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A Strategy to Transition a Traditional Church Educational System to a Small Group System a Case Study of Eternal Life Baptist Church

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A Strategy to Transition a Traditional Church Educational System to a Small Group System a Case Study of Eternal Life Baptist Church LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY A STRATEGY TO TRANSITION A TRADITIONAL CHURCH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM TO A SMALL GROUP SYSTEM A CASE STUDY OF ETERNAL LIFE BAPTIST CHURCH A Thesis Project Submitted to Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree DOCTOR OF MINISTRY By Kyoung Gil Cho Lynchburg, Virginia April 2012 Copyright © 2012 Kyoung Gil Cho All Rights Reserved ii This thesis is dedicated to my wife, Soo Jin Lee. She is truly a gift from the Lord, and to my parents for their prayer and support. iii LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THESIS PROJECT APPROVAL SHEET A GRADE Dr. Rod Dempsey MENTOR Dr. Dwight Rice READER iv ABSTRACT A STRATEGY TO TRANSITION A TRADITIONAL CHURCH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM TO A SMALL GROUP SYSTEM -A Case Study of Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church in South Korea- Kyoung Gil Cho Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, 2012 Mentor : Dr. Rodney W. Dempsey Reader : Dr. Dwight Rice The purpose of this thesis is to research the avenues in which to have Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church transition to a small group system. This thesis was done through field analysis and literature research, as well as the case study of Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church (ELBBC). The case study was totally focused on the process of changing to a small group system at Eternal Life. The author was a minister at Eternal Life for 8 years, and an associate pastor for a year. In a few years the author will become the next senior pastor of Eternal life Bible Baptist Church. Therefore, this thesis was based upon the author ’s personal ministry experiences at the church, and the positive effects of the transition were also recorded. The author is sure that the small group system at Eternal Life will lead to a reproduction in the number Christ’s disciples, and hopes that this thesis will be a tool for many traditional Korean churches who wish to switch to small groups. Abstract length : 170 words v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank and give glory to the Lord for giving me the opportunity to study at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. I would like to acknowledge the members and pastors of Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church for their prayers and financial support, especially my loving parents and the Senior Pastor of Eternal Life Il Hee Cho, and Won Bock Bong. They prayed for me every day in the morning, and met my financial needs, and were always full of praise and encouragement. I would like to thank the mentor of my thesis, Dr. Rodney Dempsey, D. Min. He was the one that gave me the insight into small groups, gave me the assurance that small groups would build healthy churches, and guided and encouraged me throughout the writing process. I would also like to thank my reader, Dr. Dwight Rice, D. Min. He not only carefully read my thesis, but also taught me the importance of building relationships with people in the church setting. I would like to thank all the staff of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, especially Dr. Daniel C. Kim, and Dr. David Chung, who were my spiritual mentors and the pastors who taught me how to live as a true Christian, and all my friends who I have met in Lynchburg, VA. I want to dedicate this dissertation to my loving wife Soo Jin Lee has been a great source of motivation and the best helper with prayer, patience, encouragement, and spiritual support. My lovely children Ye Eun Cho and Ye Chan Cho have been a source of great joy to me during the completion of this dissertation. All the thanks and glory to God! C.K.G vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………… vi TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………….. vii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………….. x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………... 1 The Statement of Problem……………………………………………………….. 6 The Statement of Limitations……………………………………………………. 6 The Theoretical Bases…………………………………………………………. 7 Biblical Basis……………………………………………………………. 7 The Great Commandment………………………………………………. 7 The Great Commission………………………………………………….. 8 New Commandment…………………………………………………….. 12 Theological Basis………………………………………………………………. 13 Theology of Community………………………………………………… 12 Biblical Examples of Old Testament foundations For Small Group Ministry…………………................................................... 14 Biblical Examples of New Testament foundations For Small Group Ministry…………………………....................................... 17 The Statement of Methodology………………………………………………… 19 The Review of Literature………………………………………………………. 20 Questionnaire and Interview Questions………………………………………... 25 Summary……………………………………………………………………….. 25 CHAPTER TWO: ETERNAL LIFE BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH………………….. 25 Beginning of Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church………………………... 26 The Leadership Team of Eternal Bible Baptist Church…………………. 27 The Major Five Transitions at Eternal Bible Baptist Church………………….. 29 Change Management at ELBBC Bible Baptist Church……………………….. 36 The Reasons the Church Transitioned to Small Groups……………………..... 37 vii Summary………………………………………………………………………... 40 CHAPTER THREE: WHAT CHANGES DID ETERNAL BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH MAKE?....................................................................................................... 41 Eternal Life Bible Baptist Church Changed the Method of Discipleship in the Church………………………………………………………………………..… 41 Eternal Bible Baptist Church Changed the Expectations of Members 46 Strategy of Small Group Leadership Development in ELBBC……........ 49 Three Types of Training for Small Group Leaders……………………… 50 Education for become a good natured leader…………………...... 50 Qualifications of a Leader………………………………………... 52 Responsibility of a leader…………………………………….…… 53 Basic Training for Small Group Leaders……………………………………….. 54 Training Outline…………………………………………………..……… 54 THE EIGHT HABITS OF EFFECTIVE SMALL GROUP LEADERS………….….. 57 The Vitalization Plan of Small Groups in ELBBC…………………………….. 57 The Plan to Execute the Small Group System by Accomplishing the Vision…………………………………………………………………….. 60 Summary……………………………………………………………………..…. 63 CHAPTER FOUR: CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE RESULTS…………..…… 64 Analysis of the Research Data..…………………………………………..…….. 64 Research Methods……………………………………………………..…. 64 Positive Benefits………………………………………………………………... 73 Development of Lay Leaders…………………………………………..… 73 Church Planting and Support…………………………………………….. 79 The Vision of World Missions through Small Groups…………………... 81 The Birth of Evangelists through Small Groups…………………………. 83 Church of Small Group…………………………………………...……… 84 Negative Results…………………………………………………….………….. 88 Resistance to Leadership………………………………………..……….. 88 Lack of Good Child Care………………………………………...………. 90 viii Lack of Awareness……………………………………………………… 91 Summary……………………………………………………………………….. 93 CHAPTER FIVE: AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR THE CHURCH OF SMALL GROUP………………………………………………………………………….….… 94 Select and Create Core Biblical Values………………………………………... 94 Matt. 16:16-19…………………………………………………………… 94 Great Commandment- Matt. 22:36-40…………………………………… 94 Great Commission- Matt. 28:19-20…………………………………...…. 95 New Commandment- John 13:34-35……………………………..……... 96 Early Church Snapshot- Acts 2:42-47……………………………………. 97 Early Church Blueprint- Eph. 4:11-16…………………………………… 102 The goal of Discipleship- Colossians 1:28………………………..……… 103 Five Essentials of Small Group…………………………………………...…….. 104 Establish a Clear Vision Statement……………………………………………… 105 The Check Up for Bringing Changes to the Church……………………….…… 108 Make Sure the Senior Pastor is The Primary Champion…………………...…… 110 A Strategy In The Development Of Small Group Leadership In ELBBC……… 113 Leadership training for current lay leaders…………………………….… 114 Building an Effective Coaching Structure……………………………….. 115 Building an Executive Director of Small Group Ministry………………. 117 A Systematic Change into the Small Group System…………………….. 119 Summary……………………………………………………………………….. 120 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….. 121 APPENDIX A…………………………………………………………………………. 128 APPENDIX B…………………………………………………………………………. 137 APPENDIX C…………………………………………………………………………. 142 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………….. 175 ix LIST OF FIGURES 1. Religion Census in South Korea ……………………………………………………. 1 2. Meta model …………………………………………………………………………. 3 3. 2006 ELBBC’s Mission organizations ……………………………………………... 33 4. ABF small groups in ELBBC ………………………………………………………. 36 5. Disciple’s Hierarchy ………………………………………………………………... 42 6. Life cycle of a disciple ……………………………………………………………... 43 7. Disciple’s progression ……………………………………………………………… 45 8. Four quadrants number for church system …………………………………………. 47 9. ELBBC leadership education system ………………………………………………. 50 10. The Leadership Training program of ELBBC …………………………………….. 54 11. Communication process …………………………………………………………... 59 12. Gender of ELBBC ………………………………………………………………… 65 13. Age distribution of church member of ELBBC …………………………………... 66 14. Responses to “How long have you been a Christian of ELBBC?” ……………….. 67 15. Responses to “How long have you been a member of ELBBC?” ………………… 68 16. Responses to “What is the Vision of ELBBC?” …………………………………... 69 17. Responses to “What are the pros of ELBBC?” …………………………………… 70 18. Responses to “What are the cons in ELBBC”? …………………………………… 71 19. Responses to “There are many people in ELBBC who will be able to become lay leaders after receiving training and education” …………………………………… 72 20. Responses to “What is your view of small groups?” ……………………………... 73 21. Process of discipleship making at ELBBC ……………………………………….. 75 22. Three dimensional spiritual leadership
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