Evangelical missions. Part I, the missionary principles and practices of the United Evangelical Church

http://www.archive.org/details/evangelicalmiss00niebuoft/

The Least of These: American Evangelical Parachurch Missions to the Poor, 1947-2005

This dissertation narrates the historical development of American evangelical missions to the poor from 1947-2005 and analyzes the discourse of its main parachurch proponents, especially World Vision, Compassion International, Food for the Hungry, Samaritan's urse, Sojourners, Evangelicals for Social Action, and the Christian Community Development Association. Although recent scholarship on evangelicalism has been prolific, much of the historical work has focused on earlier periods. Sociological and political scientific scholarship on the postwar period has been attracted mostly to controversies surrounding the Religious Right, leaving evangelicalism's resurgent concern for the poor relatively understudied. This dissertation addresses these lacunae. The study consists of three chronological parts, each marked by a distinctive model of mission to the poor. First, the 1950s were characterized by compassionate charity for individual emergencies, a model that cohered neatly with evangelicalism's individualism and emotionalism. This model should be regarded as the quintessential, bedrock evangelical theory of mission to the poor. It remained strong throughout the entire postwar period. Second, in the 1970s, a strong countercurrent emerged that advocated for penitent protest against structural injustice and underdevelopment. In contrast to the first model, it was distinguished by going against the grain of many aspects of evangelical culture, especially its reflexive patriotism and individualism. Third, in the 1990s, an important movement towards developing potential through hopeful holism gained prominence. Its advocates were confident that their integration of biblical principles with insights from contemporary economic development praxis would contribute to drastic, widespread reductions in poverty. This model signaled a new optimism in evangelicalism's engagement with the broader world. The increasing prominence of missions to the poor within American evangelicalism led to dramatic changes within the movement's worldview: by 2005, evangelicals were mostly unified in their expressed concern for the physical and social needs of the poor, a position that radically reversed their immediate postwar worldview of near-exclusive focus on the spiritual needs of individuals. Nevertheless, missions to the poor also paralleled, reinforced, and hastened the increasing fragmentation of evangelicalism's identity, as each missional model advocated for highly variant approaches to poverty amelioration that were undergirded by diverse sociological, political, and theological assumptions.

Living with Jesus: Practical Christologies in Two Boston American Baptist Churches

This dissertation, an exercise in practical theology, undertakes two tasks. First, it examines how the story of Jesus is appropriated and embodied in the corporate practices of worship and mission (congregational christology) and in the daily lives of ordinary believers (everyday christology) at First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain and Ruggles Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Second, it places these practical christologies in dialogue with the academic christology of James McClendon to see what creative and critical insights emerge. A key assumption of the study is that doctrinal reflection is precipitated when the story of Jesus interacts with human stories in both autobiographical and public domains. "Living with Jesus" contends that the understandings of Jesus present in the everyday lives of believers and in a congregation's worship and mission merit the attention of scholars in the disciplines of sociology and theology. This dissertation demonstrates that scholarly research on the visible church, everyday religion, and Christian doctrine pays limited attention to the theologies operative in the everyday lives of believers and congregational practices. A gap exists in scholarly knowledge, which "Living with Jesus" attempts to redress. The empirical results of qualitative research fieldwork are set in the context of historical overviews and contemporary snapshots of First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain and Ruggles Baptist Church. "Living with Jesus" identifies three types of practical christology operative across the two congregations in corporate practices and the everyday lives of individuals: evangelical christology; exemplarist christology; and prophetic christology. The empirical research shows that for a significant minority of people in the sample, the prevailing understanding of Jesus can best be described as a hybrid christology. By paying attention to McClendon's treatment of the Jesus story and placing the three identified practical christologies in dialogue with his christology, it becomes apparent that each practical christology is simultaneously liberating and limiting. This dissertation argues that evaluating a particular practical christology in relation to the Gospel requires an intentional and disciplined effort on the part of congregations, ordinary believers, and theologians. Questions are proposed to assist further christological reflection on worship, mission, pastoral care, and Christian education.

The Practice and Understanding of the Eucharist in the United Church of Christ: A Practical Theological Study

This dissertation explores the complexity of the understanding and practice of the Eucharist in the United Church of Christ as revealed in a textual analysis of the UCC Book of Worship (1986) and a qualitative study of five representative UCC congregations. Little has been written on this topic, save for several brief articles on the history of the theology of the sacrament in the two bodies that merged to form the UCC in 1957: the Congregational Christian Churches (CC) and the Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R). This dissertation advances the topic through a practical-theological study that brings into critical conversation contemporary eucharistic practices in five congregations and a historical theological analysis of liturgical traditions in the UCC and antecedent denominations. Through this conversation, the study articulates common themes of a UCC eucharistic theology and explores implications for ongoing theology and practice in the denomination. The introduction explicates the methodology employed in this study, guided by Don Browning's work. The first two chapters present the findings of the focus group interviews and an interpretation of those results respectively. Chapter three analyzes the eucharistic liturgies in three historic books of worship used in the E&R heritage. In chapter four, two of the antecedent resources utilized in the CC tradition are analyzed. The short-lived Hymnal of the United Church of Christ, published in 1974, includes liturgies that would find fuller expression in the 1986 Book of Worship. That hymnal is examined in chapter five. Chapter six interprets the two services of "Word and Sacrament" found in the Book of Worship. Chapter seven offers a comparative analysis of the focus group findings and the theology inherent in the Book of Worship. The final chapter offers strategic recommendations for revised theory and practice. The conclusion points toward areas for further research: it propels a critical conversation around the notion of covenant, Christ's presence in the meal, and who can receive and officiate at the Eucharist. This dissertation concludes that the UCC lives within a balance of multiple, complementary theologies and challenges the denomination to make stronger connections between the meal and mission, reconciliation, and tradition.