MA Mission Spirituality Modules
Core Modules
ML1 – The Contemporary Culture of the Challenge of Mission
ML2 – Missional Leadership – Theory & Practice
Specialist Modules
MS3 – Spirituality & Missional Context
MS4 – Forming Communities of Practice
Module Descriptors
Title
Contemporary Culture & the Challenge of Mission
Code
ML1
Faculty
Education & Theology
Cost Centre
Level
FHEQ 7
YSJU M
Credits
30
Total Learning Hours
300
Barred Combinations
None
Pre-requisites
None
Learning and Teaching
Type of Learning Activity
comprises
hours
weeks
Timetabled Contact:
Block learning (+ regional networks)
30
16
Independent Study:
Reading primary and secondary sources, accessing and
completing verbatim, researching and preparing
assignments
270
16
300
16
Total:
Rationale and Aims
The term ‘missional’ is now widely used but not necessarily well understood. This module explores the
historical, theological, and contemporary contexts for this concept, with particular reference to how mission
can relate to contemporary Western culture.
Aims:
1. To critically engage with and appreciate the nature of cultural theory and its relevance for missional work
2. To critically explore how Western culture has changed in recent years and gain advanced knowledge of the
historical background to these changes
3. To examine and analyse the elements of a culturally-attuned approach to mission in the West (including
evangelism, social action and church planting)
4. To identify and critically examine both historical and more recent expressions of ‘missional church’ and
evaluate them in the light of contemporary culture
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Critically analyse concepts of Western culture and develop greater awareness and appreciation of the
need for a ‘missional’ approach to evaluate contemporary mission
2. Critically analyse the ways in which churches and/or faith-based organisations can engage in a variety
of forms of mission relevant to contemporary culture
3. Critically reflect on the application of missional thinking to their own ministry setting and apply robust,
reflective and contextually-appropriate approaches to their ministry
Assessment (please include expected word length (for text-based assessment))
#
description
weighting
learning
outcomes
1 5000 word essay
80%
1, 2, 3
2 Personal development task
20%
3
Qualified Failures: in order to pass the module, students must achieve at least:
(for modules with more than one summative assessment component please delete as applicable)
A mark of 20 in each component and an overall pass mark
Indicative Content
Students will:
1.
Explore theories of culture, particularly the influence of secularisation, post modernity, (and their
epistemological assumption) and the waning influence of Christendom within Western societies
2.
Explore contemporary challenges to mission, including philosophical (e.g. science and the new atheism),
cultural (e.g. consumerism, individualism) and theological challenges (including that of Islam and other
major world faiths), and how these may be overcome.
3.
Examine examples of mission in the West since the Enlightenment, including an assessment of
contemporary missional movements and reflect on the development of the ‘missional conversation’.
4.
Assess the different ways in which evangelism, social action and church planting can be undertaken in the
context of the West as components of Christian mission.
Library Resources
Indicative essential book provision (5 examples):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Smith, J.K.A., Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012)
Van Gelder, C. & Zscheile, D., The Missional Church in Perspective. Mapping Trends and Shaping the
Conversation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011)
Day, A. and Lövheim, M. (eds.), Modernities, Memory and Mutations: Grace Davie and the Study of
Religion (Ashgate, 2015)
Barker, C., Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, (London: SAGE, 2011)
Murray, S., Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World (After Christendom) (Bletchley:
Paternoster, 2011)
Indicative journals / periodicals (3 examples from current subscriptions):
1. Missiology - An International Review (American Society of Missiology)
2. Journal of Missional Practice (The Missional Network)
3. International Review of Mission (WCC)
Audio-visual / non-printed material:
None
ICT Resources
Hardware
N/A
Specialist software
Moodle (online VLE)
ATLA database and e-library
Media Resources
AV equipment
Data projectors, DVD player
Title
Missional Leadership –Theory & Practice
Code
ML2
Faculty
Education & Theology
Cost Centre
Level
FHEQ 7
YSJU M
Credits
30
Total Learning Hours
300
Barred Combinations
None
Pre-requisites
None
Learning and Teaching
Type of Learning Activity
comprises
hours
weeks
Timetabled Contact:
Block learning (+ regional networks for p/t study)
30
16
Independent Study:
Reading primary and secondary sources, accessing and
completing verbatim, researching and preparing
assignments
270
16
300
16
Total:
Rationale and Aims
The Church in the West is undergoing profound change as it adjusts to a new context for mission. Students
will study the core leadership attributes and skills required to lead Christian communities (including mission
organisations and churches) in this changing landscape. Effective leadership encompasses the use of particular
skills to shape organisations and these skills are similar for faith and non-faith based organisations. Yet
Christian leadership cannot be studied from the perspectives of theory and skills alone and the role of personal
formation is a central aspect of leadership development. The impact that a leader him/herself has on others
also depends in large part on the development of character and an understanding of their personality. Selfawareness is, therefore, another important factor in leading effectively.
Aims:
1. To critically evaluate the theory and processes of leadership in churches and mission organisations
2. To critically explore models of managing change and conflict and the concepts of imagination and
innovation in organisations
3. To enhance self-awareness in order to enable students to improve their interpersonal leadership skills
4. To enable students to critically engage with the major academic and critical issues in the fields of
personality theory and communication theory as they impact upon missional work
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Critically analyse the elements involved in effective Christian leadership in different contexts
2. Critically evaluate the various approaches to self-awareness and personal formation in the
development of missional leaders
3. Engage in critical personal reflection around the development of their identity as Christian leaders
Assessment (please include expected word length (for text-based assessment))
#
description
weighting
learning
outcomes
1 3500 word essay
55%
1, 2, 3
2 Personal development task
20%
1, 3
3 1500 word critical review of a key published academic book or article
25%
2
Qualified Failures: in order to pass the module, students must achieve at least:
(for modules with more than one summative assessment component please delete as applicable)
A mark of 20 in each component and an overall pass mark
Indicative Content
Students will:
1. Evaluate and critique the task of leadership and its challenges in our current cultural
context
2. Critically assess key skills for Christian mission and leadership in a time of societal
change, including the management of transitions
3. Evaluate the concept of ‘character’ and critique its importance to Christian leadership within
missional situations with reference to issues such as the use of power, servanthood and
accountability
4. Critically assess the importance of self-awareness to effective leadership especially within
missional contexts: including critical analysis of a range of approaches (phenomenological,
narrative, psychometric testing etc.)
Library Resources
Indicative essential book provision (5 examples):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Francis L. J., Faith and Psychology: Personality, Religion and the Individual, (London: DLT, 2008)
Roxburgh, A., & Romanuk, F., The Missional Leader: Equipping your Church to Reach a Changing World
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011)
Wheatley M.J., Leadership and the New Science - Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler, 2010)
Collins, J. and Hansen, M. T., Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite
Them All (Random House Business, 2011)
Guder, D., Hirsch, A., Catchim, T., & Breen, M., The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imagination and
Practice for the 21st Century Church, (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2012)
Indicative journals / periodicals (3 examples from current subscriptions):
1. Missiology - An International Review (American Society of Missiology)
2. International Review of Mission (WCC)
3. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church (Routledge)
Audio-visual / non-printed material:
None
ICT Resources
Hardware
N/A
Specialist software
Moodle (online VLE)
ATLA database and e-library
Media Resources
AV equipment
Data projectors, DVD player
Title
Spirituality & Missional Context
Code
MS3
Faculty
Education & Theology
Cost Centre
Level
FHEQ 7
YSJU M
Credits
30
Total Learning Hours
300
Barred Combinations
ML3,
CM3,
UM3
Pre-requisites
None
Learning and Teaching
Type of Learning Activity
comprises
hours
weeks
Timetabled Contact:
Block learning (+ regional networks)
30
16
Independent Study:
Reading primary and secondary sources, accessing and
completing verbatim, researching and preparing
assignments
270
16
300
16
Total:
Rationale and Aims
This module focuses on historical and contemporary models and examples of missional movements and their
spirituality (with particular attention to a variety of concepts such as positionality; that is where one is located
and with whom one takes a stand in the world). It then seeks to relate these models and examples to our
wider cultural context and to the student’s own local context.
Aims:
1. To enable students to develop critical understandings of various approaches to spirituality in different
missional contexts including critical engagement with the challenges of economic and ecological crises
2. To allow students to explore historical and contemporary approaches to Christian spirituality, including
their biblical and theological underpinnings
3. To enable students to gain advanced skills in adapting models to postmodern, post-Christendom contexts
deeply affected by religious pluralism
4. To enable students to critically and constructively assess the relationship between spirituality and mission
in their own local context
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1.
2.
3.
Critically examine how particular spiritual practices, disciplines and dispositions enable mission in
specific contexts
Enhance their skills and imagination in developing appropriate spiritual practices, disciplines and
dispositions relevant to their local communities
Critique their own approach to spirituality and the practices of their church or organisation in terms of
its sensitivity and appropriateness to local context and to contemporary social and environmental
movements
Assessment (please include expected word length (for text-based assessment))
#
description
weighting
learning
outcomes
1 3500 word research project
50%
1, 3
2 Presentation
30%
1, 2, 3
3 Personal development task
20%
2, 3
Qualified Failures: in order to pass the module, students must achieve at least:
(for modules with more than one summative assessment component please delete as applicable)
A mark of 20 in each component and an overall pass mark
Indicative Content
Students will:
1.
Critically explore missional movements and denominations (such as the Celtic Church, the Jesuits, and
inter alia Pentecostalism) to see how their spiritual practices supported their mission in particular
historical/cultural contexts
2.
Critically explore a range of marginal missional movements (such as the rise of early Christianity and
the emergence of spiritualities of liberation by marginalised groups in contexts of structural
oppression – e.g. Latin American liberation spirituality, and African-American ‘beloved community’
spirituality) and a range of ‘monastic’ missional movements (such as desert and Benedictine
monasticism and the emergence of new monastic and new friar movements)
3.
Critically examine the appropriateness of contemporary Christian approaches to spirituality in the
context of both their local community and the wider cultural context of globalisation, postmodernism,
secularism, and evaluate various ‘sustainable’ responses to global crises
4.
Broaden their understanding of contemporary spirituality outside of the church (such as the New Age
movement, interest in angels and appropriation of Eastern mystical practices) and critically explore
the implications for Christian spirituality
Library Resources
Indicative essential book provision (5 examples):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Bessenecker, S., (ed.) Living Mission: The Vision and Voices of New Friars (Downers Grove: IVP Books,
2010)
Bingemer, M.C & Casarella, P., (eds.) Witnessing: Prophecy, Politics, and Wisdom (Maryknoll: Orbis Books,
2014)
Miller, D., & Yamamori, T., Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement (London:
University of California Press, 2007)
Smith, J. K. A., How (Not) to be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014)
Hammer, O, and Rothstein, M., The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Indicative journals / periodicals (3 examples from current subscriptions):
1. Journal The Way
2. Journal of Contemporary Religion
3. Journal of Pastoral Theology
Audio-visual / non-printed material:
None
ICT Resources
Hardware
N/A
Specialist software
Moodle (online VLE)
ATLA database and e-library
Media Resources
AV equipment
Data projectors, DVD player
Title
Forming Communities of Practice
Code
MS4
Faculty
Education & Theology
Cost Centre
Level
FHEQ 7
YSJU M
Credits
30
Total Learning Hours
300
Barred Combinations
ML4,
CM4,
UM4
Pre-requisites
None
Learning and Teaching
Type of Learning Activity
comprises
hours
weeks
Timetabled Contact:
Block learning (+ regional networks)
30
16
Independent Study:
Reading primary and secondary sources, researching
and preparing assignments
270
16
300
16
Total:
Rationale and Aims
Contemporary spirituality can often be viewed as an individualistic, privatised aspect of life. Yet the concept of
community is central to the notion of missio Dei and to the integrity of Christianity as a way of life. This
module explores how Christian communities can be nurtured through spiritual disciplines (practices). Such
communities need to create effective structures to support spirituality. This involves an exploration of biblical,
historical and contemporary forms of community and the spiritual practices which formed and supported
them.
Aims:
1. To critically evaluate definitions of Christian community and how these are formed and sustained by focal
concerns and particular practices
2. To critically explore the centrality of discipleship and spiritual disciplines to Christ-centred and Christformed communities
3. To critically explore how different models of discipleship relate to specific spiritual disciplines
4. To critically evaluate how focal concerns and spiritual disciplines might enable or disable the capacity for
a Christian community to interact faithfully and creatively with those of other faiths and adherents to
other social movements
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Critically examine notions of Christian community in terms of their distinctiveness and theological bases
2. Critically evaluate practices, focal concerns, and structures within the life of the Church that contribute to
the development of community
3. Use theoretical and theological insights to critically analyse the Christian community of which they are a
part
Assessment (please include expected word length (for text-based assessment))
#
description
weighting
learning
outcomes
1 5000 word essay
80%
1, 2, 3
2 Personal development task
20%
3
Qualified Failures: in order to pass the module, students must achieve at least:
(for modules with more than one summative assessment component please delete as applicable)
A mark of 20 in each component and an overall pass mark
Indicative Content
Students will:
1.
Critically explore a range of sources (biblical, historical and contemporary examples of specific focal
concerns and practices) to identify distinctively Christian concepts of ‘community’ (including, for
example, critical engagement with themes of discipleship, food, faith and friendship)
2.
Critically evaluate recent approaches to intentional Christian community and the practices which
sustain them
3.
Explore a range of spiritual disciplines by which persons are formed in community
Library Resources
Indicative essential book provision (5 examples):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Bahnson, F., Wirzba, N., Making Peace with the Land: God’s Call to Reconcile with Creation, Resources for
Reconciliation Series (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2012)
Brother John of Taizé, Friends in Christ: Paths to a New Understanding of Church (Maryknoll: Orbis Books,
2012)
Reed, S., Creating Community: Ancient Ways for Modern Churches, Abingdon: Bible Reading Fellowship,
2013)
Smith, J.K.A., Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013)
Ledwith, M. and Springett, J., Participatory Practice: Community-based Action for Transformative Change
(Bristol: Policy Press, 2010)
Indicative journals / periodicals (3 examples from current subscriptions):
1. Worship (St John’s Abbey, Minn)
2. Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality
3. Studia Liturgica (Liturgical Ecumenical Center Trust)
Audio-visual / non-printed material:
None
ICT Resources
Hardware
N/A
Specialist software
Moodle (online VLE)
ATLA database and e-library
Media Resources
AV equipment
Data projectors, DVD player