The Lecture Of Mission And Culture

Living religious traditions are integrated meaning systems which provide adherents with comprehensive and distinctive answers to the enduring questions of human existence. Religious traditions are ultimately shaped and reformed by the actions of the individuals who practices the faith. In a contemporary Christian environment, prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition are Baptism and the works of Pope John XXIII. The significant practice of Baptism, as a central element of Christianity, is an initiation of adherents to a “discipleship” with Christ as well as a reinforcement of the community’s relationship with God. Furthermore, the development and expression of the Christian tradition

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

For my Meet the Believers assignment, I focused on Catholicism and Nondenominational Christianity. My Catholic interviewee, who I’ll refer to as John, is middle aged and was raised Catholic. My Christian interviewee, who I’ll refer to as Jane, is a young adult and was similarly raised Christian. From my interviews and attendance of worship services of both groups, several themes and concepts came to the forefront: the tensions between fundamentalism and modernism, the important conversation of gender and ethnicity, and the “true” good understood by both believers through their respective religious groups.

I will dedicate the remaining words in this paper to my attempt to reason how these conversions could produce such spectacular and beneficial results. I believe the answer can be encapsulated in one word; hope. Christianity gives hope to those who believe its message. In an attempt to show why it gives hope, I will attempt to provide the fundamental beliefs of Christianity in a few short sentences.

Western Christians in global missions by Paul Borthwick is about the interdependence and unity of the global Church. The book starts at the conclusion of an era of missions where North America has taken the helm. As the global missions community changes, North America needs to reassess its role. There are 4 main integrated points that Borthwick makes that should change the perspective of the white American middle class missionary.

The religion of Christianity is a practice that has been apart of the American nation since it’s early founding, but what is the United States relationship to Christianity? In this class we have discussed three very different versions of the “Christian Nation” dialogue in the books that we have read throughout the semester. These books include John Fea’s Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?, Matthew Sutton’s American Apocalypse: A History of Evangelicalism, and Kevin Kruse’s One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America. Each book gives a different interpretation of the relationship between the United States and the religion Christianity, and how this relationship shaped the United States to the country that it

This book calls the church to rethink and modify its practices, by providing a middle path between the emerging church and the conservative that aims to benefit all. There are major shift happening in the Western Church that has people talking. The problem is that churches fail to follow a mission-centered approach. Chester and Timmis have found that in order to refocus the churches

Many people believe that that the motivation of the Christian church is to radically “change the world”. However, through his book To Change The World, James Davison Hunter explains how this common believe is a misconception. Rather, he shows readers that, from a sociological perspective, while Christians thrive in many areas of life by reaching others individually, they fundamentally components of creating cultural change.

How can we minister more effectively to young Latino Catholics and help them increase their participation in the Church? These are key questions that are frequently raised and that must be acknowledged and studied carefully as we consider the future of the Catholic Church as well as her numerical growth. If we bear in mind that 44% of all Catholics under the age of thirty in the U.S. are Hispanics (according to the 2013 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanic adults) it would certainly seem that increasing Hispanic teenagers ' participation in the Church would be beneficial not just for Hispanic families and communities, but also for the future Church in general. To effectively minister to Hispanic teenagers, an understanding of what is happening in their lives is crucial. Indeed, family plays a big part, but what we often neglect is how significantly culture impacts the life of an adolescent.

In a contemporary Christian environment one of the most prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition is Baptism. Baptism is of utmost importance for most Christian denominations. It has profound significance for the individual who is baptised and is also important for the Christian community as a whole. As a sacrament of initiation, Baptism calls its adherents to become missionary Disciples of Christ. It is through baptism that one’s faith journey begins and Christians are called to follow and live their lives in the light of Christ.

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.

My personal mission theology is disciplining and proclaiming the pure word of God in the correct context to those that claim to be abiding in Jesus Christ. This includes pointing out and warning them against false doctrine and belief systems. Contrasting what the modern institutions preach about what it means to be a child of God against what scripture actually says it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

The objective of this report is to contrast and compare the culture of the Calvary Church with Catholicism, which is the religion that I practice. A field trip was taken to the Calvary Chapel in Rancho Cucamonga On February 12 of 2013, in which a clear observation of its services was

In examining my experience during the recent Cohort Intensives held at Payne Theological Seminary (PTS) in Wilberforce, Ohio; I was quite intrigued with how all of the scholars and guest speakers reinforced many of the initiatives I have already implemented in the context of my own ministry. Likewise, my time spent in class with my Cohort mentors Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and Rev. Dr. Kenneth S. Robinson was both scholastically and spiritually invaluable. During the week-long Intensive class sessions with my mentors, I learned a number of new things about myself that I was not previously willing to address. In short, I had a moment of self-actualization that required some personal omissions on my part regarding my faith and yes some internalized oppression as labeled by author Gayraud S. Wilmore. Opening up in class and admitting a few of my own short-comings was nothing short of liberating. Suddenly, I felt as though I had an epiphany; that has given birth to a renewed zeal, mind, and spirit. For the first time in years I am certain that I am now moving closer to the apex of excellence where God intended me to be.

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).