THCT604 - Becoming Church Today: Nature and Mission

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

THCT500 Foundations of Christian Faith or THCT563 Introducing Theology

Teaching organisation

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, or the equivalent of 10 hours per week for 15 weeks. The total includes formally structured learning activities such as lectures, tutorials, online learning, video-conferencing, or supervision. The remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the preparation of tasks for assessment.

Unit rationale, description and aim

A key issue for Christianity today is that of the nature and mission of the Church and how it is understood and lived. For Catholics and other Christians, it is vital to have ecclesiological knowledge in order to understand the role and purpose of the Church, especially for those who intend to work for Church-based organisations. Moreover, as the reception of Vatican II’s ecclesiological vision is a key challenge for the Catholic Church today, having a clear understanding of Vatican II ecclesiology is important for Catholics.

THCT604 explores the nature, mission, and theology of the Church as these have unfolded from New Testament times through to the present day. It examines different approaches from the early church to the post-conciliar period, with particular focus on the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council. It also addresses key contemporary issues, such as the continual call to ecclesial renewal, issues related to both the local and universal Church, and ecumenical and interreligious perspectives. The aim of this unit is to introduce students to ecclesiology, guide them in developing a sound grasp of ecclesiological models and issues, and help them to articulate the relevance of the Church both today and into the future.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Explain what the Church is, including its biblical basis, early development, key features, and four marks (GA4);

LO2 - Analyse selected major themes in Vatican II’s ecclesiology and their ongoing significance for other areas of the Church’s life, such as mission and ecumenical relations (GA4, GA8);

LO3 - Evaluate the relevance, mission and challenges facing the Church now and into the future in light of contemporary ecclesiological issues, including reform, and ecumenical and interreligious perspectives (GA8; GA9).

Graduate attributes

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include:

• Models, metaphors and methods in ecclesiology
• New Testament ecclesiology: the many faces of the Church;
• Developing Church: The Four Marks of the Church;
• Church and Kingdom of God: Nature and purpose of the Church;
• Reformation and Counter-Reformation: Trent and its legacy;
• Vatican II’s ecclesiological vision of church as communion and sacrament, with particular focus on Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes
• Post-conciliar debates and developments;
• Pope Francis on a synodal and a missionary Church;
• Contemporary ecclesiologies: communion and mission in their global, local, ecumenical, and interreligious dimensions.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, or the equivalent of 10 hours per week for 15 weeks. The total includes formally structured learning activities such as lectures, tutorials, online learning, video-conferencing, or supervision. The remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the preparation of tasks for assessment.

THCT604 is normally offered in attendance mode or multi-mode. Students learn through formally structured and sequenced learning activities that support the achievement of the learning outcomes. Learning activities are structured according to the constructivist developmental sequence, beginning with explaining and defining the Church’s development, nature and mission, then shifting to focus on analysing Vatican II’s vision of the Church with reference to other key ecclesiological models, and finally focusing on evaluating how the Church might approach the need for ongoing ecclesial renewal and reform, considering the relevance, mission, and challenges facing the Church now and into the future, especially in light of ecumenical and interreligious perspectives. Learning is designed to be an engaging and supportive student-centred process, which provides students with opportunities to reflect on the meaning of theological concepts and how they relate to their own experiences.

THCT604 emphasises students as active, adult learners, who engage best when what they are learning is relevant to them. Classes provide space for them to discuss different perspectives and come to their own conclusions, and they receive the opportunity to be responsible for their own learning. Students are asked to critically comprehend, reflect, analyse, and integrate new information with existing knowledge, draw meaningful new connections, share their knowledge and perspective with others, and apply what they have learned to their own contexts.

Following constructive alignment, the unit’s learning outcomes, weekly teaching content, and assessment tasks are all aligned with each other. This means that teaching content and learning activities are designed to aid students in completion of the learning outcomes and assessment tasks.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome. The three assessment tasks align with the constructivist sequence outlined in the learning outcomes and the teaching and learning strategy, which moves in sequence from explanation, to analysis, to evaluation.

 Assessment Task 1 enables students to display achievement of LO 1 by asking them to create a mind map explaining what the Church is, visually outlining its various dimensions and their interconnections, with a written commentary attached. This is a foundational activity, aimed at enabling students to display their grasp of the nature of the Church. It forms a platform for Assessment Tasks 2 and 3.

 Assessment Task 2 shifts from explanation to analysis, asking students to research and write an essay analysing Vatican II’s ecclesiological vision, with reference to other ecclesiological models, and its ongoing significance for other areas of the Church’s life, such as mission, and ecumenical relations. This task is designed to help students examine Vatican II’s ecclesiology in depth and reflect on the importance that the Church’s understanding of itself has on other aspect of its life, such as its approach to mission. It aligns with all three learning outcomes.

 Assessment Task 3 challenges students to move beyond explanation and analysis to the higher level skill of evaluation. Students are asked to critically evaluate the relevance, mission and challenges facing the Church now and into the future in light of contemporary ecclesiological issues, including reform and ecumenical and interreligious perspectives. It aligns with all three learning outcomes.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Avis, Paul, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Dulles, Avery. Models of the Church. New York: Image, 2013.

Faggioli, Massimo. A Council for the Global Church: Receiving Vatican II in History. Minneapolis: Fortress press, 2015.

Gaillardetz, Richard. Ecclesiology for a Global Church: A People Called and Sent. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2008.

Gaillardetz, Richard and Edward P. Hahnenberg, eds. A Church with Open Doors: Catholic Ecclesiology for the Third Millennium. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2015.

Kasper, Walter. The Catholic Church: Nature, Reality and Mission. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015.

Lamb, Matthew and Matthew Levering, eds. The Reception of Vatican II. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Mannion, Gerard, ed. Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism: Evangelii Gaudium and the Papal Agenda. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017.

McBrien, Richard P. The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism. New York: HarperOne, 2008.

Ormerod, Neil. Re-Visioning the Church: An Experiment in Systematic-Historical Ecclesiology. Lanham: Fortress Press, 2014.