Missions, City

Gordon D Laman

Upon numerous occasions, from the very first time I visited Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures in 1 9 60, I have heard the name of Henry Stout. During the twenty years I served in that region as a missionary of the Reformed Church in America, many times I was asked about this man who was one of my early predecessors . Snatches of information I heard suggested that he
had been a very important person. Reading I had done on the history of Protestant witness in Japan had made little-or no note of his contribution . More recently, my growing interest in the early history of the work of the Reformed Church in America in southwestern Japan led me to the discovery of how really valuable the ministry of Henry Stout had been to the development of that work. H.V.S. Peeke, a contemporary, said of the Stouts in 1922, "This couple were strong in piety and purpose, and their imprint is left upon the Kyushu field today to a degree, perhaps not fully realized by their successors."

I have now come to realize that their tremendous influence and significant contribution have never been widely recognized or properly appreciated. I perceive Henry Stout to be the sin­gle most-important missionary pioneer from the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition to work in southwestern Japan in the nineteenth century. However , he is little known, and evidently no detailed biographical presentation of his life and work has ever been made available to date. It is my hope that the fol­lowing pages will provide useful information and insights, not only about this person, but also into the missionary task and life situation in which his lifetime of service was offered. I consider Henry Stout to be an all but forgotten foundational figure of the church in Japan.

George G. Beukema

The purpose of the project was to research, report, and evaluate a new low-cost, shared leadership, servant style ministry that has been developed on the west side of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The project report describes the historical and sociological context for the ministry, defines the biblical concept of "servanthood" and its theological implications for ministry, assesses the needs and resources of the target community, and evaluates the ministry to date as to its feasibility of application to other urban areas.
The project described in this paper is limited to the John Ball Park area on the near west side of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The emerging inner city congregation, the Servant's Community, provides the congregational context. The biblical theme of servanthood provides the focal point for mission strategy and reflective analysis.

Kwangmyeon Kim

The purpose of the project was to develop an Islam mission strategy for Rasimpasa International Church which is located in Istanbul, the political and economic center of the Islamic Republic of Turkey. For this Islam mission strategy development model, the project director first studied the areas of professional strategic planning and development for church planting and studied theories and practical application cases for Islam mission in order to establish and develop general strategic planning concerning church planting. Second, throughout the process of this study, the project director identified theoretical bases for Rasimpasa International Church to actively participate in the Islam mission ministry and developed a specific Islam mission strategy that can be applied in this situation of the church in Istanbul, Turkey. Third, the project director presented a developed Islam mission strategy for approval to selected group of leaders of Rasimpasa International Church. It also reflected the objective evaluation of experts on the achievement of the presented misistry goals and professional goals for this project. Lastly, the project director made suggestions for the deep and good practice through analysis and reflections after the preparation, and implementation and evaluation process for the Islam mission strategy development model.

Sidney C. Tortorice

The purpose of this project was to train selected adults from Jimmie Hale Rescue Mission, Birmingham, Alabama, in a strategy for coping with grief in relation to substance abuse. The project director sought to fulfill three goals for this project. First, to research the field of grief recovery in order to determine essential practices, he researched literature in grief recovery and evaluated essential grief recovery practices in rescue missions. The second goal was to identify the best model for grief recovery in substance abuse programs in selected rescue missions. He accomplished this goal by researching abuse programs in multiple North American rescue missions. The third goal was to design a grief recovery strategy for substance abuse residents at Jimmie Hale Rescue Mission by selecting team members and creating strategy sessions.

Gregory Emmett Bell Sr

Philadelphia urban church members may not be receiving adequate training on how to participate in the mission of God. According to secular and Christian research, church attendance is declining along with adherence to the teaching and application of Scripture. Statistical analysis of both Christian and secular research, demographic, and crime data confirm the researcher’s hypothesis that the urban churches of Philadelphia need a curriculum for missional engagement. Model Studies of two other ministry schools were also conducted and critiqued to glean from each institution’s experience. The research, literature review, and model studies were used to determine the best approach to perhaps produce supernatural results in the community. This applied research project examines the impact of a missional engagement curriculum designed for laypersons within a Philadelphia urban church, on the fivefold ministry gifts, also referred to by the writer as the five apportioned gifts of Christ. Scripture and other Christian literature were carefully examined to ensure understanding and acceptance of the gifts for today in the body of Christ. The students were taught how to function in their gift as part of a fivefold gift ministry team and complete a ministry project at the end of the semester.

Lisa Arledge

Oasis, an urban mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, encourages millennials and people who do not normally attend church to experience God. Based on a theology of space within the Trinity, the researcher modified Oasis’s previous ministries to include small group interventions and original art and videos shared on an online blog. An online survey affirmed the values of creativity and shared experiences. The paper concludes with recommendations for Church renewal based on the intervention. Shared leadership, creativity, and flexibility will help young adults connect with God and each other and make the Church more accessible to all.

[Note about entry: Abstract submitted to the Atla RIM database on behalf of the author. The text appears in its entirety as it does in the original abstract page of the author’s project paper. Neither words nor content have been edited.]

Scott Mills D.Min.

This project explored the transformational growth of high school students who served children in homeless crisis by implementing a pilot program at the Fort Wayne Charis House. The findings revealed student growth in three goal areas: greater cultural understanding, greater appreciation for life situation, and greater motivation to serve. The project explored biblical foundations and the causes and consequences of families in homeless crisis. It also examined similarities between “service learning” in the public schools and integrative ministry. Through this program, students built critical thinking skills, positive relationships, and a sense of responsibility as they engaged in serving their community.

Stephanie M Hand

These project objectives are to design, implement, and coach a new Multi Cultural Multi Ethnic Cohort to lead five United Methodist churches through a yearlong process of discernment, new learning, strategic visioning, and community engagement. The cohort will address religious culture shifts from majority Anglo to a more ethnically diverse one in the Metro District, Western North Carolina Conference, The United Methodist Church. Additionally, the cohort is charged with developing Ministry Action Plans and identifying Adaptive Challenges inside and outside the churches, to engage with and be transformative, credible witnesses to and with Metro's diverse homogenous faith communities.

Bran S Kinsey

This project is for the International Mission Agency team focused on Colombo, Sri Lanka, to develop a church planting strategy for the city. The project incorporates researching the city to evaluate the context and strategize accordingly. It uses a geographically distributed team approach, on-site and online training, statistical and descriptive research methodologies, and a four-element strategy formation model. A research profile of the city is developed, which informs and molds a comprehensive church planting strategy for the city.

Jon Richard Pennington

The purpose of this project was for at least 7 of Chicagoland Communiy Church's core team of lay leaders to demonstrate significant improvement in their personal spiritual formation. Not only would this benefit the participants, but also it would raise the discipleship capacity of this small church in a challenging center-city environment. This purpose was accomplished with a modest level of success through 'scaffolding' teaching sessions, a sermon series, technological tracking of spiritiual discipliens, multiple forms of evaluation and testing, individiual meetings, and structured pastoral counseling sessions.