EDNE602 - Mission Experience in Church Ministry

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

Within faith-based schools, Religious Education is a key learning area and for Catholic schools in Australia, religious education has been one of the ways in which the Catholic Christian tradition has been transmitted across generations. Religious education beyond the classroom includes many approaches including mission based experiences.

This unit explores the Church's evangelising mission through participation in a ministry project. Students either participate with others in a ministry team or as an individual. The ministry activity may be within an educational and/or Church community context, at the local, national or international location approved by the Dean La Salle Academy.

The unit is divided into three modules: preparing, conducting and reflecting on the ministry experience. Students will have the opportunity to apply the learning gained from the ministry project within their professional context, whilst promoting awareness and inviting the support of their local school and Church communities.

The aim of the unit is for students to plan and engage in a range of evangelisation activities including education, faith formation and practical outreach to the poor and marginalised.

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 - Identify strategies appropriate for conducting a mission experience inspired by the vision, aims and methods of the new evangelisation (GA4, GA9; 6.2 HA, 7.4 Lead)

LO2 - Plan, and execute a ministry activity focused on evangelisation and mission (GA1, GA8)

LO3 - Demonstrate a comprehensive application of knowledge of ministry skills including enculturation and cross–cultural communication with reference to their participation in a ministry experience (GA9)

LO4 - Analyse and evaluate the ministry experience in the light of maintaining cross-cultural and inter-personal relationships in fulfilling the focus of the ministry experience (GA1, GA4)

LO5 - Critically reflect on the personal impact of participating in a ministry experience of the new evangelisation and its implications for professional practice and growth in leadership (GA4)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

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

The unit will consist of three modules:

Module 1

Preparing: Students investigate and reflect critically on the following topics: mission including mission ad gentes; mission as proclamation and dialogue; types of cross-cultural mission expressing the goals of the new evangelisation; mission outreach planning and skills; enculturation; cross cultural communication skills; the importance of relationships on mission; the engagement of the local sending community; and re-entry awareness.

Module 2

Conducting: Students participate in a ministry placement within an educational or Church context through: team building and relationships; leadership; participating in and critically reflecting upon faith formation opportunities through prayer and sacraments; and regular debriefing on experiences and spiritual development.

Module 3

Reflecting: Students explore the re-entry process through: recording; analysing and evaluating the experience; telling the story within the local community; strategies for maintaining relationships with cross-cultural communities; and synthesising and integrating the ministry experience into professional practice.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Engagement for learning is the key driver in the delivery of this curriculum. Module one may be offered in either online or multi-mode. In both modes a range of online learning strategies will align unit content with teaching, learning and assessment, including: online lectures, tutorials, workshops and seminars; synchronous and/or asynchronous digital engagement in reading/library tasks, learning activities, discussion forums and consultation as mediated through the LEO (Learning Environment Online) unit site. These strategies will facilitate active participation in the Ministry Project.

Module 2 requires students to participate in an intensive ministry experience of a minimum of 40 hours.

Module 3 is completed online or multi-doe and requires students to complete reflection in situ as well as online review and reflection.This is a 10 credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video, workshops, and assignments etc. Students should anticipate that the total time commitment to these activities will be approximately 150 hours across the semester including the 40 hours of the ministry placement.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to successfully complete this unit, postgraduate students need to complete and submit three graded assessment tasks.

The assessment strategy used allows students to progressively develop their knowledge, understanding and skills to the level of sophistication where they are able to plan, implement an evaluate a ministry placement

In order to develop this level of creativity the first assessment task draws on concepts covered in Module 1 to develop a professional and personal learning plan for the ministry project. The second assessment task consolidates key theoretical and contextual understandings through synthesising this factual and conceptual knowledge by students participating in a ministry placement. The third assessment task further applies their understanding through the development of a ministry presentation focused on the ministry project.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi; Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium; John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio; and Eims, The Lost Art of Disciple Making.

Bevans, S. B. (Ed). (2012). Mission and culture: The Louis J. Luzbetak lectures. New York: Orbis.

Bevans, S. B. (Ed) (2013). A century of Catholic mission: Roman Catholic missiology, 1910 to present. Oxford: Regnum Books International.

Dorr, D. (2014). Mission in today's world. New York: Orbis.

Hahn, S. (2014). Evangelising Catholics: A mission manual for the new evangelisation. Huntingdon, IN: Our Sunday Visitor.

Iniobong Udoidem, S. (1996). Pope John Paul II on enculturation: Theory and practice. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Kreslet, S. H. (2012). Comprehending mission: The questions, methods, themes, problems and prospects of missiology. New York: Orbis.

Kroeger, J. (Ed). (2013). The gift of mission: Yesterday, today, tomorrow. New York: Orbis.

Ormerod, N. (2010) Identity and mission in Catholic organisations [online]. Australasian Catholic Record, 87(4), 430-439.

Schroeder, R. P. (2008). What is the mission of the Church?: A guide for Catholics. New York: Orbis.

CHURCH DOCUMENTS

Second Vatican Council, Ad Gentes (1965) [Decree on the missionary activity of the Church]. Retrieved from:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651207_ad-gentes_en.html