Nurturing diaspora ministry and mission in and through a Euro-American congregation

Gregg W Detwiler

Etd

Nurturing diaspora ministry and mission in and through a Euro-American congregation

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Gregg W Detwiler. Nurturing Diaspora Ministry and Mission In and Through a Euro-american Congregation. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/f37b08db-5836-44e3-bb1a-004fc8142f96.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

G. W. Detwiler. Nurturing diaspora ministry and mission in and through a Euro-American congregation. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/f37b08db-5836-44e3-bb1a-004fc8142f96

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Gregg W Detwiler. Nurturing Diaspora Ministry and Mission In and Through a Euro-American Congregation. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/f37b08db-5836-44e3-bb1a-004fc8142f96.

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

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Gregg W Detwiler

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Abstract

This work is a systemic study on an often-overlooked strategy of God in accomplishing His redemptive work on the earth--Diaspora ministry and mission. The overall framework of this project is reflected in what Eldin Villafañe refers to as 'the hermeneutical circle of social ethics.' This paradigm involves three steps, which have each been undertaken from a systemic point of view. The three steps ask three basic questions: Clarification--What is going on? Conceptualization--What does the Bible and other pertinent disciplines say? Confrontation --How do we respond? The first step involves doing careful social analysis to gain a contextual and comprehensive picture on the issue (Introduction and Chapter One). The second step involves biblical and theological reflection; what Douglas Hall calls 'doing systemic theology.' This step also involves doing systems reflection and consulting other pertinent sources (Chapters Two-Four). The third step involves developing clear strategies--consistent with a systems view of reality--that flow out of a confluence of the first two steps (Chapter Five). A primary premise of this work is that Euro-American churches have largely 'missed' the dynamic vitality of Diaspora ministry and mission due to deficient 'mental models.' These deficient mental models, it is argued, arise form some specific sociological and theological oversights that are often present in Euro-American church systems. The primary aim of this study is to see these deficient mental models informed and transformed in a way consistent with Albert Nolan's passionate statement about the role of Christian social analysis--'to clear away the lies, the blindness, the confusion and propaganda, so that faith can discern the movement of the Spirit.'

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