Nathaniel Garth Sloan, D.Miss. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018 Chair: Dr. Jeff K. Walters Pre-field assessment and development are proven tools to help missionary candidates better prepare for life and ministry overseas. There is no better place to do this assessment and development than in the context of the local church. Chapter 1 lays the framework for the rest of the dissertation by providing an apologetic to the centrality of the local church and giving a basic overview of what will be covered in the dissertation. Chapter 1 then provide definitions to key concepts, addresses limitation and delimitations, and then lays out the methodology of research. Chapter 2 provides a biblical and historical basis for the sentness of God and the sentness of the local church. This Trinitarian sending shows that God the Father sent the Son, the Father and Son sent the Spirit, and the Triune God sends the church out on a mission of redemption. Chapter 2 goes on to show the sentness of the local church as displayed throughout history from Acts 2 through the current Sending Church Movement. This theological understanding of the mission Dei, the mission of God, is essential to understanding and valuing the local church’s role in global missions, specifically assessment and development. Chapter 3 starts by answering the question of why the local church matters in the assessment and development of pre-field missionaries. The chapter then discuss the results of a twelve-question interview given to nine known and respected sending churches in North America. The results of these interviews were analyzed, discussed, and observations are made. Finally, the chapter discussed best practices of assessment and development seen in the churches interviewed. Chapter 4 considers the findings of chapter 3, as well as the current literature available on missionary assessment and development, and then proposes a model of assessment and development that can be used by leaders in local churches. This proposed model includes the methodology, processes, tools, and best practices needed for assessing and developing prospective missionaries within the local church.

Abstract not available

This dissertation examined the influence of missiologist Lesslie Newbigin on the innovators and early adopters of the emerging church paradigm. The work has demonstrated a connection between Newbigin's missiology and the innovators and the early adopters of the emerging church paradigm. His influence emerged in three primary arenas: the belief that Christendom crippled missionary consciousness in Western culture, the emphases on the communal dimensions of mission, and the necessity of a gospel expression that unleashed a timely message with a timeless word. Examination of the writings of Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Dan Kimball, and Mark Driscoll revealed great familiarity with Newbigin's work as well as a desire to adopt and adapt his stances to their own ministries. Newbigin's staunch polemic against the mindset of modernity was one avenue that each of the early adopters and innovators addressed. The emerging church embraced Lesslie Newbigin's contention that Western culture emasculated the church from true gospel expression. Newbigin's influence on the epistemological views of the innovators and early adopters of the emerging church paradigm revealed a new dynamic engaged heavily with the Kingdom of God. Lesslie Newbigin's contention that a true missionary movement required a communal dimension of witness as the congregation served as a hermeneutic of the gospel resonated fully with the emerging church paradigm. The corrective idea of Newbigin emphasizing the corporate nature of discipleship contra the consumerism and individualism of Western culture was seen as a needed emphasis by the emerging church practitioners. Each proponent of the emerging church paradigm embraced incarnational praxis, although expressions varied and were not uniform in practice. Newbigin's viewpoint of the necessity of placing the church in the center of contextualization was tempered by a desire to avoid syncretism and irrelevance. Each of the innovators and early adopters of the emerging church paradigm reacted against what Newbigin termed the confinement of the gospel in the existing plausibility structures of the West. The emerging church attempted to bridge the arbitrary divisions in the culture between the sacred and secular. The embrace of practices and prospects emerged from Newbigin's connection with the emerging church paradigm. This final focus demonstrated a connection with emerging church proponents as they embraced the dynamic of identifying with the life of Jesus, transforming secular space, and living communal lives. The fracturing influence of the emerging church paradigm was seen as largely a result of embracing theological liberalism rather than a result of a focus on Newbigin's missiology. Proponents of his conclusions adopted different monikers such as "missional" to be able to fully embrace Newbigin's missiology and social emphases while downplaying theological ambiguity.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past few decades, discussions around youth identity crisis and missio Dei have become one of the most challenging issues of our time. Given that staying true to self and God is complicated. We seldom come to terms with what our identity should look like in relation to the character and image of God. Just like any experience, a self-discovery experience with the ‘self’ and an attachment relationship with God, is like a rollercoaster ride. The researcher engages the reader in an empirical study that zooms in on the identity crisis of Stellenbosch Christian Millennials in relation to the subcultures of self and God images. Hence, attempting the all-important question: How can a Christian life, lived within the restorative and prophetic context of imago Dei become the milieu in which the youth-in-mission finds an enduring and satisfying identity in a time of crisis? The research is an exhaustive study that draws from the theories of attachment to God, authenticity, and theological anthropology in its exploratory navigations to bring to bear the identity crisis of Christian Millennials who participated in the study. Using a qualitative case study design, the researcher exhaustively gave account to the experiences of the respondents in the study by providing the reader with a robust narrative that explains the identity crisis of Christian Millennials in relation to their self and God images. The hallmark of the study was the observation of a common coping mechanism by way of splitting or self-fragmentation, used by the respondents to deal with their identity crisis as they struggled to remain authentic to self and maintain a positive God image. They dealt with their identity crisis by self-creating a prophetic future within the structural qualities of the self to engage in a relationship between its divine given purpose in an eschatological future and the mission of God. It was this identity crisis that led to an opportunity that enabled the youth-in-mission to interpret their experience in God’s terms. The researcher introduced this opportunity as a coping missional hermeneutic, which is a theological model that allows us to change the frame of our identity crisis to the pattern of the imago Dei in order to tell our stories from the perspective of missio Dei. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tydens afgelope paar dekades het die bespreking rondom die identiteitskrisis van jongmense en missio Dei een van die mees uitdagende aspekte in die hedendaagse lewe geword. Om voortdurend opreg te wees aan die self en God is ingewikkeld. Mense kom nie altyd tot ‘n vergelyk oor die identiteit wat behoort te wees wanneer verwys word na die verhouding tussen die karakter en beeld van God. Soos dit die geval is met enige ander ervaring, kan die ontdekking van die ‘self’ en ‘n persoonlike verhouding met God vergelyk word met ‘n mallemeule. Die navorser betrek die leser by ‘n empiriese studie. Hierdie studie fokus op die identiteitskrisis van Christen jongemense in verhouding tot die subkultuur van die self- en Godsbeelde. Hiermee saam poog die studie om lig te werp op die volgende aspek: Hoe kan die Christen lewe binne die konteks van die imago Dei, ’n kanaal wees vir ‘n voortdurende en genotvolle identiteit tydens ‘n identiteitskrisis? Die studie is komprehensief en is gebasseer op die teorieë van “attachment to God”, “authenticity” en teologiese antropologie. Die teorieë was gebruik deur die navorser om die identitietskrisis van Christen jongmense (Millennials), wie deelgeneem het aan hierdie studie, te beskryf. Die navorser maak gebruik van ‘n kwalitatiewe gevalle studie om te rapporteer oor die ervaringe van die deelnemers aan die studie, deur die leser te voorsien van betroubare stories oor die identiteitskrisis van jong christene in verhouding met die subkultuur van die self- en Godsbeelde. ‘n Uitstaande kenmerk van die studie is die waarneming van die algemene hanterings meganisme van verdeling (splitting) en godsdienstige taal waartydens deelnemers hul identiteitskrisis hanteer en sodoende die ware self te wees en ‘n positiewe Godsbeeld te hê. ‘n Identiteitskrisis het die geleentheid geskep vir jongmense om hul ervaringe van God in Gods terme te interpreteer. Die navorser het deur middel van die geleentheid die coping missional hermeneutic bekendgestel. Dié teologiese model stel ons in staat om die raamwerk waarbinne ons, ons identiteitskrisis beskou, na ‘n imago Dei te verander. Hierdie verandering sal ons help om ons stories uit die perspektief van missio Dei te vertel.

No description available.

This dissertation examines Insider Movements, a missiological strategy where adherents of a high-religious system retain their socio-religious birth identity as a means of preventing extraction, thereby aiding the evangelistic and church planting task by keeping the social and family network intact. The strategy has produced a significant amount of controversy related to appropriate degrees of contextualization and the dangers of syncretism. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an Insider approach, critique the theological and methodological elements of Insider Movements, and evaluate its ability to produce orthodox, Bible-believing, and Christ-exalting believers and churches. This dissertation takes the position that Insider methodology as currently articulated is biblically weak and methodologically unwise. Chapter 1 introduces a short history of the development of the Insider conversation, identifies the central problems surrounding the conversation, defines terminology, and outlines the trajectory of the study. Chapter 2 traces the development of Insider methodology in an attempt to present a clear and complete picture of the arguments raised by Insider proponents. The relationship of Insider Movements to People Movements and Church Planting Movements is investigated. This investigation is followed by an identification of the missiological problems in evangelism and church planting in high-religious contexts. The literature and conferences proposing the missiology that led to the C-Continuum are identified. Chapter 3 deals with the biblical and theological foundation of Insider methodology. Kraft's concept of revelation and the Bible as "God's inspired case-book" is proposed as an unstated presupposition of Insider methodology. Moreover, the theological concepts of fulfillment theology and the kingdom of God are identified as the central arguments supporting Insider methodology. Chapter 4 introduces the central missiological concepts supporting Insider strategy, starting with the model of critical contextualization and followed by a critical interaction with the central missiological proposals utilized in Insider strategy. Chapter 5 is an attempt to assess the "wait and see" proposal of Insider advocates through an historic case study of Sadrach Surapranata's community in central Java, Indonesia. In addition to providing an example for how one particular community developed in terms of identity, orthodoxy, and orthopraxy, a number of helpful lessons related to contextualization and missionary partnership are presented as balancing comments for the Insider conversation. The final chapter concludes with summary thoughts, proposals, and areas of future research and dialogue.

This dissertation examines the relationship between missiology and cultural anthropology in the life and published works of Paul Gordon Hiebert. Chapter 1 introduces the overall research question which investigates the interface of cultural anthropology and missiology. Key terms are introduced and defined in order to provide clarity for the remaining work. Chapter 2 starts the body of the work with a short biography of Hiebert. The biographical section starts before Hiebert's lifetime with an investigation of his denominational and familial background. Hiebert's childhood as missionary kid in India demonstrates how those experiences affected his later education and missionary career. A survey of his education, professional career as a professor of missions and anthropology, and writing career demonstrate Hiebert's commitment to the missions task and to the integration of missiology and cultural anthropology. Chapter 3 identifies and traces the development of Hiebert's six seminal ideas in his published works. Chapter 4 examines how Hiebert's six seminal ideas introduced in the third chapter apply to some questions being dealt with in contemporary missiology. This investigation takes the form of a research question associated with each idea. Chapter 5 investigates the influence of Hiebert's six seminal ideas on current missiology. His influence is demonstrated through a survey of a representative sample of Evangelical missiologists in order to reveal how Hiebert's seminal ideas have been in their own missiological thinking and teaching. Additionally, a limited survey of secondary sources will show that Hiebert has often been cited in order to support various missiological ideas and positions. An evaluation of whether these ideas are legitimate or illegitimate extensions of Hiebert's ideas is given. Chapter 6 concludes the study through a reflection of Hiebert's legacy in terms of his personal impact on students, colleagues, and others with whom he

Within the first chapter I highlight the extent Platonism influenced modern eschatology and motives for mission. This dualism led to separating divine and secular history and suited the philosophy of secular historians and theologian's who had no taste for divine reality purveying both everyday history, and individual lives. The second chapter discusses how these views, because of Premillennial-Dispensationalism, created American fundamentalism that changed what motivates foreign and local missions. Oppression and the poor have become nothing more than the evidences of a corrupt world that is destined to be destroyed; hence, all stress is concentrated on saving individual souls from the wrath to come. The third chapter consists in analysing David Bosch's aversion to this very notion and his reasons for avoiding apocalyptic language in many of his writings. I conclude in agreement with Bosch's motivation for mission and a similar view of eschatology which embraces a present realised kingdom and a future consummation thereof. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This dissertation examines the church planting strategies and methods that were used by the Ghana Baptist Convention and the Ghana Baptist Mission between 1960 and 2000. The goal is to come up with strategies and methods that will help the convention to plant healthy and indigenous churches. Chapter 1 introduces the strategies and methods that the Ghana Baptist convention and mission have used in the attempt to plant healthy indigenous churches. The chapter discusses the level of evangelization of Ghana as outlined in the GEC 1993 Survey and touches on such issues as nominalism the 14000 unevangelized villages and towns and also the 3.2 million unevangelized northern people and other aliens in southern Ghana. Chapter 2 describes Ghana. The chapter describes the geography of Ghana and covers the history, culture, socio-political, and economic environment as well as the religious situation in Ghana. Chapter 3 discusses the history of the Baptist work in Ghana. It begins with history of Christianity in Ghana. The second and the main part of the chapter covers the history of the Ghana Baptist Mission and the Ghana Baptist convention from 1947 to the present day. Chapter 4 examines the strategies and methods that the convention and the mission have used to plant churches. It ties down the strategies and methods to various time periods that they were used. The chapter begins with the strategies and methods of church planting that have been used by evangelicals as basis of comparison. The fifth chapter evaluates and critiques the strategies and methods of church planting that the convention and the mission have used. The chapter, first of all, outlines the criteria for analyzing healthy indigenous church planting strategies and methods. The chapter then analyzes the strategies and methods of church planting that have been used by other denominations and organizations including the PCG, the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Church of Pentecost, the Deeper Life Ministry and the Miracle Life Church and COF. The last and major part of the chapter critiques the strategies and methods of church planting that the Ghana Baptist convention and mission have used. Chapter 6 covers recommendations to the Ghana Baptist convention based on the study and the conclusion. The chapter also covers suggestions for further research on issues church planting issues that were not addressed by this dissertation. It ends with the challenges that writer poses to the convention as it strives to plant healthy indigenous churches.

ABSTRACT THE MISSIOLOGY OF T. G. JOHN SULLIVAN WITH IMPLICATIONS ON CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN BAPTIST STATE CONVENTION WORK Michael Allen Tatem, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2014 Chair: Dr. Adam W. Greenway This dissertation analyzes the missiology of T. G. John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist State Convention since 1989, and provides implications of his missiology on contemporary Southern Baptist State Convention work. Chapter 1 introduces the need for this dissertation and provides the thesis, background, methodology, and limitations of the dissertation. Chapter 2 provides a brief biography of the life of T. G. John Sullivan. Sullivan was born on October 20, 1936, in Ansted, West Virginia. His early life, conversion and call to ministry, education, pastorates, and denominational work at the state and national levels are highlighted. Chapter 3 provides the biblical and theological foundations of T. G. John Sullivan. Sullivan's views of the Bible and his beliefs about God, the condition of man, and the atoning work of Christ are examined. Also presented are his beliefs about salvation, the Christian life, and doctrine of the church. Chapter 4 presents the missiology of T. G. John Sullivan and the practical application of that missiology in Sullivan's understanding of the Great Commission. The chapter presents a discussion of Sullivan's priorities of evangelism, church planting, and church health in the context of his views on church growth principles, cooperation, and partnership missions. Chapter 5 gives the implications of Sullivan's missiology on contemporary Southern Baptist state convention work. Special attention is given to the implications of the future of state convention work in light of the Great Commission Resurgence and the Imagine If . . . Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. Chapter 6 draws conclusions from the previous chapters. The conclusion provides a model of emphases of state convention work that will accomplish a Great Commission Resurgence among Southern Baptist churches.