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The Good Soil Process: a Strategic Missional Process for American Institutional Churches Keith Tilley

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The Good Soil Process: a Strategic Missional Process for American Institutional Churches Keith Tilley Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 11-1-2010 The Good Soil Process: A Strategic Missional Process for American Institutional Churches Keith Tilley This research is a product of the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at George Fox University. Find out more about the program. GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY THE GOOD SOIL PROCESS: A STRATEGIC MISSIONAL PROCESS FOR AMERICAN INSTITUTIONAL CHURCHES A SEMIOTICS AND FUTURE STUDIES TRACK 02 DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY KEITH TILLEY NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS NOVEMBER 1, 2010 POATlAffrJ tENTER UnARY GEORGE FOX UUIVERSITY PORTLAND, OR. 17223 All biblical quotations are from the New Living Translation Unless otherwise noted. Copyright © 2010 by Keith Tilley All rights reserved DISSERTATION ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE KEITH TILLEY DATE: NOVEMBER 2, 2010 TITLE: THE GOOD SOIL PROCESS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRATEGIC MISSIONAL PROCESS FOR AMERICAN INSTITUTIONAL CHURCHES WE THE UNDERSIGNED CERTIFY THAT WE HAVE READ THIS PROJECT AND APPROVE IT AS ADEQUATE IN SCOPE AND QUALITY TO COMPLETE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY IN LEADERSHIP IN THE EMERGING CULTURE DEGREE J' /7- )!o GEoRGE Fox EVANGELICAl. SEMINARY To Deb CONTENTS DIAGRAMS .................................................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION: THE PROBLEM ................................................................................ 10 2. OTHER PROPOSED SOLUTIONS New Church Starts ............................................................................................................ 13 Church Growth Programs .................................................................................................. 17 3. THESIS Part 1: Appreciate the Mission Field for God's Glory Introduction: Seven Cultural Barriers .................................................................... 19 Barrier 1: Western Culture is Postmodern and Pluralistic ..................................... 20 Barrier 2: A Complicated Multicultural World .................................................... .24 Barrier 3: Attractional, Propositional, Colonial Modality ..................................... 27 Barrier 4: Modern Institutional Denominationalism .............................................. 32 Barrier 5: Cultural Amnesia and Negative Perceptions ......................................... 35 Barrier 6: Cultural Distance ................................................................................... 38 Barrier 7: Missional Resistance ............................................................................ .41 Conclusion: Seven Cultural Barriers .................................................................... .44 Part 2: Contemporary Institutional Churches Exist for American Culture Introduction: Necessary Paradigm Shifts .............................................................. .47 Paradigm Shift 1: God's Mission for Christ's Church .......................................... .49 Paradigm Shift 2: Bridging Cross-cultural Boundaries ......................................... 56 Paradigm Shift 3: Outward Re-orientation ............................................................ 67 Paradigm Shift 4: A Venturing Process, Not a Fix-it Program .............................. 74 Conclusion: Appreciate the Mission Field for God's Glory .................................. 81 4. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS The Good Soil Process: A Backyard Missional Field Guide ............................................. 83 www.thegoodsoilprocess.com ........................................................................................... 86 5. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................... 87 6. CONCLUSION: POSTSCRIPT ........................................................................................ 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................. 101 IV DIAGRAMS Diagram 1. E-Scale/P-Scale ................................................................................................... 39 v ABSTRACT Audience Written Statement: Audience of Three: Expert dissertation advisor: Dr. Dan Brunner, Secondary advisor: Dr. Cliff Berger, and Tertiary advisor: Dr. Leonard Sweet. The Primary Readers: Christian laity and clergy who are interested in learning about the increasing institutionalization of American mainstream denominations and the problems associated with maintaining such large corporations. They include those who have a burden for postmodem 21st century North America as a mission field and wish to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ effectively. The two project artifacts will specifically be contextualized for smaller to mid-size rural East Texas communities of faith. Much of the history and denominational traditions drawn upon in this written statement will be influenced by United Methodist heritage and experience but provided for a multi-denominational audience. At'tifact: Primary Artifact: A self-published book, The Good Soil Process: A Backyard Missional Field Guide. It was written to be easy to understand, is approximately 140 pages long, and provides an organic model for a seasonal approach to effective missional disciple making. It follows the annual Christian calendar and leads followers of Jesus towards vibrant, adventurous lives of faith. The basic assumption ofthe book is that all of God's children are participants in God's amazing mission in the world. The book attempts to help the church reorient itself outward, as Vl missionaries in our own backyard. The four annual seasons of engagement are Discern, Design, Develop, and Delight. Secondary Artifact: An informational website, www.thegoodsoilprocess.com. It is a tool for sharing successes and failures, as the Texas East District of the United Methodist Church attempts to bring about a missional paradigm shift among 107 fairly rural congregations spread out over 10,000 square miles. The hope is that the Good Soil Process will assist others beyond our district attempting to foster change in their particular contexts. Chapter 1: The Problem 1. Topic: A study of American culture and its relationship to the current decline evidenced in many smaller to mid-size institutional churches. 2. Research Question: What is the relationship between 21st century cultural changes in America and the current crisis of decline among many institutional churches? 3. Research Problem: To help readers better understand contemporary cross-cultural barriers that exist between American culture and American institutional churches. 4. Practical Problem: By gaining insight and practical skills my readers will more effectively incarnate and communicate the good news of Jesus Christ cross-culturally in 21st century America. Chapter 2: Other Proposed Solutions New Church Starts: a. Innovative business church plants b. Restoration church plants c. Parachute church starts Vll d. Mother I Daughter church starts e. Satellite church starts Church Growth Programs: a. Transformation Chapter 3: Thesis I claim that American institutional churches need to be oriented around missional, relational, and incarnational practices in order effectively to incarnate and communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One way to accomplish this is by developing a simple, strategic missional process which seeks to foster paradigm change at a grassroots, local level through training which uses language, concepts and images that resonate culturally with a particular region or congregation. 1. The nature of institution tends to be inwardly focused such that maintenance often precedes mission and the goal becomes to ensure the survival of the institution rather than carrying out the mission of the Gospel. (Warrant: the mission of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to be God's reconciling presence in the world. This is the fundamental goal of the church, and its survival is completely dependent upon fulfilling its mission). 2. Because of a rapid increase in multi-culturalism and secular pluralism in the United States many mainstream Christians are at a loss as to how to build relationships across cultural lines which tends to result in separation and division, the opposite of reconciliation. (Warrant: culture plays a fundamental role in the comprehension and communication of the good news of Jesus Christ. Reconciliation is often hindered by cross-cultural boundaries) viii Chapter 4: Primary and Secondary Projects The primary and secondary projects are multi-media tools: a book and a website which assist the implementation of a district-wide initiative, "The Good Soil Process." The initiative focuses on approximately 107 smaller to mid-size rural congregations in the East District of the Texas A1mual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The objective of the initiative is to assist willing local churches to engage in a grassroots movement of imaginative, cross-cultural, missional endeavors in their local communities. The East District "Good Soil" initiative incorporates coaching for local congregations,
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