Posts Tagged ‘2012 Middler Review’

Some of the required outcomes of the MDiv program—language competency, exegetical ability, and facility in written communication, for example—are more easily measured through class grades than through posts in an electronic portfolio. Though this may be the case, I would still like to take advantage of this opportunity to draw attention to a few papers I have written in GST classes that I believe are good indicators of my language, exegetical, and communication skills (outcomes 1abcd and 11abcd).

First is an exegesis paper written in the spring of 2011 for Dr. John Willis and Dr. James Thompson’s Exegesis class. The paper looks closely at Philippians 3:7-16, concluding that this pericope is Paul’s theological narrative of kenosis in his own life, one of a number of passages throughout Philippians that indicates kenosis as the letter’s overarching theme. This exegesis paper received an A from Dr. Thompson, along with the comment, “Nicely done.”

The next paper, “A Divine Oikos,” was written for Dr. Niccum’s Advanced Intro to New Testament class in the summer of 2011. It traces the theme of household throughout Ephesians, viewing household as an organizing metaphor for the church that subsumes the letter’s other metaphors under its conceptual framework. The paper received an overall grade of 278/300 (93%), and Dr. Niccum remarked that “with a little work it could be presented at a conference or published.”

Writing these papers and others like them revealed at least two important things to me. First, though I don’t always like the writing process (sometimes it’s just hard to find the motivation!), I do like having written something that is deemed to be of decent quality or usefulness. I’m still not quite sure what that distinction means for my thoughts about possible PhD work and teaching, but I am encouraged that the same kind of feeling seems to have engulfed author Gene Fowler at times, for he said, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” (Quote found here.) I am in good company.

But second, and closely related, I very much enjoy the conceptual work that goes into forming ideas for my papers. I remember the moment when the idea of kenosis as a guiding interpretive concept for all of Philippians crystallized in my mind, transforming me from a frustrated, tired student to an inspired, voracious learner. That was an exciting moment! A similar thing happened with the theme of household in Ephesians. And developing those spontaneous moments of insight was just as exciting. And though I will be the first to admit that those ideas have probably been more fully formed—or, more likely, negated—coherently in the writings of better scholars, I still found and find gratification in having discovered them for myself.

All that having been said, I leave you now with the papers themselves.

Philippians 3 Exegesis Paper

A Divine Oikos

During the course of my education in the GST another passion of mine that has emerged is practical theology. My interest in this field is intimately connected to some of my other loves: justice, spiritual formation, community, mission… Pursuing practical theology allows me to take the theories and ideas that emerge within these other passions and ask what they look like in the everyday lives of everyday Christians.

The papers that I’ve linked to below display my beginning thoughts on two issues of practical theology. In “Sharing Food, Sharing Life,” (written for Dr. Cukrowski’s New Testament Ethics class in the spring of 2011), I explore the spiritual significance of food and eating for our identity as the people of God. The “Theological Reflection Paper” posted below was written for Dr. Robert Foster’s Justice in the Biblical Tradition class in the spring of 2010. It is an examination of one of the most deplorable injustices of our day—human trafficking—and the ways James 1:22-2:26 challenges Christians to respond rather than remain in ignorance and apathy.

These papers (rudimentary and faltering as they may be) betray my deep love for issues of practical theology, show at least beginning attempts to analyze and understand and draw connections to contemporary cultural contexts (outcome 4abcd), exhibit ways in which the theologies and traditions of Christianity intersect with these matters (outcome 2abc), and indicate some of my perspective on how the church can and should be equipped in knowledge and in practice to engage in issues like these (outcomes 6abcd, and 8abd).

Although my passion for good, healthy food and constructive eating practices is particularly well known (particularly in the St. Ann Community), my interest in practical theology is by no means limited to the two issues I’ve written about here. I love the idea of continuing in the vein of practical theology well into the future, helping people understand what our actual practices of everyday life—shopping, building, working, driving, exercising, talking, etc.—say about us and what we believe about God and our participation in God’s mission in the world. I’d especially enjoy then helping people shape their practices so that those reflect healthier, more constructive beliefs, therefore impacting the world in increasingly positive ways for the Kingdom. At this level, then, I suppose these papers are also an indication of what I see as an important part of my own ministerial identity (outcome 10bc): serving as one who helps people understand the implications of their beliefs and practices and discern how those do or do not align with the best of the Christian tradition.

Sharing Food, Sharing Life

Theological Reflection Paper

In the course of the past two years, my own experiences of personal growth and formation have made it clear that I have quite a passion for healthy spiritual formation and growth in both individuals and communities. Though this passion has been present throughout much of my life, it has particularly flourished in recent years. I have been challenged to think deeply and theologically about spiritual formation. I have pursued personal spiritual formation within a number of communities: the GST, MRNA, and the St. Ann Community especially. I have experienced the ups and downs of communal spiritual formation, primarily within the St. Ann Community. I have even coached, counseled, and mentored family, friends and—as my later post on the MLI endeavor will detail further—undergraduate students in spiritually formative ways.

My experiences in Christian community thus far have continually reinforced for me the momentous importance of purposeful, attentive individual and communal spiritual formation. I have been a part of communities that have thrived and communities that have struggled greatly, with the health of the community consistently being a reflection of the presence or absence of deep, intentional spiritual formation. Issues of identity and purpose and relationship emerge as either exciting opportunities or intimidating, overwhelming threats.  I have found that, at least within a Christian environment, an individual’s or a community’s attitude toward and interpretation of such issues rests largely on the kind of spiritual formation that is happening or not happening.

The artifacts that I have included below exhibit my developing thoughts on the importance of spiritual formation. First are three short monthly reflections on the beginnings of my time in MRNA. These reflections—meant to be descriptive and anecdotal rather than academic—demonstrate some of my own initial hesitations and frustrations with formation in the MRNA community as well as my growth in understanding of what spiritual formation looks like in my own life. For that reason, I believe these documents indicate maturation in outcomes 8abcdef and 9abcd.

MRNA Reflection — September
MRNA Reflection — October
MRNA Reflection — November

To give a little more substance to my own evolving perspectives on spiritual formation, I have also included below some assignments from Dr. Wray’s Christian Spiritual Formation class, which I was a part of in the fall of 2011, at which time I was also beginning MRNA and first entering the residential phase of life in the St. Ann Community. Given the parameters of the assignments, the “community in spiritual formation” document indicates something of my own context for and experience of community spiritual formation, and the “way of life” is a reflection of my own personal formational commitments, conveyed in poetic form. These documents articulate my beliefs about individual and communal spiritual formation in a more focused and more overtly theological way. For those reasons I believe that they too are good indicators of progress toward outcome 8abcdef. Furthermore, the passion for spiritual formation that they reflect—though admittedly only to a small degree in comparison with the ways my life in general reflects this passion—is an indicator of increased focus in ministerial identity, outcome 10abc. And finally, I believe my writing shows strength in the communicative goals of outcome 11abcd.

Theology of Christian Spiritual Formation
Community in Spiritual Formation
Way of Life

As I continue to move forward in life and in ministry, I plan to pursue further growth and refinement regarding spiritual formation, both on a personal level and as a way of being faithful to the calling it seems God has placed on me. Such growth will be nearly inevitable in the midst of the challenges of daily life, relationships, and Christian community. I also hope, however, to develop greater maturity in and a deeper understanding of spiritual formation through further academic study and through experience serving as a spiritually formative presence in the lives of God’s people. Mostly, though, I hope to learn how to more faithfully point people back to the Artist who is the most formative presence of all in their lives.

In the spring of 2010, I was approached by Dr. Ashlock about the possibility of working as a teaching assistant for Mike Cope’s undergraduate Bible classes. Due to my busy fall schedule, I was hesitant to accept the position at first, but I finally applied for and accepted the position because I came to view it as an opportunity to gain some very basic experience in teaching, something I had not previously had much of an opportunity for. This job would be a chance to see if I might perhaps be qualified for or interested in pursuing that vocational route further.

Additionally, I was motivated by the fact that my inexperience at teaching was largely due to my position as a woman in the Churches of Christ. I had already voiced my frustration at that injustice. How, then, could I in one breath ask for gender equality and in the next turn it down when it was offered to me? And the job offered me a chance to model for the students what it can look like for a woman to be in ministry. This is an important thing for all the students—male and female alike—to see. I decided that if I could be one more person who helped break the cycle of gender inequality in the Churches of Christ, then I would gladly take the opportunity.

All that is a prelude to what these past two years have entailed for me as a TA for Mike’s Life and Teachings of Jesus and Acts—Revelation classes. The position entails routine tasks such as taking attendance and grading exams, of course, but at the heart of it are the opportunity to learn pedagogical skills by observing Mike at work and the chance to develop some of those skills on my own by putting them into practice during a weekly teaching session on Friday mornings with my own group of 30 or so students.

I have learned a great deal through this experience. I have been reminded of the unfortunate limits of my own biblical and theological knowledge (outcomes 1&2), which has motivated me to continue my pursuit of knowledge with continually renewed vigor, now not just for my own sake, but for the sake of my students as well.

The teaching experience itself has led me to greater effectiveness in outcomes 6bdf, as it has required me to work collaboratively with the other TAs, and it has given me the chance to teach and guide undergraduates of various backgrounds, beliefs, and capacities about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in a 21st-century world.

Additionally, being a TA has developed in me a greater competence in oral communication than I previously had, demonstrating outcomes 11acd. I acutely remember how, the first few times I was teaching my group of students, it was obvious how extremely nervous and new at this endeavor I was. Now I am able to clearly communicate to the students what I want them to learn, navigating the classroom with much greater ease and confidence, which makes the whole learning process more enjoyable and effective for the students.

Finally, one of the greatest joys of being a TA has been the opportunity to develop relationships with my students. It has been a blessing to see the ways God has uniquely created and gifted each of them, and it has been an honor to be a part, even if a small part, of their formation as Christian women and men. In return, they have been part of my formation as a Christian woman and have helped me see how God has uniquely created and gifted me. The experience has, therefore, been clarifying for my own ministerial identity (outcome 10abc), helping me see my strengths as a teacher and my desire to pursue that path further.

This reflection has, unfortunately, gone on far too long already, though there is still much left unsaid (such as the fact that I have agreed to be the lead TA for Mike and Rodney’s class next year). To give some greater substance to the above musings, I have included below for you a link to the class blogs I constructed (the 2011-2012 school year versions), along with some downloadable documents that I hope exhibit the MDiv outcomes I would like this experience as a TA to demonstrate. Click on the links below to take a look at:

• my Life and Teachings of Jesus blog
• my Acts—Revelation blog
• a collection of lesson plans I have used
• “Images of Jesus” presentation
• “Parable of the Sower” presentation
• a compilation of my TA evaluations from my first two semesters of class
• a document describing an incident with a student that I believe demonstrates outcomes 6g and 7abc

Though they’re accessible on the sidebar to the right, I wanted to particularly point out my reflections on formational goals and Profiles of Ministry feedback as indicators of outcome 9ab, which read as follows:

a) demonstrates healthy awareness of one’s personality, behavior patterns, level of interpersonal effectiveness, and patterns of response to anxiety and conflict
b) takes honest responsibility for one’s actions, habits, and growth, applying effective strategies for achieving ongoing ministerial growth

That is exactly what I believe these reflections (and my further action because of them) do.

Though the process of writing out the reflections (for the formational goals especially) seemed somewhat imposed and tedious before I began, once I got into the process, I was able to see how truly helpful it was for me as I reassessed my progress in my academic program and my ministry. Where my thoughts were previously somewhat nebulous, this has given me a bit more concrete to base my future thoughts and actions on. I plan to return to these goals periodically to revise them or examine my progress toward them.

If you click on the picture below, you will be able to access my spiritual autobiography, which I wrote for Dr. Wray’s spiritual formation class. As the document is 19 pages long, I will forgo the typical practice of posting the text here as well.

This spiritual autobiography is intended to demonstrate MDiv outcomes 8abcd, 9ab, and 10ab, which deal largely with spiritual formation, ministerial identity, and discipleship.

While writing the autobiography required a large investment of time, it was a particularly enjoyable and worthwhile investment. It was a blessing to be allowed (even assigned!) to spend time in reflection on how God has moved in and around me throughout my lifetime, and I savored every moment of the writing process.

As you read my story, you will see how I have discerned my own spiritual formation, how I have wrestled with and finally embraced my identity as a minister, how I have welcomed opportunities for growth and further formation (both individually and as part of faith communities).

In the few months since writing this autobiography, I have continued to reflect on my formation throughout life, recognizing both ways in which I have grown and ways in which I need to continue to grow. For example (though this could take up a whole post of its own), I have come to the realization that I am a codependent person who was raised in a family full of codependent people. As you can imagine, there is a lot of damage there that must be undone for me to have a healthy understanding of life. And I have been purposefully trying to address that issue by practicing assertiveness and healthy conflict with family and friends, among other things.

But perhaps all that is leading us too far astray from the topic at hand. So, for now I’ll just leave you with the pages of my spiritual autobiography…

Spiritual Autobiography