Influences of a laity/clergy dichotomy on the ministry of the urban church

Annette Payne Wright

Etd

Influences of a laity/clergy dichotomy on the ministry of the urban church

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Annette Payne Wright. Influences of a Laity/clergy Dichotomy On the Ministry of the Urban Church. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/7cb37e08-4889-4dd4-bb23-2c5ec61a35b9.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

A. P. Wright. Influences of a laity/clergy dichotomy on the ministry of the urban church. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/7cb37e08-4889-4dd4-bb23-2c5ec61a35b9

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Annette Payne Wright. Influences of a Laity/clergy Dichotomy On the Ministry of the Urban Church. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/7cb37e08-4889-4dd4-bb23-2c5ec61a35b9.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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Annette Payne Wright

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In Copyright

Abstract

This work focuses upon some intentional, unintentional, and coincidental influences a laity/clergy dichotomy has had and continues to have upon the ministry of the Christian church. A primary premise of the work is that the systemic nature of the dichotomy is expressed in most aspects of Christianity, decreasing the potential of individual Christians to effectively live the Christian life and do the work of ministry that Christ has left for his church. A historical analysis traces the origin of the dichotomy and how the dichotomy has been codified by church structures, constitutions, and traditions. The Pauline epistles are employed to illustrate the point that the whole church has been equipped by the Holy Spirit to know and to do the theology that is proclaimed in the scriptures. Peter Senge's idea of a Learning Organization is used as an applicable methodology for mending the dichotomy. Its more horizontal outline helps the church to sanction the laity as equal partners and fellow leaders in the ministry of the church and reduces the church's tendency to reproduce chronic multitudes of perpetual followers. A question the thesis poses is developed around the idea of whether the Christian church will allow a division that looks and oftentimes feels so much like the outlawed Jim Crow laws in this country to continue to thrive, or, whether the church will submit the horrific practice of the dichotomy to the oneness of the church inaugurated by the blood of Jesus Christ.

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