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Catalog 2019-2020

Mission Studies Certificate

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The category of "mission" is changing rapidly. From the tens of thousands of church workers going out from countries in the global south, to the growth of so-called short term missions, while the call of the Great Commission has not changed, the ways people engage it has. It has never been more important for the church to be able to understand the changing work of Christian mission in the world.

The Certificate in Mission Studies is a research focused, interdisciplinary program designed to produce the next generation of missiologists.  Missiology is an inherently interdisciplinary field of study focused on the historic and contemporary work of serving the church around the world. The primary disciplines that have long contributed to this field of study are cultural anthropology, history, and theology. The Certificate of Mission Studies at Wheaton brings together these fields, along with several others, to help students develop the analytical skills relevant to understand global missions work today.

The core of the program is in Anthropology (ANTH 116) and Christian Formation and Ministry (CFM 322/CFM 332), with options for research methods (SOC 482, ANTH 482, INTR 572), elective credits chosen from a variety of areas, an experiential component through a summer practicum in conjunction with the Office of Christian Outreach (OCO), and a final research project to be conducted as an independent study under the guidance of a faculty mentor in the field of the student's primary interest.

Students from any major can complete a Certificate in Mission Studies (CMS). If experimental courses or new courses not currently listed in the catalog have significant missiological content, students may petition for those courses to count toward the elective credits in either Theological Perspective or Social Science/Historical Perspectives as appropriate. Graduate courses taken as part of the CMS cannot be counted toward accelerated standing in a Wheaton MA program.

Although the CMS has a primary focus in research, it encompasses an experiential component, recognizing that true understanding cannot come through academic study alone. In the summer after either the sophomore or junior year, students in the CMS will join a summer mission team through the OCO, or another approved experiential component (such as an internship with a mission organization.) This experience may form the basis for the research as part of the senior project.  The practicum is a non-credit bearing component of the certificate.

In the senior year, CMS students will work with an academic independent study advisor to prepare a paper for presentation at a professional missiology or other disciplinarily appropriate conference, or publication in a missiological journal. This could be completed as two, 2-credit independent study spread across fall and spring semesters or a single, 4-credit course in the fall of the student's senior year.  This will lead to a paper for presentation in the spring of the student's final year. The preferred conference for Wheaton students would be the Evangelical Missiological Society's regional Northcentral conference held in the Chicagoland area in March or early April each year. However, other conferences can be arranged with prior approval. The research paper will be based on original research appropriate to the student's discipline of focus. This may be in the student's major, though can be in any department in which the student can locate an appropriate advisor.

Students who wish to earn the Certificate in Mission Studies must complete an application by December 1 of their sophomore year and submit it to the director of the certificate. Details can be found on the website for the CMS at http://www.wheaton.edu/academics/programs/sociology/certificate-for-mission-studies. Students should plan to take ANTH 116 by the end of the sophomore year, prior to the mission practicum.

The Certificate in Mission Studies would be particularly relevant for students considering a career in mission work.  In particular, students planning to go on to graduate school or seminary, whether in pastoral ministry, mission work, or other cross-cultural Christian work, would find benefit in the CMS. As a research focused degree, the CMS would also prove advantageous for students planning to pursue a career in Christian academia.

Course List
Code Title Credits
Certificate Requirements
Core12
ANTH 116
Introduction to Anthropology (Freshman or Sophomore year)
CFM 322
& CFM 332
Historical Foundations
and Theological Foundations (Sophomore or Junior year)
Senior Independent Study Project
One of the following research courses:4
ANTH 482
Ethnographic Theory and Method
SOC 482
Social Research
INTR 572
Cross-Cultural Research
Social Science/Historical Perspectives4
HIST 305
Introduction to the History of Christianity
HIST 483
History of Christianity in North America
ANTH 324
Anthropology of Global Christianity
ANTH 353
Biculturalism
ANTH 354
Culture in the Contemporary World
SOC 366
Sociology Of Religion
INTR 563
Cross-Cultural Teaching and Learning
INTR 622
Cross-cultural Human Development
INTR 623
Families in International Settings
URBN 362
Global Cities: Cities and the World
URBN 383
Cities in the Global South
URBN 371
Race, Poverty, and Reconciliation
Theological Perspectives4
BITH 342
Majority World Theology
BITH 376
Theologies of Transformation
BITH 563
Apologetics
BITH 577
World Christianity
INTR 535
Holy Spirit and Mission
INTR 532
Contextualization in Global Settings
INTR 534
Mission in Acts
INTR 535
Holy Spirit and Mission
INTR 548
Discipleship
Mission Practicum0
Approved through the Office of Christian Outreach (i.e., Summer programs such as SMP/GUP/YHM.)
Total Credits24

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