John Wesley Research Paper

In the Introduction section of the book, The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Israel Galindo states that a congregation is a “corporate relationship organization” (3) and is not an organization. He points out that the hidden life of a congregation would depict the “nature” of a congregation. This further identifies the relationships and faith of the congregation. According to him, the universal principles are followed by the congregations so that “systemic relationships” can work. The leaders learn the roles that they have within the people who are the congregation. The journal will focus on Dr. Fowler’s question “what is the purpose of this gathering we call the church?”

The person I am doing for my essay is Wesley Isenhour (my dad). He has a wife named Liane and two kids named Macy and Maddy. He works for the United States postal service and does reviews on post offices all around North Carolina. The reason I chose my dad is because he always makes people smile and makes everyone's day better. He is one of the best people in my life and is always there for me. I hope you enjoy my essay on Wesley Isenhour.

Jonathan Winthrop was elected governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony even before they set sail to New England. He along with a thousand of his fellow Puritans set sail and Winthrop had a twist to the normal way things were done. He actually had the Massachusetts Bay Colony with him. This would give this group freedom from any members of the Massachusetts Bay Company that remained in England.

As one who came to the Methodist tradition later in her journey, I am very appreciative as to the origins of John Wesley’s practices and beliefs. I am proud of the fact that “we” have been the first tradition to ordain women in the ministry as well as the first to focus on assisting everyday people and those on the margins. But even more importantly, just as the Methodists of old spoke viscerally against slavery the still intact systematic racism needs to be addressed by the church as well. As we read the above text, it states to go out and train everyone, not just some or those who are all white. Again, it is important we learn from our past to create a healthier future.

In downtown Roanoke, on Church Avenue, an old church building still stands, having been erected over one hundred years earlier. For the same period of time, it has been occupied by a congregation, whose denominational origins lead back to a rural part of Kentucky in what was called the Restoration Movement, initiated by reformers who yearned for a primitive, apostolic form of Christianity, with “no creed but Christ.” Although “backcountry” in the denomination’s heritage, this particular congregation began in a boomtown. While striving to become a “first century” church, reminiscent of the apostles’ ministries and the church life from

Evangelism is described as a three-way cord; building relationships, sharing the gospel, and introducing people to community. The authors encourage the Gospel and the Word to stay central, as well as community involvement and helping the needy in the name of Christ. There is a great emphasis on home groups (the authors are themselves home-group leaders), and how this practice makes church planting easier. The togetherness of this practice aids in ones spiritual growth because one cannot become holy on his

God loves his Church and Jesus is the one who builds the Church. Then, it goes without saying that God loves the local church and Jesus builds the local church. Unfortunately, there are many factors that come into play, causing churches to become complacent or stagnate before entering into a season of decline. Yet this can be avoided through the process of revitalization.

As to the teaching at Grace, we see it's current condition as the result of men filling a role that they are neither gifted for nor received a call by God's people to fill; coupled with the neglecting of seeking out a pastor but rather choosing to be a self-shepherding flock, and so deprive ourselves off the blessing of obedience to God in that area and working of His Spirit amongst us through a pastor. It is this seeming deliberate absence of a pastor that prompts us to visit other assemblies of God's people.

I was appointed to Coalbush beginning July 1, 2016. I have been observing and serving as I attempt to discover the unique context and setting for this local church in this season of their very long history. The church mission and passion has been stalled for the last few years. The Coalbush United Methodist Church entered a program about five years ago to help them evaluate their fruitfulness and effectiveness of the church. It was determined that too much time was spent in meetings and not enough time actually doing ministry. The church went through a three-year process of attempting to restructure and lessen the many other committees of the church. Missions, Outreach, Assimilation,

John Greenleaf Whittier was an American Abolitionist, Poet, and Quaker who used his abilities to try to end slavery and change lives. His talents as a poet and writer influenced people to understand that slavery is wrong. John Greenleaf Whittier was an American, Christian man who used his God given abilities to show his views and try to properly educate his society.

Dulles states, “It picks up the biblical theme that God has fashioned for himself a people feely communicating his spirit and his gifts” (50). The Body of Christ as stated in Dulles is, “the main point of mutual union, concern and dependence of the members of the local community upon one another,” (43). The body of Christ will only function is the whole community is willing to work together to reach a personal growth in their relationship with God. Now that we have an idea of what Church as mystical communion consists of I will discuss the strengths and weakness of this model. The strength of this model is that emphasizes a shared life with the community instead of shutting them off. This is a strength because when people come together as a whole everything holds so much more meaning and people can form a stronger bond with God, now that it is much more personal and voluntary. Another strength is that this model improves people spirituality and prayer life now that they feel that personal connection that they formed. A weakness of this model is that it creates unsure relationship between the visible and invisible, since Grace allows people to get closer to God through the invisible such as communion while the visible structure like institutionalism tries to emphasize their power over the whole people. I have discussed what the models mean, their strength and weakness of each so now I will note the difference and

Melvyn Bragg and guests Justin Champion, Susan Hardman Moore and Diarmaid MacCulloch discuss the ideas of the religious reformer John Calvin - the theology known as Calvinism, or Reformed Protestantism - and its impact. John Calvin, a Frenchman exiled to Geneva, became a towering figure of the 16th century Reformation of the Christian Church. He achieved this not through charismatic oratory, but through the relentless rigour of his analysis of the Bible. In Geneva, he oversaw an austere, theocratic and sometimes brutal regime. Nonetheless, the explosion of printing made his theology highly mobile. The zeal he instilled in his followers, and the persecution which dogged them, rapidly spread the faith across Europe, and on to the New World in

John Wesley’s discourse, “The Means of Grace,” expresses the expedient of grace as, “outward signs, language, or actions ordained of God, and appointed for this end— to be the ordinary channels whereby he might impart to men preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.” Acknowledging his need and proceeding in his evangelization, Wesley could obtain the grace he needed to have both the potency and placidity that was eluding from his religion. God utilized his perpetuated participation in the ministry of Scripture to proclaim faith in Christ into Wesley’s philosophy.

David Wesley’s main idea is a set of best practices, or what he terms “healthy patterns,” in congregational mission partnerships. Wesley observes that in the emerging “third way” of missions that began at the end of the 20th century and is coming into its own in the early 21st century is focusing on congregational partnerships. As such, Wesley seeks to lay out “common patterns for healthy global partnerships observed in these congregational partnerships.” Consequently, Wesley presents five healthy patterns around which common mission can flourish.

Furthermore, it is vitally crucial for the church leadership to clearly articulate its missional vision, which is to be embraced by the rest of the church’s community. The process of spiritual transformation starts from the invitation and continues through engagement and discipleship. This transformational process embodies the missional vision and the language for 'right now ' and 'here '. Surely, the church’s vision ought to be aligned with the missional attributes of the gospel itself, which are 'the good news is for everyone ' and 'belonging before believing '. Our witness should take place amidst relationship and listening. One principle that I consider to be exceptionally useful in my community is St. Patrick’s idea of Celtic Evangelism: establish community, engage in conversation, and invite commitment (2009, 101).