Applying Steps to Christ in the Glenorchy Seventh-Day Adventist Church
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Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertation Projects DMin Graduate Research 2015 Making Disciples: Applying Steps to Christ in the Glenorchy Seventh-day Adventist Church Mark Falconer Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Falconer, Mark, "Making Disciples: Applying Steps to Christ in the Glenorchy Seventh-day Adventist Church" (2015). Dissertation Projects DMin. 493. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmin/493 This Project Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertation Projects DMin by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT MAKING DISCIPLES: APPLYING STEPS TO CHRIST IN THE GLENORCHY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH by Mark Falconer Adviser: Kenley D. Hall ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH Project Document Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Title: MAKING DISCIPLES: APPLYING STEPS TO CHRIST IN THE GLENORCHY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH Name of researcher: Mark S. Falconer Name and degree of faculty adviser: Kenley D. Hall, DMin Date Completed: January 2015 Problem The spirituality of a large percentage of church members at the Glenorchy church in Tasmania, is primarily based on knowledge about God with little concept of how biblical spirituality interacts with daily life. A recent Natural Church Development survey revealed passionate spirituality and loving relationships scored extremely low and revealed a profound need to engage spiritually with God on a daily basis. The members of Glenorchy Church have a high regard for Scripture and the writings of Ellen White, and therefore have read Steps to Christ, but few have experienced the transformational presence of God in their daily lives by practicing principles in Steps to Christ. Method This project endeavored to construct, contextualize, implement, and evaluate a discipleship process in the Glenorchy Church, that utilized principles from Steps to Christ that lead to a transformational experience of God’s presence in daily living. The project commenced with a two-day camp for the church members followed by a contextualized praxis in spiritual transformation based on Steps to Christ, that sought to build loving relationships and model devotional habits including reflective reading in a small group setting over 12 weeks with three follow-up sessions. Results Through small groups, community was built by unvarnished shared stories that utilized an andragogy based teaching style. Intensity built up during “Stepping into scripture” and “Steps to Christ” that powerfully connected teaching with emotions that allows for sapience to emerge. The modeling and teaching of devotional habits and particularly reflective reading was helpful to mostly younger members. All of the participants seemed to intensify their devotional lives, however only those with a regular time, place, and ritual and therefore able to practice biblical spirituality, were able to rise above the clutter of everyday life to enjoy the fruits of the Spirit regardless of where they were on the knowledge or experiential continuum. Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary MAKING DISCIPLES: APPLYING STEPS TO CHRIST IN THE GLENORCHY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH A Project Document Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Mark Falconer January 2015 © Copyright by Mark S. Falconer 2015 All Rights Reserved MAKING DISCIPLES: APPLYING STEPS TO CHRIST IN THE GLENORCHY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH A project document presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Ministry by Mark S. Falconer APPROVAL BY THE COMMITTEE: _______________________________ ______________________________ Adviser, Director, DMin Program Kenley D. Hall Bruce L. Bauer _______________________________ _____________________________ Allan Walshe Dean, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Jiří Moskala _______________________________ ______________________________May 26, 2015 Boubakar Sanou Date approved TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 Personal History ..................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ....................................................................... 4 Statement of the Task ............................................................................. 4 Justification of the Project ...................................................................... 4 Description of Project Process ............................................................... 5 Expectations From the Project .............................................................. 6 Delimitations ......................................................................................... 6 Limitations ........................................................................................... 7 Definitions of Terms .............................................................................. 8 2. A THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR BIBLICAL SPIRITUALITY ..................... 10 Introduction ........................................................................................... 10 Theological Basis for the Transformation of the Heart .......................... 11 The Life of a Disciple ............................................................................. 12 The Extent of the Sin Problem .............................................................. 14 Transformational Clues From the Sanctuary ......................................... 15 Godly Living in the Realities of Everyday Living ................................. 17 Peter ................................................................................................ 18 Judas ................................................................................................ 19 The Nature of the Human Will ............................................................... 20 Biblical Practices That Assist in Connecting the Heart to God ............. 24 Worship ........................................................................................... 25 Repentance ...................................................................................... 27 Solitude ........................................................................................... 28 Prayer .............................................................................................. 30 Study and Reflective Reading ......................................................... 31 Meditation ...................................................................................... 33 Difference Between Pseudo and Authentic Transformation .................. 34 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 36 3. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 38 Introduction . .......................................................................................... 38 Spirituality .............................................................................................. 39 iii Postmodernity/Modernity ....................................................................... 41 Adventist Spirituality ............................................................................. 42 Narcissism ....................................................................................... 43 Seventh-day Adventist Discipling................................................... 48 Comparison of the Spirituality of Ellen White With Selected Literature Outside of Adventism .................................................... 50 Praxis of Discipleship ............................................................................. 53 Repentance ...................................................................................... 59 Goal of Sapiential Transformation ......................................................... 61 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 62 4. DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS AND NARRATIVE OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ...................................................................................... 64 Introduction ............................................................................................ 64 A Brief History and Spiritual Practices of Glenorchy and its Members .............................................................................. 65 Internal Statistics ............................................................................. 66 Spiritual Practices and Characteristics of Glenorchy Seventh-day Adventist Church .... ………………………………………… 69 Summary ......................................................................................... 69 Development of Strategy and Methodology of Biblical Spirituality ..... 70 The Process of Implementing Discipleship Process Based on Steps to Christ ................................................................................ 74 Small Groups .........................................................................................