A Strategy for Planting Missional Churches to Include and Disciple the Postmodern People in the South of Brazil
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Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertation Projects DMin Graduate Research 2016 A Strategy for Planting Missional Churches to Include and Disciple the Postmodern People in the South of Brazil Natal Gardino Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Gardino, Natal, "A Strategy for Planting Missional Churches to Include and Disciple the Postmodern People in the South of Brazil" (2016). Dissertation Projects DMin. 500. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmin/500 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 A STRATEGY FOR PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES TO INCLUDE AND DISCIPLE THE POSTMODERN PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL by Natal Gardino Adviser: Russell Burrill ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH Project Document Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Title: A STRATEGY FOR PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES TO INCLUDE AND DISCIPLE THE POSTMODERN PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL Name of Researcher: Natal Gardino Name and degree of faculty adviser: Russell Burrill, DMin Date Completed: November 2016 Problem In spite of the fact that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is growing in Brazil, the traditional evangelistic methods have not significantly reached people with a postmodern worldview, who (in this country) are generally younger, wealthier, and more educated. This present study was to mobilize the churches in the South of Brazil with information and strategies to include postmodern people in their evangelistic efforts both in the local church and in new planted churches as well. Method Curitiba Central Church was informed about the reality of the contemporaneous worldview, and leaders of the church and volunteers were trained, making the members and leaders of church departments more concerned about adapting their language and approach as much as possible within the limits of a traditional church, to reach postmoderns. Then a plan was made to plant a new church from within Curitiba Central, which would be focused specifically on including postmodern people, who are very unlikely to attend a conventional church at first. The new church plant was open every day and featured different events for the good of the community. The worship services had their place every Saturday morning, as well as Sundays and Wednesdays at night, and they consisted basically of three or four worship songs, prayer and the presentation of the Bible principles for the everyday life. Two different Bible classes were always available during the week for those who wanted more information. Results At the end of two years, the new church plant, which began with 39 trained members from the Curitiba Central Church and volunteers from other churches as well, baptized 26 people and counted 134 members. Though these numbers may not be much impressive in Brazil, the profile of the people baptized certainly is for being in the difficulty range of postmodern-prone people in Brazil: young adults and formally educated people. When considering the proportions, the new church plant has much more members in this category than any other church in the local Union Conference (although less than churches on university campuses). And these members are constantly trained to keep this configuration increasing by always inviting their friends and colleagues to the church community. Conclusions Church members in Brazil must learn about the reality of the postmodern reality and learn how to include people with this worldview in their evangelistic efforts. The local church can be adapted as much as possible in order to make their programs more interesting through the use of clear language, relevant lectures, more interaction with people, and the creation of different new ministries to involve every member in active services to the community. Planting new churches is also very important to reach and include people who would normally never attend a traditional church. Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary A STRATEGY FOR PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES TO INCLUDE AND DISCIPLE THE POSTMODERN PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL A Project Document Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Natal Gardino November 2016 © Copyright by Natal Gardino 2016 All Rights Reserved A STRATEGY FOR PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES TO INCLUDE AND DISCIPLE THE POSTMODERN PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL A project document presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Ministry by Natal Gardino APPROVAL BY THE COMMITTEE: _______________________________ ______________________________ Adviser, Director, DMin Program Russell Burrill Kleber D. Gonçalves _______________________________ _____________________________ Jonas Arrais Dean, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Jiří Moskala _______________________________ ______________________________October 20, 2016 Boubakar Sanou Date approved To my dear and precious wife, Irineide, who has been a constant source of support, encouragement and push. To my sons Kaléo and Nicholas, my greatest earthly joy, who exempted me so many times from playing with them so that I could work on my project. To my parents-in-law, Sebastião and Ana Rosa, strong and gentle souls, for their financial support and many prayers to make this dream come true; to my mom, Eva, for cheering all the time. And I thank God for guiding me until here. To Him all honor and glory! TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 Purpose of the Project ........................................................................... 1 Justification for the Project .................................................................... 1 Delimitations .......................................................................................... 2 Definitions .............................................................................................. 3 Methodology .......................................................................................... 6 2. SPIRITUAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS .............................. 9 Introduction ........................................................................................... 9 The Great Commission: Making Disciples ............................................ 9 Models of the Church: Fortress and Salt ........................................ 11 The Art of “Fishing” People ........................................................... 12 The “Hook” Must be Properly Baited ............................................. 13 Some Classes are More Difficult ................................................... 14 The Wealthy ............................................................................. 15 The Educated .......................................................................... 16 The Youth ................................................................................ 18 Jesus’ Method: Incarnational Ministry ................................................... 19 The Necessity of Adapting the Church for the Mission ......................... 20 New Wine in Old Wineskins? ......................................................... 22 Differences are not to Divide but Unite the Church ....................... 25 Many Members, One Body ............................................................. 27 The Necessity of the Holy Spirit ............................................................ 28 The Necessity of Training the Church .................................................. 29 With a Purpose ............................................................................... 30 With Different Methods .................................................................. 30 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 31 3. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 33 Growing With a Gap ............................................................................. 33 iv Traditional Methods: No Longer Effective ............................................ 34 Fishers, Baits, and Different Kinds of Fish ............................................ 35 Defining the Postmodern “Worldview” ................................................. 36 The Premodern Era: God and the Church at the Center ......................... 37 The Modern Era: Human Reason at the Center ..................................... 39 The Postmodern Era: Nothing at the Center .......................................... 41 Main Characteristics of Postmoderns and Respective Difficulties For the Church ........................................................................ 42 Negation of Absolute Truth ....................................................