Pre-requisites

None.

Co-requisites

None.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

• Evaluate a key person and their ideas with respect to development of the modern missionary movement.

• Critically assess the reasons for the growth of the church at a particular moment in history

• Evaluate a historical missions movement using key missiological concepts

• Critically evaluate the key theory of a historical mission text.

• Apply lessons from mission history to a contemporary situation.

Unit Description

This unit commences with an introduction to the study of history and provides basic criteria and theses for analysing missiologically the history of the expansion of the Church worldwide and the missionary movements involved in the process.

The first section begins by considering the growth of the early Church and its expansion in the Roman world. Attention is given to the rise of monasticism and the missionary expansion associated with the Celtic Church in the European context. The growth of the church in China and Russia is considered. The effects of the rise of Islam upon the Christian movement is reflected upon and analysed. Emphasis is given to the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation and the missionary ventures that gradually emerged, particularly those associated with the Jesuits, Puritans, Pietists, Moravians and Methodists. The student analyses an historical missionary movement in terms of the ten theses which are presented in this unit.

The second section focuses upon the modern missionary movement beginning with Carey and the emergence of Protestant mission structures. An overview of mission to Asia, Africa, South America and the Pacific is presented. The growth of both the student volunteer movement and the women’s missionary movement are considered. Emphasis is placed upon Edinburgh 1910, and the development of the ecumenical movement. Trends and issues in mission are considered, and new emerging forms of mission in both the first and majority world are explored. The skills that are required to assess and analyse issues in mission are developed through the use of a case study methodology.

Teaching Strategies

Teaching strategies include lectures, tutorials, weekend schools and presentation of instructional material in the form of printed documentation, OHP, DVD, video and audio tape and on-line interaction. Students also learn by class discussion, personal study, preparation of assignments and assessment comments on their work.

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Unit offerings

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.