Mentor's Manual

76 For the Nex t Generat i on: The Urban Mi n i s t r y I ns t i tute ’ s Mentor Manua l

to be exposed to the views of various authors on the subject, and provide additional, supplemental data that is relevant to the issues covered in class. Please encourage your students to be diligent in their reading and response to these texts, and challenge them to discuss their meanings with you and their classmates. While we have required texts, we do incorporate them differently than normal academic classrooms. For instance, our courses require that every student purchase, read, and reflect upon the textbook(s) for the course. They must complete the reading assignment for each class session, which involves reading a section in each required textbook and writing a precis (concise summary) of its main point, as they see it. In the student precis, we ask them to summarize the major theme and argument of the section, and then give a careful response to it. Our desire is that our students learn how to critically analyze a text, that is, to read it, understand its thesis (main point), articulate its argument in a respectful way (whether they agree with the author or not), and then respond as to why they agree or disagree with the thesis. This practice will help them dialogue with others, engage different opinions in a respectful way, and learn to listen to dialogue with others whose beliefs are different than their own. Because some of our students may be challenged by the reading involved in academic study, we think carefully about both the level of reading and the amount of reading that is required. This does not mean that we never assign difficult books, but it does mean that we take exceptional care to find the best books possible and limit the number of books that students are required to read compared to a traditional seminary setting. Instructors take seriously that the books chosen are meant to equip a wide range of urban church leaders. We want to challenge and stretch our leaders but not discourage them. Four other safeguards help us with those students who find the reading exceptionally challenging. First, very few graded assign- ments are based on the outside reading for the course. The outside readings will be extremely helpful for any student’s understanding of ministry but the majority of the course can be completed success- fully by class participation and working with materials that have been presented orally as well as in written form. Second, we encourage Mentors and/or students to form reading groups in

Literacy and

Language Issues