Reversing
the TrendResources for Parish Ministry Published by St. Alban's School of Ministry with the encouragement of EFAC
In this Issue
Articles Resources Reviews On the Web
Reversing
the Trend by Dale
Appleby
Keeping
the Centre Central
by Marty Foord
Y-Course:
Reviewed by Paul Cannon
Preaching
on the Trinity
Leadership
Journal
John's
Wisdom a new commentary on
John
Five
Festal Garments: Reflections on the Five
Scrolls
Boundaries:
Video & Small Group Resources
The
Kew Files
The 39
Articles in modern English
Ministry
Health
Citizen
Link from Focus on the Family
Reversing
the TrendWhat will the latest National Church Life Survey data reveal about the state of the Anglican church in Australia? General Synod has decided to gather together ministers of parishes that have doubled their numbers since 1991. Will there be many at the meeting?
Many parishes have increased their numbers in the last 10 years. But overall we suspect the decline is continuing. This is now seen clearly in the number of parishes that are closing, and the ministers who are working on decreased stipends.
I believe it can. To do so requires a significant mind shift and a willingness of the key leaders in a parish to be committed to bringing the gospel to those who as yet are not part of the congregation.
Reversing the trend might include some of the following:
A change of mind is needed so that we no longer think that the church will survive as it has without any further action on our part. We have to see ourselves as missionaries to our culture, apostles to Australia. This change of mind will require us to find ways of relating as people and as missionaries to a culture that has little understanding of the gospel.
An implication of this mind change is that we who have established places and power in church will be prepared to give them up for the sake of allowing others to join us. This is not to say we will have no teaching or nurturing role, but it is to say that we will have to give up our concern that things be ordered in a way that makes us feel comfortable and satisfied.
In the past we have tried to make our existing congregations the place where new people are included. While we want to continue to include new people in these congregations, there is often a numerical limit to our what our buildings will hold. There is also a limit to the number of new people our existing networks can include. So we will need to provide new congregations ( both small groups and larger gatherings) into which new people can move. These new congregations will also allow new people to establish their own networks and informal groupings.
Growing the church by adding new congregations or expanding existing ones is not as simple as it sounds. We will need to provide a variety of open doors through which people can move (in both directions) in order to establish relationships, hear and speak the gospel, and become disciples. Some of these doors are really like stepping stones. There is more than one level of connection and people may have to move slowly by steps to a place where they can meet Jesus.
Another way of saying this is that we need strategic pathways along which people can travel. Our strategies need to help people to hear the gospel. While an initial contact with a church may have no direct gospel witness in it, we want to encourage people along a path where they can at some stage hear the gospel. The book Mission Minded by Peter Bolt, describes a number of ways of planning so that people keep moving towards discipleship and don't get stuck at a beginning level (see Barnabas Papers 1).
Being missionaries to Australia is much more than organisation and strategy. It is essentially a Spirit directed work. For that reason we need to be people of the Spirit, who trust God and obey the Spirit in our ministry. We need to be willing to be used by God in carrying his message and making disciples. This willingness extends to the way in which God chooses to use us.
For our part we will be committed to depending on God's grace not our own methods and techniques, even thought we will need to use some method or other. The obvious test for being people of grace will be our prayer. Prayer more than anything will be the place of dependence and the means to power in mission.
As well we will need to be people who do not equivocate about the message. We will be people who more than anything else want others to know about Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ will be the centre of our talk. We will want people to come into friendship and obedience to him. So we will tell them just what Jesus said, what he claimed, what he did. We will do it because more tha anything we want Jesus to be honoured in our culture and amongst the people we know. We will not be ashamed of what Jesus and his apostles claimed.
In the Christian faith all doctrines are not as important as each other; some are trivial, others are crucial. One of the continued debates in systematic theology focuses on what the centre of theology is.
Martin Luther believed that justification by faith alone was the centre of Christianity. He believed it was the "article by which the church stands or falls." Hence justification was his controlling doctrine. For example, it ruled his doctrine of Scripture. Whatever preached justification clearly was at the heart of Scripture. Hence Romans was central and James was peripheral.
In recent times the formidable German theologian, Jürgen Moltmann, has argued that eschatology is the centre of Christianity. In Moltmann's words "I hope in order to understand." The eschatological hope draws everything toward itself relentlessly, giving meaning to what is present.
A popular strand in the Anglican tradition is to make the incarnation, the fact that God became a human, the centrepiece. Thus the church's essential role is incarnational. That is, Christians are to go into a broken world bearing the love of Jesus and so be Christ's incarnate presence.
It is my contention that the centre of Christianity is the work of Christ because this is what Scripture expressly indicates:
Paul clearly explains what is of "first importance". It is the fact that Jesus died for our sins and was raised. This area of dogmatics is usually designated the "work of Christ."
All other doctrines derive their importance from their relationship to the work of Christ. For example, justification by faith is not the centre of Christianity, but it is significant because it safeguards the work of Christ; "faith alone" guards "Christ alone". Works righteousness ultimately demolishes "Christ alone" (Galatians 2:21).
Now of course the work of Christ is something that all Christians adhere to. But the question we must ask is this: Is it central? Is Christ's death and resurrection for our sins my greatest love, my favourite song, the fundamental truth that enlivens me?
Why is Christ's cross work central? It is because the fullest revelation of God's heart is found there. Christ's cross work reveals the wisdom and power of God (1 Cor. 1:22-24). Moreover it unveils the fullness of God's love:
This cross has the ability to enrich us so deeply as to overwhelm us with gratitude, joy, and peace. Furthermore Christ's cross work dictates the shape of practical Christian living (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Because of sin our great temptation is to let the work of Christ slip from centre focus in our ministry and in ourselves. The world despises cross lovers and cross preachers, and the constant criticism and persecution of cross preachers can seduce them to locate another focus. But, with Paul, we must say:
Martin Foord
John's Wisdom, a Commentary on the Fourth Gospel by Ben Witherington III.
366 pages plus notes and indices.
Westminster John Knox Press Kentucky 1995. ISBN 0-664-25621-X. $67.95
from Koorong.
Ben Witherington is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at
Asbury Theological Seminary.
Witherington has written a fresh and accessible commentary on the gospel of John.
Twelve excursuses intersperse the commentary. As well he provides an introductory section he calls the Background and Foreground of the Fourth Gospel.
It is here that he puts forward his main thesis, that the writer is strongly influenced by the wisdom tradition in the way he treats his material and in the terms in which he portrays Jesus.
But first, the genre according to Witherington, is Bios, a special kind of ancient biography. The mode in which the biography is presented is a drama, following many of the conventions of Graeco-roman drama. As for the sources, Witherington discusses the relations between John and the synoptics, and then suggests two other traditions the Fourth Evangelist derived from the Beloved Disciple. One was a tradition used in preaching to and teaching non-believers. The other tradition was mean to encourage Christians in their discipleship. He thinks that the Fourth Evangelist was a close friend of the Beloved Disciple and presents the Disciple's eyewitness testimony in the form of a biography.
The purpose is not a missionary tract as such, but "a tool for Johannine Christians to use to inculcate faith in non-believers, and perhaps as a secondary purpose to encourage those who already believed." The gospel is about Christology not so much about discipleship. He concludes, "This Gospel is written as a tool to be used by Christians who already know a good deal of the gospel tradition in their evangelistic and missionary work. They are to share the testimony of the Beloved Disciple with the world." (p32).
Along with some other modern scholars, Witherington thinks that the Beloved Disciple need not be John the son of Zebedee. There is little internal evidence for this assertion. There is little focus on this John, or on the events in Galilee for which he had such good eyewitness testimony. Whether the Beloved Disciple was also the Fourth Evangelist, Witherington is not sure, leaning to the view that another hand than the Disciple put together the Johannine traditions.
Witherington detects in the Johannine voice and style the influence of the wisdom tradition (especially the Wisdom of Solomon), for example in the kind of roles predicated of wisdom that are referred to Jesus in the prologue. As well there is a similarity in the so called V shaped trajectory of both wisdom and Jesus' ministry as it is portrayed in the fourth gospel. Wisdom language helps explain the differences in the discourses between the synoptics and John. The latter is using sapiential language and form. Especially is this seen in the material John does not share with the synoptics.
The asides, translations and explanations in the gospel, suggest an audience that needs a fair bit of help in understanding what is going on. This suggests to Witherington a primarily Gentile audience, but including Jews and some Gentile adherents to Judaism. Nevertheless the social setting suggests ongoing tensions, both by way of evangelism of the synagogue and persecution of the believers by the synagogue.
The commentary on the text is clear and uncluttered. His commentary is not detailed and does not get bogged down in minute discussion over words. Rather in each section he has two parts: The Historical Horizon and Bridging the Horizons. The former gives an excellent understanding of the text as it stands. The latter provides numerous examples of how a preacher might apply this text to a modern audience. I found many of his ideas stimulating and relevant.
Overall, the commentary is worth the $67.95 it costs. For those wanting a fairly up to date commentary this one does not argue all the issues about every verse. Carson or Beasley Murray are better for that. But if you want to get an up to date commentary that you can use for your own study and to help in preaching this is an excellent one to use alongside the more detailed kind.
Preaching Resources
Five Festal Garments Christian Reflections on the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther. By Barry Webb Apollos 2000. 136 pages plus bibliography and indices. ISBN 0-85111-518-7. $25.95.
This small book is a revised version of the 1998 Moore College Lectures. Don't let that put you off. Barry Webb is one of the great Old Testament scholars. These lectures, like his Bible Speaks Today commentary on Isaiah, are full of theological wisdom and spiritual insight. (The Isaiah book is worth buying just for the introduction).
The five scrolls are often neglected in preaching. However this book provides an excellent way for a preacher to expound them to a congregation. Webb connects them to the five major festivals at which they were read in later Judaism (Passover - Song of Songs; Feast of Weeks - Ruth; Ninth of Ab - Lamentations; Tabernacles - Ecclesiastes; Purim - Esther).
His approach is in three parts. In the first section of each chapter he attempts to let the book set its own agenda, reading it as it stands. the second part is to relate the book to the wider context of the Old Testament. Thirdly he grapples with how the book relates to the New Testament gospel.
These are reflections which allow the reader ( and preacher) to consider how the book applies to them. They are readings rather than exhaustive exegetical essays.
I have used the book with great profit in preaching on the Song of Songs (to both a broad aged congregation and to a congregation of young adults), and Lamentations. Ruth is being planned for.
You can use it to prepare reading guides for a congregation to use in preparation for sermons on one of the books (you can see examples that we have produced on Lamentations and the Song of Songs).
So if you are wanting to tackle a short OT book, have a look at this.
Boundaries
by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. Zondervan.
A Relationships Video Series
Video tapes ISBN 031 058 5996. Small group workbook ISBN 0 310 22453 5. Available from Koorong.
Earlier this year we used the video series based on the book called Boundaries. We ran the eight 30 minutes sessions over four nights. Since then one home group has used a parallel video and workbook designed for small group use. Two other groups of people have met each week to work through the videos for a second time at slower speed so they can discuss the issues. Some counselling has also arisen from the series.
There seem to be a multitude of Boundaries books ( for children, parents, workers, teenagers etc ). We have found that the original book and these two series were of great value in helping people sort out what a boundary is and trying to clarify where their boundaries are and how they might change their boundaries and their boundary behaviour.
An Overview by Paul Cannon
The Y-Course is an eight part evangelism series produced by Word Publishing U.K. It consists of two videos (of four parts each) with a total running time of 240 minutes at $119.95; a Leaders Handbook at $35.95; a Group Leaders Guide at $10.95; Participants Notes (small workbook) at $5.95; and a paperback (which loosely ties in with the video talks) which is optional "Beyond Belief" at $12.95. There is a preview pack, I borrowed mine from Koorong overnight.
I haven't seen the whole series through but the video production in the first four talks is relatively well done. The video series consists of eight sessions by a variety of speakers. They are Rev'd Robin Gamble (Evangelism Advisor of the C of E who does session one "Is there more to life than this?"; James Lawrence of Church Pastoral Aid Society, session two, "Can anyone really know what God is like?"; Sharon Anson a director of Grassroots Trust, session three, "Are we expected to believe what happened so long ago?"; Joseph Steinberg a member of Jews for Jesus and founder of Y International, session four, "If Jesus was so good why was he executed?"; Stephen Gaukroger a Baptist Pastor and author, session five, "Why so many religions and so much suffering?"; Joel Edwards General director of the Evangelical Alliance U.K. and independent pastor, session 6, "Is there really life after death?"; Peter Meadows co-founder of Spring Harvest, author, session seven, "Can God make a difference in my life?"; Jeff Lucas evangelist and vice President of the Evangelical Alliance, session eight, "Who wants to be stuck with a bunch of boring rules?"
The video sessions are lengthy, with some flat spots, and lots of English accents. But my initial impression is that it is more accessible as an introduction to Jesus and Christianity than Alpha (which does make some assumptions about desire and values, and is predominantly middle class in its presentation). There are a variety of presenters of different ages, cultural background, and gender, rather than a single presenter. Y-Course begins with the premise that people do not know scripture, that they are unaware of Jesus or have wrong information, do not know what a Christian is, and accept that many believe in something or some force at work in the universe beyond themselves and are spiritually open or seeking, and accepts that stories and personal experience matter more than opinions. The Y-Course avoids issues like prayer, Bible reading, discerning God's will, in an effort to avoid confusion between Christian behaviour and faith. It focuses on the Gospels and does not rush people to make any decisions, especially early on in the course. The course spends considerable time introducing Jesus, looks at suffering, the difference between faith that saves and faith that sustains, grace, and the Holy Spirit in the context of the Trinity.
The Leaders Handbook is thorough, and the literature is simple and easy to follow. The course can be run in groups of twenty to twenty-five with or without a meal, or can be used in small group settings also. In what I have seen so far I can say that it is not perfect but it is accessible and user friendly, and it is grounded. I warmed to this as an evangelism tool more than Alpha. And I'm hoping to run with it in small groups initially to gauge reaction and potential.
All that needs to be said about God is in the Bible 2Tim 3:16-17
COMPLEX UNITY
1. One God
O.T.: Dt 4:35; 1Kg 8:60; Isa 45:5-6 etc; N.T. Mk 12:29; 1Cor 8:6; Jas
2:19 etc
2. Complex unity
3. Doctrine of the Trinity
4. Relating to God as Trinity
Appendices:
EIGHT VERY good reasons to be clear
Article 1 Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
The Trinity in the Bible
10 key statements with texts that outline a Trinitarian theology:
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Richard Kew is a Christian futurologist, author of Brave New Church: What the Future Holds In previous books he correctly identified many of the religious trends in the 1990s. Now Kew turns his attention to what is emerging in the new century and examines how the increasing globalization, ecclesiastical reconfigurations, fiscal and demographic realities, the internet, and other challenges confront the church. Written in a non-technical and conversational style, each chapter also includes study questions plus suggestions for additional reading and web resources, making this an excellent book for classroom and parish study. The Web site has more material and links of this kind. Including a link to the Towards 2015 discussion list.
A Contemporary Version of the 39 Articles of Religion - from An English Prayer Book http://www.episcopalian.org/efac/39articles/39art.htm
Support and Resources For Pastors and
Christian Ministry Professionals
Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A., Editor
MH Addresses The Issues of Pastoral Health-- -Congregational Health-- Congregational and Pastoral Anxiety-- --Crisis Support -- -Congregational Renewal-- --Church Conflict -- --Christian Spirituality-- From A Balanced, Evangelical Christian Perspective. There are lots of really helpful resources here. Especially if you want help with church conflict (resolving or recovering from it that is).
Family Issues in Policy and Culture. A web site of Focus on the Family
This site has news, features, commentary, links to current issues affecting families, Although it deals with issues in the USA, it is of interest to Australians. There are connected sites for gambling and pornography issues.