The “Inside the PTS Curriculum” series gives you an inside look at what students are learning in their courses at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Each article focuses on one class, its subject matter, what students can expect to learn, the required texts, and the kinds of assignments students can expect. We’ll let you know whether the course is required or available for the Master of Divinity (MDiv), the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS), or Master of Theological Studies (MTS). Each article will include the professor’s bio.
This week’s course is: “Missional Leadership and Evangelism.”
About Missional Leadership and Evangelism
During this term, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary students will be learning about Christian mission and evangelism with Dr. Scott Hagley in the class “Missional Leadership and Evangelism.” This course is required for students in the Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree program and is open to students in the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS) degree or Master of Theology (MTS) degree program.
This course explores biblical, theological, and historical understandings of Christian mission and evangelism with a view toward practices for leading the church to discern and participate in God’s mission within particular contexts.
During this course students will learn about biblical, theological, and historical resources which form and inform Christian mission and the missional congregation. They’ll also explore ways in which Christian mission interprets biblical, theological, and historical sources. The class will look at contemporary mission practices plus theologies and challenges in post-colonial and post-Christendom contexts. Students will have a critical and constructive engagement with practices and theologies of evangelism, practices for leading mission and missional congregations, and leading communal missional discernment in particular. A project will help students to envision concrete practices of mission in a particular context.
Assignments include leading class prayer, writing a five-page paper reflecting upon the ways in which people talk about and encounter God in their context, and a mission theology final paper. Students will read Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West by Jehu Hanciles; Scripture and Discernment: Decision Making in the Church, by Luke Timothy Johnson; The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach, by Elaine A. Heath; and Eat What is Set Before You: A Missiology of the Congregation in Context, by Scott Hagley.
About the Instructor
Dr. Scott Hagley received a B.A. in youth ministry and communication from Bethel University, an M.Div. from Regent College, and a Ph.D. (with distinction) in congregational mission and leadership from Luther Seminary. He formerly served as director of education at Forge Canada in Surrey, British Columbia, where he worked to develop curriculum for the formation of missional leaders in hubs across Canada. Dr. Hagley also served as teaching pastor at Southside Community Church, a multi-site church in the Vancouver metro area organized around neighborhood-based missional communities. He was a consultant and researcher with Church Innovations Institute and has lectured at denominational meetings and retreats on topics such as missional communities, faith, and spiritual formation. His most recent publication is Eat What Is Set Before You: A Missiology of the Congregation in Context.