19–30.
  • Croft, Steven J. L. Mission-shaped Questions: Defining Issues for Today’s Church. London: Church House Publishing, 2008.
  • Cudby, Paul. “A Psychospiritual and Physical Argument for ‘Fresh Expressions’ of Worship.” Modern Believing 49, no. 1 (2008): 23–31.
  • Davison, Andrew, and Alison Milbank. For the Parish: A Critique of Fresh Expressions. London: SCM Press, 2010.
  • Duraisingh, Christopher. “From Church-Shaped Mission to Mission-Shaped Church.” Anglican Theological Review 92, no. 1 (2010): 7–28.
  • Guder, Darrell L., and Lois Barrett. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.
  • Hastings, Ross.* Missional God, Missional Church: Hope for Re-evangelizing the West*. IVP Academic, 2012.
  • MacIlvaine, W. Rodmann III. “What is the Missional Church Movement?” Bibliotheca Sacra 167, no. 1 (2010): 89–106.
  • Milbank, John. “Stale Expressions: The Management-Shaped Church.” Studies in Christian Ethics 21, no. 1 (2008): 117–28
  • Moynagh, Michael. Church for Every Context: An Introduction to Theology and Practice. London: SCM Press, 2012.
  • Nichols, Alan. Building the Mission Shaped Church in Australia. Sydney: Anglican Church of Australia, 2006.
  • Van Gelder, Craig. “From Corporate Church to Missional Church: The Challenge Facing Congregations Today.” Review and Expositor 101, no. 3 (2004): 425–50.
  • Wannenwetsch, Bernd. “Inwardness and Commodification: How Romanticist Hermeneutics Prepared the Way for the Culture of Managerialism – a Theological Analysis.” Studies in Christian Ethics 21, no. 1 (2008): 26–44.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

A critical essay focused on one of the two approaches. Attention needs to be paid to the theological background, the manner of its practical expression, especially in relation to established ministerial orders and church structures, and its potential merit within an Australian context (4000 words)

 4000 0.0
Forum

Regular postings indicating critical engagement with the content material. This may take the form of questioning, drawing implications, and setting the theoretical discussion within one’s own church context. (1000 words equivalent)

 1000 20.0
Book Review

A critical book review of one of the main theoretical texts developed either within the missional church or the fresh expressions discussion (1000 words)

 1000 20.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 19 Oct, 2014

Unit record last updated: 2020-10-28 14:50:33 +1100