Missional Communities as a Strategy for Discipleship in an African-American Megachurch in Chicago

Isaac Hayes

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Missional Communities as a Strategy for Discipleship in an African-American Megachurch in Chicago

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Isaac Hayes. Missional Communities As a Strategy for Discipleship In an African-american Megachurch In Chicago. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/a4458bc3-044c-45a1-a516-a926e28d3b5e.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

I. Hayes. Missional Communities as a Strategy for Discipleship in an African-American Megachurch in Chicago. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/a4458bc3-044c-45a1-a516-a926e28d3b5e

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Isaac Hayes. Missional Communities As a Strategy for Discipleship In an African-American Megachurch In Chicago. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/a4458bc3-044c-45a1-a516-a926e28d3b5e.

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

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Isaac Hayes

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Abstract

The Apostolic Church of God is a church in transition. It is transitioning out of the pandemic, wrestling with its apologetic and ministry response to a post-Christendom America amid a gentrifying community and in the nascent stages of pastoral change. Despite having existed since 1932 with a membership of 10,000 people, it is a Baby Boomer church looking to sustain and scale its reach. The church is a gospel-centered, grace-grounded ἐκκλησία with a legacy of evangelism and community advocacy. To continue its legacy, however, it must adjust its approach to discipleship by embracing a missional communities’ strategy that facilitates biblical literacy, relationship building, volunteerism, and gospel proclamation. These four elements of the missional communities’ model are derived from the practices of the Jerusalem church in Acts 2:42–47. Though not prescriptive, they offer a biblical framework for building the church’s communal life. The missional communities’ model is a repurposing of what worked when the church found itself on the margins of Judea’s religious and social life; the church grew stronger in the Scriptures, in κοινωνία, in mighty deeds, and in winning souls. This study offers promising data that focusing on these four areas of discipleship can lead to similar results as the early church. Those who participate improve their ability to understand and explain Scripture, develop genuine relationships with their fellow parishioners, volunteer at church and in their communities, and increase their confidence and ability to share their faith. Quantitative questionnaires, qualitative interviews, field observations, and researcher-generated documents validate the research. This triangulation of the data provides dependability to the researcher's findings and conclusions. The Apostolic Church of God has tested and proven the potential of the missional communities’ strategy. It is now positioned to duplicate this framework in its internal ministries and the zip codes where its members live.

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