Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Spring 2013 Tues/Thurs 9:35-11:00 Instructor: Paul T. Martindale

Transcription

1 WM 648 Cross-Cultural Cultural Church Planting Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Spring 2013 Tues/Thurs 9:35-11:00 Instructor: Paul T. Martindale 1. Course Description: This course will focus upon the principles, methods, and strategies for evangelism and church-planting in cross-cultural situations. Special emphasis is given to the social structure of societies and how different cultural contexts influence the process of planting a church, how ministry is carried out, and what types of churches will emerge. Topics will include the process of cross-cultural communication, conversion, appropriate contextualization of the church within given cultural contexts, church planting movements, the role of the missionary, the role of culture in religious change, the role of national Christians, discipleship of national believers, the importance of community, and tentmaking. 2. Course Topics: 1. Overview of course and issues involved in church-planting. 2. Church planting in Band & Tribal Societies 3. Social Structures and church planting, Igala Tribe case study. 4. Church planting in Peasant and Urban Societies. 5. The implications of social structures on communication. 6. Church planting in the New Testament. Apostle Paul s strategies and methods. 7. Conversion theory. 8. The role of the messenger. 9. Ecclesiology. What constitutes a church? What do churches look like in different cultures? 10. What exactly does church-planting involve? Case study of 100 years in Algeria. 11. Church Planting Movements. Evaluating CPM strategies, concepts, and methods. 12. The phases and goals of church-planting. 13. Nationals in Ministry. From dependency to equal partnership. Pitfalls and principles. 14. The spirit world of the Muslim and ministry considerations for church-planting. 15. Lessons from history. How the church in North Africa died out. 16. Tentmaking and the identity of the church planter. 17. Team dynamics and multicultural team situations 18. Discipleship issues in working with nationals. 19. The role of community. How communities become visible and act as God s change agents. 3. Course Objectives: As a result of this course students will: 1. Develop an understanding of how social structures and contexts influence church forms, rituals, and the ministry of church planting. 2. Strengthen their understanding of biblical practices and principles of church planting. 3. Analyze contemporary strategies for cross-cultural church planting and assess whether they are biblical and effective. 4. Evaluate the potential effectiveness of various contextual models of ministry.

2 2 5. Identify the origins and limitations in your own culturally-conditioned understanding of church and church planting and how this might present potential barriers to effective work in different cultural situations. 6. Learn to creatively interpret the gospel message into the worldview and thought categories of other cultures and develop biblical strategies for church planting in new situations. 4. Reading Assignments: a. Books (1,287 pages): Hesselgrave, David J Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond, 2nd ed., Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI. (p ) Hiebert, Paul G and Eloise Hiebert Meneses Incarnational Ministry:Planting Churches in Band, Tribal, Peasant and Urban Societies. Grand Rapids, MI (p ) Ott, Craig and Gene Wilson Global Church Planting, Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI (p ) Sinclair, Daniel A Vision of the Possible. Pioneer Church Planting in Teams, Authentic Media (P ) b. Articles (Read Evans and become familiar with the Scoggins material): Evans, Wendell Church Planting in the Arab Muslim World, Middle East Resources, Upper Darby. Article provided by professor as handout. Scoggins, Dick Planting House Churches in Networks, available at Building Effective Church Planting Teams, available at Handbook for House Churches, available at 5. Course Requirements: a. Research Paper Choose a real or hypothetical people group and describe what the stages of pioneer church planting might look like in that context. The paper should implement principles described in your assigned texts. You will need to complete the reading in the Hesselgrave, Hiebert, and Sinclair texts before you will be able to write this paper. It will be helpful if you make notes while reading the assigned texts for use in writing the paper. No outside sources will be necessary for the paper. The paper should be double-spaced using 12 pt. type. It should be 10 to 12 pages in length with a cover sheet listing your name, mailbox #, title of course, and title of the paper. Use footnotes or endnotes to cite sources for your paper and include a Bibliography listing all sources cited in the paper. The paper is due on April 29 th. b. Mid Term Exam There will be a Mid Term exam covering the lectures and readings on March 11 th. It will cover the lectures and reading during the first 5 weeks of the course. c. Final Exam There will be a final exam covering the lectures and readings in this course. It will primarily cover the final 5 weeks of the course but will also include questions relating to concepts and

3 3 principles from the entire course. The final exam will occur between May 4 th and May 6 th according to the Registrar s schedule. d. Reading of Textbooks and Articles On the last day of the semester, April 29 th, you must submit your reading list documenting all reading you completed for the course. e. Attendance Perfect attendance is encouraged and will greatly enhance your ability to perform well on the exams and comprehend the daily readings. In consideration of the rest of the class, please TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES during the instructional period. 6. Grading Reading of assigned texts and articles 25% Research Paper 30% Mid Term Exam 20% Final Exam 25% 100% total The Grading Scale used in this class is as follows: A+, ; A, 96-94; A-, 93-90; B+, 89-87; B, 86-84; B-, 83-80; C+, 79-77; C, 76-74; C-, 73-70; D+, 69-67; D, 66-64; D-, 63-60; F, Recommended Reading on Church Planting: Allen, Roland 1962 The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes Which Hinder It. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Missionary Methods. St. Paul s or Ours? Eerdmans. Apeh, John E Social Structure and Church-Planting. Companion Press, Shippensburg, PA. Amberson, Talmadge R. (ed.) 1979 The Birth of Churches: The Biblical Basis for Church Planting. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press. Banks, Robert Paul s Idea of Community. Hendrickson. Carson, D.A. ed Biblical Interpretation and the Church. The Problem of Contextualization, Thomas Nelson. Childers, Steven L Church Planter Basic Training: A Gospel-Centered Approach. Orlando, FL: Global Church Advancement. Dayton, E.R. and D.A. Fraser Planning Strategies for World Evangelism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. Elmer, Duane Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. InterVarsity Press. Engle Paul E. and Gary L. McIntosh eds Evaluating the Church Growth Movement: 5 Views. Zondervan. Faircloth, Samuel D Church Planting for Reproduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Falk, Peter The Growth of the Church in Africa, Zondervan.

4 4 Garrison, David Church Planting Movements, International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, Richmond, VA. Gehring, Roger W House Church and Mission. The Importance of Househould Structures in Early Christianity. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA. George, Ron Issues and Insights into Church Planting in the Muslim World, WIN Press, U.K. Gilliand, Dean S Pauline Theology and Mission Practice, Baker Books Greenlee, David H. ed From the Straight Path to the Narrow Way: Journeys of Faith. Authentic Media, Waynesboro, GA One Cross, One Way, Many Journeys: Thinking Again about Conversion, Authentic Media Harris, Richard H., compiler Reaching a Nation through Church Planting. Alpharetta, GA: North American Mission Board, SBC. Hesselgrave, David J Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond, 2nd ed., Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI. Hiebert, Paul G and Eloise Hiebert Meneses Incarnational Ministry:Planting Churches in Band, Tribal, Peasant and Urban Societies. Grand Rapids, MI Hiebert, Paul G Anthropological Insights for Missionaries, Baker Academic Hodges, Melvin L The Indigenous Church. Gospel Publishing House. Jones, Tom Church-Planting from the Ground Up. College Press, Joplin, MO. Karkkainen, Veli-Matti An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical and Global Perspectives, Intervarsity Press. Keller, Timothy and Allen Thompson 2002 Church Planter Manual: A Church Multiplication Handbook (Center-City Church Planting). New York: Redeemer Church Planting Center. LCWE The Pasadena Consultation- Homogeneous Unit, Lausanne Occasional Papers. Livingston, Greg Planting Churches in Muslim Cities, A Team Approach, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI. Logan, Robert E. (Steven L. Ogne) (Neil Cole) 1989 Beyond Church Growth. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co Church Planter's Toolkit. Church Smart Resources ( Churches Planting Churches. Church Smart Resources ( Raising Leaders for the Harvest. Church Smart Resources ( Malphurs, Aubrey 1998 Planting Growing Churches for the 21 Century. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. McGavran, Donald A. ed Church Growth and Christian Mission, Harper and Row Ethnic Realities and the Church. Lessons from India, William Carey Library The Bridges of God. A Study in the Strategy of Mission, Friendship Press. Muller, Roland The Messenger, The Message, The Community. Three Critical Issues for the Cross-Cultural Church-Planter. CanBooks, Istanbul, Turkey. Murray, Stuart Church-Planting. Laying Foundations. Herald Press, Scottdale, PA.

5 5 Nevius, John L. no date. Planting and Development of Missionary Churches, Baker Book House. Newbigin, Leslie The Household of God, Friendship Press. Ott, Craig and Gene Wilson Global Church Planting: Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication, Baker Academic Patterson, George and Richard Scoggins 1993 Church Multiplication Guide: Helping Churches to Reproduce Locally and Abroad. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library. Schlorff, Samuel P Discipleship in Islamic Society, Middle East Resources, Upper Darby, PA. Schwartz, Glenn J When Charity Destroys Dignity. Overcoming Unhealthy Dependency in the Christian Movement, World Mission Associates. Shenk, David Journeys of the Muslim Nation and the Christian Church. Exploring the mission of two communities. Herald Press, Scottdale, PA. Shenk, David W. and Ervin R. Stutzman Creating Communities of the Kingdom, New Testament Models of Church Planting, Herald Press, Scottdale, PA. Sinclair, Daniel A Vision of the Possible. Pioneer Church Planting in Teams, Authentic Media Sjogren, Steve and Rob Lewin 2003 Community of Kindness: A Relational Approach to Planting and Growing a Church. Ventura, CA: Regal Books. Steffen, Tom A Passing the Baton: Church Planting that Empowers. La Habra, CA: Center for Organizational & Ministry Development. Steffen, Tom A. and Lois McKinney Douglas Encountering Missionary Life and Work:Preparing for Intercultural Ministry. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids. Suarez, Gustavo V Connections: Linking People and Principles for Dynamic Church Multiplication. Friendswood, Texas: Baxter Press Van Engen, Charles E Rethinking the Purpose of the Local Church. Baker Books. Yamamori, Tetsunao and E. Leroy Lawson Introducing Church Growth, Standard Publishing. Zdero, Rad Nexus. The World House Church Movement Reader, William Carey Library, Pasadena.