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The Evangelistic Ministry of the Revd Dr Rob Frost

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The Evangelistic Ministry of the Revd Dr Rob Frost REDISCOVERING PENTECOST: THE EVANGELISTIC MINISTRY OF THE REVD DR ROB FROST AND ITS AUTHENTICITY AS AN EXPRESSION OF METHODIST THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2019 DAVID A. HULL SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES Contents Contents .......................................................................................................... 2 Abbreviations ................................................................................................. 8 Abstract ........................................................................................................... 9 Declaration and Copyright .......................................................................... 10 Acknowledgements and Dedication ............................................................ 11 1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 12 Important Themes ........................................................................................... 15 The Missio Dei & Inaugurated Eschatology ............................................... 15 Evangelism in the Vernacular of the People & Rediscovering Pentecost .. 17 Structure .......................................................................................................... 18 Chapter Two ................................................................................................ 18 Chapter Three .............................................................................................. 21 Chapter Four ............................................................................................... 23 Chapter Five ................................................................................................ 24 Chapter Six .................................................................................................. 25 Chapter Seven ............................................................................................. 27 Chapter Eight .............................................................................................. 27 Chapter Nine ............................................................................................... 28 Personal Interest and Critical Distance ........................................................... 30 2. Christian Mission and the Methodist Church: Mission and Evangelism in British Methodist Perspective ................................................................ 33 2 Ecumenical Divergence and Consensus.......................................................... 33 An Emerging Policy ........................................................................................ 37 The One Mission ......................................................................................... 38 The One Church .......................................................................................... 40 The Whole Mission ..................................................................................... 41 The Whole Church ...................................................................................... 43 The Global Mission ..................................................................................... 44 The Local Church ........................................................................................ 46 The Growing Mission ................................................................................. 48 The Declining Church ................................................................................. 48 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 49 3. A Wheel of Many Spokes: The Emphases of Authentic Methodist Missiology as Expressed in the Practice of Three Prominent Methodist Ministers ................................................................................................... 51 The One Mission ............................................................................................. 52 The One Church .............................................................................................. 56 The Whole Mission ......................................................................................... 60 The Whole Church .......................................................................................... 64 The Global Mission ......................................................................................... 66 The Local Church ............................................................................................ 70 The Growing Mission ..................................................................................... 74 The Declining Church ..................................................................................... 77 A Wheel of Many Spokes ............................................................................... 81 3 4. Doing the Work of an Evangelist and Opening a Stream of Renewal: The Ministry of Rob Frost…………………………………………………….85 ‘One of Mr Wesley’s Preachers in the finest tradition’: A Profile of Rob Frost .................................................................................... 85 ‘Do the work of an evangelist’ ........................................................................ 90 Church-based Missions ............................................................................... 91 Missionary Evangelism: Touring Evangelistic Productions ....................... 98 Involvement in the Media ......................................................................... 100 Providing Training, Producing Resources and Offering Experiences of Evangelism ............................................................................................................ 101 Theological Investigation and Apologetics ............................................... 103 ‘A Stream of Renewal’.................................................................................. 104 Easter People ............................................................................................. 105 Pentecost Festival ...................................................................................... 110 Inspirational Role Model........................................................................... 111 Mentoring Leaders .................................................................................... 112 Transitional Phases and Missiological Principles ......................................... 115 5. Evangelism in the Vernacular of the People and Rediscovering Pentecost: The Missiology of Rob Frost .............................................. 122 A Pleasing Symmetry .................................................................................... 122 Frost’s Theology of Evangelism ................................................................... 124 Frost’s Theology of Renewal ........................................................................ 131 Worship Renewal ...................................................................................... 131 4 Christian Renewal ..................................................................................... 134 Church Renewal ........................................................................................ 142 Renewing Evangelism ................................................................................... 146 6. Sharing Jesus, Seeking Renewal, Sustaining Freedoms: The Legacy of Rob Frost as an Authentic Expression of British Methodism’s Theology and Practice ........................................................................................... 158 A practical expression of the British Methodist theology of evangelism ..... 158 The One Mission ....................................................................................... 158 The One Church ........................................................................................ 161 The Whole Mission ................................................................................... 164 The Whole Church .................................................................................... 166 The Global Mission ................................................................................... 169 The Local Church ...................................................................................... 172 The Growing Mission ............................................................................... 176 The Declining Church ............................................................................... 179 A ministry shaped by and to the Methodist Church ...................................... 181 An important legacy ...................................................................................... 186 Sharing Jesus ............................................................................................. 186 Seeking Renewal ....................................................................................... 191 Sustaining Freedoms ................................................................................. 192 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 194 7. Evangelism and Ecclesiology: Developments in British Methodist Missiology ............................................................................................... 195 5 Evangelists and Evangelism Enablers ..........................................................
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