Practices in Spiritual Formation – OCC

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PRACTICES IN SPIRITUAL
FORMATION
DO 3701 OL

Course Description

An experiential study of how Christian faith is nurtured in the lives of believers. Students will explore
transformative topics intended to produce a Christ-like life such as: experiencing God through biblically
based activities, spiritual disciplines, and understanding the impact of personality on spiritual
understanding and growth. The course includes biblical, theological, historical, pastoral, and experiential
components through both personal and corporate assignments. (3 hours)

Course Resources

Press, 2016.

2017.

College Mission

1. Mulholland, Robert. Jr. Invitation to a Journey, Expanded Edition. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity

2. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Updated Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,

3. Smith, James and Lynday Graybeal. A Spiritual Formation Workbook: Revised Edition.

SanFrancisco, CA: HarperCollins Publisher, 1999.

The ultimate mission of Ozark Christian College is to glorify God by evangelizing the lost and edifying
Christians worldwide. The immediate mission of Ozark Christian College is to train men and women for
Christian service as a degree-granting institution of biblical higher education.

College Learning Goal

The learning goal of Ozark Christian College is to educate and equip students to become like Christ and
serve Christ in leadership ministry. Graduates will be biblically grounded, spiritually matured, culturally
engaged, and vocationally prepared.

College Learning Outcomes

Ozark has identified learning outcomes for each area of the curriculum – General Education (GE), Biblical
Education (BE), and Professional Education (PE). This course will directly address the following college
learning outcomes:

General Education Outcomes:
GE 3: Identify informational needs for lifelong learning.

Practices in Spiritual Formation, MN 3701 OL

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GE 6: Integrate learning and experiences to new settings and complex problems.

Biblical Education Outcomes:
BE 3: Affirm one’s personal belief in the lordship of Jesus and in the authority of the Scriptures.
BE 4: Grow in spiritual formation and develop plans for continued growth.

Professional Education Outcomes:
PE3: Execute the principles of biblical discipleship within their Christian service context.

Course Goals

1. Develop self-awareness through the use of the Myers-Briggs Inventory to develop an

2.

understanding of how one’s own genetic predisposition to developing meaning in life impacts
Christian spiritual formation.
Integrate the spiritual knowledge gained by the student in previous courses and personal
experience with daily spiritual practices in order to develop an understanding and practical
structure of how to remain spiritually healthy over a lifetime.

3. Teach students truths about spiritual formation that are reflective of the 6 major spiritual

formation themes in the history of the church.

4. Directly address processes that diminish and/or destroy faith over a lifetime that are influenced
by one’s own personality (shadow traits and pride), by emotional immaturity, by the stresses of
ministry, and by one’s own expectations.

5. Utilize a discussion board format for this class that provides a rich conversational experience
with students to discuss spiritual formation activities and debriefing personal experiences.
6. Train students to utilize devotional practices as a method of discipleship in their ministry

context. Practice and reflect on these experiences including ways in which students may teach
others how to use these same practices.

7. Lead students through a systematic evaluation of their own spiritual growth using the Spiritual
Growth Inventory (a 5 connective domain, 33 scale comprehensive inventory of their spiritual
life). The results of this inventory will be used to help complete number 10 below.

8. Appreciate the devotional habits of the historic church for their own present personal and

future leadership experiences with God.

9. Appreciate the depth and breadth of the historical approaches to spiritual formation.
10. Develop a practical spiritual formation plan for the next 1-3 years that will serve as a foundation

for the student’s overall life and ministry well-being.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, a student should be able to:

1. Design and implement a personal spiritual formation plan that includes the following elements

(BE 3):
A. Assessment of individual strengths

Practices in Spiritual Formation, MN 3701 OL

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B. Assessment of individual challenges
C. A plan to capitalize on one’s strengths and address one’s weaknesses
This objective will be measured by the student writing a final paper in which these areas of their
spiritual life is assessed and addressed.

2. Articulate the Scriptural foundation, basic faith-orientation, main characteristics, and practices

of the six spiritual traditions (GE 6).
A. Prayer-Filled Life (Contemplative Tradition)
B. Virtuous Life (Holiness Tradition)
C. Spirit-Empowered Life (Charismatic Tradition)
D. Compassionate Life (Social Justice Tradition)
E. Word-Centered Life (Evangelical Tradition)
F. Sacramental Life (Incarnational Tradition)
This objective will be measured through testing

3. Practice various spiritual formation activities. These specific activities involve (PE 3):

A. Structured silence and solitude a minimum of 4 hours
B. The Ignatian Examen using it as an examination of the day or specific time period chosen.
C. A biblical model of Sabbath that is founded on Old Testament theology but applied to a
distinct encounter with Christ.
D. Service
E. The Lectio Divina
F. Breath prayers
G. Liturgy
H. Journaling
This objective will be measured through discuss board posts, debriefing, and papers.

4. Determine one’s own personal level of emotional maturity using Peter Scazzero’s material in the
book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Students will develop specific steps to increase their
mature emotional responses to life events (GE 6, BE 3).
This objective will be measured by reporting their self-assessment and plan to develop
emotionally mature responses in areas assessed as child or adolescent.

5. Determine one’s own personal level of spiritual growth using the Spiritual Transformation

Inventory. Students will develop specific strategies to increase their spiritual growth using this
inventory as a template for growth (GE 6, BE 3, PE 3).
This objective will be measured by students posting their Spiritual Transformation Inventory and
completing reflective writing assignments regarding the inventory results.

Information Literacy

Ozark Christian College is committed to information literacy training. This training will be intentional,
incremental, and missional. Students will learn to access, evaluate, and utilize pertinent information in
their ministry preparation.

Practices in Spiritual Formation, MN 3701 OL

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ADA Accommodation

If you have a disability and are requesting an accommodation, please contact the Vice President of
Enrollment Management at 417-626-1234 Extension 2006 as soon as possible.

Online Course Policies

Turnitin

Ozark Christian College contracted with iParadigms, LLC for Turnitin® services to be used at the
instructor’s discretion. The Originality Check service allows students to submit a paper through Canvas
to check for improper citation and potential plagiarism before it is submitted to the instructor. The
Peer Review service allows students to submit assignments anonymously to peers for editing and
feedback. Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for
textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be
included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of
detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Usage Policy
posted on the Turnitin.com site.

OCC Student Email Address

All Ozark Christian College students must use the official e-mail address provided by the college
(lastname.firstname@my.occ.edu) to receive communication from the faculty and staff. The OCC
student e-mail address may be forwarded to another e-mail service (e.g. yahoo.com or hotmail.com).
Email will be the professor’s chosen method of communication with the student in this course, so
check your email regularly.

Online Course Refund Policy

Refunds of tuition and certain fees may be made upon official withdrawal of any student according to
the table below. To receive a refund adjustment for any classes dropped, less an administration fee, the
student should contact the Dean of Online Learning at lindsay.shawn@occ.edu. See the website for
specific dates.

Week 1: Monday-Thursday

100% refund

Friday-Sunday

90% refund

Week 2: Monday-Thursday

75% refund

Friday-Sunday

50% refund

Week 3: Monday-Thursday

25% refund

Practices in Spiritual Formation, MN 3701 OL

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Friday-Sunday

0% refund

Online Course Drop Policy

Any online courses dropped during the first four (4) days of the course (by 5:00 pm CST on Thursday) will
not be recorded on the student’s transcript. Courses dropped after the fourth day, but before the sixth
week of the course, will be recorded as a “W” on transcripts. A grade of “W” will not be calculated into
the GPA but will impact financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress. Courses cannot be dropped after
the fifth week of class. Students must communicate their intention to drop an online course via email to
the Registrar’s Office.

Online Course Attendance

Online courses often demand greater discipline and careful attention to details within a compressed
period of time compared to on-campus courses. Students are strongly advised to remain in close contact
with their online instructor in the event that they must be absent for a brief period of time. Attendance
in online courses will be taken on a weekly basis. Students will be expected to actively participate
according to the individual course syllabus.

Participation may include, but not be limited to: submitting written assignments, posting in graded
forum discussions, completing exams, and written communication with the instructor directly related to
the course. Online students who do not participate in the above ways for seven consecutive days will
be considered absent. Students are permitted a maximum of one absence.

The following scenarios may negatively impact a student’s academic record and financial aid
opportunities.

1. Students who do not login within the first four days of an online course will be administratively
dropped. They will receive a 100% refund but will be assessed a drop fee. Personnel from the
Online Learning Office will contact students via their OCC student email account and current
phone number to assist them prior to this deadline.

2. Any online student who misses twelve consecutive days will be contacted by the instructor via
the student’s OCC email account. The student will be given 48 hours to communicate their
intentions. Those who do not respond, or who do not wish to continue in the course, will be
dropped and will not receive a refund. Instructors will promptly convey this information to the
Registrar’s Office. If this occurs within the first five weeks of the course, a grade of “W” will be
given. If after the fifth week, the student will receive a failing grade.

3.

If online students acquire two non- consecutive absences, they will fail the course. For further
explanation, please see current course catalog section, “Academic Policies.”

Assignment Submission

All assignments will be facilitated through our Canvas course site. You may post replies to the
discussions forums, as well as take quizzes and exams. For written assignments, save documents in

Practices in Spiritual Formation, MN 3701 OL

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either .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf format (or as otherwise indicated by your instructor) and upload them to
the Canvas site.

Late Work
Assignments are due on Thursday and Sunday by 11:59 pm Central Standard Time. Late work may or
may not be accepted, at the discretion of the teacher. Any grade deductions will be assessed on a
case-by-case basis. If you have a question about a particular assignment, please contact the teacher well
ahead of the deadline.

Responses to Your Work

You may generally expect replies to personal communication (email, Canvas inbox) within 24-48 hours.
For written assignments, the professor will endeavor to grade and give feedback within seven days of
the due date.

Academic Honesty

Due to the commitment of training men and women for Christian service and the commitment of
educational excellence, academic integrity is our natural expectation. Compelling evidence of academic
dishonesty (e.g. cheating or plagiarism) will be reported to the academic dean’s office and the student
development office. Penalties could range from failure of an assignment to suspension from college.
Students should avoid dishonesty and irresponsibility at all costs.

Required Course Tools/Connectivity
Successful participation in this course requires the student to possess or obtain (and know how to use)
the following in addition to course books:

● One fully functional and adequately performing desktop or laptop computer, free of known

viruses.

● A word processor that can publish or save into .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf format.
● Access to your @my.occ.edu email address.
● Daily access to a reliable internet connection of at least 1MB/s speed.
● A webcam and mic (typically integrated on most laptops).

Course Topic Outline and Workload
In keeping with standards typical of higher education, the expectation is that you will spend between
120 to 135 hours completing all coursework in this 3-hour online course.

Module

Topics Covered

1

2

3

Spiritual Formation Introduction
Myers-Briggs
Journaling
Shadow Traits
Contemplative Practices
Spiritual Transformation Process
Holiness Practices

Hrs./Min.
Covered
16.5 hr.

15 hr.

14 hr.

Practices in Spiritual Formation, MN 3701 OL

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4

5

6
7

8

Spiritual Transformation Process (Continued)
Sabbath
Charismatic Practices
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
Genogram
Social Justice Practices
World Centered Practices
Liturgy
Incarnational Practices
Integration Paper
Rule of Life

Total Hours Students will Spend Working on Course

18 hr.

17.5 hr.

17 hr.
15 hr.

17 hr.

130 hr.

Grades
Below is a listing of assignments that comprise the 100% percentage points possible for this course.

Assignment
Discussion Forums
Spiritual Practices
Integration Papers
Papers
Total Points

Grading Scale

Grade

Course Objectives

30% BE 3
30% PE 3
20% GE 6, BE 3, PE 3
30% GE 6, PE 3
100%

Total Score
100-95 points
94-93 points
92-91 points
90-87 points
86-85 points
84-83 points
82-79 points
78-77 points
76-75 points
74-72 points
71-70 points
69-0 points
For further information on grading policies, refer to the
college catalog.

Course Grade
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Value
4.0
3.67
3.33
3.00
2.67
2.33
2.00
1.67
1.33
1.00
0.67
0.00

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