Congregational Studies – Final Paper

I am delighted that this course was offered and that I participated in learning from its rich contents. I have been richly blessed by its engaging reading and all the reading assignments. We started off with the engaging book “Studying Congregations.” Congregational studies is the systematic study of congregations and life in the church for the purpose of improving the quality of the overall experience. We went through, Theology of Congregation, Inclusive Leadership, Conflict, Congregational Change, Systems Theory of Congregations, Congregational Diversity & Women’s Role. For purposes of this class the congregation here is the local, voluntary, and a religious organization. I learned and understood some powerful principles about how to help congregational life and its dynamics which is essential for its life and future as the united brotherhood of believers.

The frames for congregations was another very interesting topic that dealt with how to understand congregation. The four frames I learnt were: ecological, cultural, resources, and process frames. These frames present the congregation as an organism or open systems that is alive, growing, and changing, and capable of developing its own culture and way of doing things. The culture is evidenced by the rituals, traditions, customs, and beliefs of the members, with gifts, talents, and potential of the members along with the tangible assets within the community including the building, finances, and other tangible resources. The process frame is the ways the organization operates.

In practical theology, congregational studies includes theology put into practice and how it is applied. Congregational studies avoids the oversimplification of biblical literalism and the ethereal of hyper-spirituality. It includes, Christian leadership understandings and practices. Congregational studies includes understanding change and development of the church. Congregational Conflict: Conflict occurs in congregations due to the diversity of members and their experiences.

Congregational Systems: Congregations are systems that dysfunction due to anxiety. Anxiety in the system needs resolved through skillful exercise of truth-finding and honest revelations. Anxiousness is not faithfulness and therefore a toll of evil is to promote fear and worry in the congregation. Christians are peacemakers who lessen the anxiety of every system by their engagement. Anxiousness is expressed through conflict, drama, and over-reaction. Anxiety is fear of future events that will likely not occur. Christian leaders promote faith and minimize fear in congregational systems. Anxious individuals are members of congregations and need addressed to not harm the system.

Congregational Diversity: God created diversity as a means for beauty, creativity, and innovation but not for division, separation or disunity. Embracing diversity is the sharing of self with other members of the congregation. Consideration for self and others creates balance within the congregation as the church focuses on the purposes of God. The mission of God is a unifying force to utilize the diversity of congregations. Congregations must be intentional in pursuing diversity and the uniting of peoples within the kingdom of God. Congregational Theology: Theology Defined: Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious belief; Theology is the study of God and God’s relation to the world; Theology is religious beliefs and theory when systematically developed. A Christological theology that examines the incarnation, life, ministry, teaching, passion, and ascension of Christ also lays a foundation for understanding the congregation as comprised of Christ’s disciples. God is always righteous while faith and completely gracious. Therefore all the practices of the church are redemptive and not punitive since the graciousness of God is practice along with the righteousness of God. Exposition of the three elements of Cross theology is necessary for a full understanding of Cross Theology.

Church Culture Leadership

This book is divided into three sections. The first section, “Theology and Context” draws on the Biblical principles of the value of culture and variety. The second section, titled “Sociocultural Perspectives,” offers a variety of categories for analyzing leadership, communication, and change cultural differences, and the third section, explains how to lead a church toward achieving more diversity.

Practical Theology and Multicultural Initiatives focused on the fact that there is ideal strategy or model for all churches…” the leaders of a church need to gain skills in theological reflection—this is what is called practical theology.”

This approach to practical theology, a continual movement from experience to reflection and study, and then on to new actions and experiences, is what we call praxis. This term is often misunderstood as “practice,” referring to how a concept or theory is first understood mentally then applied in a real-life situation. The authors in writing about missional ecclesiology and church Context, describe the transformation of a small church as it faced a set of decisions:

For the sociocultural structures, ethnicity and churches discussions, they wondered if the church were only an invisible, amorphous entity, then history, culture, ethnicity and social context would be secondary or even irrelevant. But churches are real, physical, located groups that are influenced by their countries, societies, cultures and neighborhoods. In part II of the book, the authors discuss sociocultural perspectives, world views, reality and assumptions. Paulo Freire, who became the minister of education for Brazil, was shaped by a theological grounding that included beliefs about humans and creation and God. Freire knew that the worldview of the upper class and the ruling culture was that they could change things- they had real power to shape their world.

The denominational official began from the assumption of a direct relationship between words and meaning and was therefore unable to see that the situation included issues of translation, language and power, indirect forms of communication, and nonverbal communication. This all has to do with interpretive leadership-how I work with language and meanings, how I interact with students who need these skills-and how this affects our work in churches. But it is also explicitly about relational leadership, which requires that we attend to the cultural differences and commonalities regarding human dynamics. Because perceiving and thinking-are defined in a variety of ways, we will use them more attuned to psychological perspectives rather than the frameworks of anthropology or cultural studies.

Part two uses the resources of cultural anthropology to provide insights into human dynamics that vary among cultures. In chapter four, “World views, Reality and Assumptions, “Juan, in chapter five, explains how “Language, Gestures and Power” are actively shaping every social encounter. Then in chapter six, Juan shows how different societies make different assumptions about social relations.

Within the context of communicative competence, the objective world is the context for creating shared propositional knowledge about a state of affairs, the subjective world is the sphere for developing mutual trust through honesty, and the social world is the setting for shared social norms concerning shared living.

Relational leadership focuses on human connections and synergism toward an embodiment of gospel reconciliation and love. Implemental leadership guides, reforms and initiates activities and structures so that the church embodies the gospel. Interpretive leadership requires that leaders gain abilities to observe and interpret the current life of the church-its activities, its relationships, even its imagination. Implemental leadership attends to creating, modifying, and working with activities and structures so that the Spirit’s provisions of meanings and relationships are embodied in the life of the church.

Theology of the Cross produces a theology of God by what the passion of Jesus says about

God. In her book, The Classical Theologia Crucis and Karl Barth’s Modern Theology of the Cross, Rosalene Bradbury reviews the scholarship on Theologia Crucis and concludes the theologians land in two camps. One perspective views the Theology of Cross narrowly with either a single theme or a narrow set of themes and the other perspective uses the message of the cross as a multivalent theological system. Bradbury writes, “This extended position also holds the theology of the cross to be methodology, a way of doing theology, an instrumental touchstone with which to anchor that thought which is properly Christian and to exclude that which is not.” (Bradbury, 2012, pg. 17) I embrace the extended, broader view of the theology of the cross as 1 Corinthians 1:18 records, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (NIV, 2010). Cross Theology is based on the gospel message regarding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ defining the nature of God as righteous, faithful, and merciful, respectively. Christian gospel is defined in the paradigmatic verses of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 as Paul wrote, “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (NIV, 2010).

Death – The death of Jesus reveals a God of holiness, righteousness and justice who extends righteousness to all people through the death of his one and only Son. The Son of God is crucified on the Cross to fulfill the righteous requirements of justice and holiness. The death of Jesus describes a God of justice, holiness, purity, fairness, and righteous. The themes of Jesus’ death include sin, repentance, discipleship, judgment, pain, punishment, guilt, suffering, autonomy, and sacrifice.
Burial – The burial of Christ reveals a God of faithfulness to his covenant fulfilling his promises to creation. Burial is a time of faith, trust, and obedience in a God who is sometimes silent. The themes of Jesus’ burial include faith, covenant, silence, trust, hope, wilderness, desert, consequences, finitude, questions, doubts, perseverance, freewill, discipleship, and death. The Bible is full of narratives about God being silent while his people are in a wilderness or in exile. Suffering and trials raise many questions regarding why events are occurring and how is God working in those moments. God is faithful to his promises and to the covenant he makes with humans. God was faithful to Jesus during his three days in the tomb despite his silence. Jesus entrusted his spirit to God during burial, modeling for us our need for faith in God especially during silence and suffering.
Resurrection – The resurrection of Jesus reveals a God of love, mercy, and grace to renew creation from the consequences of sin and separation. The themes of Jesus’ resurrection include heaven, baptism, grace, generosity, mercy, newness, vison, victory, potential, power, evangelism, discipleship, and change. The resurrection provides hope. Things can totally change and become new because God has the power to bring life back from the dead. God can create something from nothing and the resurrection of Jesus verifies good victorious over evil, God defeats Satan. Understanding God’s mercy is essential for the Christian life as Matthew wrote, “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (Matthew 12:7, NIV, 2010). James wrote regarding mercy, “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2, 12-13, NIV, 2010).
Mercy, justice, and faithful are the weightier matters of God’s laws according to Jesus, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (Matthew 23:23, NIV, 2010).
The theology of the Cross is a Trinitarian Theology since God the Father sent Jesus to die on the cross to fulfill all righteousness. God the Son died and was buried with faith in the plan of reconciliation to eternally defeat death, sin, and evil. The power of the Holy Spirit resurrected the Son to the Father revealing the graciousness of God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are present in all three events of the cross: death, burial, and resurrection in perichoresis. Perichoresis is the “dance” of the Trinity. As two things are in dialectic if they are both true and in tension with one another. The Trinity is in “trialectic” or dancing in harmony always. The Justice, Faithfulness, and Mercy of God must always remain true at the same time. The Seemingly opposite or different beings of God are in a perpetual dance remaining true together. So God is not gracious at times and righteous at other times but as the Trinity has three persons so the basic descriptors of God are always true and operative. A hermeneutic that does not honor the nature of God will be inadequate. Calvin’s theology of Sovereignty is true but incomplete. Luther’s theology of Salvation by Faith is also too narrow.
I recognize a view of God with only three essentials might also be to narrow. John Mark Hicks (2019) in “Searching for the Pattern: My Journey in Interpreting the Bible” proposes a theological hermeneutic of the entire biblical narrative including God’s Values, God’s Story, God’s Identity, and God’s Messiah (p. 230-231). But the hermeneutical triad of God’s justice, faithfulness, and mercy has informed my ministry. I read scripture through the lens of gospel. I interpret scripture through a lens of the nature of God the Father, Son, and Holly Spirit. The hermeneutical lens of the Cross reads all Scripture seeing God’s righteousness, faithfulness, and mercy. Any reading of Scripture without the lens of theology and an accurate view of God produces an imbalanced understanding.
Theology can be done several ways including the mighty acts of God, Systemic Theology, and meta-narrative. God’s mighty acts include: Creation, Flood, Covenant, Exodus, Promised Land, Kings/Temple, Exile, Incarnation, Cross, New Covenant, Church, and Second Coming. Theology is commonly done by Systemic Theology which includes: Theology/Nature of God, Doctrine of God/Trinity, Anthropology, Christology, Kerygma/Homiletics, Eschatology, Ecclesiology, Soteriology, Hermeneutics/Interpretation, and Pneumatology/Holy Spirit. A third type of theology is a metanarrative approach including: New Creation (Millennialist, Pentecostal), Exodus (Liberation Theology, Jews, Minorities), Chosen People (Evangelicals, Jews), Messiah (Jews), Justification by Faith (Lutheran), Sovereignty of God (Reform Tradition), Apostolic Succession (Catholic, Mormon), Sacraments (Catholic), Day of the Lord (Pentecostal).
Why Cross theology? The cross is the mightiest act of God, the preeminent event in the Bible, the emphasis of scripture, the focus of the narrative, and the crowning event of salvation, the cross. God can be understood through his mightiest act – the passion of Christ. All theologies stem from our view of God. Specifically, the descriptive nature of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus informs us clearly of the nature of the Godhead. The Three persons are present throughout the passion and each person is operative each scene. The Father is operative in the death as it is obvious from the gospel narratives that Jesus died according to the will of the Father. The Father orchestrated the plan for the Jesus act of reconciliation of all creation. The Son was operative in the burial as he battle evil while waiting faithfully for his resurrection as the firstborn of the dead. The Holy Spirit empowered the resurrection and continues to produce new creation.
The preeminence of Cross theology seems underscored by the emphasis of the passion in the most significant sacred rituals in the Christian church of the Lord’s Supper and baptism. Lord’s Supper and Baptism are the embodiment of the passion of Christ confirming Cross theology as the fulcrum of the new covenant and the climax of the metanarrative of the scripture. The Lord’s Supper is the weekly remembrance of Christ appropriating of the bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus. Jesus welcomes us to his table as an invitation of fellowship. Christ died that all might be saved and the Lord’s Supper is an embodiment of the cross and a call to live the cruciform life. Christian baptism is the embodiment of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as theologically explained in Romans 6:1-10, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God” (NIV, 2010). Baptism according to Connerton is a ritual re-enactment, “But commemorative ceremonies are distinguishable from all other rituals by the fact that they explicitly refer to prototypical persons or events” (Connerton, 1989, p. 61).
Understanding the scriptures is more than reasoning and analytical thinking. The word of God is a spiritual text that must be interpreted spiritually. Jesus made it clear in his explanation of the use of parables that it is possible to see reality with your eyes and hear the oral text of the Bible and not hear or see the meaning. Christ taught that understanding comes from the heart meaning spiritual things are understand through spiritual enlightenment. As recorded in Matthew 13:11-17.
Some churchman have balked at the need for a theology, education, or spiritual training to understand scriptures citing Acts 4:13, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (NIV, 2010). But this very passage confirms the need for higher education as Jesus being the divine rabbi provided daily instruction to the twelve apostles for three years of theological training. If three years of teaching was required by Jesus for his twelve students then more time is probably necessary for us to train people in the proper understanding of scripture and Christian ministry. Laverty described the importance of realizing our bias and bracketing it for phenomenology (Modernity, Husserl) in contrast to realizing our bias and embracing it in hermeneutical phenomenology (Post-modern, Heidegger). Heidegger wrote, “The overt naming of assumptions and influences as key contributors to the research process in hermeneutical phenomenology is one striking difference from the naming and then bracketing of bias or assumptions in phenomenology” (Laverty, 2003, p. 28). “For true beliefs to count as knowledge, it is necessary that they originate in sources we have good reason to consider reliable. These are perception, introspection, memory, reason, and testimony” (Steup & Neta, p. 20). “Understanding is always more than merely recreating someone else’s meaning.” (Laverty, 2003, p. 25) “Annells (1996) viewed hermeneutics as an interpretive process that seeks to bring understanding and disclosure of phenomena through language. Moreover, hermeneutics is the study of human cultural activity as texts with a view towards interpretation to find intended or expressed meanings (Kvale, 1996). Texts are understood to include things such as written or verbal communication, visual arts and music.” Our hermeneutic will be richer and multidimensional with a theological hermeneutic that views scripture through an understanding of God so as we engage the text we are transformed by the personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

In Leaders Embody the Cross module I learnt the following from 1 Corinthians: That Leaders Build up the Body (Community of Faith)

Introduction: In chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians Paul shares his example as a leader characterized by “becoming all things to all men.” The chapter addresses financial support of leaders, surrender of rights by Paul, cruciform leadership, evangelism, modeling behavior, and servant-hood.
1 Corinthians 9:1-14:Leaders Have Rights

1 Corinthians 9:15-19: Leaders Surrenders His Rights

1 Corinthians 9:20-27: Leaders Live by a Rule of Life
(Vs. 20) “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. Key to Leadership:

Win people over! Win the Jews, become a Jew, under law. B. (Vs. 21) Win the Gentiles, without law.

(Vs. 22) Win the weak. Become all things to all men save some!
(Vs. 23) Paul was motivated by the gospel to share in the blessings of the gospel.
(Vs. 24-27) Live worthy of the prize! Be qualified for the prize! Paul’s self-imposed rules of life:
(Vs. 24) Run to get the prize! Dream/Vision
(Vs. 25) Strict training for lasting crown! Plan/Purpose
(Vs. 26) Determined run, goal oriented! Qualified/Preparation
(Vs. 26) Goal oriented battle/fight! Training/Mentoring
(Vs. 27) Beat my body into submission! Discipline/Self-control

Reflections on Leadership
Questions for Reflection

The life-cycle of a congregation was very intriguing for me, especially as it proposes actions to booster the growth in the retrogressive stage(s)

Love

Introduction: LOVE – Definition of love described in chapter 13. Without love we are nothing. Faith, hope, and love are the bases of Christianity. But love is supreme and eternal. Christians possesses faith, hope and love.

Elders/Shepherds

“Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.” Paul in 1 Timothy 3:1-15 and Titus 1:6-9 listed the qualities of an eldership and shepherds

Freedom Spirit or Flesh

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” As disciples, we crucified or repented of the works of the flesh. Crucifixion is a strong word but it provides the depth of conviction we must have towards sin.

(Vs. 25) “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Paul calls the Galatians to keep in step with the Spirit. Guidance from the Spirit leads us forward and not backwards. Spiritual living is hopeful and full of promise leaving sin and legalism behind

Culture

A culture includes the congregation’s history and stories of its heroes. It includes its symbols, rituals, and worldview. It is shaped by the cultures in which its members live (represented by their demographic characteristics), but it takes on its own unique identity and character when those members come together. In defining culture, she writes “culture is who we are and the world we have created to live in. It is the predictable patterns of who does what and habitual strategies for telling the world about the things held most dear. There are subcultures within that may be more or less distinct, groups that spend a good deal of time with each other and perhaps relatively little with others in the congregation.

Different religious congregations, construct their congregational culture out of the materials available, and those materials come from the particular cultural stockpile where they are located. Not only are congregations in the United States shaped by this institutional blueprint, they also borrow from their own social and cultural locations.

The Roles of Imagination and Memory

Doing theology is about thinking, but it must also be understood that it is fueled principally by imagination and memory. Although you will certainly want to include reading, writing, and study of theological texts as part of your practical theological work, you should also include music, art, stories, and other exercises in imagination.

Embodying the Vision

The final task of leadership we hold up here is that of embodying or institutionalizing the vision in the life of your congregation—in its structure, processes, and programs. In defining culture, she writes “culture is who we are and the world we have created to live in. It is the predictable patterns of who does what and habitual strategies for telling the world about the things held most dear. There are subcultures within that may be more or less distinct, groups that spend a good deal of time with each other and perhaps relatively little with others in the congregation. Different religious congregations, construct their congregational culture out of the materials available, and those materials come from the particular cultural stockpile where they are located. Not only are congregations in the United States shaped by this institutional blueprint, they also borrow from their own social and cultural locations. You may get some of this information from a parish survey that includes questions about education, occupation, ethnicity, and residence, for instance. What social and cultural characteristics do they share?

Some congregations pride themselves on being set apart from the world. They are very aware of their boundaries and talk often of what makes them different from other groups of believers and from the outside world. They offer their members as many alternatives to the outside culture as possible, and they absorb large amounts of their members’ available time, often minimizing differences in the backgrounds people bring into the congregation. When a member is in need, others are likely to respond with tangible forms of assistance, as well as with emotional support-with casseroles and hugs. They share faceto-face discussions of life’s issues and become intimate companions, forming a family-like bond of obligation. Other congregations, however, simply do not expect such social bonds to be important. They see themselves primarily as worship centers, and they do not seek to foster ongoing relationships among those who participate.

While this may be through from their research findings, a congregation’s sense of identity comes from their doctrine and life which drives their behavior and relationship with their communities inside and outside. It is the congregational doctrine that drives these activities.

Rituals

All cultures have rituals that give shape to people’s common life together, and congregations are certainly no exception. The single most common congregational activity is, in fact, the ritual of a weekly worship event.

In a powerful sense, worship is an event that is meant to express the unifying vision of the congregation. It is this expressive character that makes something a ritual. It is predictable activity that is intended to express something beyond itself. They both express who we are and make us who we are.’ From how someone is greeted at the door, to the congregation’s most holy events, rituals say more than what can be communication. Even “low church” congregations, who pride themselves on less formal rituals, nevertheless have their own version of the worship drama. Whether a “low,” there is a routine order of songs and prayers and sermons. One of the most important things to notice about any ritual is that it involves all the senses. It involves things we see, touch, smell, and taste, as well as what we hear

Many congregations also engage in fellowship activities. They want their members to know each other and care for each other, so they plan church suppers and holiday parties, lunch after Sabbath services or grand feasts for the end of Ramadan, outings, sports events, bingo nights, and coffee hours. Just which holidays are celebrated, which sports organized, and what foods brought to potluck dinners are—no less than worship ritualselements in the congregation’s culture. Whether the coffee is instant or brewed, served in china or foam or paper cups, and paid for by the congregation’s budget or by individual contributions may say a good deal about the resources and political sentiments of the members. That shared activity, in turn, creates an additional base on which the culture of the congregation can be built. What and how much is shared, however, will vary with the culture of the congregation. In some places members are accustomed to a great deal of privacy. In others, members expect to talk extensively about their work and family life. When a member is in need, others are likely to respond with tangible forms of assistance, as well as with emotional support-with casseroles and hugs. They share face-toface discussions of life’s issues and become intimate companions, forming a family-like bond of obligation. The shape of these ministries is also a reflection of the congregation’s sense of identity and its sense of its place in the world. While there may be many elements everyone shares, large congregations are likely to have subgroups that are defined by the unique activities that they do not share with other groups in the congregation. This is why small groups are recommended.) Understanding culture is also critical to making any sort of change. Before new programs can be implemented or administrations reorganized or new ministries begun, clergy and other leaders need to understand the well established ways of life that will be disrupted by these changes.

A Healthy Church: Blessed By God

God is able to bless healthy churches because the congregation is bringing glory to him by maintaining the essential elements of a well-rounded fellowship, which will nurture and strengthen the faith of every member young or old. We are striving to be a healthy church. Every church experiences the setbacks of not being balanced and holistic in their approach to ministry. Growth in an area can occur when emphasis is placed on that aspect only to be negated later on if the foundation and emphasis of the entire ministry is not biblical and balanced. We no longer want to take three steps forward and two or three steps backward.

Part 1 writes on the eight qualities and characteristics of natural Church growth, an outcome from data analysis of 1000 churches from over 32 countries. Christian’s team designed and used survey questionnaires, which was completed by 30 members from each participating 32 churches, which they translated into 18 languages. In the end, they faced the task of analyzing 4.2 million responses. In part two to five, the author expounds on the following; the minimal factors such as focusing our energies, the minimum barrel, parallels from agriculture, six biotic principles, why technocracy doesn’t work, multiplication, energy transformation, symbiosis, functionality, bipolarity in the Bible, technocratic paradigm, spiritualistic paradigm, effect of wrong paradigms, and so on. Christian gives some details about the eight quality characteristics as follows:

Empowering leadership, where leaders of growing churches concentrate on empowering other Christians for ministers. Leaders who realize their own empowerment by empowering others experience how the “all-by-itself” principle contributes to growth.

Gift-Oriented ministry: Where leaders identify Christians to serve in their area of giftedness. When this happens, they generally function less in their own strength and more in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus ordinary people can accomplish the extraordinary!^[11]

Passionate spirituality: The concept of spiritual passion and the widespread notion of the walk of faith as “performing one’s duty” seem to be mutually exclusive. They learn to live their faith with contagious enthusiasm and to share it with others.^[12]

Functional structures: Despite the vast differences in structures from church to church within various denominations and cultures, Christian’s research found that, those with a high quality index have certain basic elements in common. The intimate connection between structure and life was first expressed at God’s creation. The act of creation was an act of forming and shaping.

Inspiring worship service: An inspiring experience is the criterion which demonstrably separates growing churches from stagnant and declining ones.

Holistic small groups: Holistic small groups are the natural place for Christians to learn in small groups. The planned multiplication of small groups is made possible through the continual development of leaders as a by-product of the normal group life. The meaning of the term “discipleship” becomes practical in the context of holistic small groups-the transfer of life, not rote learning of abstract concepts. The larger a church becomes, the more decisive the small group principle will be with respect to her further growth.

Need-oriented evangelism: “Every Christian is an evangelist.” There is a kernel of (empirically demonstrable) truth in this saying. It is indeed the responsibility of every Christian to use his on her own specific gifts in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Loving relationships: Our research indicates that there is a highly significant relationship between the ability of a church to demonstrate love and its long-term growth potential. Growing churches possess on the average a measurably higher “love quotient” than stagnant or declining ones. Unfeigned, practical love has a divinely generated magnetic power far more effective than evangelistic programs which depend almost entirely on verbal communication. People do not want to hear us talk about love, they want to experience how Christian love really works. Christian finally writes about ten action steps on how one can apply these principles in order to get on the growth path.

Growing churches possess on the average a measurably higher “love quotient” than stagnant or declining ones. Unfeigned, practical love has a divinely generated magnetic power far more effective than evangelistic programs which depend almost entirely on verbal communication. People do not want to hear us talk about love, they want to experience how Christian love really works. Christian finally writes about ten action steps on how one can apply these principles in order to get on the growth path.

The module on Making Room resonated with me much.

The authors in “Making Room,” did well in describing biblical, theological, pastoral, and practical ways to hospitality. The book is divided into three part. The first part “Remembering our Heritage” introduces a new look at an old tradition. Show casing hospitality as a way of life fundamental to Christian identity. Its mysteries, riches, and difficulties were revealed most fully as it is practiced. Welcoming strangers into a home and offering them food, shelter, and protection were the key components in the practice of hospitality. Because hospitality is such a fundamental human practice, always included family, friends, and influential contacts. The distinctive Christian contribution was the emphasis on including the poor and neediest, the ones who could not return the favor. The authors explained that, “We become proficient in a skill by performing it regularly, and by

learning from persons who are masters of it. Hospitality is a skill and a gift, but it is also a practice which flourishes as multiple skills are developed, as particular commitments and values are nurtured, and as certain settings are cultivated.” Thus, practitioners of hospitality also become teachers of hospitality. In addition to welcoming strangers in need, most of these communities also welcome visitors/strangers who want to learn from their ministry and life together. In Ancient and Biblical Sources, “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.” LUKE 14:13-14

According to the short history of Christian hospitality, especially in the context of shared meals, the presence of God’s Kingdom is prefigured, revealed, and reflected. The authors described the Locations of Hospitality as a key to its history which included the Old and New Testament settings. In part II, the authors discussed reconsidering the tradition, hospitality, dignity, and the power of recognition. They buttressed that hospitality provided a context for recognizing the worth of persons who seemed to have little when assessed by worldly standards. Recognizing dignity as well as need. Welcoming the strangers in our midst is a significant Christian practice with a strong claim on us as believer.

Part III expound on the Recovering the practice, and drew the readers into the fragility of hospitality: the limits, boundaries and temptations.

The wideness of God’s mercy and the generosity of God’s welcome must frame our thinking about limits and boundaries. God’s kindness continually challenges us to reconsider our commitments. Jesus and the stranger stand outside, asking our communities to enlarge their borders and to share their resources. Limited resources a place in church hospitality is basic to who we are If we use hospitality as a lens through which to examine our homes, churches, jobs, schools, health care, and politics, might we see them differently? Making a Place for Hospitality where the table is central to the practice of hospitality in home and church – the nourishment we gain there is physical, spiritual, and social. We are strengthened as a community. A place in intentional communities hospitality and social services. The people who practice Spiritual rhythms of hospitality enjoined in the gospel describe it as “the best and hardest thing” they have ever done. To offer hospitality we will need to rethink and reshape our priorities. Offering hospitality requires that we allow a place for uncertainty, contingency, and human tragedy Hospitality will not occur in any significant way in our lives or churches unless we give it deliberate attention. In cultivating a grateful spirit, ones life of hospitality begins in worship, with a recognition of God’s grace and generosity. Nurturing a lifelong habit, Children learn hospitality from parents who have room in their lives for their family as well as their guest. Small deaths and little resurrections described several practitioners their work of hospitality have “given them life.