Nurturing a Christian Identity in Adolescents at Grand Ledge Baptist Church
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Please HONOR the copyright of these documents by not retransmitting or making any additional copies in any form (Except for private personal use). We appreciate your respectful cooperation. ___________________________ Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) P.O. Box 30183 Portland, Oregon 97294 USA Website: www.tren.com E-mail: [email protected] Phone# 1-800-334-8736 ___________________________ ATTENTION CATALOGING LIBRARIANS TREN ID# Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) MARC Record # Digital Object Identification DOI # Ministry Focus Paper Approval Sheet This ministry focus paper entitled NURTURING A CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN ADOLESCENTS AT GRAND LEDGE BAPTIST CHURCH Written by BRIAN M. McLAUGHLIN and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry has been accepted by the Faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary upon the recommendation of the undersigned readers: _____________________________________ Tom F. Schwanda _____________________________________ Kurt Fredrickson Date Received: June 20, 2014 NURTURING A CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN ADOLESCENTS AT GRAND LEDGE BAPTIST CHUCH FINAL PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY BRIAN M. McLAUGHLIN JUNE 2014 ABSTRACT Nurturing a Christian Identity in Adolescents at Grand Ledge Baptist Church Brian M. McLaughlin Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2014 The goal of this project is to explore the relationship between historic spiritual disciplines and the development of an adolescent’s Christian identity. This is to be accomplished by implementing a modern adaptation of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius into an existing adolescent small group. It is believed that the practices contained in the Spiritual Exercises enable an adolescent to embrace the reality that they are created by God, rebellious against God, reconciled to God, and called to participate in the mission of God. This thesis is tested at Grand Ledge Baptist Church in Grand Ledge, Michigan. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius consist of meditative and contemplative prayer exercises based upon four biblical movements. These movements include human sinfulness and the love of God, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the death of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each week adolescents gather to experience one of these exercises individually and reflect upon the exercise as a group. They are also provided daily exercises to complete on their own throughout the week. All exercises are taken from Larry Warner’s Journey with Jesus . Following completion of the project, the influence of the Spiritual Exercises on identity formation is analyzed. This study concludes that the practice of the Spiritual Exercises did influence an adolescent’s Christian identity. Adolescents indicated that this program provided a new and fresh experience with God and their relationship with him. Furthermore, they regularly practiced disciplines that can be incorporated into their own lives. However, due to the extended period of adolescence and the constant barrage of voices seeking to influence their identity, the long-term impact of this project cannot be determined. Therefore, elements of this project should be incorporated into the ongoing ministry to adolescents at Grand Ledge Baptist Church. Theological Mentor: Kurt Fredrickson, PhD Words: 296 To my children, Beth, Zach, and Noah, and my students at Grand Ledge Baptist Church: Thank you for allowing me to influence you in the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ for the sake of others ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are a number of people who deserve to be acknowledged. First, I would like to thank Dr. Tom Schwanda of Wheaton College for his guidance during this project. Second, I would like to thank Grand Ledge Baptist Church for their enthusiastic support of my continuing education. I could not have completed it without such wonderful co- workers. Third, I would like to thank GLBC’s 2012-2013 senior high students. You bring great joy every time we are together. Finally, I would like to thank my family: Nikki, Beth, Zach, and Noah. Your unconditional love and constant encouragement are daily gifts from God. I love you very much. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv INTRODUCTION 1 PART ONE: MINISTRY CONTEXT Chapter 1. EXPLORING GRAND LEDGE, MICHIGAN 9 Chapter 2. EXPLORING GRAND LEDGE BAPTIST CHURCH 29 PART TWO: THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS Chapter 3. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 49 Chapter 4. A THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH 69 Chapter 5. A THEOLOGY OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION 89 PART THREE: MINISTRY STRATEGY Chapter 6. AN INTEGRATED STRATEGY: GOALS AND PLANS 111 Chapter 7. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION 133 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 153 APPENDICES 159 BIBLIOGRAPHY 169 v INTRODUCTION Every adolescent faces a dizzying array of questions. Adolescents ponder who they are, why they are here, why they do what they do, and what should they do with their lives. These questions make adolescent life both exciting and frustrating. It is exciting because the future is wide open and full of many wonderful opportunities. It is frustrating because the many voices competing to answer these questions can lead to confusion. Today’s adolescents have been called the “smorgasbord generation” due to “the full schedule of choices and activities that compete for this generation’s time” and attention. 1 A typical adolescent’s schedule likely includes traditional activities such as family, friends, and approximately thirty hours per week of school, not counting homework. Extra-curricular activities, such as athletic and artistic endeavors, can easily make the average week in excess of forty hours. Each of these activities comes with a multitude of voices: family, friends, teachers, coaches, classmates, and teammates. In addition to these voices are the multitudes of voices dispensed through technology. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals, “Children 8-18 years of age spend an average of 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media, including TV, computers, video games, cell phones, and movies.” 2 These technologies have 1 Gary L. McIntosh, One Church Four Generations: Understanding and Reaching All Ages in Your Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002), 161. 2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Overweight and Obesity: A Growing Problem,” http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/problem.html (accessed May 7, 2012). 1 created what Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff call the “groundswell.” 3 The groundswell is “a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions.” 4 Li and Bernoff’s research focused on the role of the groundswell in replacing corporations, but it is easy to see how it has replaced traditional relationships as well. Studies report that parents spend less than four minutes “in meaningful conversation with their children” each day. 5 The ever-present and ever- evolving groundswell illustrates the number of voices in the typical adolescent’s life. Of the many voices speaking into an adolescent’s life, one voice can easily be lost amidst the noise: the voice of God. Christians believe that God is a revealing God who is actively communicating with his creation. Evangelical Christians believe this communication is foundational to a relationship with God. 6 Dallas Willard is representative of the evangelical Christian when he states, “Today I continue to believe that people are meant to live in an ongoing conversation with God, speaking and being spoken to by God.” 7 The reality of divine communication is essential because “identity and value are found in a vital and living relationship with Christ as Lord.” 8 The 3 Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011). 4 Ibid., 9. 5 Norman Herr, “Television & Health,” Internet Resources to Accompany The Sourcebook for Teaching Science, http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html (accessed May 7, 2012). 6 For an evangelical example, see Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 47-138, 149-153, 634-649. 7 Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (1984: repr., Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 1999), 18. 8 M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map to Spiritual Formation (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 1993), 89. 2 challenge facing every adolescent, then, is allowing God’s voice to be the primary voice in their lives. The Church and God’s Voice It is at this point that the Church has an opportunity and a responsibility to be the instrument of God’s voice in the world today. Craig Van Gelder believes that this represents the very essence of the Church. He writes, “The church is missionary by nature because God has sent it on a mission in the world under the leading of the Spirit. It is to bear witness to God’s redemptive reign.” 9 Missiologist Lesslie Newbigin says that the local congregation is the hermeneutic of the gospel and must speak God’s voice boldly in the midst of the antagonistic voices competing for the hearts of the community. 10 He writes, The reigning plausibility structure can only be effectively challenged by people who are fully integrated inhabitants of another. Every person living in a “modern” society is subject to an almost continuous bombardment of ideas, images, slogans, and stories which presuppose a plausibility structure radically different from that which is controlled by the Christian understanding of human nature and destiny. The power of contemporary media to shape thought and imagination is very great. A Christian congregation is a community in which, through the constant remembering and rehearsing of the true story of human nature and destiny, an attitude of healthy skepticism can be sustained, a skepticism which enables one to take part in the life of society without being bemused and deluded by its own beliefs about itself.