BEXLEY SEABURY SEMINARY FEDERATION
Course Title:Nostalgia versus the Reign of God: Sunday Morning Smack-down
Term Offered:June 2018
Instructor:John A. Dally
Contact Information: (773) 380-7044 (Email will get faster response)
Office Hours:You may reach me by email at any time. Prior to the onsite class meetings you may reach me by phone on Tuesdays. You may leave a voice message at any time; it will be forwarded to me as an MP3.
Course Description:
The fact that so many Christian communities make use of a brick-and-mortar plant as the center of their common life means they are inextricably bound up with nostalgia. Their buildings keep them stuck in the vision of what Christian life and worship required when the plants were built. Even a brand-new church building is out of date as soon as it’s opened in light of the gospel injunction to “let the dead bury their own dead” (Luke 9:60). This rootedness in the past, whether fondly remembered or soundly rejected, filters into all the avenues of communication churches use: sermons, bulletins, newsletters, websites, etc. Buildings and language both reinforce a message of hierarchy and exclusivity fundamentally opposed to the radical hospitality of Jesus, who welcomes women and men into discipleship based not on their qualifications but on their desire to follow him. This course will invite participants to examine the language and behavior of their communities with a critical eye, asking whether these draw the reader/listener toward the reign of God or invite them to reside comfortably in the religion of the past.
Course Goals and Outcomes
This course will give participants:
1.knowledge of different ecclesiological models and their practical implications
2.the ability to ask higher order questions about an ecclesiology for the 21st Century church instead of assuming the appropriateness of models they were taught or offered previously
3.practical options for living in the tension between the reign of God and the institutional church with creativity and authenticity
[M.Div. 1.1, 3.3, 3.4, 5.3] [D.Min. 1.1, 1.2]
Participants will develop skills in:
4.articulating a vision of God’s reign come near specific to their local faith communities
5.developing non-hierarchical leadership that is more faithful to the models Jesus offers in the canonical gospels
6.forming communities of faith based on desire rather than qualifications
[M.Div. 2.1, 4.1,] [D.Min. 1.1, 1.2, 2.1]
Participants will:
7.learn to articulate the announcement of the reign of God in the specific context of American white supremacy and anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim bias
8.make practical choices about claiming allegiance to the reign of God in their personal, civic, and faith community settings
9.contribute to a learning community characterized by dialogue, mutual respect, and appreciation of diverse views.
[M.Div. 3.1, 5.2, 5.3] [D.Min. 1.1, 1.2, 3.1]
Course Requirements and Basis for Evaluation
1.Participation in classroom discussion (25%), Assessed on the basis of the rubric for classroom discussion. (Course Goals 2, 4, 7)
2.Completion of assigned readings (approximately 500 pages) evidenced by Moodle postings related to them (20%) Assessed on the basis of the rubric for Moodle posts. (Course Goals 1, 2, 4, 9)
3.Participation in two online forums, one before the class meets and one after. (20%) Assessed on the basis of the rubric for Moodle posts and rubrics spelled out in each forum. (Course Goals 4, 9)
4.A final project, described below (35%). Assessed on the basic of the rubric for final projects.The final project will also serve as the portfolio artifact for this course. (Course Goals 3, 4, 6, 7, 8)
5.Late work— i.e., anything submitted after July 13--- cannot be accepted without permission from the instructor before that date and submission of the incomplete form, which students can obtain from the registrar.
Final Project
The final project will consist in performing an action in students’ faith communities that provides a demonstration of the institutional church giving way to the reign of God drawn near. The action, its rationale, and its outcome should be memorialized in a way that can be shared with other class members and the instructor as well as archived in the student’s portfolio as the artifact for this course. [Goals and Outcomes 2, 4, 7, 8]
Students enrolled in this course for credit are expected to adhere to the policies and statements of Seabury's student handbook:
Course Meeting Times:
Online work begins June 8, 2018
Face to face class meetings: June 15-19, 8:30-4:30
Required Reading:
Books to be read in theirentirety:
Hall, Douglas John. The Reality of the Gospel and the Unreality of the Churches.Philadelphia: Westminster Press: 1975. ISBN: 978-0800662691
Pavlovitz, John. A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic and Hopeful Spiritual Community WJK Press: 2017 ISBN-13:978-0664262679
Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: An American Lyric Graywolf Press: 2016 ISBN: 978-1555976903
Stringfellow, William. Instead of Death Wipf and Stock: 1963 ISBN-13:978-1592448739
Excerpts and Articles posted to the Moodle site:
Excerpt from The Gospel of Solentiname by Ernesto Cardinal (Orbis Books: 2010)
Excerpt from The Subversion of Christianity by Jacques Ellul (Eerdmans: 1986)
Excerpt from The Mission and Achievement of Jesus by Reginald H. Fuller (Chicago, Alec R. Allenson: 1954)
Excerpt from Water BuffaloTheology by Kosuke Koyama (Orbis Books 1999)
Excerpt from The Jesus of Asian Women (Women from the Margin Series), Muriel Orevillo- Montenegro, editor (Orbis Books: 2006)
Pre-Class Assignments
Post an introduction in the Introduction Forum (by midnight 6/8)
Post responses to the readings (by 6/14)
Absence Policy
Due to the intensive nature of our courses on campus, it is especially important that you be present for the entire intensive session. Please adjust your personal and employment calendars accordingly.In the event of an unanticipated absence due to illness or emergency, you must notify your instructor immediately. It is within the discretion of the instructor, up to an absence of one day of instruction during an intensive, to determine whether or not and to what extent a grade reduction is appropriate and/or makeup work will be required. Beyond an absence of one day, it is within the discretion of the Academic Dean, in consultation with the instructor, to determine if a passing grade for academic credit will be permitted. It is the student’s responsibility to request class notes for missed classes from another student. Audit of CEU students who are absent for a whole weekend intensive session (2 days) or for more than one day of a week-long intensive will receive a grade of W (withdrawn).
Course Withdrawal Deadlines and Procedures
Students who wish to withdraw from this course must do so by the end of the second day in a week-long intensive or by the Friday following the first weekend intensive. It is the responsibility of the student to formally withdraw from the course either online through SAM (the student portal available to students who have log in credentials) or by completing a “course withdrawal form” (available on the web site under “current students”/ “forms and documents”) and submitting the form to the registration coordinator, Susan Quigley. . Students who stop attending classes but do not formally withdraw from a course in a timely manner will be ineligible for a refund and may receive a failing grade for the course.
Extensions and Incompletes
Extensions for submission of course work required to complete the course are not routinely granted. Extensions for the submission of course work of up to one week beyond the posted deadline at the end of a semester or term are within the discretion of the instructor to grant upon good cause shown. Students who require a longer extension to complete course work, up to a maximum of 30 days, must obtain the permission of the Academic Dean by submitting a completed “Extension Request Form,” signed by the instructor, on or before the originally posted due date. See “Current Students”/ “Forms and Documents” on the seminary web site. A grade of Incomplete (I) for a course will not be granted in the absence of the most extraordinary or unavoidable of circumstances as set forth in the Student Handbook. A completed “Incomplete Request Form,” signed by the instructor, must be submitted to the Academic Dean no later than the last date that course work is finally due. See “Current Students”/ “Forms and Documents” on the seminary web site.
A Word about Assessment
The Bexley Seabury Seminary Federation regularly evaluates the quality of our programs using a variety of data and artifacts, including portfolios of students’ work. These portfolios consist of designated student work (artifacts) from each course, along with the instructor’s rubric-based evaluation of the artifact.
At the end of the term, the course instructor will send your final project/mission plan and the evaluation of your work to you, and to the Officer for Academic Affairs for inclusion in your portfolio.
We use your portfolio annually as a check list to track your progress toward the degree, diploma, or certificate. This usually does not involve any further evaluation of your work.
Your portfolio or parts of it may be included in a small, random selection of portfolios from a 3-4 year period so that we can assess overall (aggregate) student learning relative to curricular goals and program effectiveness. No portfolio or artifact is evaluated until all identifying information is removed, and no identifying information will be included in any evaluation or report.
For further information, see the Student Handbook. You may also talk with your instructor, your advisor, the Faculty Assessment Officer (Prof. Jason Fout, ), or the Academic Dean, .
The Federation’s Statement on Responsible Use of Material by Others
Plagiarism is the taking of the words, ideas, and methods of others as one's own. In academia, plagiarism involves the use of others' words and ideas without adequate reference to the author or indication of quotation. It is a serious form of academic dishonesty or academic fraud, and offenders are subject to discipline, up to and including expulsion from the school. In order to avoid plagiarism, especially by inappropriate use or citation of quotations and ideas, students are expected to familiarize themselves with the requirements and practices of citation found in Turabian’s Manual for Writers. Unfamiliarity with these requirements and practices is not an acceptable reason for unintentional plagiarism. Plagiarism cannot be evaded through the alteration of occasional words from one's source.
When plagiarism is detected, the instructor will assign the work an appropriate grade and then refer the matter, together with evidence, to the Academic Dean who, in consultation with the faculty and the President, will make an appropriate disposition of the matter, which may include failure of the course, academic probation for a designated period, suspension for a designated period, or expulsion from the program. The student's bishop will normally be notified of the situation.
Those who have questions about the nature and scope of plagiarism should consult the Academic Dean.
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