ALLIANCE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this one week, Spring intensive, we will develop a story-based theological framework around the theme of the Kingdom of God as it the basis for developing poor peoples' churches around the globe. This includes reflections on Kingdom mission, urban poor evangelism, the Holy Spirit among the poor, cooperative economics, land rights, poverty, justice, oppression, class and racial conflict resolution, incarnation, suffering, poor peoples' churches / movements in two-third world cities, leadership from among the poor, etc.  It includes the struggles by evangelicals to develop  commitment to the poor, without losing church growth foci.  The course has developed out of years of forming missions teams to enter city slums in both first and third world.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course each student will:

1.                  Cognitive (Head): Have developed an integrated theological framework for the multiple aspects of urban poor ministry.  Demonstrated in a written project.

2.                  Cognitive (Head): Be able to relate the complex issues of urban poor mission practice to the Kingdom of God as a wider framework than evangelism and church growth.

3.                  Affective (Heart):  Have an enthusiasm for entering in to the needs of poor communities.  Have developed a heart for the global urban poor.

4.                  Affective (Heart): Where past experiences in urban poor ministry have caused emotional damage, some elements of healing within the context of the class dynamics will have been initiated.

5.                  Praxis (Hands): Be able to relate the complex issues that impact poor people to a model of emergence of a local faith community.  Demonstrated in a written project.

COURSE CORRELATION

REQUIRED TEXT

1. Either Grigg, Viv, Companion to the Poor, MARC, 1990, or Grigg, Viv  Cry of the Urban Poor, MARC, 1992.

 2. Either Nicholls, Bruce J. and Buelah Wood, Sharing the Good News with the Poor, Baker, 1996 or Craig, Jenny, Servants Among the Poor, OMF Publishers: Manila, 1996.

3. Theology from the Slums course reader (150 pages of articles to be given with class notes).

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

Greenway, Roger, Discipling the City, 2nd ed, Baker, 1993, Chaps 1,7,8,12,13, 14,16,18.

Urban Missions magazines (1986-93) articles related to urban poor issues.

Conn, Harvey, ed., Planting and Growing Urban Churches, Baker. 1997.

Carolina de Jesus, Diary of Carolina de Jesus, Mass Market, 1983.

Davey, Cyril, Saint in the Slums: Kagawa of Japan, Jersey City: Parkwest Publications, 2000 or Axling, William, Kagawa, SCM, 1932.

REQUIREMENTS/GRADING

1. Keep a reading log of each chapter (read approx 1000 pages –cover at least the main text prior to class).  Do this in a format that is useful to you.  It should not be extensive. It should include the title, key thought and perhaps a quote, and one sentence reaction or application. Keep it simple. To be reviewed on the Friday of the course Get as much done as possible before the weeks course to reduce pressure during that week.  During the Spring break some papers will be assigned each night to read prior to the next days class as a basis for discussion.  It is probably easier to do this on computer (10% of grade). 

2. 10 minute class presentation from your experiences among the poor.  (Length of time is dependent on numbers in class).  Topics and time slots to be determined on first morning, according to your background and some topic you can see wpuld contribute to the course. Do a 1 page summary and run off copies, 3 hole punched, for class and professor, with main lesson highlighted in one sentence at the bottom  Present using overhead, video, drama, song etc.   If you have no experience among the poor, you may work with another person on a team presentation. At the bottom of paper note the contribution of each contributor . (10% of grade)..

3. Project: Assignments of readings and reflections are designed to integrate into two final 10 - 12 page papers (double spaced, these could be integrated into one 20 page paper) -  showing by words, accompanied by diagrams, schematics, video, or audio-visual. Topic to be submitted with 5 line summary by Weds 19^th, and finalized by Friday 21^st.  Due March 28^th, 4 p.m. at Faculty Office.  While a written presentation is required, please also submit a copy on disk in Microsoft Word.  The best papers may upon your permission be published to the web. 

  (a) Practice: the impact of Kingdom issues on an urban poor church development setting you are              familiar with, and 

 (b) Theology: developing a "poor peoples’ theology" for some practical setting.

(30% of grade for each paper).

4. Exam: 1 Hour. Develop a strategy for entrance and establishment of the Kingdom in a slum.  Justify it theologically.  Last afternoon of class. This will crystallize the week’s discussion and provide an opportunity for pressured reflection on what might go into your course project (20% of grade).

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

on Theology and Practice of Ministry Among the Urban Poor

Viv Grigg, updated Jan 03

Slum Realities

de Jesus, C. (1983). Diary of Carolina de Jesus: Mass Market Publishers.

Jocano, F. L. (1975). Slum As a Way of Life. Manila: New Day Publishers, Box 167, Quezon City 3008.

Lewis, O. (1966). "The Culture of Poverty." Scientific American, 215(4), 3-9.

Lloyd, P. (1979). Slums of Hope? Shanty Towns in the Third World. Hammondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin.

Mangin, W. (l967). Squatter Settlements. Scientific American, 217( No. 4, October 1967), 2l-29.

Mangin, W. (Ed.). (1970). Peasants in Cities: Readings in Anthropology of Urbanization. Boston: Houghton Mifflen.

Mar, M. (1966). Las Barriadas de Lima, 1957. Lima: IEP Ediciones.

West, M. (1961). Children of the Sun: The Slum Dwellers of Naples: Pan Books.

Theology of Poverty

Boerma, C. (1979). The Rich, the Poor - and the Bible. Philadelphia: Westminster.

Boff, L. (1988). When Theology Listens to the Poor. Maryknoll: Orbis and London: Harper and Row.

Boff, L., & Elizondo, V. (Eds.). (1985). The People of God Amidst the Poor (Vol. 176). Glen Rock, NJ: Concilium.

Cherupallikat, J. O. F. M. C. (1975). Witness Potential of Evangelical Poverty In India: Nouvelle Review de Science Missionaire, CH-6405 Immensee, Switzerland.

Clouse, R. G. (Ed.). (1984). Wealth and Poverty: Four Opposing Evangelical American Perspectives. Downers Grove, IL: IVP.

Cone, J. H. (1975). God of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury.

de Santa Ana, J. (1977). Good News to the Poor. Geneva: WCC.

de Santa Ana, J. (1982). Towards a Church of the Poor. Geneva: WCC.

Dorr, D. (1983). Option for the Poor: A Hundred Years of Vatican Social Teaching. Orbis.

Hanks, T. (1983). God So Loved the Third World: The Biblical Vocabulary of Oppression. Maryknoll: Orbis.

Gutierrez, G. (1983). The Power of the Poor in History. New York: Orbis Books and London: SCM Press

Meeks, D. (Ed.). (1994). The Portion of the Poor: Good News to the Poor in the Wesleyan Tradition: Oxford Institute on Methodist Theological Studies.

Miranda, J. P. (1974). Marx and the Bible: A Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Sider, R. (1990). Rich Chnstians in an Age of Hunger. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Sine, T. (1999). Mustard Seed Versus McWorld: Reinventing Life and Faith for the Future. Grand Rapids: MI: Baker Books.

Sobrino, J. (1984). The True Church and the Poor. Maryknoll: Orbis.

Holistic Incarnational Churchplanting

Booth, W. (1890). In Darkest England and the Way Out. London: Salvation Army.

Bradbury, N. (1989). City of God? Pastoral Care in the Inner City. London: SPCK.

Craig, J. (c1996). Servants Among the Poor. Manila: OMF Publishers.

Davey, C. (2000). Saint in the Slums: Kagawa of Japan. Jersey City: Parkwest Publications.

Fenske, R. P. (1998). En La Buena Lucha (In the Good Struggle): The Sister Parish Movement: White Mane Publishers.

Goudge, E. (1959). Saint Francis of Assisi: Hodder and Stoughton.

Grigg, V. (1986a). SERVANTS: A Protestant Missionary Order With Vows of Simplicity and Non-Destitute Poverty. Auckland: Urban Leadership Foundation.

Grigg, V. (1987a). Sorry, the Frontier Moved! In H. Conn (Ed.), Planting and Growing Urban Churches: From Dream to Reality. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.

Grigg, V. (1989). Squatters: The Most Responsive Unreached Bloc. Urban Mission, Volume 6( Number 5, May 1989).

Grigg, V. (1990(84)). Companion to the Poor. Monrovia, CA: MARC.

Grigg, V. (1992a). Church of the Poor. In R. Greenway (Ed.), Discipling the City: A Comprehensive Approach to Urban Mission (pp. 159-170). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker.

Grigg, V. (1992b). Cry of the Urban Poor. Monrovia, CA: MARC.

Hembree, R. (1979). The Mark Buntain Story. Minneapolis: Bethany House publishers.

Houghton, G., & Sargunam, E. (1982). Church Planting Among the Urban Poor (With focus on Madras and Bombay). Asia Pulse, Evangelical Missions Information Service,, 15(No. 2, May l982).

John Perkins. (1996). Restoring At-Risk Communities: Doing It Together and Doing It  Right.

Kenrick, B. (1965). Come Out the Wilderness. London: Fontana.

Lausanne Occasional Papers. (1980). Christian Witness to the Urban Poor #22, : Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, PO Box 1100, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, USA.

Mavrodes, G. (1976). The Salvation of Zachary Baumkletterer. The Other Side(Feb 1976).

Nicholls, B. J., & Wood, B. (Eds.). (1996). Sharing Good News With the Poor: World Evangelical Fellowship.

Perrin, H. (1964). Priest and Worker: The Autobiography of Henri Perrin (B. Wall, Trans.). New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston.

Pullinger, J. (1980). Chasing the Dragon. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Sheppard, D. (1984). Bias to tbe Poor. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Sherman, A. L. (1997). Restorers of Hope: Reaching the Poor in Your Community with Church-Based Ministries that Work. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

West, M. (1961). Children of the Sun: The Slum Dwellers of Naples: Pan Books.

Wilkerson, D. (1962). The Cross and The Switchblade: Pyramid Books.

Housing, Land and Land Rights

Brueggeman, W. (1977). The Land. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

Building Together Association. (1984). Seminar Report on: The Right to Stay: The Poor, the Land and the Law in Asian Cities. Bangkok: Centre for Housing, National Housing Authority,.

Davies, W. (1974). The Gospel and the Land. Berkeley: University of California Press.

de Soto, H. (1989a). Informal Housing (J. Abbott, Trans.), The Other Path (pp. 17-57). New York: Harper & Row.

Fuller, M. (1994). The Theology of the Hammer. Habitat for Humanity.

Grigg, V. (1998). Biblical Reflections on Land and Land Rights. Auckland: Urban Leadership Foundation.

Siddiqui, M. K. A. (1984). The Slums of Calcutta: A Problem and its Solution, Calcutta Slums: Problems and Solutions. 5 Russell Street, Calcutta 700071, 47-63: CASA

Pornchokchai. (1985). 1020 Bangkok Slums. 685/56 Jaransanitwong 68, Bangplad, Bangkok Noi, Bangkok 10700 Thailand: School of Urban Research and Community Actions.

Street People, Drugs, Prostitution Ministries

Anderson, J. (1995). Crisis on the Streets. Manila: Action International Ministries.

Bellamy, C. (2000). Child Labour: Rights, Risks and Realities. In R. M. Jackson (Ed.), Global Issues 99/00 (pp. 186-189). Guilford, Conn: Dushkin/McGraw Hill.

Eding, G. F. (1988). Drug Addiction and Prostitution, Urban Ministry in Asia (Vol. 198-207): Asia Theological Association,.

Khandekar, S. (1986, Jan 3l, l986). Their Pound of Flesh. India Today, pp. 80-82.

Somerset, C. (2001, November 2001). What the professionals know: The trafficking of children into and through, the U.K. for sexual purposes. ecpat(uk). Retrieved Dec 21, 2001, from the World Wide Web: www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/children.pdf

Preger, J. (1985, July 8, l985). The Rooting Out of the Rootless. Point Counterpoint.

Pullinger, J. (1980). Chasing the Dragon. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Wilkerson, D. (1962). The Cross and The Switchblade: Pyramid Books.

Development

Beals, A. (1985). Beyond Hunger: A Biblical Mandate for Social Responsibility. Portland, OR: Multnomah.

Duncan, M. (1990). A Journey in Development. Melboume: World Vision The Bridge Series.

Yamamori, T., Myers, B., & Luscombe, K. (Eds.). (1998). Serving With the Urban Poor. Monrovia: MARC.

Poverty and Power, Community Organisation

Cook, G. (1985). The Expectation of the Poor: Latin American Basic Ecclesial Communities. Maryknoll: Orbis.

Freire, P. (1986). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). New York: Continuum.

Freire, P. (1995). Pedagogy of Hope (Robert R. Barr, Trans.). New York: Continuum Publishing Group.

Linthicum, R. (1991). Empowering the Poor. Monrovia, California: MARC.

The Economics of Poverty

de Soto, H. (1989b). The Other Path (J. Abbott, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row.

De Vries, B. A., & Weakland, R. G. (1998). Champions of the Poor: The Economic Consequences of  Judeo-Christian Values: Georgetown University Press.

Duchrow, U. (1988). The Witness of the Church in Contrast to the Prevailing Ideologies of the Market Economy, Poverty and Polarisation: A Call to Commitment. Manchester: William Temple Foundation.

Galbraith, J. K. (c1980). The Nature of Mass Poverty: Penguin.

Grant, G. (1987). Bringing in the Sheaves: Transforming Poverty into Productivity. Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press.

Yunus, M. (1999). The Grameen Bank. Scientific American(November 1999), 114-119.

Myrdal, G. (1968). Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of the Nations.

Santos, M. (1979). Pobreza Urbana. Sao Paulo: Editora Brasiliense.

Santos, M. (1979). The Shared Space (trans from Portuguese, C. Gerry, Trans.). London and New York: Methuen.

Poverty in the United States

Harrington, M. (1964). The Other America: Poverty in the United States. NY: MacMillan.

John Perkins. (1996). Restoring At-Risk Communities: Doing It Together and Doing It  Right.

Kenrick, B. (1965). Come Out the Wilderness. London: Fontana.

Lupton, R. (1993). Return Flight: Community Development Through Reneighboring Our Cities: FCS Urban Ministries Inc, 750 Glenwood Ave, SE, P.O. Box 17628, Atlanta, GA 30316, USA.

Magnuson, N. (1977). Salvation in the Slums: Evangelical Social Work 1865-1920. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.

Oostdyk, H. (1983). Step One: The Gospel and the Ghetto.

Perkins, D. L. (1993). Thomas Chalmers, Urban Advocate of the Poor. Urban Missions

Urban Mission, 10(No. 3).

Perkins, J. (1982). With Justice for All. Ventura: Regal Books.

Perkins, J. (1995). Restoring at Risk Communities: CCDA,1909 Robinson Road, Jackson, MS 39209, USA.