Holistic Spiritual Formation: Moving Beyond Corporate Worship Through Engagement with the Least of These
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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 HOLISTIC SPIRITUAL FORMATION: MOVING BEYOND CORPORATE WORSHIP THROUGH ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LEAST OF THESE Written by BRADY J. BRAATZ 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: _____________________________________ Tony Jones _____________________________________ Kurt Fredrickson Date Received: December 21, 2016 HOLISTIC SPIRITUAL FORMATION: MOVING BEYOND CORPORATE WORSHIP THROUGH ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LEAST OF THESE A MINISTRY PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE MINISTRY DEPARTMENT FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY BRADY J. BRAATZ DECEMBER 2016 ABSTRACT Holistic Spiritual Formation: Moving Beyond Corporate Worship Through Engagement with the Least of These Brady Braatz Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2016 To be more holistically formed in the Christian faith, undergraduate students will be guided into regular engagement with the “least of these,” trusting they will encounter God, and with the hope that students will be shaped more fully into the image of Christ. The goal of this doctoral project is to propose a more holistic spiritual formation curriculum for the students of MidAmerica Nazarene University. While continuing the standard spiritual formation elements, (chapel, small groups, retreats), adding the requirement for students to serve the least of these will cultivate a more integrated, comprehensive spiritual formation curriculum. This thesis took place at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas. Through examination of the writings of John Chrysostom, John Wesley, and Jürgen Moltmann, a theological impetus develops for guiding students into regular engagement with the poor. In addition to theological considerations, a review of the historical roots of the Church of the Nazarene, as one of advocacy for the poor, substantiates service to the least of these as a faithful expression of the mission of the denomination. To support the goal of holistic spiritual formation, a review of the ideologies of bell hooks leads to reflection on the ethical complexities of obligatory service to the disenfranchised. Finally, the results of a case study provide insight into the spiritually formative nature of engagement with the least of these. The doctoral project concludes that mandating service to the least of these would provide a more holistic plan of spiritual formation for the students of MidAmerica Nazarene University. However, the possible relegation of the poor to the position of consumable good for the formation of college students requires further thought and exploration prior to the full implementation of the proposed curriculum as currently designed. Content Reader: Tony Jones, PhD Words: 288 To my wife, Kreisa, in your love I have found myself lost in the heart of God. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank MidAmerica Nazarene University for nurturing my life in ministry. Specifically, I am extremely grateful to Dr. Randy Beckum. You have painted the kingdom of God for me in the colors of love and compassion. Also, thank you to my family for their unwavering support. Darby, Simon, and Norah, you have been a source of joy that gave me the drive to persist on this journey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv PART ONE: MINISTRY CONTEXT INTRODUCTION 2 Chapter 1. THE MINISTRY CHALLENGE 10 Chapter 2. THE HISTORY OF THE NAZARENE 27 DENOMINATION AND MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY PART TWO: THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION Chapter 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 53 Chapter 4. THEOLOGY OF THE NEW MINISTRY INITIATIVE 78 Chapter 5. CRITICAL REFLECTION ON COMPULSORY 111 SERVICE TO THE POOR PART THREE: MINISTRY STRATEGY Chapter 6. A HOLISTIC SPIRITUAL FORMATION CURRICULUM 122 Chapter 7. NEW MINISTRY CASE STUDY 133 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 141 APPENDICES 152 BIBLIOGRAPHY 162 v PART ONE MINISTRY CONTEXT INTRODUCTION Target Audience and Ministry Location MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) is a liberal arts university with 900 undergraduate students, and a graduate and adult degree population of 1,028. Founded in 1966, MNU is the second youngest of the nine institutions founded by the Nazarene denomination in North America. MNU will serve as the context for this doctoral project, specifically the Spiritual Life Office (SLO). The university has two full-time chaplains who give oversight to chapel, small group ministries, service ministries, and retreats. In addition to the above responsibilities, the university chaplains lead a small team of colleagues who serve in part-time roles in the SLO, and adjunct courses for the School of Christian Ministry and Formation when the opportunity presents itself. The specific target audience for this doctoral project is the undergraduate student population at MNU. Of the students who claim a denominational affiliation, the Nazarene tradition accounts for 34 percent of the student population.1 In addition to Nazarene students, the university draws from a variety of different traditions that are primarily evangelical in nature.2 The next highest denominational affiliation is non- denominational, followed by Catholic.3 In addition to those who self-report a Christian 1 Patricia Walsh, “MidAmerica Nazarene University Fact Book 2015” (MidAmerica Nazarene University, Olathe, 2015), 15. 2 Despite a significant amount of Nazarene students, even students who have an extensive family history within this denomination are only loosely interested in claiming any denominational affiliation, including Nazarene. This pattern appears to be consistent with the millennial generation’s identification with denominational affiliations throughout North America. For more information on religious trends amongst millennial see, Stephen Hunt, ed., Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity: Themes and Developments in Culture, Politics, and Society, vol. 10 (Leiden, AN: Brill, 2015), 346-365. 3 Walsh, “MidAmerica Nazarene University Fact Book 2015” 20-21. 2 denomination, a significant portion of the student population would not identify themselves with any religious affiliation. In contrast to some Christian universities, MNU does not require students to sign a statement of faith. However, undergraduate students are still required to participate in spiritual formation activities. As will be described in detail in Chapter 2, the impetus for all Nazarene higher education is that they should be intentionally Christian in nature. MNU spiritual formation activities serve as the distinctive for why the university exists and form the central narrative that the institution rehearses both internally and externally. Specific Ministry Need From the inception of the institution, the only medium through which students could fulfill their spiritual formation requirements was chapel attendance. In 2009, the SLO began incrementally increasing the opportunities available to students that would allow them to fulfill their spiritual formation requirements. Despite the expansion of the spiritual formation curriculum, the vast majority of students continue to self-select chapel as their primary means for meeting the university requirements. The specific ministry need addressed in this project will be to reflect on the methods by which students obtain their required amount of Spiritual Formation Credits (SFC) in a given semester. Consideration will be given to how corporate worship (in particular the glut of corporate worship) sends implicit messages about the Christian faith that are counter to the Christian tradition, the denomination’s theology and history, and the mission statement of both the SLO and the institution itself. 3 Why This Topic is Important To begin, this is a significant topic because university students have demonstrated a growing tendency to equate corporate worship attendance with spiritual vitality. Corporate worship has been a foundational component of the rhythm of life at MNU and will continue to be a staple of the university in the future. Chapel, in itself, is not the specific challenge. However, when corporate worship attendance becomes the primary rubric for assessing spiritual vitality, the formation of students into the image of Christ is distorted.4 A second reason for importance deals with ramifications of future denominational leadership. The university rightly identifies our students as current and future leaders of the Nazarene denomination. The practical implications of students as the current leaders are less than clear. It does acknowledge, however, the reality that in order for this tradition to persist in North America, students at Nazarene higher education institutions will be the denominational leaders in the future. The faith practices that form the ecclesiological, theological, and hermeneutical imaginations of MNU students, echo forward in their lives long