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The Equipping Church: Recapturing God’s Vision for the Priesthood of All Believers. A Biblical, Historical, and Reformed Perspective
Get PDFMany protestant versions of believers’ royal priesthood, including the Christian Reformed Church in North America, are missionally inadequate: priestly functions are often monopolized by the Ministerial Priesthood,[1] which leads to the defrocking of the ministry of the priesthood of all believers.
In essence, the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is treated as though it is a true, factual, and fascinating piece of Christian doctrine, but is not always practically lived out in local congregations. We believe in it in theory, but not in practice.
A biblical and missional understanding of the church must root the priesthood of all believers in baptism, the initiatory rite that ordains all people into priestly service in the world.
A proper re-framing of the priesthood of all believers will serve as the catalyst for a more robust ecclesiology and will be the impetus for the royal priesthood to commit to their earthly vocation to be witnesses of Christ in the world.
[1] In the case of the CRCNA, there are four offices of the Ministerial Priesthood: Minister of the Word, Elder, Deacon, and Commissioned Pastor
Mentoring and Coaching as a Strategy for Empowering Millennials
Get PDFThe purpose of this project is to engage young Christian leaders in a process of leadership development through mentoring and coaching in order to cultivate leaders for future generations at New Life. New Life has preserved and raised three generations of disciples that have faithfully served in the church. Yet the church has struggled to adequately address the leadership crisis that looms. This is particularly evident with the millennial generation represented at New Life, those born approximately between 1981 and 1996. This age group is an integral part of the church, but it is slowly diminishing in number and influence.
This project seeks to address the matter through the intentional mentoring and coaching of emerging leaders from its millennial constituency. The strategic initiative that was implemented invited four millennial emerging leaders into a coaching relationship for eight to twelve weeks. The initiative took a more relational approach and was designed to be an integration of both mentoring and coaching functions. It drew heavily on Dr. Terry Walling’s Leader Breakthru resources, Focused Living and IDEA Coaching Pathway, to provide the necessary structure.
The general goals of the initiative itself were to help participants get divine perspective on their lives in order to help clarify their calling from God, and then to empower them to begin living it out. Toward these ends, the initiative was a success. By and large, it verified that mentoring and coaching is in fact a viable means of empowering future millennial leaders. Indeed, there are some gaps to fill in the overall strategy. With confidence, this project is offered to New Life as a catalytic tool for intentionally developing leaders from the next generation and for future generations
Toward a Strategy to Strengthen Member Engagement Among Adventists in the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area
No full textThis dissertation presents a strategy to strengthen member engagement by promoting inclusive practices among Adventist churches in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The Seventh-day Adventist Church historically has placed a major emphasis on sociological and cultural engagement and inclusivity, making it one of the most diverse denominations in the world. Even so, disengagement from the church occurs all too frequently. To address this issue, I demonstrate from the literature that inclusivity is a human expectation, highlight key organizational inclusion models, and discuss member engagement practices in churches in general as well as sociocultural dynamics and practices of Adventists in particular. I conducted surveys, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group to study the sociological, cultural, and religious dynamics that affect member engagement in Adventist churches. Major findings highlight the need for more acceptance, prioritization, and ministry and missional involvement.
I draw conclusions from the findings regarding the importance of acceptance, adaptation, and association, and I propose recommendations for applications in Washington, DC, Adventist churches. As part of the recommendation, I present an “each-church-as-a-village” strategy in which members seek to foster more inclusive engagement by practicing acceptance, adaptation, and association. Though immediate application is for Adventist churches in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, the strategy of “each-church-as-a-village” may also be useful for other churches in similar contexts
Godly Grit: A Practical, Research-Driven Framework for Strengthening Ministry Perseverance
No full textThis dissertation leverages grounded theory research methods to demonstrate the factors that most significantly contribute to perseverance in the work of ministry. It then outlines a practical framework based upon this research to strengthen those factors. Part I of this study demonstrates from the literature that a pastor’s cultural environment and pastoral health may impact ministry perseverance. Discerning the true impact of these factors required localized field research, which was conducted within New York’s Adirondack Mountain region. Part II describes how a combination of semi-structured, active interviews and an anonymous survey was particularly appropriate for this grounded theory, qualitative research. The key factors of ministry perseverance that emerged from the research data were the intentional combination of a pastor’s godly grounding, resilient personality, intimate allies, and targeted calling, or GRIT. Part III demonstrates that these four factors—collectively known as Godly GRIT®—can be strengthened. The strategy for testing that is outlined through a twelve-part small group curriculum. This process informed the development of a ministry plan that combines informal coaching and a workbook to strengthen Godly GRIT. Although this research was conducted in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, the theory of Godly GRIT has broader applicational significance outside that specific region and even beyond vocational ministry
Countering the Criminalization of Youth: A Denominational Strategy for Developing a Holistic Ecclesiastical Approach
Get PDFThe purpose of this project is to create a strategy within the North Georgia United Methodist Church Conference (NGUMC) structures to counter the criminalization of youth by engaging in opportunities that bring awareness to the NGUMC and then engage in mentoring and other activities designed to counter this criminalization of youth through holistic and intergenerational approaches at the various ecclesiastical levels within the Conference. There is a growing concern among educators and other youth service professionals in regards to what has been called “the school to prison pipeline.” While a growing number of youth are at risk of falling victim to a culture of criminalization, youth of color and lower socioeconomic status and those in foster care are at particular risk. Few churches are aware that various social agencies are engaging in processes of systemic and systematic criminalization of youth.
This paper is divided into three parts. Part One explores factors contributing to the criminalization of youth in order to gain an understanding of the development and progression of this phenomenon. This portion also examines how criminalization impacts youth, families, and society. Part Two offers an overview of theology found in the Bible and the United Methodist Book of Discipline, each mandating that the Church come to the aid of those most vulnerable.
Part Three suggests how the Church can be a vital part of curtailing the criminalization of young people, especially foster children who are at a greater risk of criminalization. To fulfill the goal of addressing and curtailing this, a collaborative effort with other churches and child/youth service agencies within the community is developed in order to strengthen, equip, educate, and encourage foster and adoptive families. Support also comes in the form of a monthly support group providing training and fellowship. Part Three concludes with an evaluation
Fuller Magazine, Issue 013, 2019 - Worship and Art
Get PDFSince 2014, Fuller Magazine has been published for the global community of Fuller Theological Seminary. The sections of Story, Theology, Voice, and Departments are to reflect the life of Fuller in all her permutations: this is who we are, what we are talking about, and who we are becoming together. The editorial content of FULLER magazine reflects the opinions of the various authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the views of Fuller Theological Seminary.
Table of Contents
STORY
12 A Cloud of Witnesses by Michael Wright
16 Redemptive Entrepreneur by Katherine Lee
22 A Hopeful Picture by Rachel Paprocki
28 A Song in His Heart by Carla Sanders
34 An Artistic Sensibility by Michael Wright
THEOLOGY
42 Introduction by Todd E. Johnson, Guest Editor
44 Much Ado about Kneeling by Todd E. Johnson
49 The Art of Peacebuilding in a Divided World by Roberta R. King
54 The Catastrophic Poetry of the Cross by Kutter Callaway
60 Psalms: A Biblical Model of Art by W. David O. Taylor
64 Hip Hop Hermeneutic by Dwight Radcliff
68 Exploring the Role of Embodiment in Worship by Alexis D. Abernethy
72 Culture Care: An Assumption of Abundance by Makoto Fujimura
VOICE
76 Voices on the Prayer of Examen
88 Voices on Discernment
DEPARTMENTS
8 From Mark Labberton, President
94 Recent Faculty Books and Publications
96 Benediction
97 About Fullerhttps://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/fuller-magazine/1012/thumbnail.jp
