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Rethinking Discipleship at Faith Methodist Church in Singapore: Making Disciples Through Effective Small Groups

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Rethinking Discipleship at Faith Methodist Church in Singapore: Making Disciples Through Effective Small Groups 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 RETHINKING DISCIPLESHIP AT FAITH METHODIST CHURCH IN SINGAPORE: MAKING DISCIPLES THROUGH EFFECTIVE SMALL GROUPS Written by MOH-YING WONG 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 reader: _____________________________________ Kurt Fredrickson Date Received: December 13, 2015 RETHINKING DISCIPLESHIP AT FAITH METHODIST CHURCH IN SINGAPORE: MAKING DISCIPLES THROUGH EFFECTIVE SMALL GROUPS A MINISTRY FOCUS PAPER 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 MOH-YING WONG DECEMBER 2015 ABSTRACT Rethinking Discipleship at Faith Methodist Church in Singapore: Making Disciples through Effective Small Groups Moh-Ying Wong Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2015 The goal of this paper is to develop an intentional communal disciple-making process at Faith Methodist Church that will help foster life transformation among its members. At Faith Methodist Church, a transformed life is defined as one growing in the areas of Fellowship (community), Adoration (worship), Involvement (service), Transformation (discipleship), and Harvest (evangelism). The adopted strategy will use the congregation’s existing small group structure as the primary vehicle to grow its members in these areas. Faith Methodist Church is located in Singapore, which is an economically thriving city-state. Singapore’s cosmopolitan character, affluence, and pragmatism have given rise to a people who value busyness, material success, power, pleasure, and status. As these societal values permeate the church, there is the danger of members allowing themselves to be changed by the world rather than the Gospel. In order to avert this, there needs to be in place a disciple-making process which strives to teach its members how to engage with Christ in ways that run countercultural to the ways of the world and to grow in spiritual maturity. This paper will contain three parts. Part One will explore the culture of the people of Singapore. In addition, reference will be made to the ongoing influences of pluralism, consumerism, and materialism. This segment also introduces the community of Faith Methodist Church and its vision, organizational structure, and ethos. Current approaches to discipleship will be studied, followed by an examination of their strengths and weaknesses. Part Two examines the underlying theological and biblical justification for the project with emphasis on the church’s Methodist heritage. Part Three presents the ministry plan and implementation strategy. The end result of the project is to create an environment where members can encounter God, experience community, engage the world, emulate Christ, and evangelize others. Content Reader: Kurt Fredrickson, PhD Words: 295 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE: THE MINISTRY CONTEXT INTRODUCTION 2 Chapter 1. CHURCH IN A LION CITY 11 PART TWO: THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 43 Chapter 3. THEOLOGY OF DISCIPLESHIP WITHIN SMALL GROUPS 69 PART THREE: PRACTICE Chapter 4. MINISTRY PLAN 99 Chapter 5. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS AND EVALUATION 127 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 137 APPENDICES 145 BIBLIOGRAPHY 184 iii PART ONE THE MINISTRY CONTEXT INTRODUCTION Capitalism, urbanization, industrialization, and technological advances have swept many parts of the world offering hope for economic development and prosperity. Such phenomena have a profound impact on the social fabric of society. This is true of Singapore as it seeks to elevate itself to the status of a prosperous and developed nation. In the process, considerable and constant pressure has been placed on the people by the government to be competitive and to achieve economic progress. The result is a Singaporean spirit that is characterized by both restlessness and relentlessness. Keith W. Hinton describes such a spirit as “a product of Chinese determination, a seasonless climate, narrow geographical confines that never let the inhabitants escape from the all- pervading atmosphere of commercial and financial concerns, and a visionary, hard- driving leadership.”1 Singapore is an economically thriving city-state with one of the world’s highest Gross Domestic Product per capita.2 Three decades of rapid economic growth have brought the city from underdevelopment to affluence and from material deprivation to material success. However, attending the affluence stemming from economic transformation has been the emergence of a loosely organized “culture of consumerism.”3 Intrinsic in the minds of most Singaporeans is the thought that happiness is linked closely 1 Keith W. Hinton, Growing Churches Singapore Style: Ministry in an Urban Context (Singapore: OMF Books, 1985), 76. 2 Forbes, “The World’s Richest Countries,” http://www.forbes.com/pictures/egim45egde/3- singapore/ (accessed March 3, 2014). 3 Beng-Huat Chua, “World Cities, Globalisation and the Spread of Consumerism: A View from Singapore,” Urban Studies 35, no. 5-6 (January 1998): 981. 2 to materialism and consumerism. This is borne out in the words of the National Pledge, which ends with a call to Singaporeans “to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.”4 As such, materialism has grown to be a core value, with Singaporeans avowing themselves in pursuit of the “5Cs”: “condominiums, cars, country clubs, cash, and credit cards.”5 To many Singaporeans, possession has assumed a central place in their lives and has become the fundamental source of their overall satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Goods are perceived as a means to happiness, with satisfaction in life achieved not through religious contemplation, social interaction, or a simple life but by possession and interaction with goods. For some, it has become a value that guides their choices and conduct. The government has played an active role in cultivating and advancing such values. In his book, The Pursuit and Acquisition of Health and Wealth, Gerard Jacobs writes: Government policies not only encourage capitalism and create an environment that rewards greed and consumerism, but also compel religious groups to minimize teachings that destabilize or oppose the national preoccupation. The teachings that affirm progress, success and the evidence of divine favor as measured by continued prosperity and well-being are encouraged.6 At the same time, the educational system is producing economic digits and citizens with the new values of materialism, individualism, competitiveness, expediency, efficiency, 4 Singapore.sg, “About Singapore: National Symbols—National Pledge,” http://app.singapore.sg/ about-singapore/national-symbols/national-pledge (accessed August 4, 2014). 5 The “5Cs” is a term that has been coined to describe the Singaporean’s pursuit of material wealth. Uniquely Singapore, “5Cs,” http://uniquelysingapore.org/5cs/ (accessed July 28, 2014). 6 Gerard Jacobs, The Pursuit and Acquisition of Health and Wealth: A Theological Critique of a Cultural Influence on Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in a Contemporary Singaporean Context (Christchurch, NZ: Wisebuys Books, 2006), 54. 3 and flexibility.7 It is for this reason that Koh Tai-Ann, professor at Nanyang Technological University, has called for a moratorium on prosperity, urging Singapore to seek its soul and develop a heart and moral responsibility.8 As the government has stimulated individualism, egocentrism, and human greed, success for Singapore has come at a social cost.9 The social cost has manifested as many human needs remaining unmet—for example, the need to understand where morality begins and ends, to grasp an ultimate meaning, to dwell in relationship and enjoy community. As a missionary with Overseas Missionary Fellowship, Hinton believes that the solution to these problems lies with the Body of Christ. He maintains that “of all institutions, the church has the capacity to meet these needs. Of all religions, Christianity holds out a vision and hope for urban life.”10 The challenge that faces the churches in Singapore is to rise to the task of helping their members transcend the materialistic and consumerist culture that has gripped Singapore and to live an existence congruent with the values and actions of Jesus Christ. Joseph B. Tamney reports that this has not been forthcoming, as “none of the religious groups in Singapore (including Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity) have challenged the dominant ideology of meritocracy and money that has made Singaporeans self-centred 7 Hinton, Growing Churches Singapore Style, 105. 8 Koh Tai-Ann, “The Singapore Experience: Cultural Development in the Global Village,” in Southeast Asia Affairs, 1980, ed. Leo Suryadinata (Singapore: Singapore Heinneman Asia, 1980); 292-307; see also Hinton, Growing Churches Singapore Style, 105. 9 Hinton, Growing
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