Tasks

Active participation. Participation is qualitative as well as quantitative, and is not just awarded proportionately. The word 'attendance' is related to the word 'attention': If you're in class but not of it—passive, off-topic, or checked out—you aren't participating or attending. IRL, if you miss a day of work every week, or just show up and sit at your desk doing nothing, you don't get 80% of your pay; you lose your job.

Course practices. 'Theology' that isn't rooted in personally knowing God is a pale imitation. "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5–6 ESV). 'Theology' that only examines God without following God is counterfeit: "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22 ESV). Participating in our tasks in and out of class is essential for our theology's legitimacy. Course participation in whatever form it takes for you (or doesn't) goes into your final grade.

Our in-class activities will involve:

• share something learned from practices outside class
• discuss that day's reading or viewing, integrating your prior learning
• learn a skill
• practice a skill
• five-minute meetings with squad leaders
• teaching

On Mondays and Fridays when we have no class (for instance, Easter weekend), you can still do the activity with family, friends, or neighbors where you are.

Field work. Disciple-making movements are fundamentally practical as well as cognitive, so there will be regular things to do outside class, from training in disciple-making practices to obeying what you have learned and sharing it with others. For instance:

Squads and their leadership. Theology is intrinsically relational: "what you have heard ... entrust to faithful [people], who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim 2:2 ESV). For greater accountability you'll be in 'squads' of 4-5 people. (Jesus seems to have done this, grouping his twelve apostles in three groups of four.) This will help you equip one another, MAWL duckling discipleship, remain accountable, and facilitate feedback to and from me. Each squad appoints a peer leader for accountability and encouragement in meeting their goals for the course. Leaders will switch at the middle of the semester. I'll meet with leaders weekly for five-minute meetings to check in and support you. Leadership will count as one 'written' exercise (it's actually spoken). Directions for squad members as well as leaders are here.

Not preparing, trying to draft on fellow students, and procrastinating will hold back your whole squad (as it does IRL, at least before you get fired from a job or dropped from a team). Grade-wise, your participation will suffer as well as your exams and written assignments.

Duckling discipleship. Each student will identify someone for whom you are an IRL influencer—a younger sibling, a peer, a teammate—to mentor, duckling-discipleship style. This primarily involves teaching them both how to discover and to become guides. (David Watson: "mentors make mentors.") I do not set the agenda for your relationship; God and you do. You'll also follow a guide of your own—a parent, teacher, coach, older sibling, etc., preferably from outside college who already influences you—and seek to discover more truly and equip yourself as a duckling. Squad leadership does not replace this activity.

Multiplication. Theology is also intrinsically missional: "freely you have received; freely give" (Matt 10:8 NIV). I strongly encourage you to begin a discovery Bible study (DBS) in a group of your own that includes people near or far who are not in our class. You have several great options for 'curriculum': (1) The 'creation to Christ' sequence (on the Waha app) is used among disciple-makers worldwide in introducing new audiences to the Bible's grand story and Jesus at its heart. (2) Lists of six-week 'story sets' (relevant Bible passages) are here for you to use. (3) The '7 Journeys' story sets in Roy Moran's book Spent Matches are on Canvas. Your groups are of course welcome to continue with different topics, and I urge you not to give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:24–25) after the semester but to encourage members to start their own groups.

Learn-and-tell. Theology is proven and spread as God's people testify. What have you been learning, perhaps in your own reading and doing, that the others in class should know too? People are wired to learn from one another, so we will spend class time sharing what we're learning. Feel free to bring handouts if they're helpful.

Reading. We will read and discuss the following. (BTW, I buy most of my books used on eBay, where they're often cheaper than used on Amazon. E-books are okay too.)

• The Holy Bible. ESV, NIV, or NLT preferred. NASB, RSV, or NRSV just fine. KJV, NKJV, TNIV acceptable. Message, Passion not acceptable for class purposes even if they're fine in other contexts. Others and non-English translations okay by permission.
• Lesslie Newbigin, A Walk through the Bible, Regent. You may instead listen to the original lectures online.
• Steve Addison, What Jesus Started: Joining the Movement Changing the World, InterVarsity.
• Steve Addison, Movements that Change the World, InterVarsity.
• Jerry Trousdale and Glenn Sunshine, The Kingdom Unleashed, DMM Library.
• Jerry Trousdale, Miraculous Movements, Nelson.
• Roy Moran, Spent Matches, Nelson.
• Selected shorter readings, on Canvas or linked from schedule.
• Excerpts from the Zúme training guide, free online.
• Excerpts from David Coles and Stan Parks, eds., 24:14–A Testimony to All Peoples, 2019, free online.
• Optionally, one of the following. Choose one that interests you. You'll write about it as one of your written assignments.
  Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission, Eerdmans.
  Warrick Farah, ed., Motus Dei: The Movement of God to Disciple the Nations, William Carey.
  Richard Bauckham, Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World, Baker.
  Steve Addison, The Rise and Fall of Movements: A Roadmap for Leaders, 100M.
  Chris Galanos, From Megachurch to Multiplication: A Church’s Journey toward Movement, Experience Life, 2018.

Written exercises. You will write occasional exercises on readings and other tasks. You can find each assignment from a link on the syllabus. These are like 'problem sets' meant to put the material to work. You will review and discuss these with peers and occasionally in class. As you write, please refer to my suggestions for writing papers for helpful suggestions, cautions about Internet "research", ultimata regarding late papers and plagiarism, and so on.

Let me anticipate the inevitable question: "What are you looking for?" I'm not looking for a command performance; I'm looking for you to have done what the assignment asks you to do. That will involve substantive engagement with the course material, primarily scripture and also both lectures and readings. I'm looking for signs you are really wrestling with and assimilating the course concepts.

A follow-up question, less often stated, is "Why are you making us do this?" It's a good question; I've dropped a lot of questions where the answer wasn't compelling enough. Each assignment is crafted with an aspiration that's mentioned in its prompt. That's what I'm after.

I keep using the word exercise, to help counter the high-school baggage associated with 'essay,' 'assignment,' 'writing,' 'paper,' and the like. These exercises are like problem sets, meant to give you practice working with the stuff. So just exercise! Write them in sweats or yoga pants if it helps.

Assignments are due on the date listed in the schedule.

The following are guidelines to give you an idea of how I will be evaluating these. But please please bear in mind the 'college value paradox' I will describe, in which some of the highest-level performance is actually much less fruitful in the long run than basics.

• Consistently excellent quality (something like "A"): all assignments complete, on time, full responses to question(s), uses sources broadly and appropriately, demonstrates unusually insightful or sophisticated grasp of the material, well written.
• High quality (like "B+"): complete, on time, full responses, uses sources broadly and appropriately, demonstrates sound and sophisticated knowledge of the material, well written.
• Consistently good quality (~"B-"): complete, generally on time, adequate responses, works with sources, demonstrates basic knowledge of the material, mediocre writing (some grammatical and spelling errors).
• Acceptable (~"C"): basic grasp and application of the material, but occasionally missing or late assignments, repeated failure to do what is assigned (e.g., not using sources well enough, tangential topics), poor understanding or misunderstanding of more complex concepts, or poor writing.
• Poor (~"D"): somewhat incomplete, generally late, consistent failure to do what is assigned, poor or no grasp of the concepts.
• Inadequate (~"F"): largely incomplete, failure to do what is assigned, or academic dishonesty.

Peer review. You will peer review the written work of other students, evaluating the writer's style, organization, use of sources, and strength of argument. Refer to my peer review guidelines and use my peer review form (in HTML or Acrobat).

Office hour appointment. I consider time spent with a student in person a much better investment for both of us than the same time spent writing comments on an essay or in an e-mail. So I'd like you to meet with me one-on-one at least once during the semester during my office hours. This is an opportunity for you and me to get to know each other better, address concerns, tailor the course to your particular interests and needs, and give each other direct feedback. Make an appointment on Google Calendar, using the link on the syllabus' front page. If you forget your appointment, grovel a little, apologize, and make a new one. If I cancel your appointment unilaterally, go ahead and make me grovel a little, please forgive me, and make a new one.