Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Leighton, Lesley-Anne (2017) Incarnational Reality as an approach to missional theological education and training. PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/21635/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy Incarnational Reality as an Approach to Missional Theological Education and Training Lesley-Anne Leighton OCMS, PhD December 2016 ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis, using a Living Theory methodology, was to confirm if my own approach of Incarnational Reality to missional theological education and training results in transformative learning for my students. This approach has come out of my own experience which I define as ‘God in loving union with us, the embodiment of spiritual reality enfleshed through our lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit in our participation and engagement with God in the world’. I present this as a Pentecostal pastor and missionary, with a belief that God can be encountered in the immediate world, and human beings can encounter God. My experience, background and training influenced my approach of Incarnational Reality, and the compilation of my holistic, integrated curriculum within the dichotomies and varying perspectives presented by different denominations, Christian communities and cultures. During my missionary service of over 35 years, I have been involved in training mission workers among the poor and marginalised wherever I have been located. I have endeavoured to impart Incarnational Reality through the Holy Given International School of Missions which I direct in various nations. The literature review provides insight into trends and developments in missional theological education and training since the first age of Christian history. It draws broadly on wide-ranging literature in missional theological education and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the church’s approach to missional theological education and training. Key themes and principles which informed the development of my own Incarnational Reality approach to missional theological education and training have been identified and discussed. I have drawn insights from a range of methodologies and theories, and have woven together hermeneutics, phenomenology, ethnography, narrative disciplines and transformative learning perspectives in a Living Theory methodology, which has allowed me to draw from my own mission experience in confirming my Incarnational Reality approach to missional theological education and training. The value and contribution of Incarnational Reality as an approach to missional theological education and training has been confirmed as students described transformative learning experiences and understanding of concepts taught through the Holy Given curriculum, community living, worship (including communal, participative, spontaneous and indigenous worship), and outreach. The results of this research highlighted that the pedagogical role and ministry of the Holy Spirit is the epistemological key in facilitating transformative learning (John 20:21-2). This does not happen in isolation, but in relationship – human with the divine, and humans with one another. This study also identified areas for improvement and development of my own practice and that of my teaching staff. This research is a rich picture of my own mission context and practice and has allowed me to make assertions and knowledge claims regarding the transfer of my practice, values and beliefs to generations of future mission workers. Incarnational Reality as an Approach to Missional Theological Education and Training by Lesley-Anne Leighton BMin (Bible College of New Zealand Inc) MTS (Bible College of New Zealand Inc) Principal Supervisor: Dr John Hitchen Associate Supervisor: Professor Jill Slay A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Middlesex December 2016 Oxford Centre for Mission Studies DECLARATIONS DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed ____________________________________________________ (Candidate) Date December 2016 STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote. Other sources are acknowledged by midnotes or footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed ____________________________________________________ (Candidate) Date December 2016 STATEMENT 2 This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I hereby give consent for my thesis, if approved, to be available for photocopying by the British Library and for Inter-Library Loan, for open access to the Electronic Thesis Online Service (EthoS) linked to the British Library, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ____________________________________________________ (Candidate) Date December 2016 P a g e | i ii | P a g e DEDICATION I am indebted to Martyr Shahbaz Clement Bhatti who showed the way of incarnational love through his words and actions to the people of Pakistan P a g e | iii iv | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible if the Lord Jesus Christ had not wonderfully interrupted and sternly broken into my life. I thank you Lord Jesus for finding me and waking me up! Thank-you Dr John Mason Hitchen, my principal supervisor. It has been an immense privilege to receive your ongoing support, guidance, and challenge in this project. Thank- you also to Professor Jill Slay, my associate supervisor, for your active encouragement and support, which has enabled me to keep focussed and directed towards the finish line. Thanks go to Shirley Barclay and Amanda Rogers, my main research assistants in the larger project of which this thesis has been just a small part; and for Kelvin Barclay’s support and financial assistance in the completion of this project. Thanks also to my critical friends and validation group who assisted me, particularly with ongoing discussion and feedback, and in helping me complete the fieldwork aspect of this research. A huge thank-you to the most amazing parents in the world, Eric William and Hilda Leighton and to my brother Paul Andrew, who have all supported me in whatever I have taken on, always. You cannot fail when their kind of love is backing you. I am immensely grateful to John and Kara Kim for your ongoing, generous support and financial investment in this project. Many thanks to Evangelisches Missionswerk (EMW) in Germany and Mr O.H. Lee for scholarships afforded me with the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS) in the final stages of my research. Undergirding and strengthening all this, a massive thank-you to all those people who have faithfully stood with me through your prayers on this journey and fed me along the way. Finally, I applaud and thank every student who courageously opened their hearts and said ‘yes’ to God and collaborated with me in this project. You have enabled me to draw a picture of the magnificent work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit through your lives. P a g e | v vi | P a g e CONTENTS TABLES ................................................................................................................................ xi FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ xiii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ............................................................................... xv CHAPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 Overview