Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 4-2021 Re-Imagining Ecclesiology: A New Missional Paradigm For Community Transformation Michael J. Berry Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin Part of the Christianity Commons GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY RE-IMAGINING ECCLESIOLOGY: A NEW MISSIONAL PARADIGM FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY MICHAEL J. BERRY PORTLAND, OREGON APRIL 2021 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of Michael J. Berry has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on April 29, 2021 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Leadership in the Emerging Culture Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: W. David Phillips, DMin Secondary Advisor: Karen Claassen, DMin Lead Mentor: Leonard I. Sweet, PhD Copyright © 2021 by Michael J. Berry All rights reserved ii DEDICATION To my wife, Andra and to our daughters, Ariel and Olivia. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks for everyone’s support and assistance to get me through this process: Dr. Len Sweet, Donna Wallace, Dr. David Phillips, Dr. Loren Kerns, Dr. Clifford Berger, Dr. Jason Sampler, Rochelle Deans, Dr. David Anderson, Dr. Tom Hancock, Patrick Mulvaney, Ray Crew, and especially Tracey Wagner. iv EPIGRAPH The baptism and spiritual formation of a city is not an event. It’s a process. v Table of Contents DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ IV EPIGRAPH ......................................................................................................................... V ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... VIII CHAPTER 1 NO CHURCH IN THE WILD: THE CHURCH IS SILOED, DISCONNECTED, AND DISENGAGED .........................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 RE-IMAGINING ECCLESIOLOGY: WHAT IF JESUS NEVER SAID, “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH”? ........................................................................................21 Translation Failures .....................................................................................................27 Translator Bias ...........................................................................................................27 Mistranslation Due to Semantic Void ........................................................................31 Mistranslation to Support Theological Presuppositions ............................................33 England and the King’s Bible ......................................................................................36 Instructions to the Translators ......................................................................................40 Approaches in Ecclesiology .........................................................................................45 Traditional Ecclesiology ............................................................................................46 Historical Greek Ecclesiology ...................................................................................49 Biblical Ecclesiology .................................................................................................52 Reimagining Ecclesiology ...........................................................................................54 Biblical Contextualization .........................................................................................56 Christology .................................................................................................................59 Missional Theology ...................................................................................................60 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................62 CHAPTER 3 ETHNOGRAPHY: JOINING GOD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD .............64 Why Ethnography Matters ...........................................................................................67 Ethnography Benefits Local Churches ........................................................................71 Four Ethnographic Methods ........................................................................................84 An Ethnographer’s Approach to Matthew 16:13-20 ...................................................89 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................90 CHAPTER 4 EPIDEMIOLOGY AS A SYSTEM OF ORGANIZED SOTERIOLOGY AND ESCHATOLOGY WITHIN PUBLIC HEALTH ....................................................92 Foundation for Church Involvement in Public Health .................................................93 Biblical Metanarrative as Framework for Public Health ...........................................103 Eschatology and Epidemiology .................................................................................110 Soteriology and Epidemiology ..................................................................................118 Conclusion .................................................................................................................124 CHAPTER 5 CONTEXTUAL INTELLIGENCE: DEVELOPING CULTURAL COMPETENCE FOR CONTEXTUALIZING THE GOSPEL ......................................127 What Is Contextual Intelligence? ...............................................................................131 What Is Cultural Competence and Why Do We Need It? .........................................132 vi Christianity Has Always Been a Cross-Cultural Movement .....................................134 Conclusion .................................................................................................................140 CHAPTER 6 A NEW KIND OF PARISH: THE CHURCH THAT I SEE ....................142 The Work of Ecclesiology .........................................................................................152 The Work of Ethnography .........................................................................................155 The Work of Epidemiology .......................................................................................156 Conclusion .................................................................................................................158 APPENDIX A ..................................................................................................................159 APPENDIX B ..................................................................................................................160 APPENDIX C ..................................................................................................................163 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................165 vii ABSTRACT This dissertation claims that the church is siloed, disconnected, and disengaged from the communities they are called to serve. The destructive mentalities of a disengaged church may even be complicit in creating and enabling certain community health problems instead of being a part of the solutions. This research is focused on how ecclesiology, ethnography, and epidemiology can be a missional paradigm to improve the gospel’s contextualization and work in community transformation. Chapter 1 demonstrates how increasing public health issues such as pandemics, chronic diseases, poverty, homelessness, food deserts, addiction, inadequate health care, gun violence, mass incarceration, racism, and social injustice are larger than any one church can address. In spite of increased public awareness and pleas from the public health community for churches to become actively engaged and provide solutions and resources, the destructive mentalities of a disengaged church may even be complicit in creating and enabling some of these community health problems instead of being a part of the solutions. Chapter 2 examines how ecclesiology has been based on a mistranslation, a semiotic void, or a deliberate politically motivated translation of the Greek term ἐκκλησία spoken by Jesus on Matthew 16:18, to show how a proper view of ecclesiology can enable congregations to work together as one church in their city. Chapter 3 introduces ethnography to assist congregations in the semiotic reading of their communities, learning the story, context, and culture in order to join God in His missio Dei in the neighborhood. viii Chapter 4 introduces epidemiology as a system of organized soteriology and eschatology as a means to bring about community wholeness. Chapter 5 presents how contextual intelligence enables congregations to develop cultural competence for contextualizing the gospel. Chapter 6 presents how a church collective is able to take concrete steps in the work of community transformation. ix 1 CHAPTER 1 NO CHURCH IN THE WILD: THE CHURCH IS SILOED, DISCONNECTED, AND DISENGAGED Worsening public health problems (such as pandemics, chronic illness, genetically modified food, food deserts, violence, poverty, homelessness, addiction, a failing healthcare system, racial and political