EM723-6 - Missional Spirituality

  • 0 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 6
    Credit Points
  • 0.1875 EFT 
  • 8
    AQF level
  • evangelism missiolUnit Discipline

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

  ↵

  1. The connection between Missional theology, Ecclesiology and Spirituality.
  2. The core concepts of a missional spirituality eg Kenosis, Trinitarian, Pneumatology, Incarnation.

B. Be able to

  1. Discuss Theology, Ecclesiology, and Missional Spirituality
  2. Critically Reflect on Christian Spirituality relating to the areas of inwardness, consumerism and disembodiment.
  3. Compare and contrast historical missional spiritualities
  4. Articulate an understanding of their relationship with God from a missional perspective

C. Be in a position to

  1. Apply missional practices in their daily lives for transformation.
  2. Reflect the Missio Dei as the practices are applied.
  3. Implement missional practices in a church or organization

Content

Section A: Missional Theology, Ecclesiology and Spirituality.

  1. Defining the terms ‘missional’ and spirituality theologically.
  2. Understanding the connection between missional theology and ecclesiology that enables the spiritual formation of a church.
  3. Discerning a missional spirituality in the Bible.
  4. Critiquing traditional interpretations of Christian spirituality.
  5. Learning from the majority world with respect to the unity of mission and spirituality.
  6. Identifying the broader search for spirituality in our Western culture and critiquing contemporary expressions of Christian spirituality. Contrasting this to a missional expression. Naming challenges to a missional spirituality such as consumerism, excarnation, disenchantment, pragmatism as seen in Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age.

 

Section B: Historical Missional Spirituality

  1. A brief exposure to two historical expressions of missional spirituality; Celtic spirituality and the Benedictine movement.
  2. Comparing these expressions of missional spirituality to the emergence of the ‘New Monasticism’ in contemporary culture and critically assessing this application.

 

Section C: Missional disciplines for Spiritual Formation

  1. The purpose of and also misuse of spiritual disciplines in spiritual formation. Discerning and reframing contemporary cultural narratives to a kingdom narrative.
  2. Reviewing and assessing theories of formation which produce transformed disciples.
  3. Discussing, developing and assessing missional practices for the purpose of formation according to the missio Dei.
  4. Application of missional practices in a church/organisational context for the purpose of missional transformation.

Set Readings

No set texts are presecribed

Recommended:

Greenman, Jeffrey, Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2010).

Guder, D. (ed), Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).

Hastings, Ross., Missional God, Missional Church (Downers Grove: IVP, 2012).

Helland, Roger and Leonard Hjalmarson., Missional Spirituality: Embodying God’s Love from the Inside Out (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011).

Holt, Simon Carey., The God Next Door (Brunswick: Acorn Press, 2007).

Hunter, George III., The Celtic Way of Evangelism (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010).

Jones, Barry., Dwell: Life with God for the World (Downers Grove: IVP, 2014)

Kenneson, Phillip. Life on the Vine. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1999.


Morey, Tim., Embodying our Faith: Becoming a Living, Sharing, Practicing Church (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009).

Pohl, Christine., Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).

Scandrette, Mark., Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011).

Smith, James K.A., Desiring the Kingdom: Cultural Liturgies 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009).

Taylor, Charles., A Secular Age (Harvard: Harvard university Press, 2001).

Wright, Tom., Virtue Reborn (London: SPCK, 2010).

Other:

Augsberger, David., Dissident Discipleship: A Spirituality of Self-surrender, Love of God and Love of Neighbor (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006)

Bass, Dorothy,. Practicing our Faith (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010).

Beach., Lee The Church in Exile: Living in Hope after Christendom (Downers Grove: IVP academic, 2015).

Bosch, David., A Spirituality of the Road (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1979).

Brisco, B and Ford, L., The Missional Quest: Becoming a Church of the Long Run (Downers Grove: IVP, 2013).

Conner, Benjamin,. Practicing Witness: A Missional Vision of Christian Practices (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011).

Cunningham, David., These Three are One: The Practice of Trinitarian Theology (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998).

Downey, M. Understanding Christian Spirituality. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1997.

Drane, John, Do Christians Know How to be Spiritual?: The Rise of New Spirituality and the Mission of the Church, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2005.

Frost, Michael., Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006).

Gorman, Michael., Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross (Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 2009).

Hartgrove, Jonathan,. New Monasticism: What it has to say to today’s church (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2008).

Heath, Elaine., The Mystic Way of Evangelism (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008).

Hill, Graham., Global Church: Reshaping our Conversations, Renewing our Mission, Revitalising our Churches (Downers Grove, IVP Academic, 2016).

Hirsch, Alan., Untamed (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2009)

Hjalmarson, L. The Missional Church Fieldbook CreateSpace (Independent Publishing Platform, 2013).

Hope, Susan., Mission-Shaped Spirituality (London: Church House, 2010).

Joyce, Timothy., Celtic Christianity; A Sacred Tradition a Vision of Hope (MaryKnoll: Orbis Books, 1998).

Liechty, D., ed. Early Anabaptist Spirituality: Selected Writings. The Classics of Western Spirituality, (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1994).

Lyons Lee, Brent., Celtic Spirituality in the Australian Landscape (Waurn Ponds: 2014).

McLaren, Brian, A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.

McLaren, Brian. Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008.

Merton, Thomas., Contemplation in a World of Action (Garden City: Doubleday, 1971)

Mulholland, Robert., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009).

Peterson, Eugene H. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2005.

Peterson, Eugene. Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006.

Reilly, Michael Collins. Spirituality for Mission: Historical, Theological, and Cultural Factors for a Present-Day Missionary Spirituality. New York: Orbis, 1975.

Rutba House (Ed) Schools for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2005).

Sheldrake, Phillip. The Spiritual City: Theology, Spirituality and the Urban (Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).

Sparks, Paul, Soerens, Tim, Friesen J., The New Parish: How Neighbourhood Churches are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community (Downers Grove, IVP, 2014).

Stead, Julian,. St Benedict: A Rule for Beginners (Hyde Park: New York City Press, 2012).

Smith, Christopher and Pattison, John., Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus (Downers Grove: IVP, 2014).

Tacey The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality (New York: Routledge, 2004).

Tyra, Gary., The Holy Spirit in Mission (Downers Grove: IVP, 2006).

Underhill, Evelyn., The Spiritual Life (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1937).

Willard, Dallas, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002.