Intro to Ministry I

Course Purpose:

1. To DEFINE mission and ministry.
2. To DISCOVER God’s heart for redemption and reconciliation.
3. To DEVELOP an idea of one’s own role in God’s invitation to participate.
4. To broaden and diversify student’s understanding of God’s mission, where it has gone awry due to human error, and how it can be restored to his original intent and design.

Students will journey through the process of deconstructing and examining their concept of mission and ministry, in order to then reconstruct this concept based on a variety of Biblical and academic readings. At the course culmination, students will be able to offer their own developed definition of God’s mission at work in the world as well as their own role in said mission. This course will lay the foundation for understanding why and how God is at work in the world, as students proceed to Intro to Ministry Part II where they will learn what it looks like for them to practically and technically engage with God’s mission in the specific, unique ways in which they are called.

Required Texts: (to be purchased by students prior to class start)

1. Bible
2. Greenman, Jeffrey.Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective. IVP, 2012.
3. Personal selection (students will research, select, and purchase ONE of the following texts):

• • Be The Bridge by Latasha Morrison
  • Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey
  • Native by Kaitlin Curtice
  • The Next Worship by Sandra Van Opstal
  • Inspired by Rachel Held Evans
  • A Primer in Ecotheology by Celia Deane-Drummond
  • How Women Rise by Jo Saxton

(After purchasing a reading from the “personal selection” list, students should draft their own reading plan to ensure completion of their chosen book no later than Week 7 of the course.)

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