Copyright © 2016 Chad William Graham All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. IMPLEMENTING A CURRICULUM ON SALVATION HISTORY AT GRACELIFE CHURCH, CALGARY, ALBERTA __________________ A Project Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry __________________ by Chad William Graham December 2016 APPROVAL SHEET IMPLEMENTING A CURRICULUM ON SALVATION HISTORY AT GRACELIFE CHURCH, CALGARY, ALBERTA Chad William Graham Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ John David Trentham (Faculty Supervisor) __________________________________________ Kevin Jones (Committee Member) Date______________________________ I dedicate this project to my wife Karmyn and our Church family. A better support in this endeavor could not be envisioned. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………..vi PREFACE ......................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Purpose ................................................................................................................1 Goals ...................................................................................................................1 Ministry Context .................................................................................................2 Rationale .............................................................................................................4 Definitions and Delimitations .............................................................................6 Research Methodology .......................................................................................6 2. BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR TRAINING LEADERS USING SALVATION HISTORY ........................................................................................9 Redemptive Liturgy ..........................................................................................12 The Redemptive Savior .....................................................................................18 Apostolic Reconciliation ...................................................................................23 Apostolic Faithfulness ……………………………………………………......28 The Apostolic Tradition ....................................................................................31 Conclusion ........................................................................................................34 3. THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS AND PRACTICAL RESOURCES FOR TRAINING LEADERS WITH SALVATION HISTORY ...................................35 Salvation History as Church Foundation ..........................................................35 Salvation History as Ministry Framework ........................................................41 iv Chapter Page Salvation History in Ministry: Best Practices ...................................................45 Conclusion ........................................................................................................55 4. PROJECT DESCRIPTION.……………………………………………………..57 Background...…………………………………………………………………57 Recruitment and Preparation………………………………………………….58 Curriculum Overview and Description .............................................................62 The Course Structure and Method ....................................................................63 The Course Sessions .........................................................................................64 Conclusion ........................................................................................................88 5. PROJECT REVIEW.…………………………………………………………….89 Introduction .......................................................................................................90 Evaluation of the Project’s Purpose ..................................................................91 Evaluation of the Project’s Goals ......................................................................93 Strengths of the Project .....................................................................................94 Weaknesses of the Project .................................................................................98 What I Would Do Differently .........................................................................100 Theological Reflections ..................................................................................103 Personal Reflections ........................................................................................107 Conclusion ......................................................................................................109 Appendix 1. SALVATION HISTORY SURVEY ...................................................................111 2. CURRICULUM EVALUATION RUBRIC ........................................................112 3. T-TEST RAW DATA .........................................................................................113 4. COURSE PARTICPANT HANDOUT NOTES .................................................114 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................167 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Response to survey questions on salvation and church participation………….67 2. Evaluators’ scores for session 1………………………………………………..75 3. Evaluators’ scores for session 2………………………………………………..78 4. Evaluators’ scores for session 3………………………………………………..79 5. Evaluators’ scores for session 5………………………………………………..82 6. Evaluators’ scores for session 6………………………………………………..83 7. Evaluators’ scores for session 7………………………………………………..85 8. Evaluators’ scores for session 9………………………………………………..87 9. Evaluators’ scores for session 11………………………………………………88 10. Evaluators’ scores for session 12………………………………………………90 11. Evaluators’ scores for session 14………………………………………………92 12. Evaluators’ scores for session 16………………………………………………94 vi PREFACE As a pastoral labor of love, this D.Min. project has been a joy to pursue. Yet, it would be difficult to envision a more challenging time to complete this work with regards to both my personal/family and ministry life. Through every challenge the Lord blessed the leadership discipleship program (LDP), which served such a key part of this project. I was immensely privileged, as I worked through this exercise, to have as a resource the unique fellowship of my brother, Wyatt Graham, who at the time of this writing was nearing the end of his PhD studies in biblical theology. He was a frequent stimulus, a regular sounding board, and when necessary, provided some stress relief. My wife, Karmyn, has supported me completely from the very beginning. She has consistently done whatever she was able to do to encourage me and allow me the time to work on this project. She lent her hand to the task of reviewing and commenting on many pages of academic submissions, as well as frequently helping me think through my teaching curriculum for the application side of the work. Each of my professors contributed beneficially, and I am thankful for each one. Dr. Trentham, in particular, as my project supervisor has been an invaluable advisor and supporter, and his tutelage has been deeply appreciated. I hope this project will serve to the praise of God’s glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. Chad Graham Edmonton, Alberta December 2016 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Purpose The purpose of this project was to develop and implement a curriculum on salvation history for new and prospective lay leaders at GraceLife Church, Calgary, Alberta. Goals The first goal of this project was to evaluate the current knowledge of salvation history in six emerging leaders. To measure this goal, I used the survey found in appendix 1 to assess the knowledge of these six participants regarding canonical salvation history. This goal was deemed successful when the survey was completed and I had the opportunity to evaluate the group’s knowledge of salvation history. The second goal of this project was to develop a 16-session curriculum. This curriculum was part of a larger course of discipleship and designed to fill the need of applying the historical and redemptive context of salvation history in Scripture to every day ministry practice. This goal’s success was measured by an expert panel, whom I selected from current church leaders with both a knowledge of biblical theology and who understood the contextual needs and philosophy of ministry within GraceLife Church. I provided this group with a rubric (see appendix 2) to evaluate the biblical faithfulness, clarity, and applicability of the content. The goal was considered successfully met when 90 percent of the evaluation criteria exceeded the sufficient level on the rubric. The third goal of this project was to raise the knowledge of salvation history in these six participants by implementing my curriculum. This goal was measured by a post- 1 course administering of the pre-course survey, which was used to measure a change in knowledge regarding the content and development of salvation history through progressive revelation, and its application for ministry. This goal was considered successfully met when