Wednesdays from
January 17th - April 19th
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PST
Course will be taught in person at VST, and via Zoom for distance students (degree students must connect synchronously if studying via Zoom)
Course Description:
This course is designed for students approaching ministry in pastoral and public contexts. Located in the field of Mission Studies, this course will attend specifically to contemporary issues in evangelism, by analyzing and studying the history, practice, and effectiveness of how Christians share the gospel in the world, with a particular emphasis upon the Canadian context.
Purpose:
In her classic book on evangelism Out of the Saltshaker Rebecca Pippert confesses a time when, “there was a part of me that secretly felt evangelism was something you shouldn’t do to your dog, let alone a friend.” On the surface many kind-hearted Christians in Canada today would agree that the “E word” has become an embarrassing practice within the broader Christian movement. While reading Scripture on Sunday mornings in church is fine, speaking to others about their deep faith in Jesus where they live, work or play the rest of the week seems daunting to some and unseemly to others. While sanctuaries encourage people to flex their doxological muscles, the wider world can be a place where many Christians commonly experience “liturgical laryngitis.” And yet, the Triune God calls us to witness in the world. Like women running from the empty tomb to proclaim the resurrection to others locked away in fear, we are sent Sunday by Sunday into the world with good news to share. At the heart of this course, is the desire to address the question of how we might best practice that sharing of good news with others, in a way that feels authentic and sensitive in a post-Christendom, pluralistic, and multi-faith world. Together, we will explore how to reclaim a “playful urgency” in sharing the gospel with others in partnership with the Holy Spirit’s ongoing reconciliation and redemption in the world.
Competence Objectives:
Discern the challenges and opportunities for practicing evangelism in a post- Christendom Western context, while developing an ability to articulate the essence of, and the urgency in, sharing the gospel as a means of participating in God’s reconciling mission in Christ to mend the world.
Name and identify a deep awareness of the missional pitfalls and fateful errors of evangelism linked with empire in our Christendom past, including the Residential Schools’ legacy with Indigenous peoples.
Identify and assess a variety of current evangelization models that build upon God’s agency in the world. By doing so, students will evaluate current approaches to evangelism vis-à-vis the reductionism that has been a shadow part of our mission history.
Articulate critical theological questions at stake in our attempt to build witnessing communities of Christian faith in the world today that engage in effective evangelistic practice.
About Rev. Dr. Ross Lockhart
rlockhart@standrews.edu
Ross Lockhart is Professor of Mission Studies at Vancouver School of Theology and Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall. Ross loves teaching, researching and writing in the area of practical theology, with a special emphasis upon missiology. Ross holds a PhD from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and is author of Lessons from Laodicea: Missional Leadership in a Culture of Affluence; Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership Lessons for Today; co-author of Better Than Brunch: Missional Churches in Cascadia as well as Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver and editor of Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil. Ross is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada.