Mission Studies

• STH TM 801: Christian Mission in a Religiously Plural World
  This course is focused on constructing a theology of mission that is appropriate, adequate, and relevant for the 21st century's religious plurality. The aim of the course is to enable students to 1) recall a quick critical survey of the history of Christian mission, 2) grapple with the varied biblical understandings of mission, and 3) begin to frame and articulate a theology of mission that addresses the challenges posed by the religiously plural world
• STH TM 815: Christian Mission
  Exploration of biblical, historical, theological, political, and cultural perspectives on the world mission of the church. This course is a requirement for United Methodist MDiv students pursuing ordination in the United Methodist Church.
• STH TM 853: NGOs & FBOs
  Explores theoretical and practical issues related to cross-cultural non-governmental and faith-based service work.
• STH TM 856: Women in Mission and World Christianity
  History of Christian women in diakonia and mission outreach, including gender issues in mission and non-western Christianity today.
• STH TM 857: Mission and Development
  This interdisciplinary course will look at two terms that are very important to contemporary experience but that often create cross-cultural confusion. Moving beyond thinking of "mission" just as service and/or evangelism and "development" in a materialist, industrial sense, we will attempt to create new awareness suitable for an era of climate change, economic inequity, and resource wars. Guiding our analysis will be information from worldviews that do not see things as split into sacred and secular realms. Self-reflection will go into the historically dominant role of the United States and American Christianity in forming current policies and practices and we will consider what alternative views might mean for the world's future.
• STH TM 858: Creating Resilience Amidst Resource Scarcity
  Since the mid-1980s, humans have been consuming more of earth's resources than the planet can replenish; the United States alone uses one quarter of the world's energy. This situation, known as "overshoot," has largely arisen from hyper-development. If nothing is done, in several decades there will be vast species extinction, food and fuel shortages, and social unrest. Today's young children could also expect to grow old in a catastrophically degraded world. Many analysts say a cultural and spiritual awakening, including a major rethink of humanity's mission and purpose, is needed to alter this future scenario. So the purpose of this course is to prepare students who can help bring about such an awakening. We will engage Christian theological viewpoints with those of concerned economists, philosophers, and organizational behaviorists. And we will experiment with practical applications of key concepts necessary to positive change.
• STH TM 910: History of Christian Mission
  A seminar in the history of Christian missions, from the early church to the present. Issues of historiography, method, and the emergence of non-western church history. Required course for doctoral students in mission studies.
• STH TM 930: History of Missiology
  Seminar on the classic Protestant mission theorists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Required for doctoral students in mission studies.
• STH TM 931: Readings in Contemporary Missiology
  Readings and discussions of important works in missiology from the 1960's to the present. This course begins where TM 930 ends. Required for doctoral students in mission studies

Back to full list of Courses