McCormick Theological Seminary
Doctor of Ministry
M609: Culturally Attentive Pastoral Leadership
Joanne Lindstrom
jlindstrom@go.mccormick.edu
773 947-6335
Ozzie E. Smith, Jr.
jr4111@sbcglobal.net
David Esterline
desterline@mccormick.edu
773 947-6364
January 27- January 31, 2014
Syllabus
Course Description and Objectives: North America is multi-racial and multicultural. Ministry in this
context calls for faith community leaders who understand the culture of others as well as their
own race and culture. These leaders will minister with a consciousness of the racialized reality of
their context and with discernment regarding privilege, power, and identity. They will have the
capacity to practice ministry that is attentive and responsive to cultural factors and dynamics in
interpersonal communication, inter-racial relationship building, and multicultural/multi-racial
congregational development.
This course has to do with the cultivation of such competence. By the end of the course, students
will be able to explain their responses (and identify the resources that have influenced those
responses) to the following questions regarding the constituent perspectives and practices in
their culturally attentive ministerial leadership.
1. What presumptions and predispositions about other cultures and races have influenced your
practice of ministry? What have been the benefits and liabilities of these influences in your
ministry?
2. How does the presence of racism in North America affect your ministry? How does it affect
your predisposition to cultural attentiveness?
3. What perspectives about culture and race encourage you to learn and grow as a culturally
attentive leader? What theology of culture informs, inspires, constrains, and sustains your
understanding of the church and practice of ministry?
4. What particular cultural factors and dynamics are significant for the development of
culturally attentive ministry in your context? What postures and practices are needed for the
inter-personal relationship style and institutional leadership strategy called for in your
context?
5. What have you learned about yourself, in the self-work you have done and the self-care you
know to be necessary, with regard to your practice of culturally attentive ministry?
Reading Requirements:
Recognizing the different ministry contexts, program tracks, and interests of participants in the
seminar, some of the texts required for the course will be read by all members and others will be
read by only a few—with the expectation that insights from different resources will be shared in class
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during case presentations and general discussion and via postings on the course website. Of the four
sets of required reading, two will be common readings: 1) a foundational book on white privilege and
racism (Rothenberg) plus additional material on Moodle and 2) a foundational book on theology,
sociocultural perspectives and leadership which includes tools for congregational change (Branson &
Martinez) plus shorter readings available on Moodle. The two other readings will be selected from
the two lists below (3 and 4) containing a variety of resources on culture, privilege, and the racialized
experiences of different groups in North America.
Common readings:
1. Paula S. Rothenberg, White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism (New
York, NY: Worth Publishing, 2012). Additional brief readings posted on the Moodle course
site: a short section from Beverly Daniel Tatum, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together
in the Cafeteria?” And Other Conversations About Race and three studies from the
ThoughtfulChristian.com study pack on racism.
2. Mark Lau Branson & Juan F. Martinez, Churches, Cultures & Leadership: A Practical Theology
of Congregations and Ethnicities (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,2011). Plus brief readings
posted on Moodle: an essay by William Stringfellow on Biography as Theology, a section
from Eric H. F. Law, The Bush was Blazing but not Consumed, Milton Bennett’s essay
“Intercultural Communication: A Current Perspective,” and a one-page summary of high and
low context cultures.
Other required texts. As you will reflect on these readings when you present your timeline study (as
well as other times during the class), I suggest that you review the in-class assignments below as you
select these additional readings.
3. Please select one of the following to read and review:
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
New York: The New Press, 2010.
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of
Racial Inequality in the United States. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
Hopkins, Dwight, Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion Minneapolis: Fortress Press,
2005.
Kendall, Frances E. Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic
Relationships Across Race. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Painter, Nell Irvin. The History of White People. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010.
Sue, Derald Wing. Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation.
Hoboken: Wiley, 2010.
Tatum, Beverly Daniel. “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” And
Other Conversations About Race. New York: Basic Books, 2003.
Tochluk, Shelly. Witnessing Whiteness: First Steps Toward an Antiracist Practice and Culture.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
White, Augustus A. Seeing Patients: Unconscious Bias in Health Care. Cambridge: Harvard UP,
2011.
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Wijeyesinghe, Charmaine L. and Bailey W. Jackson, eds. New Perspectives on Racial Identity
Development: A Theoretical and Practical Anthology. New York: New York University
Press, 2001.
Wise, Tim. Color-Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity. San
Francisco: City Lights Books, 2010.
Wu, Frank H. Yellow: Race in America: Beyond Black and White. New York: Basic Books, 2002.
4. Please select one of the following to read and review:
Augsburger, David W. Pastoral Counseling Across Cultures. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986.
-- Conflict Mediation Across Cultures: Pathways & Patterns Louisville: Westminster John
Knox, 1992.
Cassidy, Laurie M. and Alex Mikulich, eds. Interrupting White Privilege: Catholic Theologians
Break the Silence. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2007.
Daniel, Ben. Neighbor: Christian Encounters with “Illegal” Immigration. Louisville:
Westminster John Knox. 2010.
Emerson, Michael, and Christian Smith. Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the
Problem of Race in America. Oxford: University Press, 2000.
Jeung, Russell. Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches. New
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2005.
Law, Eric H. F. The Bush was Blazing but not Consumed: Developing a Multicultural
Community Through Dialogue and Liturgy. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1996.
Priest, Robert J. and Alvaro L. Nieves, eds. This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian
Faith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Rah, Soong-Chan. The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural
Captivity. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
Rodriguez, Ruben Rosario. Racism and God-Talk: A Latino/a Perspective. New York: New York
University Press, 2008.
Smith, David I. Learning from the Stranger: Christian Faith and Cultural Diversity. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.
Turner, Eugene G., ed. Dissent and Empowerment: Essays in Honor of Gayraud Wilmore.
Louisville: Witherspoon Press, 1999.
Yoo, David K. and Ruth H. Chung, eds. Religion and Spirituality in Korean America. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 2008.
Other Requirements
Preliminary Assignments:
1. By no later than December 15, please let other members of the group know which books you
have selected for your 3rd and 4th required readings. Please post your decision on the
Moodle course website.
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2. By January 5, please complete and post on Moodle an historical timeline (with particular
attention from 1960-forward) marking important cultural shifts at your ministry site. These
shifts could include race, ethnicity, age, economics, geographics, denominational
pronouncements/resolutions, pastoral changes, acquiring or divesting of property, etc.
Indicate what has changed since these shifts and how these changes have facilitated or not
further changes. Indicate also events in the national or international arena that ministry site
shifts respond or react to. (See sample timeline on Moodle site – entitled HCCC timeline)
3. Post on Moodle any questions about cultural attentiveness which you wish to bring to the
M609 discussion.
4. By the first class session, please read the historical timelines submitted by the other seminar
members. Begin to identify insights, resources, and/or tools from your reading which may
address, illustrate and/or inform the questions raised by each of the members of the course.
In-class Assignments:
1. Definition of racism. Prepare to present a concise definition of racism as it relates to your
ministry context. (For example: “Racism is the _______. In the church where I serve, it is
experienced as __________.” Or, “Racism involves___________. It can be seen in the
following forms__________. It is reflected in the following policies / practices in my
presbytery__________.”) Prepare your definition in light of the readings and the class
discussion. Initial definitions will be presented by the end of class on Tuesday; final
definitions will be submitted on Friday.
2. Historical timeline presentation. During one of the class sessions on Wednesday or Thursday,
supplement your historical timeline (which you submitted prior to class for everyone to read)
by presenting reflections from your readings. This discussion is not intended simply to be a
book report; rather, it is a means by which to provide both you and your classmates with
theological and practical insights into the actual practice of culturally-attentive leadership, as
instructed by the reading. Areas for discussion should include the following:
- How have the texts you selected deepened your understanding of the race and cultural
issues and dynamics in the situation presented in your historical timeline? How have the
readings strengthened your understanding of factors to be attended to in relating to
persons and/or groups from a culture other than your own?
- What criteria have the readings given you for evaluating your practice of culturally
attentive leadership?
- How do the tangible shifts reflect the intangibles (theology, response to larger cultural
shifts, etc.)?
- What resources have these texts provided for determining the multi-racial and crosscultural posture and goal of your congregation/institution? How have they helped you
discern the implications of this posture and goal for your leadership?
3. Peer resourcing. Be prepared to serve as a peer resource for the other members of the class
by sharing insights and tools from the readings you selected in response to their questions
regarding culture and race in relation to ministry.
4. Personal Assessment. In preparation for Friday morning’s session, draft a brief personal
knowing-being-doing inventory outlining your reflection from the week regarding:
- main concepts in your understanding of culture, race, and ministry
- ways of being in cross-cultural contexts
- keys to doing ministry with persons and groups of cultures and races other than your
own
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an assessment of what you offer, what you need, and what you wish to develop as you
continue in ministry.
The final version of this statement will be due with the final paper.
Post-Class Assignment
Final paper synthesizing the content of the seminar and integrating it with your practice of culturally
attentive leadership. 10-15 pages, double-spaced, due April 15. Using the course reading and
discussion, reexamine the cultural shifts you identified on your historical map detailing insights that
deepen your understanding. Note the theological or doctrinal positions they embody/represent ; if
there has been any theological or doctrinal shift and then plan next steps for your congregation
/ministry site including why you are choosing a particular path and what you envision as a result.
Grades for the course will be determined on the following basis.
Informed participation in class: 20%
Preliminary and in-class assignments: 40%
Final integrative paper: 40%
Class schedule
Class will begin at 1pm on Monday, January 27, and end by noon on Friday, January 31.
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