MD591: Children at Risk Conference Course (4 units)

Desiree Segura-April, Assistant Professor of Children at Risk

Summer 2008 Pasadena

 

 

DESCRIPTION:

This course is being offered in conjunction with the Viva International Cutting Edge Conference. The Cutting Edge Conference will bring together leaders and senior staff of Christian NGOs and churches working with children at risk around the world. It is an excellent opportunity for networking with people who are working in the field and to learn from their experiences. Students will hear speakers from throughout the world address issues in ministry with children at risk, learn about opportunities available through NGOs and churches, and focus on a particular area of mission with children at risk through their participation in the Strategic and Applied Pathways. The purpose of the course is to provide students with a disciplined approach to reflection about children at risk issues raised at the conference as they relate to the church’s role in kingdom ministry in a suffering world and the student’s own personal ministry goals.

  

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1.  Develop an awareness of the importance of networking with Christian NGOs and churches working with children at risk around the world in order to learn from their experiences and expertise, as well as to establish key relationships for future vocational possibilities
2.  Interact with Cutting Edge conference topics of choice through critical assessment, further research and reading, and personal reflection
3.  Develop an awareness of several current ecclesiological models and articulate the role of the church in the world in regards to children at risk

 

COURSE FORMAT:

Students must be registered for the Viva International Cutting Edge Conference to be held at Wheaton College, Illinois, July 12-17, 2008 in order to register for this course. Students must have an invitation from Fuller or another organization in order to register for the conference; Fuller has been granted a limited number of invitations for students. More information about the conference can be found on this website: http://www.viva.org/?page_id=330. A three-hour orientation class session will be held on Monday, June 23 from 6:00-9:00 pm; attendance at this session is mandatory. (Students who do not reside in the Pasadena area may make alternate arrangements with the professor.) Attendance at all conference sessions of Cutting Edge is required. Class members will also meet for one hour each day at Cutting Edge to debrief the day’s learning (times TBA). The rest of the course will consist of independent reading, research, and writing.

 

REQUIRED READING: 1500 pages total, including the following required texts and additional reading in the student’s research area. If you have previously read any of the required texts, an alternative text must be approved by the professor.

1.  Frost, Michael and Alan Hirsch. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-century Church. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2003.
2.  Karkkainen, Veli-Matti.  An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical and Global Perspectives. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
3.  McDonald, Patrick. Children at Risk: Networks in Action. Monrovia, CA: MARC, 2000.
4.  Snyder, Howard A. Kingdom, Church, and World: Biblical Themes for Today. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001.
5.  White, Keith J. and Haddon Willmer. An Introduction to Child Theology. United Kingdom: The Child Theology Movement Limited, 2006.
6.  Willmer, Haddon. Experimenting Together: One way of Doing Child Theology. United Kingdom: The Child Theology Movement Limited, 2007.
7.  Tan, Sunny. Child Theology for the Churches in Asia: An Invitation.. United Kingdom: The Child Theology Movement Limited, 2007.

RECOMMENDED READING:

1.  McConnell, Doug, Paul Stockley & Jennifer Orona. Understanding God’s Heart for Children.  Monrovia, CA: World Vision Publishing, 2007.
2.  Miles, Glenn & Wright, Josephine-Joy. Celebrating Children. Carlisle, Cumbria: Paternoster Press, 2003.
3.  Strange, William A. Children in the Early Church.  Carlisle, Cumbria, UK: Paternoster Press, 1996.

 

ASSIGNMENTS**:

1.  Attendance and participation in: a) one three-hour class session on June 23 from 6:00-9:00 pm; b) Cutting Edge 2008 Conference, including Strategic Pathway, Plenary and Applied Pathway sessions; c) daily one-hour debriefing sessions during conference.
2.  Reading log on required texts listed above and 700 pages additional reading in area of research (due September 19)
3.  Three 4-MAT papers according to the format described in syllabus (1,000 words each, due June 23, July 11, August 8)
4.  A final integration/research paper or project focusing on one of the conference topics, including critical assessment, personal reflection, implications for mission, and an analysis of the relationship between ecclesiology and the topic (3,000 words with an annotated bibliography and EndNote library file, due September 19)

** Students are advised that the details of these assignments are subject to change.

 

PREREQUISITES: None. It is highly recommended that students have taken MD543.

 

RELATION TO CURRICULUM: Elective in SIS.

 

FINAL EXAM: No.

 

Note:  This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design, but is subject to modification.                                                              Last Date Edited:  9 May 2008