Developing a Mentor-Method of Evangelism at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Rolla, Missouri
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Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project Concordia Seminary Scholarship 5-1-2018 Developing a Mentor-Method of Evangelism at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Rolla, Missouri Nathan Kuhlman Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Kuhlman, Nathan, "Developing a Mentor-Method of Evangelism at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Rolla, Missouri" (2018). Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project. 118. https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin/118 This Major Applied Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEVELOPING A MENTOR-METHOD OF EVANGELISM AT REDEEMER LUTHERAN CHURCH, ROLLA, MISSOURI A Major Applied Project Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Department of Practical Theology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry By Rev. Nathan Alex Kuhlman May 2018 Approved by Rev. Dr. David Peter Advisor Rev. Dr. William Utech Reader Rev. Dr. Timothy Saleska Reader © 2018 by Nathan Alex Kuhlman. All rights reserved. ii This is dedicated to the many spiritual giants upon whose shoulders I stand today: Luke Biggs, William Utech, David Peter, Diann Hinds, Dean Nadasdy, Jay Kettinger, and the beautiful saints of Redeemer. The Jesus in you profoundly shaped the Jesus in me. Most importantly, this is dedicated to my children, Jess, Ella, and Seth, for their sacrifice of time while Dad completed this project. You are the reason this project was undertaken. To God be the glory! iii How shall the world believe Unless my people go And tell the love Jesus To all the world below? Tell them of Jesus’ pardon Bought by His precious blood; Tell them of grace and mercy Bought by the Son of God! How shall the world believe Unless my people say That God has raised a Savior Against that glorious day? When all men shall be beckoned To meet their God on high, Oh, may they take His pardon And meet Him in the sky! How shall the world believe And live for Him alone Unless my people share Him, Share Him, God’s only Son? Share Him with every creature—Share Him whose love divine Has drawn you to Himself, Assuring, “Thou art Mine.” Go then and tell the story To those who need it still; Go then and give a witness—This is your Father’s will. Go and may God go with you And give you power divine, That He may say to others, “Son, daughter, thou art Mine.” “How Shall the World Believe” Text: Paul Foust, Tune: “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” Paul Foust, Reborn to Multiply: Tested Techniques for Personal Evangelism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1973), 56. iv CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................................................ x TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... xii COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ xvi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... xvii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED............................................................................................ 1 A Discipleship Dilemma ............................................................................................. 3 Addressing the Present Need ....................................................................................... 8 PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT .......................................................................................... 11 ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES ........................................................................................... 13 THE PROCESS .................................................................................................................. 14 PARAMETERS OF THE PROJECT ................................................................................. 17 CONTENT OF UPCOMING CHAPTERS ........................................................................ 18 CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................................... 21 THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ..................................................................................... 21 Two Kinds of Righteousness and Evangelism .......................................................... 22 A THEOLOGY OF EVANGELISM .................................................................................. 27 Evangelism Foundations ............................................................................................ 28 The Centrality of God’s Word for Evangelism ......................................................... 30 v The Relationship of Evangelism, Missions, and Sending ......................................... 35 Evangelism is Grounded in Words ............................................................................ 37 TRAITS OF MENTORSHIP IN THE GOSPELS ............................................................. 39 The Woman at the Well (John 4:5–26)...................................................................... 42 A Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1–11)............................................................ 46 The Rich Young Ruler (Matt. 19:16–30) .................................................................. 49 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 54 RECENT RESEARCH ....................................................................................................... 54 ORIGINALITY OF THE PROJECT .................................................................................. 58 Mentorship Evangelism Defined ............................................................................... 60 The Project’s Context Defined .................................................................................. 63 UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT LANDSCAPE....................................................... 63 Rise of the Nones and Generation Z .......................................................................... 65 The Impact of Nihilism and Lack of Absolute Truth ................................................ 71 The Importance of Relationships as Context for Evangelism ................................... 75 MEETING A NEED ........................................................................................................... 76 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................ 81 THE PROJECT DEVELOPED .......................................................................................... 81 DESIGN OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................ 82 Mentorship Training Subject Matter ......................................................................... 84 RESEARCH TOOLS AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 87 vi PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ....................................................................................... 88 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 93 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................................... 94 EVALUATION .................................................................................................................. 94 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEYS ......................................................... 95 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF EXIT INTERVIEWS ................................................ 101 Did Your Assumptions Come True? ....................................................................... 104 What Would You Do Differently? .......................................................................... 105 Questions for Future Study ...................................................................................... 106 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 108 CHAPTER SIX .......................................................................................................................... 109 SUMMARY & CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 109 CONTRIBUTIONS