Reinventing Evangelism and Church

European Nazarene College

School Year:
Dates:
Class Sessions:

Course Number:
ECTS:

2014/2015
Monday, March 2, 2015 Saturday, May 9, 2015 (10 weeks)
Saturday, March 7: 10:00 13:00 hours and 14:00 16:00 hours (5 sessions)
Saturday, March 21: 10:00 13:00 hours and 14:00 16:00 hours (5 sessions)
Saturday, April 18: 10:00 13:00 hours and 14:00 16:00 hours (5 sessions)
Ondernemerscentrum
Stadsring 181
3817 BA Amersfoort
The Netherlands
PRC2105
5

Teacher:
E-mail:

Gideon de Jong, M.A.

[email protected]

Location:

Course Description
This course explores how people can be reached with the Gospel who live in the post-modern and postChristian context of Europe, and how missional churches can be planted. Various ways of reaching
people with the Gospel and planting faith communities will be examined and evaluated. A biblical
missiological focus within the unique European context will serve to foster a passion in each student to
reach their generation and others through planting communities of Christian faith.
Place in the Curriculum
This is a course open to students of all levels and has Gods Mission and the Church as its prerequisite.
Intended Educational Outcomes
This course contributes to reaching the following intended educational outcomes of EuNCs curriculum:
30% Content

20% Competency

20% Character
30% Context

CN3: Church. The students will know the history of the church and the
surrounding culture, and have a clear understanding of and vision for the
mission of the church.
CN4: Ministry. The students will have specific knowledge necessary for
effective ministry in the different areas of the mission of the church.
CP3: Leadership. Students will be able to lead people closer to God, be able to
lead the church in fruitful ministry, and be skilled in self and organizational
management.
CP5: Analysis. Students will be able to analyse and address current situations
in church and society in a historical, theological, and biblical way.
CH3: Commitment. The students will be committed to give themselves as
servants to Gods mission in this world and commit to their specific ministries.
CT1: Relevance. The students will be able to communicate the Gospel in
relevant ways to the people in a certain context, using sound hermeneutical
principles.

CT2 Cultural Responsiveness. The students will have sensitivity for different
cultural contexts and will be able to minister effectively in and between them.
The italics in some of the above descriptions indicate those parts of the outcomes that will be addressed
in the course.
Course Objectives
In order to reach partially or completely the above stated intended educational outcomes, by the end of
the course the student will
1. Have knowledge of models of evangelism that have been successful in certain contexts
(supports CN4, CP5).
2. Be able to identify the critical issues in (local) culture for the proclamation of the Gospel.
Students need to be able to articulate the uniquely (local) challenges to evangelism and church
planting (supports CN3, CP5 and CT2). (This will be supported by courses such as Introduction
to Philosophy, European History, and Church History.)
3. Be able to express an awareness of the complex relationship between Gospel and culture
(supports CP5, CT2). This contextual issue has been introduced in Gods Mission & the Church
and needs to be further explored in this course as it relates to evangelism and church planting.
4. Have been stimulated to explore relevant ways of evangelism in their own contexts (supports
CP3, CP5, CT1 and CT2). It is not expected that students after this course will have the
answers and the models ready to implement. It is more like the planting of a seed that needs
time to germinate.
5. Be able to develop the missional view on the church as explored in Gods Mission & the Church
in the areas of evangelism and church planting as a means to reach people (supports CN3,
CP5).
6. Commit themselves as servants in the work of God and explore in themselves if they have the
gifts and graces to be an evangelist and/or church planter (supports CH3). Vocation and
Personal Ministry will build on this awareness.
Course Requirements
The following requirements are expected of the students:
1. Class Participation. Attend all classes and come prepared to the class sessions in order to
participate in the class discussions. This requirement helps students accomplish course
objectives 1-6.
2. Learning Forums. In the weeks 1-7, there are 2 forums per week (so there are 14 forums in
total). For all forum posts, so for both the new discussion topics and the replies (to topics
and/or replies) applies: All posts are given a clear subject (so such ones as i.e. Forum 1 are
avoided and Re: are deleted). Stay on-topic.
a. Topics. In the forums, the students are asked one or more questions. At the latest on
Tuesdays (start week 1) and Thursdays (end week 7) the answers to these questions are
added as new topics in the corresponding forums (at least 200 words per topic). Before the
topics of others are opened, first an own new topic is added. The opening of topics of
others, before the students have added an own new topic is considered academic
dishonesty (see below Academic Integrity). The student will interact with the authors
positions, indicating agreement and/or disagreement, providing supportive argumentation.

The student is expected to interact with the authors, reflecting critically and articulating his
or her own perspective in response. These are not to be book summaries but critiques, that
is, students are to wrestle with the authors concepts and reflect independent thought.
b. Replies to topics and/or replies. At the latest on Thursdays (start week 1) and Tuesdays
(end week 8) the students reply to at least 2 topics and/or replies in the previous forum (at
least 100 words per answer).
3. Reading. The textbooks and other materials assigned need to be read according to the course
calendar. Mention at the beginning of each new discussion topic the amount of pages read, for
example, 10 pages read (NL: 10 paginas gelezen). If you have read everything, then simply
write, Everything read (NL: Alles gelezen). This requirement helps students accomplish
course objectives 1-6.
% read pages
% points

0 100%
0 100%

4. Essays. The students will write four 500-word ( 10%, 50 words) essays. The topics of these
essays are: (1) What perspective do the articles of faith of the Church of the Nazarene, not only
but especially the one on prevenient grace, have on evangelism (use also An Introduction to
Wesleyan Theology by William M. Greathouse and H. Ray Dunning, see
http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyctr/books/2501-2600/HDM2597.pdf)? (2) What does the Manual of
the Church of the Nazarene have to say about the combination evangelism and the local
church? To what extent do you recognize this in your own local church? (3) Which chances do
the remnants of the pillarization (NL: verzuiling) offer us for evangelism? (4) How can the
church respond to the Study religion and spirituality (NL: Onderzoek religie en spiritualiteit)
(use the newspaper articles available in Moodle)?
5. Testimony. On our last Saturday of classes, the students will give a 10-minute testimony, as if
they were giving it to a non-believer. The testimony need to be given by heart, literally and
figuratively. Therefore, the use of notes is not allowed.
6. Sermon. The students write a 2000-word ( 10%, 200 words) sermon on evangelism.
Passages to choose from are Matthew 5:13-16, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, and
Acts 1:8. Each passage can only be chosen by one student.
7. Common Assignment: Working Model of Evangelistic Ministry as Foundation for Church
Planting. See Appendixes 1-3.
Grade Distribution and Student Work Hours
Course Requirements
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Reading
Learning Forums (14 forums)
Class Participation (15 sessions)
Essays (4)
Testimony
Sermon
Common Assignment

Percentage of
Final Grade

Student Work
Hours (SWH)

10%
30%
10%
10%
5%
10%
25%

32 hours
28 hours
15 hours
16 hours
2 hours
17 hours
25 hours

Total

100%

135 hours

Textbooks
Akkerman, Jay Richard, Thomas Jay Oord, and Brent D. Peterson, eds. Postmodern and Wesleyan?:
Exploring the Boundaries and Possibilities. Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 2009. (ISBN-10:
0834124580, ISBN-13: 978-0834124585.)
Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region. External: Resources for Evangelism and Church Planting.
Web. Missional Church Initiative: Power of One.
http://www.missionaleurasia.com/downloads/english/external/External(complete_book).pdf
Hunter III, George G. How to Reach Secular People. Nashville: Abingdon, 1992. (ISBN-10:
0687179300, ISBN-13: 978-0687179305.) More by this author: http://koha.eunc.edu/cgibin/koha/opac-search.pl?idx=au&q=George+Hunter
Additional Resources
Flemming, Dean. Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission. Downers
Grove: IVP, 2005. (EuNC The Netherlands: 225.67 F599)
Frost, Michael and Alan Hirsch. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21stCentury Church. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2003. (EuNC Overdrive, The Netherlands: 260.905
F939)
Gibbs, Eddie and Ian Coffey. Church Next: Quantum Changes in Christian Ministry. Leicester: IVP,
2001. (EuNC Bsingen: 260.905 G442) More by this author: http://koha.eunc.edu/cgibin/koha/opac-search.pl?idx=au&q=eddie+gibbs
Greenway, Jeffrey and Joel Green. Grace and Holiness in a Changing World: A Wesleyan Proposal for
Postmodern Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon, 2007. (EuNC The Netherlands: 260.905 G816)
Japin, Arthur, ed. Jezus! LenteMedia, 2015. www.lentemedia.com.
Sullivan, Bill M. Starting Strong New Churches. Kansas City: NewStart, 1997. (EuNC Bsingen: 254.1
S949)
www.usacanadaregion.org/church-planting
www.usacanadaregion.org/church-renewal
www.usacanadaregion.org/evangelism
www.usacanadaregion.org/shift
Course Calendar
See Appendix 4. The teacher has the right to make changes in the course calendar, assignments, due
dates if necessary.
Academic Integrity
Honesty in all academic endeavours is vital as an expression of the Christian life. It is required that
students at European Nazarene College will not participate in cheating, plagiarism (using someone
elses words and ideas without giving credit to the original source), fabrication, or other forms of
academic dishonesty (for example, working in groups when individual work is required).
It is the students responsibility to learn the appropriate methods of citing the sources they have used.
Guidelines will be provided in ACP10 Introduction to College Studies.

Any student who knowingly assists another student in dishonest behaviour is equally responsible.
Academic dishonesty is a serious ethical violation of academic integrity. The minimum penalty for
academic dishonesty will be failure of the assignment. At the discretion of the faculty, more stringent
measures may be applied, including failure of the course, academic probation, or academic suspension
(EuNC Academic Catalogue).
Language Proficiency
See www.easybib.com
Class Attendance
Students are expected to attend all class sessions except for serious illness or because of other
unavoidable circumstances. They are responsible directly to the teacher to see that course
requirements are met (EuNC Academic Catalogue).
Policy for Handing in Work Late
All papers need to be submitted electronically to the teacher before the final due date and hour. For
work that is submitted late, 10% of the possible grade will be deducted for every day it is late. For the
first day, 1% will be deducted for every hour the paper is late with a maximum of 10%.
The teacher has the freedom to give students extensions if they approach the teacher in time with valid
reasons (EuNC Academic Catalogue).
Course Evaluations
Part of the requirements for every course is that students complete the student course evaluation. This
is important for ongoing assessment done by EuNC. Students who have not filled out their course
evaluations will not be able to see their final grade in SonisWeb (EuNC Academic Catalogue).
Grading System
The academic work of the student is graded in accordance with the system listed below (EuNC
Academic Catalogue).
Percent

Explanation

97-100%

Excellent Work. The work of the student meets the expectations of the assignment with an
excelling command of the material and no weaknesses.
Very Good Work. The work of the student meets the expectations of the assignment with a
thorough command of the material and no significant weaknesses.
Good Work. The work of the student meets the expectations of the assignment with good
command of the material and minor weaknesses.

90-96%
87-89%
83-86%
80-82%
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
67-69%
63-66%
60-62%

Adequate Work. The work of the student meets the expectations of the assignment, but has
certain apparent weaknesses.
Poor Work. The work of the student meets the minimal expectations of the assignment, but has
significant deficiencies.

0-59%

Failure. The deficiencies of the students work do not justify a passing grade.

Intellectual Property
This syllabus and the course materials are the property of EuNC. Other institutions may use material
and components of this course after permission has been asked of the Rector of EuNC, and with
acknowledging EuNC and the course.
EuNC is constantly engaged in assessment to improve the programmes we offer students. The college for the
purpose of assessment and/or accreditation may use any assignments submitted for this course. If you do not
wish your assignments to be used in this way, you must make a written statement to that effect, sign and date the

request, and submit it to the teacher.

Appendix 1: Common Assignment: Working Model of Evangelistic Ministry as Foundation for

Church Planting
Students will develop an evangelistic ministry that can be implemented in their community and local
context. This project will consist of the student developing a ministry activity that has an evangelism
component specifically. The student will think through the strategic details of this ministry, initiate the
ministry, evaluate, and then assess for its potential of becoming a church plant in the future. This
requirement helps students accomplish course objectives 1-6. Criterion of Success: 80% of students will
achieve at least 70% mastery.
This Course Project will include four steps:
Step One:
o You will create a plan for some sort of evangelistic ministry activity (what you do is your choice,
but please consult with the course instructor for approval of your plan). This plan will need to be
thought through, in order to meet the needs of the current cultural context. The questions that
need to be considered and answered can be found in Appendix 2. It is expected that you will
answer these questions, as part of this assignment. There are no length requirements for this
assignment, as the length of answers may vary.
Step Two:
o You will initiate the plan you have detailed in step one. This requires putting the plan/ministry
into action. This step should use what you have discovered in step one, and meet the needs of
the current context. If this ministry/plan will happen regularly, you will need to complete at least
one meeting, in order to assess how it went.
Step Three:
o After completing Step Two, you will write a 1-2 page report about the activity. In your report you
will begin by briefly describing what took place, and then you will evaluate the activity by
answering questions such as: Was it effective? Did it accomplish what you had hoped? What
were the things that went well? Were there things that you would do differently next time? Was
it culturally sensitive and inviting to the majority culture? etc.
Step Four:
o The last part of this assignment is a strategic glance into the future. As you have learned,
evangelism is not an end in itself, but should lead to discipleship and the existence of a body of
believers. Therefore, in this step, you will look at whether this ministry can lead to a regular
gathering. You will write in 2 pages how this ministry might grow into a regular fellowship. Can
active discipleship come from this activity? If a church were to form with the group that
attended, what would that congregation look like? What would worship and the sacraments look
like? Would it be effective at reaching others? What would need to change? What would stay
the same? etc.

Appendix 2: Common Assignment: Strategic Detailing

The Plan:
o What is God calling you to do?
o What kind of evangelism activity will this be?
o How will it work?
o What will it include?
o Who do you hope to reach?
o Where do you plan on having it, and will it be effective there?
o When will it be? Is it the right time of day? Is it the right time of year?
o Why are you doing this specific activity?
The Promise:
o How does this fit into your divine calling for ministry?
o What Scriptures are guiding you in this ministry?
o Who is encouraging and mentoring you?
o Where have you seen a need expressed or identified?
o When did you decide that this was the ministry God called you to do?
o Why is this activity important to you? Why do you feel led in this direction?
The Preparation:
o What do you need for this activity?
o How have you prepared yourself for this activity?
o What needs do you see?
o Who is going to help you, and what will they do?
o Have you finalized where this ministry will be?
o Have you decided when to have this activity?
o What might go wrong?
The Procedure:
o What do you do now?
o How is this going to look from beginning to end?
o What are the steps you are going to take?
o Who will be doing what during the activity?
o Where will initial contact be made? Where will the ministry itself be? Where will continued
ministry take place? Have you secured these places?
o When will initial contact, the ministry itself, the continued ministry take place? Have you
publicized this?
o What other details might you have missed?
The Prediction:
o What do you hope and pray will be the result of this ministry activity?
o Who will do the follow-up?
o When will those reached be contacted again? When will another activity take place?
o Where will you be meeting next time?
o Why did this specific ministry work well or not work well?
o How are you going to maintain the connections you have made?

Appendix 3: Common Assignment: Grading Rubric

Criteria

Exceeds standard

Meets standard

Below standard

Overall approach to
ministry plan
Total points
Creativity

Excellent,
comprehensive
8-10
Excellent,
comprehensive
8-10
Excellent,
comprehensive

Average

Inadequate

5-7
Average

1-4
Inadequate

5-7
Average

1-4
Inadequate

11-15
Excellent,
comprehensive

6-10
Average

1-5
Inadequate

14-20
Excellent,
comprehensive

8-13
Average

1-7
Inadequate

14-20
Excellent,
comprehensive

8-13
Average

1-7
Inadequate

11-15
No grammar and
spelling mistakes,
great flow of thought

6-10
Several grammar
and spelling
mistakes, average
flow of thought
5-7

1-5
Frequent grammar
and spelling
mistakes, irregular
flow of thought
1-4

Total points
Thoughtful
responses to the
planning questions
Total points
Sensitivity and
effectiveness in
adapting principles
to chosen context
Total points
Implementation of
plan (based on
report)
Total points
Self-reflection and
self-evaluation
report
Total points
Language usage,
overall flow
Total points

8-10

Cumulative Total
Points

100 points
possible

Points earned

Appendix 4: Course Calendar

Week
1 (10)

Day
Tuesday (March 3)
Thursday (March 5)

Reading
Syllabus
Akkerman: Foreword I Part I (44 p.)

Saturday (March 7)
2 (11)

Tuesday (March 10)

Akkerman: Part II (44 p.)
Thursday (March 12)
Akkerman: Part III (46 p.)

3 (12)

Saturday (March 14)

Tuesday (March 17)
Akkerman: Part IV Concluding Essay (41 p.)
Thursday (March 19)
Saturday (March 21)

4 (13)

Hunter: Foreword Introduction (30 p.)

Maris: Title page, introduction, chapter 1, the
conclusions, and 1 interview of your choice

Tuesday (March 24)

Hunter: Chapter 1 (14 p.)
Thursday (March 26)
Hunter: Chapter 2 (18 p.)

5 (14)

Saturday (March 28)

Tuesday (March 31)
Hunter: Chapter 3 (34 p.)
Thursday (April 2)
Hunter: Chapter 4 (28 p.)
Saturday (April 4)

6 (15)

Tuesday (April 7)
Hunter: Chapter 5 (38 p.)
Thursday (April 9)
Eurasia: Momentum (50 p.)

7 (16)

Saturday (April 11)

Tuesday (April 14)
Eurasia: Principles of Church Planting (46 p.)
Thursday (April 16)
Eurasia: Methods of Relational Evangelism (28 p.)
Saturday (April 18)

8 (17)

Tuesday (April 21)

Eurasia: Treasure Chest of Love (7 p.)

9 (18)

10 (19)

Thursday (April 23)

Saturday (April 25)
Tuesday (April 28)
Thursday (April 30)
Saturday (May 2)
Tuesday (May 5)
Thursday (May 7)
Saturday (May 9)

Assignments
Update http://courses.eunc.edu/user/edit.php
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 1
(Class Sessions 1-5)
Choose sermon passage
Add two replies in Forum 1
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 2
Add two replies in Forum 2
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 3
Essay 1
Add two replies in Forum 3
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 4
Add two replies in Forum 4
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 5
(Class Sessions 6-10)
Consult with teacher for approval of your
Common Assignment
Add two replies in Forum 5
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 6
Add two replies in Forum 6
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 7
Essay 2
Add two replies in Forum 7
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 8
Add two replies in Forum 8
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 9
Essay 3
Mid-Course Evaluation
Add two replies in Forum 9
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 10
Add two replies in Forum 10
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 11
Essay 4
Add two replies in Forum 11
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 12
Add two replies in Forum 12
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 13
(Class Sessions 11-15)
Testimony
Add two replies in Forum 13
Add a new discussion topic in Forum 14
Add two replies in Forum 14

Sermon

Common Assignment
Student Evaluation