Journal of Contemporary Ministry

Stevens, Kerrie

English

Book Reviews

Theses Listing - 2017

2018 Annual Research Conference

Baskett, Shirley Elizabeth

From Homosexuality to Holiness

Newton, Jon K.

 
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Editorial 
The Journal of Contemporary Ministry was created to fill a gap in the discussion of 
research on Christian ministry. But what is Christian ministry? One of the things we have 
learned by going down this road was the sheer breadth of expressions of Christian 
ministry. When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, everyone knew what ministry 
looked like. The minister was a somewhat serious man (always a man) who had felt called 
by God to devote his life to parish work and gone to a residential theological college to be 
trained. He and his wife and children (unless he was a Roman Catholic priest) lived in a 
house owned by the local congregation that he served (called a rectory, vicarage, 
presbytery or manse) and he spent his time presiding over Christian rituals, visiting his 
parishioners, preaching to them, marrying them, baptizing their babies, sometimes 
fighting with them and eventually conducting their funerals. People were “hatched, 
matched and dispatched.” The recent TV series Father Brown represents this era well from 
a Catholic perspective. The parishioners, on the other hand, donated money to keep the 
local church going, restrained the excesses of the minister, kept him poor, maintained the 
parish house at a very basic level (if at all), maintained the church building (flower rosters 
were big if my memory is accurate!), took minimal part in the liturgy, grumbled about the 
minister and his wife, complained loudly when they weren’t visited enough, put up with 
preaching that was often not very inspiring and hoped to outlast him in any disputes that 
might arise because he would be moved on before too long. Ministers were often stretched 
to breaking point, particularly if they had to serve more than one congregation, and their 
wives felt misused and their kids often rebelled against the straitjacket imposed by 
congregational expectations. 
This image of ministry has almost disappeared in Australia. Ministers may be male 
or female. Ministers’ wives or husbands have their own lives to lead and do not accept 
being unpaid assistants. Many ministers no longer live next to the church building but 
instead are living in their own homes paying off mortgages like everyone else. It is 
expected that “lay” people will share the work of the ministry and often there are multiple 
ministers in a congregation. The concept of the solo minister who slaved for long hours to 
maintain the parish has been replaced by a range of models: the minister as team leader, 
the minister as CEO, the minister as entertainer, the minister as prophet, the minister as 
inspirational leader, and so on. Ministry training has also changed. Live-in theological 
colleges are disappearing. The academic level of ministry training is increasing. But in the 
Pentecostal world, many ministers still have little or no formal training and often view 
such formal training with suspicion.  
Ministry is becoming more complex as society itself is evolving. Local 
congregations are often aging but may be less homogeneous with multiple ethnicities and 
people with a range of life-styles, many of them quite different to the monochrome 
congregations of the 50s and 60s. There are single parents, divorcees, older single people 
and even gays to be catered to. Many people training for ministry have no intention of 
becoming traditional parish priests. They may become chaplains or counsellors in 
hospitals, schools or even sports teams. They may specialize in ministering to youth, 
 
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children, single adults, the poor or the elderly or become specialist music ministers. They 
may return to a “secular” job where their ministry consists largely of supporting and 
encouraging their peers.  A few even serve God in politics. And lots of “lay” people see 
themselves as just as much in ministry as “ordained” people. 
In other words, “contemporary ministry” may mean many different things and this 
is reflected in the articles we are publishing in this issue of the journal. 
Last year, we began a custom of reprinting the key note addresses from the annual 
research conference held here in Melbourne. So we are pleased to present the two 
addresses by Professor Amos Yong (Fuller Theological Seminary, USA) from last year’s 
conference on “The Holy Spirit and a Post-Mission World.” Amos explores the New and 
Old Testament literature through a bifocal lens of pneumatology and missiology with 
some refreshing and stimulating outcomes. Amos’ arguments challenge some traditional 
ways of reading our sacred texts and some traditional ways of viewing ministry and 
mission. You will find these talks very interesting. 
We always publish four peer-reviewed articles and the topics in this issue reflect 
something of the breadth that is Christian ministry today. 
Dr Philip Hughes, a research fellow with Alphacrucis College based in Melbourne 
and the chief researcher for the Christian Research Association of Australia for many 
years, reports on some interesting research about how Christians help others compared 
to people of no or different faiths. If all Christians are in ministry, how active are they in 
terms of activity within and outside their local churches? While Christians clearly donate 
their time somewhat sacrificially to the church, their other helping involvement is not 
radically different to others in society. So where does that leave “the fruit of the Spirit”? 
How can it be measured and stimulated? 
Dr Nigel Pegram, a lecturer at Alphacrucis College in Perth, investigates a key 
aspect of good pastoral ministry, Emotional Intelligence. Is this a character quality, maybe 
like the fruit of the Spirit, or a personality trait, or a skill that can be learned? How 
emotionally intelligent is the average Christian minister? The problem is that the research 
in this field is very thin and often not well focused. Nigel makes some good suggestions 
about improving this research so that ministers can have a clearer picture of their 
capabilities in this area and even improve them. 
Earlier in this editorial, I mentioned changes in how ministers are trained. Over the 
past century we have seen significant changes in such training. In the Pentecostal sphere 
there has been an ongoing debate about how much training ministers need and what form 
it should take. Daniel Aryeh, a lecturer at Perez University College in Winneba, Ghana and 
Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Ghana, where he is also a PhD candidate, discusses a 
particular set of issues that affect Pentecostalism in Africa, especially prophet-led 
movements that often train future prophetic leaders through a kind of apprenticeship. 
While some of the details are very specific to that region, the issues will be recognisable 
to anyone familiar with Pentecostalism and Daniel’s conclusions are worth pondering. 
Dr Shirley Baskett was the first and only doctoral graduate from Harvest Bible 
College. Her DMin thesis was about “Pastoral Care of Same-Sex Attracted People in 
‘Welcoming but not Affirming’ Churches.” Shirley draws on this research in her article, 
which considers the options for same-sex-attracted Christians attending churches that 
 
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welcome everyone but do not approve of active homosexual sex. Is it realistic to expect 
these Christians to change into something they’re not and get married to someone of the 
opposite sex? Or is it fair to expect them to live in life-long celibacy? What kind of support 
should they expect from their local church? And what role is there for para-church groups 
led by former gays? 
Another feature of this journal is a pastoral reflection with a less rigorous 
academic note. Dr U-Wen Low is a faculty member at Alphacrucis College in Melbourne, 
but was previously a youth pastor with CityLife Church, one of Melbourne’s largest 
Pentecostal churches.  In his reflection, he considers the features of the Millennial 
generation as a fellow Millennial and how contemporary churches can best reach and 
serve younger people. 
We also regularly include an outstanding student essay. Margaret Perry is 
completing her MA and her essay was written for a subject in the Harvest Bible College 
MA degree called “Developing Leaders in a Cross-Cultural Context.” In this essay, Marg 
investigates the ministry of the apostle Paul in comparison with two contemporary 
mission ministries with some interesting results. 
Something new in this issue: We are inviting shorter scholarly contributions in 
the form of “Research Notes.” These will not be fully developed and peer-reviewed 
articles but a more preliminary and brief report on current research related to 
contemporary ministry. Dr Philip Hughes has contributed a short article that supplements 
his article on the Fruit of the Spirit. 
Finally, there are thirteen excellent book reviews, including one on Shane Clifton’s 
Crippled Grace, and a list of the most recent theses in the field of contemporary ministry 
from all over the world. 
Now discerning readers will have noticed the frequent mention of Alphacrucis 
College in the introductions to articles above. Alphacrucis College is the oldest and largest 
Pentecostal ministry training institution in Australia, having commenced in 1948. 
Alphacrucis is training Christians for a range of ministry possibilities, not just local church 
leadership but education, counselling and even business. The college has an audacious 
goal of becoming a global Christian university and now has campuses in every Australian 
state and New Zealand. On December 1 last year, Harvest Bible College (the initiating 
college for this journal) entered into a merger with Alphacrucis, creating an even larger 
force for ministry training with the goal of “educating Christians to change the world.” So 
the Journal of Contemporary Ministry will now be under the oversight of Alphacrucis 
College. This exciting development will, we hope, increase the readership and influence of 
this journal.  
In conclusion, I want to thank the other members of the editorial team for this 
journal: Kerrie Stevens, the journal manager and Dr Clayton Coombs, the book review 
editor. I also want to thank Dr Astrid Staley who has acted as proof-reader and editor until 
recently and Allanah Lauder who transcribed Prof Amos Yong’s lectures from the 
recordings. 
 
(Dr) Jon K. Newton 
Editor 


Editorial

Pegram, Nigel D.

Appreciative Inquiry - a strategy for being a healthy church

Cat, Christopher

Four Pentecostal Views on Healing

 
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Theses/Dissertation Listing  
 
This section contains bibliographic details of selected theses relating to contemporary 
ministry awarded in 2016. 
Please contact JCM to have your institution’s theses awarded in 2017 considered for 
inclusion in the next issue of the Journal of Contemporary Ministry. 
Australia, New Zealand & Pacific 
Andrew, Patricia Agnes 
Life to the full: a study of Catholic school teachers’ personal spirituality. Ed.D. – Australian 
Catholic University, 2016 
Bartlett, Stephen 
A study of the effectiveness of church planter recruitment, training and support systems 
amongst Baptist Churches in Australia. D.Min. – Morling College, 2016 
Littleton, Thomas John Harvard 
Enhanced faith learning in parishes. D.Min. – Adelaide College of Divinity, 2016 
Staley, Astrid 
Quantitative study of Evangelical and Pentecostal theological and pastoral responses to 
suicide prevention, intervention and postvention training and implications for postvention 
care of those bereaved by suicide. D.Min. – Australian College of Theology, 2016 
United Kingdom & Europe 
Kwon, Hyuksang 
Lifting up to Himself: John Calvin’s doctrine of the trinity and its implications for the Lord’s 
Supper and worship. D.Min. – Durham University, 2016 
 
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Shuttleworth, Abigail Delyth 
On earth as it is in heaven: a study of the healing praxis of Bill Johnson. Ph.D. – University 
of Birmingham, 2016 
Walsh, Orla 
Spiritan faith friends: an evaluation of faith development in a peer-ministry program. 
D.Ed. – Dublin City University, 2016 
North & South America 
Baugh, James 
An evaluation of the Insider Movement as a Christian ministry approach to evangelizing 
Muslim audiences. D.Min. – Phoeix Seminary, 2016 
Bolden, Cynthia R. 
Connecting church and community: the ministry presence as a community pastor. D.Min. – 
Campbell University Divinity School, 2016 
Brooks, Gennifer Benjamin 
Hurdling the language barrier in preaching. D.Min. – Garrett-Evangelical Theological 
Seminary, 2016 
Campbell, Paul Richard 
Discovering principles of resilience in ministry. D.Min. – Asbury Theological Seminary, 
2016 
Chittock, Daniel P. 
Proactive systematic pastoral visitation in shepherding the contemporary church. D.Min. – 
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2016 
Gorrell, Angela Williams 
Social media, churches, and Christian formation. D.Phil. – Fuller Theological Seminary, 
2016 
Jones, Sharon K. 
Building a transformational Christian education ministry in a small rural church. D.Min. – 
Wesley Theological Seminary, 2016 
Kim, Chul Ki 
The paradigm of the Kingdom of God: a ministry tool for immigrant churches to build an 
inclusive community in the times of multiculturalization/multiracialization. D.Min. – 
Wesley Theological Seminary, 2016 
McCoy, William 
Walking in sacred spaces: moving from active ministry to intentional spiritual journey. 
D.Min. – Wesley Theological Seminary, 2016 
 
 
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Rodgers, Kay 
Investigating how to minister effectively in a rapidly changing and increasingly diverse 
community. D.Min. – Wesley Theological Seminary, 2016 
Sabados, Bruce A. 
The effectiveness of expository preaching: persuading a congregation to practice church 
discipline as an act of faith and obedience to Christ’s word. D.Min. – Trinity Evangelical 
Divinity School, 2016 
Trauth, Jonathan N. 
An evaluation of the St. Leo Burundi Refugee Ministry Program. Ed.D. – University of 
Cincinnati, 2016 
Truax, Todd N. 
Managing ministries through a ministry by objectives process in a programmed sized 
church. D.Min. – Harding Graduate School of Religion, 2016 
Africa 
Meletiou, Crystal 
Spirituality in contemporary hospitality: a practical theological approach. Ph.D. – 
University of Pretoria, 2016 
Tfwala, Njabulo Henry 
The participation of Pentecostal churches in politics: a pastoral perspective. Ph.D. – 
University of Pretoria, 2016 


Theses/Dissertation Listing

HARVEST BIBLE COLLEGE 
2017 RESEARCH CONFERENCE August 24-25 
The Holy Spirit and a Post-Mission World 
Harvest Bible College is excited to announce our seventh annual research conference. 
This year we will explore the work of the Holy Spirit and ministry in a world that is 
frequently confused about, or resistant to, Christian mission. 
 
Our keynote speaker is Professor Amos Yong, Director of the 
Centre for Missiological Research and Professor of Theology 
and Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, USA.  Amos is a 
leading Pentecostal theologian, a prolific author and a speaker 
on a wide range of topics including Pentecostal theology, 
religions, science and faith, and disability theology. 
 
Program Contents 
Professor Yong will give two keynote addresses around the conference theme. Then a 
number of scholars (postgraduate students and lecturers from Harvest and other 
colleges and ministers) will present papers during both days of the conference.  These 
papers will address topics linked to these areas: 
• The Holy Spirit and ministry or mission 
• Ministry and mission in a changing and even hostile world 
• The changing nature of Pentecostalism 
• Religious tensions in today’s world 
For the first time, we are holding a conference dinner on the Thursday night, August 24. 
For more details & to register: https://www.harvest.edu.au/about/harvest-research-conference/ 
Registrations close on Friday, August 18. 
Enquiries: contact Dr Jon Newton, Harvest Bible College, PO Box 9183, Scoresby, VIC 
3179 or jnewton@harvest.edu.au 


Conference

Cartledge, Mark J.

Can Theology Be Practical? Part I: A discussion of theory, practice, wisdom, spirituality and context

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