Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project Concordia Seminary Scholarship 3-1-2016 Formulating an Effective Means of Bringing More Adult Males into Active Participation in the Church Nicholas Salifu Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Salifu, Nicholas, "Formulating an Effective Means of Bringing More Adult Males into Active Participation in the Church" (2016). Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project. 35. https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin/35 This Major Applied Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FORMULATING AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF BRINGING MORE ADULT MALES INTO ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE CHURCH A Major Applied Project Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Department of Doctor of Ministry Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry By Rev. Nicholas Salifu March, 2016 Approved by Robert Kolb Advisor Anthony Cook Reader Wallace Becker (Director) Reader © 2016 by Nichoas Salifu. All rights reserved. ii CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 THE PROJECT INTRODUCED .......................................................................................... 1 THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED ........................................................................................... 6 THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT ................................................................................... 8 ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES ............................................................................................. 8 THE PROCESS .................................................................................................................... 9 PRESUPPOSITIONS ......................................................................................................... 10 THE CONTENT OF UPCOMING CHAPTERS ............................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................................... 13 THE PROJECT IN THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ..................................................... 13 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 13 Missio Dei .................................................................................................................. 16 The Blessings to Abraham Are Universal ........................................................ 18 Theology of the Means of Grace ............................................................................... 21 Baptism ............................................................................................................. 22 The Lord’s Supper ............................................................................................ 25 Theology of Vocation ................................................................................................ 28 Male Vocation .................................................................................................. 29 Male vocation in the Kusasi culture ................................................................. 32 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 35 THE PROJECT IN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ...................................................... 35 iii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 35 Evangelistic Work of Peter, Paul, and Other Apostles .............................................. 36 Evangelistic Work of St. Patrick ............................................................................... 38 THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT ........................................................................................ 40 THE LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................ 62 THE PROJECT DEVELOPED .......................................................................................... 62 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 62 THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 63 RESEARCH TOOLS AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 66 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT ........................................................................ 66 CONCLUSION FOR IMPLEMENTATION ..................................................................... 68 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................................... 69 THE PROJECT EVALUATED ......................................................................................... 69 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 69 Christianity Is a Universal Religion .......................................................................... 70 Africans Took Part in the Early Spread of Christianity.................................... 71 Some Reasons Why Ghanaians Called Christianity a White Man’s Religion .......... 72 Ban on Drumming and Dancing in Church ...................................................... 72 Ban on Wearing Native Cloth to Preach in Church.......................................... 73 Rejection of Puberty Rites for Girls ................................................................. 73 The Salem Community ..................................................................................... 74 The Insistence of Monogamous Marriages ...................................................... 75 iv Positive Influence of the Early Missionaries ............................................................. 76 Christianity: The True Religion for Kusasi People .......................................... 76 Contributions Made By the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana to the Kusasi People ................................................................................................... 77 How to Deal with the Issue of Christianity Viewed as White Man’s Religion ......... 78 Worshipping God Is Better than Worshipping Idols/Spirits ............................ 80 Gods and the Goddesses Mentioned in the Book of Acts ................................ 81 Gods and Other Spirits in the Kusasi Traditional Area .................................... 82 “Yoya”, Power to Ward off Evil Spirits ........................................................... 83 “Notood Medicine” .......................................................................................... 83 “Yamzang Medicine” ....................................................................................... 83 “Gbiano Medicine” .......................................................................................... 84 “Piebir Medicine” ............................................................................................ 84 Kusasis also Have Personal and Family Idols or Gods .................................... 84 The Reality of Evil Spirits is Acknowledged World-Wide .............................. 86 God’s Power is Superior and above All Earthly Powers .................................. 88 Who Are the Ancestors? ................................................................................... 91 Why Kusasi Christians Should not Revere or Worship the Ancestors ............ 92 Christians Should Celebrate the Annual “Samanpiid” Harvest Festival without any Sacrifices .................................................................................................... 94 What is Witchcraft? .......................................................................................... 95 Significance of Witchcraft ................................................................................ 96 How to Deal with Witchcraft Issues ................................................................. 97 Polygamy .......................................................................................................... 98 v Reasons for polygamy ...................................................................................... 98 Kusasis Practice Levirate Marriage .................................................................. 99 Is Polygamy a Sinful Practice? ....................................................................... 100 Polygamy in Islam .......................................................................................... 100 Biblical Perspective on Polygamy .................................................................. 101 CHAPTER SIX .........................................................................................................................