COURSE DESCRIPTION: A study of the organization, work, and cooperative endeavors of Southern Baptists in the local church, Associations, State Conventions, Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist World Alliance, and other Baptist bodies.

CLASS OBJECTIVES: The student will demonstrate understanding of the organization, work, and cooperative endeavors of Southern Baptists by such means as:

1. Briefly tracing the history of Southern Baptists

2. Discussing the major doctrines that define Baptists

3. Discussing the Baptist view of the Church

4. Defining and discussing polity and its development and describing the Baptist approach to polity

5. Discussing the Cooperative Program as a means of financing Southern Baptists' worldwide work

6. Describing the Southern Baptist Convention, its component parts, and cooperative ministries

CLASS PROCEDURE: The major class activities will be lectures by the instructor and guided discussion by the students based on their reading of the texts, prior experience, and theological stance. The class meets for four hours each Monday for eleven weeks (except holidays).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:1. Class attendance according to the policies of the current WBU catalog (see appendix attached)

2. Reading of the assigned passages in the texts

3. Active, informed participation in class discussions

4. Two major exams as indicated below

5. One book review as indicated below

6. Occasional unannounced quizzes over the class work and reading assignments to date

TEXTBOOKS: Greer, E. Eugene, ed., Baptists: History, Distinctives, Relationships;

Shurden, Walter B., Not a Silent People, 1995 edition

GRADING: Students will be graded on their knowledge of the course material, as demonstrated by their performance on exams, quizzes, and book review, along with their active participation in class discussions.

1. MAJOR EXAMS: Two exams will be given, each being complete in itself over the covered material.

Exams missed due to "excusable" absence may be made up.

2. POP QUIZZES: The instructor will give occasional unannounced ("pop") quizzes over the class material to

date, including the current week's assigned readings. Quizzes missed due to "excusable" absence may be

made up.

3. BOOK REVIEW: Each student will prepare a book report on Not a Silent People. This will be a summary of

the book's contents with student comment and evaluation. It will be typed, double spaced, using correct

form, grammar, etc., 15-20 pages in length

4. EVALUATION: The grading elements will be weighted as follows:

a. Major Exams . . . . . . . 70% The WBU grading system is: A = 90-100

b. Book Review . . . . . . . 15% B = 80-89

c. Pop Quizzes . . . . . . . 10% C = 70-79

d. Class Participation . . 5% D = 60-69

F = below 60

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS: Students are expected to have read the text materials prior to the dates assigned for discussion and to be prepared to enter into meaningful discussion of the topics.

NOV 16 Introduction, Baptists Before 1845 ii-10

23 CLASSES WILL NOT MEET NOV 23-29—THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS

30 The Southern Baptist Convention & Southern Baptists' 2d Century 11-26 vii-18

DEC 7 Baptist Doctrine 27-34 19-28

14 The Local Church & Baptist Polity 35-58 29-38

21/28 CLASSES WILL NOT MEET DEC 21-JAN 2—CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS

JAN 4 Baptist Perspectives on the Christian Life 59-66 39-52

18 Financing Baptist Work 67-72 none

Baptist Associations & Texas Baptist Conventions 73-96 53-68

25 The Southern Baptist Convention 97-110 69-82

FEB 1 The Baptist World Alliance & Other Texas Baptist Entities 111-122 83-112

8 Baptists and the Ministry & Trends and Issues 123-134 113-18

by mail from the University.

1. Students enrolled at Wayland Baptist University should make every effort to attend all class meetings. All absences must be explained to the satisfaction of the instructor, who will decide whether the omitted work may be made up.
2. Any student who misses twenty-five percent or more of the regularly scheduled class meetings will receive a grade of F for that course.
3. For every week of absence during a fall or spring semester or an equivalent number of absences during any other school term, a student’s final grade may be lowered by one letter grade.
4. When a student reaches a number of absences considered by the instructor to be excessive, the instructor will so advise the student and file an Unsatisfactory Progress Report in the office of the instructor’s division chairperson.
5. Three tardies may be considered as one absence.
6. Additional attendance policies for each course, as defined by the instructor in the course syllabus, are part of Wayland’s absence policy.
7. If an instructor fails to appear or fails to send notification of his arrival within the first ten minutes of a class period, students may leave without incurring an absence.

H. A student may petition the Academic Counsel for exceptions to the above stated policies. Adopted 4-25-86

Please do not assume that you can miss almost 25% of the class meetings with no penalty at all. Very few students can be absent that much and still pass the course. Almost inevitably, students who miss class perform less well than they expect, and their grades are lower.

NOTE THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN EXCUSED ABSENCE FROM ANY CLASS. IF YOU ARE NOT IN CLASS, YOU ARE ABSENT. If you are obviously ill, especially if your illness may be contagious, please stay home until you have recovered. Anyone who is ill 25% of the time probably needs to drop the course and rest to get well. If your situation is special, discuss it with the instructor. He will make every effort to be reasonable and helpful.

The philosophy behind this policy is twofold: we believe that attendance in class indicates that you are serious about getting a quality education and that such attendance greatly increases your chances to succeed. On the other hand, tuition covers only about one-third of the cost of delivering a course to you. Since we have to find the other two-thirds from the gifts and offerings of the Baptist people of Texas and friends of the university, we have twice the investment in you that you have in us. We want to see you succeed!

So there will be no doubt, 3 weeks of a course lasting 11 weeks is more than 25%, and attendance in a class means being present from the time it is called to order until it is dismissed by the instructor. Being tardy means arriving after the class has been called to order. Leaving at break time means being absent for half the class. Two such half-absences equals one week of absence.

This is a University. It will be harder and require more commitment of time and effort from you than high school, technical school, or most community colleges. We are a Christian University. That doesn’t mean we require less; it means we expect more. The average university course expects you to put in two hours of outside work—homework, study, research, writing projects, etc.—for every hour of class time. A class that meets four hours a week thus will require about eight additional hours of preparation time—a total of twelve hours a week! If you cannot give this much time, you probably won’t do well in the course.

We will do everything academically and ethically permissible to help you reach the standards of excellence we set, but the ultimate responsibility is yours. We cannot, must not, lower the standards for someone’s "special circumstances." That would reduce the value of a university education for everyone.

Decide up front that you are here to get an education, not just a diploma, and that you will do whatever it takes to succeed.

Come to class prepared to learn and participate. Have your assigned readings, papers, etc. done before class begins. Listen, read, and take notes. A short pencil will beat a long memory every time! Focus your thoughts, not just on the facts, but on what the fact mean. Grasp the "Big Picture," and the facts will be more easily remembered. Learn and understand the concepts, not just memorize the facts. The details will change, or you can look them up.

Class attendance is expected, encouraged, and greatly desired. Students who miss class always have a more difficult time with the material and fare less well than they would otherwise (see Appendix Comments).

At any time you have a question, ASK IT. The only dumb question is the one you have but don’t ask. We are all ignorant about something. Being ignorant is no shame; staying ignorant is!

Like every other class, this is a course in communicating—orally and in writing. Your arguments need to be logical, make sense, and be clearly understandable. Most of us use language loosely in everyday life. Theology (and other subjects) uses language very precisely. Learn to speak (and thus to think) with precision. Make the dictionary one of your best friends.

The course content you learn in most courses will probably be obsolete by the time you graduate, if it is not already! The real value of a college education is in the discipline, dedication, and commitment you gain; in learning how to learn and keep on learning; in finding out how to find out what you need to know when you need to know it (we call that "research"); in learning how to read and listen critically and with understanding; and in practicing and perfecting your "people skills," cooperating and getting along with others. These are some of the skills people expect of a college graduate, and they will help you in whatever career or endeavor you choose to enter!