ALLIANCE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
MI 840 Tentmaking as Missions Strategy/ Instructor: Stephen Bailey,
Assistant Professor of Missiology
Office #209, Office Tel#845-353-2020 x6967
Room: Online Class / E-mail:
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course surveys the current challenges in mission that call for a strategy of doing mission in a professional occupation (tentmaking) in a foreign country. It looks at some historical models of tentmaking, considers ethical issues related to this strategy, critiques tentmaker strategies, provides guidelines for doing missions as a tentmaker, and surveys the opportunities open to tentmaking missions around the world.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To help students see the need for tentmaking in missions today.
2. To develop an understanding of the dynamics of tentmaking missions.
3. To help students make informed decisions about becoming tentmakers.
4. To enable students to evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
COURSE CORRELATION
MI 840 is fitted into the MINISTRY PHASE of the ATS Ministry Formational Model. The idea of this course is to apply missiological theory through a strategy of doing mission as a tentmaker.
REQUIRED TEXT
Online Articles embedded in the online course units.
William Danker. Profit For the Lord: Economic Activities in Moravian Missions and the Basel
Trading Company. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. 2002.
F. Deauville Walker. William Carey: Father of Modern Missions. Chicago: Moody Press. 1980.
J. D. Woodberry ed. Reaching the Resistant: Barriers and Bridges for Mission. Evangelical Missiological Society Series No. 6. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library Press.1998.
eds. Great Commission Companies.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
Dennis W. Bickers. The Tentmaking Pastor: The Joy of Bivocational Ministry. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books. 2000.
James Francis and Lesslie Francis eds. Tentmaking: Perspectives on Self-Supporting Ministry. Morehouse Publishing. 1998.
Daniel Gibson. Avoiding the Tentmaker Trap. Hamilton, Ont.: WEC International. 1997.
Don Hamilton. Tentmakers Speak: Practical Advice From Over 400 Missionary Tentmakers. 1987.
Johnathan Lewis ed. Working Your Way to the Nations: A Guide to Effective Tentmaking. 2nd Edition. 1997. Available online at http://www.globalopps.org/downloads/working.pdf
REQUIREMENTS/GRADING
1. Be sure to take the Student Orientation Course so that you are comfortable using the online course program before you start this course online.
2. The instructor expects that students in this course will meaningfully participate in all online discussions. They will also answer questions in writing and place their answers in the Dropbox when requested to do so in each Unit’s work. Each student will also read all of the online Power Point presentations and submit a reflection comments and questions for each session. This requirement will be counted as 20% of the grade.
3. Students will write book reviews of 3 to 4 pages of the Yamamori and Danker texts, and on one chapter (not chapter 1) of the Woodberry text.
- The first page should include your name and ATS mail box number in the top right hand corner.
- The first page should also include a short paragraph describing the author’s background.
- The rest of page one and the following two pages should be a summary of the main points made in the book / article that relate to task of tentmaking missions. (For the Danker book you should summarize the main insights and lessons learned from the Moravians’ experience in tentmaking missions.)
- The final page should contain your own critique of the author’s main points. 10% of the grade.
4. Students will write a five-page reflection paper on the life and work of missionary tentmaker, William Carey. In that paper they will describe and evaluate Carey’s missionary work from the perspective of a tentmaker missionary. The paper should answer the following questions. 20% of the grade. Due March 12.
- What were the strengths and weaknesses of the role/s that Carey chose to use for his missionary work?
- What spiritual strengths and weaknesses do you see in Carey’s life?
- What were the strengths and weaknesses of Carey’s mission strategy in India?
- What were the strengths and weaknesses of Carey as a team player in missions?
- What were the strengths and weaknesses of Carey’s approach to the ethical problems he faced as a missionary tentmaker?
5. Students will read all of the required reading. Hand in a written statement saying how much of the Class Reader you read at the end of the semester. 10% of the grade.
6. Students will write a 3 page personal reflection paper on the key issues facing tentmakers and student’s own gifting and calling for tentmaking. They will conclude the paper by stating whether at this point they feel they have the call and gifting to serve as a tentmaking missionary and what steps they plan to take next to make this calling a reality. 10% of the grade.
7. Students will write a twenty to thirty page research paper on a creative access nation where tentmaking as a mission strategy would be an appropriate method of reaching the people for Christ. They will present a short summary of that paper via a scheduled online chat room session (a one page fact and summary sheet should be distributed via the shared documents box two days prior to the presentation). Out side reading must be done for this paper. You should use the latest version of Turabian (University of Chicago format) as a guide for formatting the paper. The paper should include the following.
- Introduction – summarize the various parts of your paper and your conclusions about doing tentmaking missions in this country – about 2 pages.
b. Social, Political, Economic and Religious Context – about 5 pages.
c. Review history and current status of the Christian Church including the Church’s relationship to the government and society at large. Summarize the status of religious freedom in the country – about 5 to 7 pages.
d. Summarize current efforts in tentmaking mission. What evangelistic and church planting strategies are being used – about 5 pages
e. Offer your critique of the tentmaking missionary efforts going on in the country and suggest how you might do it yourself – about 5 pages.
f. Bibliography should included at least 10 cited sources. Make every attempt to contact tentmakers in the field and get their feedback on your ideas and cite them in the Bibliography. 30% of the grade.
GRADING SCALE
Grades are assigned based on your competency in performing the assignments in this syllabus.
A (4.0) 93-100 A- (3.7) 90-92 C (2.0) 73-77 C- (1.7) 70-72
B+ (3.3) 88-89 B (3.0) 83-87 D+ (1.3) 68-69 D (1.0) 63-67
B- (2.7) 80-82 C+ (2.3) 78-79 D- (0.7) 60-62 F (0.0) Below 60
LATE WORK
All written work is due by the beginning of class on the date assigned. Work will be accepted up to one week late, but grades are lowered 3 points for each day an assignment is late. See the ATS policy on extensions (ATS Catalog p.46). Incompletes will not be given except in the case of serious illness or emergency.