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Theology of the Church: Ecclesiology

Instructor: Jeremy Garber, Ph.D. Email: [email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION

What is “the church”? What does the church do? Who decides who’s in and who’s out? The
primary purpose of this course is to survey the theological doctrines of “church” and community.
To do this, students will (1) closely examine selected key texts in the Christian Bible that discuss
the developments of the early Christian church; (2) closely examine selected sections of
historical theological texts on ecclesiology from a variety of theological traditions; and, most
importantly, (3) research the understandings of church and community in (a) their own self-
identified community or tradition and (b) a contrasting community or tradition by visiting and
observing their communal practices and reflecting upon them.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

At the conclusion of this course you will be able (at a beginning level) to:

1. Summarize the historical and intellectual story of the development of ecclesiology.

2. Identify key theological questions and decision points that belong to the classical themes
of ecclesiology.
3. Describe and evaluate the ecclesiological understandings of the particular religious,
spiritual, or philosophical community with which you identify, and contrast those
understandings with the parallel understandings of a different community.
4. Evaluate current events connected to religion on the basis of their theological
ecclesiology.

Required texts

1) C. Norman Kraus. The Community of the Spirit: How the Church Is in the World. Wipf &
Stock, 2008. ISBN 978-1597529754.

2) Online readings on Canvas and open-source Internet texts provided by the instructor.
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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

(All readings & assignments are subject to change, as announced in class and on Canvas)

Date Topics Readings and Assignments

1 3/21- Introduction to Ecclesiology Kraus ch. 1. Deleuze reading on Canvas.
3/27 Journal posts Week 1

2 3/28- Ecclesiology in the Early Kraus, ch. 2. Reading: Fackre, “Ecumenism and
4/3 Church Atonement”; Mangina, “Cross-Shaped Church” on
Canvas.
Home Tradition and Visitor Tradition proposals due
Journal posts Week 2
3 4/4- The “Constantinian Shift” Yoder reading on Canvas
4/10 Journal posts Week 3

4 4/11- The Reformation and Kraus, ch. 3. Augburg Confession, Luther and Calvin
4/17 Ecclesiology readings on Canvas.
Home Tradition reflection due
Journal posts Week 4

5 4/18- Roman Catholic Ecclesiology Rahner reading on Canvas.

4/24 Journal Posts Week 5

6 4/25- Orthodox Ecclesiology Reading: Kirov, “Orthodox Revelation,” and Nikolaev,

5/1 “Orthodox Ecclesiology” on Canvas.
Home Tradition site report due
Journal Posts Week 6
7 5/2- Methodist Ecclesiology as Reading: Richey, “Connectionalism”; Heitenrater,
5/8 Connectionalism “Methodist Grace” on Canvas.
Visitor Tradition reflection due
Journal Posts Week 7

8 5/9- Free Church and Two-Thirds Kraus, ch. 4. Gutierrez and Chirongoma readings on
5/15 World Ecclesiology Canvas
Visitor Tradition site report due
Journal Posts Week 8
9 5/16- Ecclesiology, Ecumenism, and Kraus, ch. 5. “Ecumenicism” and “Interfaith Dialogue”
5/22 Interfaith Dialogue readings on Canvas.
Journal Posts Week 9

10 5/23- Ecclesiology and Authority for Kraus, ch. 6. Mary McClintock Fulkerson readings on
5/27 the 21st Century Canvas.
Final reflection due
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COURSE EXPECTATIONS

Basic Attendance and Participation Expectations:

 Attendance and participation in all online and face to face classes.
 You are required to do all the assigned weekly readings which will serve as the basis for
class participation.
 Weekly “encounter journals.”
o The encounter journal is an ongoing writing assignment reflecting your
continuing engagement with class material. There will be a “focus question”
posted online before each class period for which you will be expected to
contribute 3-5 paragraphs of free writing by the next class session. This writing
does not have to be polished, essay-style writing, but should reflect some personal
thought and engagement on your part. The goal is to see if you understand your
reading correctly, to raise some questions about things you don’t understand or
are uncomfortable with, and to make further connections to our common and
outside-of-class readings as well as your other coursework.
 Key to the goals and outcomes of this course is a critical engagement with both the
theories and issues we are examining, many of which have deeply personal implications.
Remember that criticism is not critique. We all come from a specific time, place, family
background, religious or non-religious background, etc. Cherish that particularity, claim
it, and examine it – and at the same time, respect, encounter, and learn from others’
particularity. Racism or discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated in class. It is
expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing,
and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. I will do my best
to facilitate our discussion around the subject matter we are studying, not around which
themes or views are “wrong” or “right” or around particular cultures or individuals. On
the other hand, we are engaging in the time-honored tradition of intellectual activity; we
will seriously and critically examine the texts, ideas, and authors with which we engage –
an “anything goes” or “whatever you think is fine” approach is unsuitable for a class in
higher education (unless you have some vigorous argumentation and documentation to
support it!).
o As an interactive class, participation is highly valued. However, quality class
participation is not saying or posting “something” (i.e., talking to hear yourself
talk), or contributing all the time (i.e., over participating). Quality participation is
input that offers information, analysis, connections, stories, feelings, examples, or
other engagement in ways that enhance our class discussions. Quality
participation can include disagreement – especially since, for some of us, the
themes of this course are profoundly significant. These disagreements, however,
must also demonstrate respect for the other. Note that quality participation can
also include being silent, listening, and/or participating in some other way or at
some other time. The best way to assess your participation is to ask yourself:
“how would this class be different if I were not in it?” and “how would I be
different if I were not in this class?”
 Complete a Learning Self-Evaluation form.
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Due Dates: Assignments need to be turned in on the dates specified on the Canvas syllabus.
Late assignments will lose one letter grade if work is submitted for the first week after the date
indicated; a further letter grade after the second week; and work submitted after that point will
not be accepted. Students who do not complete any assignments during the first two weeks of
class will not be able to pass the class and will be removed.

Grades issued for assignments are absolutely final and will not be negotiated after they are
issued; requests to do so will not be answered.

Incompletes are not a possibility because of the rules about incompletes and adjunct faculty in
the Masters’ Student Handbook.

Pass/Fail: Students interested in taking the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor
by the end of the first week of class. In order to earn a Pass, students must perform at a level
considered the equivalent of C or better.

Recommended texts:

If you haven’t taken an introductory theology course, or if you feel rusty on theological
terminology, you might find Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms by Donald McKim
(Westminster John Knox, 1996) to be helpful. Abingdon Press’ New and Enlarged Handbook of
Christian Theology (Nashville, 2003) contains helpful short essays on the classic loci and related
issues in Christian theology.

You may use any standard citation format (Turabian, Chicago, MLA, APA, SBL, etc.) for the
written work for this class. If you do not own a style guide, I recommend A Manual for Writers
of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8th edition, by Kate Turabian (University of
Chicago, 2013).

Accommodations: Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to

reasonably accommodate student needs. Students are encouraged to contact their assigned
academic advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations. The advising center can
be contacted at [email protected] or by phone at 303.765.1146.

Community Covenant: All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s
Community Covenant, as posted on Canvas.

Academic Integrity: All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic
Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook and posted on Canvas.
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Iliff Degree Learning Goals for This Course

Comparative Religious Traditions (CR): demonstrate basic awareness of a range of religious

traditions and an emerging capacity to engage in comparative analysis between traditions around
a particular topic.

Sacred Texts (TX): demonstrate an informed understanding of sacred texts as historically and
culturally situated; utilize various methodologies for responsible interpretation of these texts to
contemporary audiences.

Historical Development/ Expressions of Religious Traditions (HI): demonstrate awareness of

religious traditions as historically-situated movements that interacted and changed in relationship
to their surrounding cultures and subcultures over time, resulting in various expressions located
within and influenced by social structures and institutions, ideologies, historical events, ethnicity
and gender, and cultural worldviews.

Constructive Theology (TH): critically engage historical and contemporary theological

expressions of religious traditions and articulate one’s own constructive theological position in
relation to contemporary events and/or situations.

Theology and Religious Practices (PR): engage, construct, and apply theological and
interdisciplinary analyses in relation to contemporary religious traditions, practices, and
institutions in order to assess, design, and perform transformative leadership and meaningful
communal practices with sensitivity to contextual realities and theoretical constructions.

For the academic degrees (MTS and MA):

MTS:
1. Within a broader awareness of the academic study of religion, articulate the complexities
emergent in the interdisciplinary study of religious traditions.
2. Formulate a viable research question that puts the student into conversation with historic
and contemporary thinkers in the study of religion and that fosters transformative
possibilities for humanity and the world.
3. Identify theological resources that would broaden and deepen their thinking about these
questions.
4. Organize their response to a research question, both in written and oral format, in such a
way as to establish themselves as a competent public voice within the interdisciplinary
study of religion.
MA:
1. Within a broader awareness of the academic study of religion, describe and begin to
establish a disciplinary-specific scholarly identity in the area of their specialization.
2. Formulate a viable research question that puts them into conversation with historic and
contemporary thinkers in their declared discipline; articulate and pursue a disciplinarily-
recognizable methodology to formulate a response to that research question.
3. Organize their response to a research question, both in written and oral format, in such a
way as to establish themselves as a competent voice within their disciplinary area.
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Course Assignments

1. Site Visit Report

Prepare and attend a regular ceremony at both your Home Community and your Visiting
Community. Fill out the attached Site Visit Report document for each community by the dates
indicated on Canvas. Use the Site Visit Report to guide your observations during your
attendance.

2. Tradition Reflections

In approximately 1000 words, write an integrated reflection on how the community you have
chosen to represent as either your Home Community or Visiting Community views its theology
of church. First, describe the community you are representing and why you have chosen to
identify with that particular community (i.e., religious tradition or denomination; particular local
historical community; or particular philosophical tradition). Then, describe their ecclesiology
using at least three (3) specific outside resources to reference and cite that community’s
understanding.

3. Final Reflection

We have been practicing evaluating current events in religion in light of their ecclesiology
throughout the quarter in our journal discussions. Find a news report or article on a current event
with ecclesiological implications. In approximately 1000 words, 1) describe that event in your
own words, being careful to be as objective as possible ; 2) evaluate the ecclesiological
implications of that event from your Home Community’s ecclesiological perspective; and 3)
evaluate the ecclesiological implications of that event from your Visiting Community’s
ecclesiological perspective. How are they the same? How are they different? How would each
community respond to or deal with the events described?

Assignment Weighting:
Site Visit Reports: 25%
Tradition Reflection Reports: 25%
Final Reflection: 15%
Journals and Class Discussion: 35%

Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments. Additional help is
available from the Iliff Writing Lab. The Writing Lab is available for students of any level who
need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. E-mail
[email protected] for help.
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Site Visit Report

Theology of the Church, Spring 2016

Name:
Site Visited:
Address:
Phone Number:
Website URL (if any):

Answer each question in approximately 100 to 150 words.

1) Describe the building specifically and in detail. What is its appearance from the outside?
What signs are visible? What visual symbols? Describe any messages or symbols visible
that welcome visitors.

2) What religious tradition does this particular site represent? Describe that tradition and
some of the key theological beliefs that distinguish it from other religious or theological
traditions. Also describe the sources from which you obtained this information.

3) Describe the history of this particular site. How old is it? Who founded it? What is the
history or relevant cultural demographics of this site? Describe how you obtained this
information. Was it available on the site’s website? Information inside the site?

4) Describe in detail the order of the gathering, ceremony, or ritual which you attended. What
actions did you perform? What senses were engaged, and in what way? Who was in
charge, and how did you know?

5) What specific ecclesiological beliefs were mentioned overtly during the gathering?

6) What ecclesiological beliefs were communicated without being overtly mentioned? For
example, what did the practices or words of the person or persons in charge say about the
community’s understandings of ecclesiology or authority?

7) How did the community, in words and practices, foster a sense of identity or belonging
among its members? How did it (or did it not) welcome newcomers into that sense of
identity or belonging?

8) How did persons not in charge of the service interact with you personally, whether a
member or a newcomer? Provide specific examples. How did these interactions reflect
their understandings of community?

9) Provide an artifact of some kind from your visit that represented the community’s
ecclesiology. This can be an order of worship, available literature, a photograph of the
worship space (ask permission first!), etc.
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10) If someone were to ask you what this community believed about church and authority,
how would you answer them in your own words?