MM500/600: Spirituality and
Mission (4 units)
Jude Tiersma
Watson, Associate Professor of Urban Mission
Spring 2008
Pasadena
DESCRIPTION:
This course will help students develop an approach to their
spiritual life that integrates their spirituality with their life in mission.
We will examine Richard Foster’s approach to the six traditions of faith,
seeing how God has worked through all these streams in history. A narrative
approach will be used both in class presentations and as students look to their
own pilgrimages. The interplay between context and spirituality will be
explored. Various practices will be introduced in class, including the
Spiritual Exercises of Loyola, Lectio Divina and the Examen.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. Students will develop a
sustainable approach to spirituality and mission.
2. Students will practice how to share
their pilgrimages for ministry.
3. Students will be challenged to think
contextually and cross-culturally about spirituality and mission.
COURSE FORMAT:
This class will meet once weekly for three-hour sessions. Class format will use a variety of approaches
-- lecture, storytelling, spiritual exercises, video clips, class discussion,
small groups, and a retreat day.
REQUIRED READING
(for a total of 1200-1500 pages)
1. Foster, Richard. Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the
Great Traditions of Christian Faith. Harper: SF 2001.
2. Nouwen, el al, Compassion: a Reflection on the Christian Life. Image Books, 1982.
3. Claiborne, Shane, Irresistible Revolution: Living as an
Ordinary Radical. Zondervan, 2006.
Or
Bosch, David. Spirituality of the Road. Wipf and Stock, 2000.
4. Tutu, Desmond. No Future Without Forgiveness. Doubleday, 2000.
5. Vanier, Jean. From Brokenness to
Community. Paulist Press, 1992.
6. Wright, N.T. The Lord and His Prayer. Eerdmans, 1997.
7. One book reflecting the student’s
ministry context.
8. Reader, including a variety of
cultural perspectives.
RECOMMENED
READING: 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.
1. Chan, Simon, Spiritual Theology, InterVarsity Press,
1998.
2. Foster, Richard. Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home. Harper San Francisco, 1992.
3. Guyon, Madame, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ. Seedsowers, 1981.
4. Mother Teresa. Contemplative in the Heart of the World.
5. Romero, Oscar, and James
Brockman, the Violence of Love,
Orbis, 2004.
6. Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited, Beacon Press, 1996.
7. Wakefield, James L, Sacred Listening: Discovering the Spiritual
Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Baker, 2006.
8. Willard, Dallas, The Divine Conspiracy, Harper, 1998.
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Five reflection papers, 500 words each.
2. 1200-1500 pages of reading.
3. Two 1750-2000 word papers:
• Paper reflecting on the student’s spiritual pilgrimage, and how
their story can be used in witness.
• Final paper on a topic relevant to spirituality and mission
4. A one day retreat during the quarter.
5. Class attendance and participation.
PREREQUISITES:
None.
RELATIONSHIP TO
CURRICULUM: Required course for MACCS; meets SPIR requirement for MAT.
FINAL EXAM: None.