Mission of the church

Jonathan M Romig D.Min.

The author hypothesized that the direct teaching and discussion of the biblical concepts and commands of human flourishing and the common good would give Cornerstone Congregational Church in Westford, MA a theological framework for engaging civilly in faith and politics. To test this hypothesis, the author taught a non-partisan ten-week sermon series on religion and politics and led an accompanying class discussion. Research study participants completed a pre-and-post survey to gauge effectiveness. The author concluded that all participants developed more of a theological framework for engaging in politics, some more than others. The author recommends pastors and churches engage in political discipleship.

Robert James Fontell Jr. D.Min.

Statistics indicate that thousands of churches have experienced decline to such an extent that without intervention, these churches will reach the death stage in the life cycle of the church. However, churches do not have to experience the final stages of the life cycle of the church because they possess the potential for renewed growth. Pastors can learn the skill of leading a church through revitalization.

This project will examine principles that bring life and transformation to the local church through biblical research on church health, the study of the life cycle of a church, common biblical behaviors of healthy churches, and their impact on declining churches. It will seek to explain the evangelistic efforts that addressed the decline experienced by Calvary Christian Church (CCC), Northeast Philadelphia, PA, and brought the beginnings of revitalization. The biblical research describes the development of an evangelism strategy that will change the culture of the church to rediscover its mission and foster a healthy state.

Diane Lynn Galmore D.Min.

As the Christian population continues to grow in North America, the desire to read and the ability to comprehend the Scriptures have not. For many, the commitment to study the ancient text persists in being an elusive pursuit. The hinderance can be described as biblical nescience. Although numerous Christians adhere to religious doctrine, church ordinances, and corporate engagements such as regular Sunday worship, Christian instruction, communion, Bible study, prayer, ministry service, and giving, largely excluded from the framework of faith is Bible reading. Some Christians acknowledge the major obstacle to be a lack of understanding of the storyline. Another challenge for readers is finding relevancy in the text, while others hold to the notion that comprehensive Bible reading and study are the sole responsibility of the pastor and church leaders to guide Christians beyond these complexities and aid future believers to embrace the Living Word. This writing seeks to reenergize and rekindle the importance of reading and having a deeper understanding of the Good News through the use of a biblical plot-line that places emphasis on God’s mission.

Richard L. Schenck

Approaching the subject of Christian Ethics by looking at "life" as a comprehensive whole, this dissertation presented three criteria for a Christian ethic of life: (a) A whole life mission embraces life as a comprehensive whole. This holistic mission is an adequate ethic for local church outreach to the whole person in society. (b) A whole life ethic of the local church embodies the compassion of Christ. (c) A whole life ethic is consistent, as a local church engages itself in sanctity of life as well as quality of life issues.

These criteria are the guiding principles of this project and are utilized in this assessment and development of an ethic of life for the local Wesleyan Church. This whole life ethic addresses issues along the whole spectrum of life from conception to death. That spectrum confronts such sanctity of life issues as abortion, capital punishment and modern warfare, as well as quality of life issues such as economic poverty and despair.

This project calls for an introduction and integration of a "consistent ethic-of-life mission" into the social outreach ministry of a local church. Integrating this mission into a local church means that the project was involved in an introductory attempt to insert a new social mission agenda into the present mission of that church. The strategy introduced an educational approach that would lead to the establishment of a social outreach ministry, through the use of a primer that was pilot-tested in three symposiums. The symposiums were conducted at three Wesleyan Churches in the Indiana Central District: Crawfordsville Sonlight Wesleyan Church, Indianapolis Shelby Street Wesleyan Church, and the Tipton Trinity Wesleyan Church.

Jeffrey O. Copp D.Min.

It is the thesis of this study that the peace position of the Church of the Brethren is in danger of becoming more a matter of proclamation than practice in the Church. It is the assumption of this study that this development is a problem for the Church of the Brethren, now and in the future, and that it does require attention.

Among those caught in the middle of this development are pastors who must declare the position and interpret it. In their office as pastor they must deal directly with the implications of a position that one Brethren writer has characterized as “rhetorical” in nature (Bach 180). The author of the present study, a pastor, has struggled with those implications and his struggles prompted this project.

The aim of this study was to gather information from Church of the Brethren pastors about their experiences as they represent the peace position in their congregations. It was felt that this would be a fruitful window through which to examine the state of the peace position in the Church of the Brethren today.

A questionnaire was designed and administered to a random sampling of Brethren pastors active today to solicit that information. Analysis of the findings revealed that most Church of the Brethren congregations are not presently experiencing significant conflict over the issue, but a majority of pastors are uncomfortable with the current status quo in the Church in regard to it. Six concrete recommendations for changing peace demographics in the Church of the Brethren emerged from the data.

Gary Yigong Chen D.Min.

This portfolio aims to find a practical and effective way to increase missional awareness in the congregants at Toronto RenAi Chinese Christian Church and inspire them to be more active participants in this objective. This portfolio is composed of three major parts: a Personal Narrative and Ministry Context (Chapter 2), a Philosophy of Christian Leadership (Chapter 3), and a Field Ministry Project (Chapter 4). In Chapter 2, the author uses a narrative approach to describe how becoming a Christian not only profoundly changed his worldview and values but also focused his leadership philosophy from being power-based to service-based. In Chapter 3, through a literature review, the author elaborates on what servant leadership really means and argues that it should be a distinguishing feature of Christian leaders. In Chapter 4, the author explores whether or not the hands-on inquiry learning of the BELLS model in a missional Chinese church community context increased both participants’ missional awareness and the church’s willingness to reach people with the gospel in a culturally appropriate way. This exploration was conducted through a series of in-person and online gatherings, interviews, and weekly practices of BELLS in a missional community format. The author uses the BELLS model, the missional community strategies, and his own ecclesiology, missiology, and Christian leadership philosophy to guide the entire research project. Qualitative research data was collected and analyzed through interviews with seven participants, weekly DNA (Discipleship, Nurture, Accountability) Forms, and the author’s own participatory observations during in-person gatherings and online discussions. The results of the research project indicated that the practice of the BELLS model helped increase most of the participants’ missional awareness and passion for evangelizing their Chinese compatriots. It also helped most of them to live out their belief in the cultural context of the Chinese diaspora.

Randy Allen Harp D.Min.

The Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) was birthed in 1950 and rapidly grew to become the country's largest network of independent Baptists. Beginning shortly after the deaths of many of its key founders, the BBFI has been in a state of decline for decades. This project presents a strategic plan for the future effectiveness of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International.

Chapter 1 introduces the thesis and explains the methodology. The methodology includes research, interviews, surveys, a comparative study of a like organization, and work with a strategic planning task force. This chapter also addresses some theological issues and the practical application of the project for the BBFI. Finally, it highlights the goals of the project.

Chapter 2 explains the process of implementation. A generational study of the BBFI, along with key events and key leaders, is documented. The purpose, design, and participation of the survey and interviews are explained. The General Conference of Swedish Baptists, now known as Converge, is examined. The formation and execution of the BBFI Strategic Planning Task Force are outlined.

Chapter 3 provides an assessment of the entire project. The survey distributed for this project is directly compared to surveys distributed in the early 1990s by BBFI leaders. Insights are summarized from interviewing elected leaders and an outside expert on the BBFI, Elmer Towns. This chapter also assesses the stated goals of the project, specifically the strategic plan presented to BBFI leaders.

Chapter 4 summarizes the conclusions of the project. It evaluates the project's purpose and goals. It shares the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of the project. It reflects on theological insights gained and shows how the project can be applied to the BBFI. This chapter also includes some personal reflections and concludes with recommendations for further research.

Miriam A. Barnes

This is a project about Second Reformed Church in Zeeland, Michigan at the intersection of missiology, ecclesiology, and leadership—the three main subjects of the cohort, Leading with God Ahead of Us. This project explores the liturgy of Second Church as a dynamic influence on the church in mission. The rhythms of our weekly Sunday morning liturgy are formative for the people of Second Reformed Church. Not only are people rooted and grounded in God’s presence through Word and Sacrament, but they are also sent out from worship to engage specific places in God’s world using their gifts and passions to serve others.

The practice of ethnography reveals the ways the liturgy challenges, confirms, and inspires the people of Second Church to engage in mission. The liturgy of Second Reformed Church provides a framework for that service and engagement, whether at home, work, serving on a non-profit board, direct community service, or financial generosity.

The connection between liturgy and mission is not new for Second Reformed Church, yet this focus comes at a critical moment in Second’s story. The building project (completed in 2018) included vision for a different kind of community engagement that we have not yet embraced due to a pastoral crisis followed by a global pandemic. In this season of re-emerging from a global pandemic, Second is poised to explore critical questions around mission. By shaping a house of language around mission, this project demonstrates how liturgy helps Second Church to be “rooted and reaching” in Zeeland and beyond.

Jeryl Salmond

Like so many other congregations, small churches are suffering from declining membership, and many have closed their doors. This decline has caused many pastors to be concerned about their ability to survive. As a consequence, churches have focused on survival tactics which result in an inward focused church in order to safeguard their limited resources. This inward focus minimizes missional ministry and ignores the pain and brokenness of people in the community that surrounds the church. This issue is particularly impactful in the urban context, where social challenges are prevalent and evidenced by the visible amount of homelessness, hunger, and poverty in the community. This thesis investigates the utilization of preaching stewardship to encourage growth in missional outreach in a small urban church. The preacher must be intentional about developing and delivering sermons that demonstrate the symmetry between stewardship and outreach ministry. This project focused on a small urban church and seeks to demonstrate that preaching stewardship is influential in encouraging growth in missional outreach to offset the needs of the community beyond the church.

Elia S Cardenas D.Min.

There is an inculturated, integrative, liberative, and decolonized model of church in the highlands of Chiapas. This Diocese in an autochthonous church developed by the prophetic vision of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who knew how to read the signs of the times, was inspired by the vision of the Vatican Second Council, the Medellin Conference in Latin America, and the Church’s preferential option for the poor. He succeeded in restoring the dignity to the indigenous people with his subversive praxis and helped them become subjects of their own destiny. Today, they still walk accompanied by the courageous pastoral team of San Cristobal de las Casas.