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Components to Effect Spiritual and Numerical Growth in the Good News

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Components to Effect Spiritual and Numerical Growth in the Good News ABSTRACT COMPONENTS TO EFFECT SPIRITUAL AND NUMERICAL GROWTH IN THE GOOD NEWS CHURCHES OF PALAKONDA DIVISION, SRIKAKULAM DISTRICT, A.P. INDIA by Victor J. R. Palla After a certain amount of success in planting churches, pastors, leaders, and Christians are in danger of settling into routine ministering to one another, forgetting the lofty vision and mission for the calling of the church. Reflecting on the observations of Philip Yancey (71-72) and Donald A. McGavran (4) I came to have a concern that the churches I was planting which started off with high yield. Then, after a period of time we began settling for something far less than the intended vision and mission. Fatigue or a sense of arrival after experiencing some growth, discouragement, and other physiological or political factors might be the reasons for this malaise. With this concern I designed the research to investigate this concern, and the findings of this mixed- method design study resulted in identifying four components necessary for spiritual and numerical growth. The four emerging themes included: church, leadership, home groups and family and other factors impacting growing numerically and spiritually. DISSERTATION APPROVAL This is to certify that the dissertation entitled COMPONENTS TO EFFECT SPIRITUAL AND NUMERICAL GROWTH IN THE GOOD NEWS CHURCHES OF PALAKONDA DIVISION, SRIKAKULAM DISTRICT, A.P. INDIA presented by Victor John Ratnam Palla has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for the DOCTOR OF MINISTRY degree at Asbury Theological Seminary May 19, 2010 Mentor Date May 19, 2010 Internal Reader Date May 19, 2010 Representative, Doctor of Ministry Program Date May 19, 2010 Dean of the Beeson Center Date COMPONENTS TO EFFECT SPIRITUAL AND NUMERICAL GROWTH IN THE GOOD NEWS CHURCHES OF PALAKONDA DIVISION, SRIKAKULAM DISTRICT, A.P. INDIA A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Victor John Ratnam Palla May 2010 © 2010 Victor John Ratnam Palla ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM ....................................................................................................1 Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Challenge of Ministry in Palakonda in the Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh, India..................................................................................1 The Beginnings ............................................................................................2 Vision for the Future....................................................................................3 Challenge of Church Growth.......................................................................4 Purpose.....................................................................................................................6 Research Questions..................................................................................................6 Definition of Terms..................................................................................................6 Church .........................................................................................................7 Vision...........................................................................................................8 Mission.........................................................................................................9 Numerical Growth in the Church...............................................................11 Spiritual Growth in the Church..................................................................12 Ministry Intervention .............................................................................................14 Context...................................................................................................................14 District........................................................................................................14 Division......................................................................................................15 iii Good News Churches ................................................................................16 Methodology..........................................................................................................18 Participants.................................................................................................18 Instrumentation ..........................................................................................18 Variables ....................................................................................................19 Data Collection ..........................................................................................19 Data Analysis.............................................................................................20 Generalizability..........................................................................................21 Theological Foundation .........................................................................................21 Christ, the Son of the Living God..............................................................21 Church Leadership according to Ephesians 4:11-13 .................................25 The Model and Purpose of These Ministry Gifts.......................................35 Purpose of the Church................................................................................37 Ministry to God–Worship..........................................................................38 Ministry to Believers–Nurture ...................................................................40 Ministry to the World–Evangelism............................................................42 Conclusion .................................................................................................44 Overview................................................................................................................45 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE.............................................................................................47 Introduction............................................................................................................47 Theological Foundation for Study .........................................................................47 Church and the Kingdom of God and Its Ministry ................................................50 Vision, Mission, and Ministry within the Churches in the Local Context ............58 iv Church Growth ..................................................................................................... 60 Numerical Growth .....................................................................................61 Spiritual Growth.........................................................................................65 Principles Supporting Numerical Church Growth.....................................66 Principles Supporting Spiritual Church Growth........................................71 Homogenous Groups for Growth...............................................................73 The Church—A Body............................................................................................78 Prerogatives of the Ephesians 4:11-13 Leadership................................................82 Vision Casting............................................................................................82 Team Leadership........................................................................................84 Small Groups Meeting in Homes...............................................................85 Mentoring...................................................................................................90 Delegation..................................................................................................91 Coaching and Training...............................................................................93 Research Design.....................................................................................................96 Qualitative Phenomenological Study.........................................................96 Focus Groups .............................................................................................97 Summary................................................................................................................98 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................99 Problem and Purpose .............................................................................................99 Research Questions and/or Hypotheses.................................................................99 Research Question #1 ..............................................................................100 Research Question #2 ..............................................................................100 v Research Question #3 ..............................................................................101 Research Question #4 ..............................................................................101
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