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Thesis Title THESIS TITLE PURSUING DISCIPLESHIP FOR CHURCH GROWTH: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL STUDY ABOUT THE RELATIONAL DYNAMICS OF PASTORAL LEADERSHIP IN THREE CIRCUITS OF THE ACCRA DIOCESE OF THE METHODIST CHURCH GHANA BY ERIC ASANTE-DANQUAH Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (THEOLOGY) In the subject of PRACTICAL THEOLOGY At the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF. MATSOBANE J. MANALA 31ST DECEMBER 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am indeed grateful to God Almighty who has seen me through to the successful completion of this work. I owe a great debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Matsobane J. Manala for his invaluable support, encouragement and the direction he gave me throughout the period of my research. I am very grateful. My sincere thanks go to the Most Rev. Titus K. Awotwi Pratt, immediate past Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana who facilitated the process for me when I needed the church’s approval to pursue this study. I also acknowledge with sincere thanks the immense contribution made by Dr. Dinah Baah-Odoom, Registrar of the Ghana Psychology Council whose good counsel and support urged me on at various critical stages of the study. I am also grateful to the leadership of churches for granting me permission to carry out the field research in their churches. To the members of the churches that participated in the study, I say a very big thanks for your time, effort and the information. To thank God for the opportunity to be part of this great institution (UNISA) and for the opportunity to use their user-friendly electronic system that enabled me have access to the library and other useful information during the period of the study. Similarly, I appreciate the support I received from Belinda Baidoo and Naana Akosua Opoku Agyemang, my research assistants, who assisted with the data collection and entry into the computer. Last but not the least, my appreciation goes to my lovely wife, Esther and family members for always being there for me. i ABSTRACT Relational discipleship is found to hold a great potential for church growth. The Methodist Church Ghana uses Small Groups, referred to in the Methodist tradition as the Bible Class as effective tool for relational discipleship for church growth. Bible Class has been used from the inception of the church for exponential growth of the church. However, the rate of growth in recent years have been below targets. This study explored the factors affecting the positive outcomes of the utilization of the Bible Class meetings as effective tool for relational discipleship and for church growth. This study explored the participants’ knowledge and use of the structural arrangements put in place to help pastors and leaders to foster relational discipleship towards church growth (the numerical and spiritual growth and commitment of the church members); and the leadership and discipleship styles employed by the pastors and class leaders in pursuance of the goal of the church. Five (5) Societies in the Accra Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana located in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, were involved in the study. Mixed Method Research that combined both qualitative (in-depth interviews and Focus Groups) and quantitative (structured questionnaires) research methodologies were used to explore the perspectives about the structural arrangements put in place to help pastors and leaders to foster relational discipleship, leadership/discipleship styles of the leaders; the benefit and usefulness of the Bible Class as a relational discipleship tool; their participation in church programmes and activities and the challenges they faced. The qualitative research consisted of 20 in-depth interviews and eight (8) focus groups with some church members, ministers and church leaders. The focus group discussions revealed that church members knew about the structural ii arrangements put in place to assist leadership of the church to foster closer relationship with their members in pursuance of discipleship. The study also revealed there were many challenges associated with the participation in the Bible Class Meetings and other church programmes and activities. The Bible Class meeting was cited as having been put in place for discipleship making and could be used to strengthen relationship between the church leadership and members. The findings from the qualitative phase were tested at the quantitative stage. The quantitative research method employed structured questionnaires administered to 650 church members, ministers and church leaders. The participants comprised 419 (64%) females and 231 (36%) males. Their ages ranged between 18 and 79 years with the majority (55%) between 18 and 40 years. The participants completed the questionnaires by themselves at the premises of their churches. The response rate was 100%. Three hypotheses were tested. The findings of the research suggest that the extent to which pastors and church leadership directly get involved in the affairs of their members with the view to making disciples and monitoring their spiritual growth influences church members’ interest in church activities and commitment to the church. It was also noted that leadership’s participation in church activities encourages members’ participation in church activities and programmes. Similarly, pastors and lay leaders who utilized the Bible Class or Small Group to build relationships with their members had greater numbers of members attending small group meetings and that pastors’ involvement makes the church members perceive class meeting as beneficial. iii However, only Interpersonal Leadership Style of Discipleship was positively associated with knowledge about church activities and participation in church activities and programmes. The more members know about Church activities, the greater their participation in those activities. There was no association between the other discipleship styles (e.g. serving, testimonial, intellectual) employed by leaders to foster relational discipleship. The discussions and conclusion of this study were based on these three studies (In-depth Interview, Focus Groups Discussions and the Structured Questionnaire Survey). iv DECLARATION Student number: 50282174 I declare that Pursuing Discipleship For Church Growth: A Practical Theological Study About The Relational Dynamics Of Pastoral Leadership In Three Circuits Of The Accra Diocese Of The Methodist Church Ghana is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references 31st December 2018 -------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- Eric Asante-Danquah) SIGNATURE DATE v Table of Contents THESIS TITLE........................................................................................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT........................................................................................................................ i ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ ii DECLARATION ..................................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….vi LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. x CHAPTER ONE ..................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ................................................................. 1 1.1 Background to the Study.......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Discipleship for Church Growth................................................................................................ 3 1.3 Discipleship through Small Groups ........................................................................................... 4 1.4 Methodism Discipleship through Small Groups ........................................................................ 4 1.5 Church Growth Movement ...................................................................................................... 6 1.6 Small Groups for Discipleship and Church Growth ..................................................................11 1.7 Methodist Church Ghana and Class System for Discipleship and Church Growth .....................12 1.8 Statement of the problem ......................................................................................................18 1.9 Rationale for the Study ...........................................................................................................19 1.10 Research Questions ................................................................................................................21 1.11 Research Aim and Objectives ..................................................................................................22 1.11.1 Aim of Study .................................................................................................................22 1.11.2 Objectives of the Study
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