TA11: Discernment and Discipleship

Dr. Kathleen Staudt

(Syllabus from 2007 – revision in process 2008)

This course will focus on the experience of vocation for all Christians, exploring the theology of baptism and ministry from the point of view of the laity. Participants will be invited to ask, in particular: What does it mean to be called “to represent Christ and His Church” (a calling, according to the Book of Common Prayer, that is common to both lay and ordained ministry). What are the particular implications of the statement that the laity are called “To bear witness to Him wherever they may be, and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s ministry of reconciliation in the world?” (BCP p. 855) The class is intended to help students reflect together on their own experiences of vocation and on the roles of lay and ordained people in discerning and carrying out the work of the Church in the world.

REACHING ME: I am on campus usually on Wednesday morning and Monday or Friday in any given week, and sometimes both. The best way to be in touch with me is email, either at kstaudt@vts.edu or kstaudt@wam.umd.edu. Either address will reach me. I try to respond promptly to email. You may call me at home if you need to at 301-588-9116 but be prepared to leave a message! I will be using Blackboard this term (for the first time, so there may be some glitches) to post course announcement and electronic reserves. Many of the materials listed as on library reserve are available on Blackboard in the “Course Documents” folder on the Blackboard site for this course.

TEXTBOOKS AND READINGS:

Required

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship. ISBN: 0684815001;

L.William Countryman,Living on the Border of the Holy: Renewing the Priesthood of All Morehouse Publishing; ISBN: 0819217735

Evelyn Underhill, Essential Writings, ed. Emilie Griffiths 1570754713

Ben Campbell Johnson, Hearing God's Call:Ways of Discernment for Laity and Clergy. Eerdmans, 2002lISBN 0-8028-3961-4

Verna Dozier, The Dream of God: A Call to Return. Seabury Classics. (ISBN #1596280158)

Diana Butler Bass and Joseph Sicking, eds From Nomads to Pilgrims: Stories from Practicing Congregations. Alban Institute, 2006. ISBN#1-56699-323-7

Desmond Tutu, God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Timei(ISBN 978-0385483711)

Grenz and Lowe, Ministry in Daily Life: A Guide to Living the Baptismal Covenant X56-9317

Recommended: On Reserve

Bennett Sims, Servanthood Cowley ISBN 1561011452

Evelyn Underhill, Essential Writings, ed. Emilie Griffiths

also Life as Prayer and Other Writings The Spiritual Life, The School of Charity;

Sedgwick, The Christian Moral Life,

The Making of Ministry

Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

               Theodore Eastman, The Baptizing Community

               James Fenhagen, Ministry and Solitude

               Desmond Tutu, God Has a Dream

Staudt, "Annunciations in Most Lives: Vocation and the Work of the Church," Sewanee Theological Review. Special issue on Ministry.Easter 2000. pp. 130-143.   

Carolyn Westerhoff, Calling: A Song for the Baptized

Graham Standish, Becoming a Blessed Church

               More Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy

               Brian Taylor, Spirituality for Daily Living

               David White, Practicing Discernment with Youth

               Thomas Kelly,      A Testament of Devotion

Diehl, Monday's Ministries

Diana Butler Bass, The Practicing Congregation

Danny Morris and Charles Olsen, Discerning God's Will Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church

Schedule of Class Meetings and Assignments

(* means article is on Blackboard, under “Course Documents,” and in the “Reserve Reading” folder)

Day 1: September 6: Introductions, framework of course. Exercise in discernment, sharing our understanding and experience of vocation and ministry. Definitions: What do we mean by "the Church"? "Call"? "Discipleship?" "The Work of the Church?"

Day 2: September 13: The Dream of God and the Mission of the Church: Theological Foundations Read in Dozier, The Dream of God , Chapters 1-3 , Tutu, God Has a Dream, pp. 19-29, *McLaren, "Why I am Missional," in A Generous Orthodoxy, pp.115-125, *Sedgwick, “The Call of God,” from The Christian Moral Life and *Fenhagen, Ministry and Solitude, *Mead, The Once and Future Church, *Kraemer, “A Theology of the Laity” What view of the church stands out for you in these readings? What is familiar, and what is new to you here?

Day 3: September 20: Baptism and the “priesthood of all:”

READ and reflect on:

· Countryman, Chapter 1 "The Priesthood of Humanity, pp. 3-32; Chapter 4, "The Priesthood of the Christian People, pp. 63-78,

· *Westerhoff , from calling

· *Eastman, Introduction A(1-7) and "Basic Principles for the Baptizing Community," The Baptizing Community, pp. 31-42.

Also look back over the Baptism service in the Book of Common Prayer.. What do you understand the “priesthood of all believers” or “the priesthood of all” or "the ministry of the church" to mean for each of these writers? What does it mean for you in your ministry? How is “priesthood” connected to Baptismal identity and the work of the Church, as you understand these concepts?

Day 4: September 27: The Call to Discipleship

. Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 43-78 and Chapter 30 -- (pp. 246-271).

How would you describe, in your own words, perhaps with your own examples & experience, Bonhoeffer's understanding of discipleship and church? How does this connect, contrast with some of the readings we discussed last week?

               ***Thomas Kelly, "Holy Obedience," from A Testament of Devotion

*Sedgwick on “The Call of God, pp. 127-141 in The Christian Moral Life (on reserve)

Ministry in Daily Life,pp. 113-14 and 120-132.

Day 5: October 4: Discernment and the Work of the Church.

READ and reflect on:

· Griffiths, ed. Underhill, Essential Writings, pp. 7-41 (introduction by Emilie Grifiths and excerpts from Underhill, "The Spiritual Life") Also read section on "Practical Advice, pp. 123-136

· Ben Campbell Johnson, Hearing God's Call, pp. 1-64.

· *Staudt, “Annunciations in Most Lives”

· *Palmer, “When Way Closes,” in Let Your Life Speak (on reserve), pp. 37-55.

· *"Paying Attention to God," article by Graham Standish on pp. 17-33 of Bass and Sicking, From Nomads to Pilgrims. And ***“Becoming a Church of Purpose,” in Standish, Becoming a Blessed Church

· ***White, chapter from Practicing Discernment with Youth

How do these readings address, challenge, expand your understanding of “discernment?” How might this help in your ongoing growth into ministry?

Day 6: October 11: The Church Gathered and the Church Scattered: Spiritual Practices and Ministry in Daily Life

· Sicking, "Christian Practices in the Congregation," pp. 1-6 and Butler-Bass, "Pilgrimage Congregations, " pp. 167-167-178 in From Nomads to Pilgrims. See also *Butler-Bass, "Practice Makes Pilgrims," from The Practicing Congregation, posted on Blackboard.

· Dozier, final chapter of The Dream of God (entitled "The Persistence of the Dream).

"***Making Disciples: Learning to Live Jesus' Way," from Discovering Hope

· ***Thompsett, from Courageous Incarnation

Ben Campbell Johnson, "Living into the Call," pp. 115-133.

***William Diehl, Monday's Ministries (posted on Blackboard) and “Ministry in the Marketplace, in Ministry in Daily Life, pp.79-96, J. Fletcher Lowe, “Where is the Church,” pp. 115-119.

                              How do you respond to the understanding of Ministry in the daily lives of Christian? Do you see any connection between spiritual practices in the congregation and the support of ministry in daily life? How might you help people make the practical and theological connections between Sunday and Monday?

ASSIGNMENTS, GRADING AND LOGISTICS:

1. For everyone, each week: Reading and reflection paper (50% of your grade) Do as much of the assigned reading as you can, and hand in 1-2 pages of reflection on the reading. By “reflection” I mean fairly free, informal, one-draft writing as a way of gathering your thoughts on what you have read. Some of you may want to keep an ongoing journal and then cull from that journal the pages of reflection you hand it, but all I want is the 1-2 page reflection paper.

To keep this from becoming burdensome, I urge you to limit reflections handed in either to this length OR to the product of a timed journaling session: 45-60 minutes and then stop, in mid-sentence if necessary, and hand in what you have. If you're in the habit of taking notes on what you read that's fine but don't to hand in your reading notes. Rather, reflect on how on some aspect of the reading speaks to YOU.

I have assigned a lot of reading, though much of it goes pretty quickly. I have done so in order to give you a variety of views on matters that are by no means "settled" in the conversations of the church and the churches. Do not be surprised or alarmed if you do not "like" or agree with everything you read here -- the point is to introduce and try on a variety of ideas about what the church is and ought to be in order to discern our own place in its work today. In your reflections, try to grapple with what does and does not speak to you in the reading -- enter a conversation with the author, in your own mind.

Most weeks, I provide in the syllabus some leading questions that I hope will direct our discussions of the readings in class. Use these if they seem helpful but do not be confined by them. You may want to use these questions to guide your reflections, or you may want to follow a thought, a quotation, something important that has struck you in one or more of the readings.

Weekly reflections, along with class participation, count as 50% of your grade.

Grading of journals: journals will be graded somewhat subjectively, on your engagement with the text. A check means "this is fine" -- and is recorded in my book as an "18." If you hand in 5 journals of this quality they add up to a 90 and that, along with a your discussion leadership becomes your class participation grade. A "Check plus" means "outstanding, really made me think in new directions and shows you doing so." That gets recorded as a 19 or 20 and added up accordingly. A "Check minus" goes to a reflection that meets the assignment but strikes me as mainly a summary of the reading without much engagement or critique on your part, or that may reflect a somewhat superficial understanding of the reading. That gets recorded as a 17. (You should note from here that if you DO the reflection assignments they will add up to at least a B).

2. 4-7 page paper and discussion leadership for “Your” week: 25% of your grade) In a group of 2-3, (more if enrollment increases) you will be responsible for offering some reflections and discussion questions based on one of the week's reading – your choice, whichever one you want to focus on (assuming you read all of them before deciding!) You may divide the readings among group members if you choose.

Each of you should hand in, for “your” week, a 4-7 page paper drawing on the readings to address the topic of the week. It is fine for the paper to be on just one of the readings, so long as among yourselves the group covers all the readings assigned for the week, and all of you are fully prepared to lead discussion on all these readings.

3. Final Exam (25% of your grade): Essay question designed to help you integrate what you have learned. The class will generate a choice of questions and you will come to the exam period prepared to write on one of them. The final exam will be designed to help you synthesize what you have learned from readings and discussions about the work of the church and your own piece of that work.

REACHING ME: I will be on campus for the later part of lunch most Thursdays, and also on many Wednesdays and Fridays. I am glad to meet with you by appointment, and I check and answer email promptly. Email is the best way to be in touch with me.