Browsing by Author "Willimon, William"

This thesis introduces readers to the rich tradition of the ecumenical movementand explores how emerging new strategies can benefit congregations as well as facilitate healing in our fractured and divisive world. It argues that the same principles used in ecumenical dialogue can and should be used in the local church. First, the history and significant steps and missteps of the ecumenical movement are briefly examined, before turning to the contemporary strategies of receptive, spiritual and kenotic ecumenism. Then, the paper considers 21st century examples of thriving ecumenical ministries, including survey feedback that provides an intimate look at how one church (Snowmass Chapel) has committed itself to unity across various denominations. Finally, a process is provided for effective ecumenical leadership both within, and outside of, the local church context. Ecumenical work takes courageous leaders who are willing to acknowledge difference without judgement, listen deeply, and be committed to Christian unity in love. The ecumenical movement has made significant strides in the past century and half, yet it has not made a significant move into the local church. This thesis argues that by introducing the concept of ecumenism to local congregations, leaders can initiate change that has far-reaching impacts across all areas of life.

The startling consistent decline of church attendance in the United States has created a flurry of new church start activities and revitalization efforts. Most literature and efforts focus on what new things must happen to reverse the decline. In those efforts, older existing congregants are often overlooked and ignored, at best, or viewed as obstacles and the root of the problem, at worst. This leads to combative relationships between revitalization leaders and congregations caught in the crosshairs. This combative approach is inconsistent with the message of Christ and detrimental to the needed revitalization efforts.

This project seeks to introduce a model for the treatment and role of existing older congregants during a church’s revitalization. The model includes the treatments to Ascribe Value and to Optimize Minimal Change, and the twofold role to Engage in Ministry.

In my process, I engaged existing writing and research on church revitalization and aging in the church, applied acute theological perspectives to these writings, and provided real-life examples of how these insights can come together for a more complete treatment and engagement of existing older congregants in healthy and sustainable church revitalization.

This thesis aims to develop a narrative strategy for the local church parish, drawing on postliberal and narrative theologies. It argues that the narrative nature of the incarnation is not only descriptive of God's movement into the world but also prescriptive for the movement of God's people within the world. To begin to develop this claim, the thesis examines denominational and consultant practitioners' approaches and proposes a practical strategy for carrying out a narrative movement in a contextualized seing.The thesis centers around the biblical feature that Jesus is from Nazareth, with a particular in-depth look at his time spent in the Nazarene synagogue in Luke 4:14-30. Building on Samuel Wells' A Nazareth Manifesto, the thesis argues that contextualized story should be more formative and shaping than the corporatized phenomena of mission statements and core values, following the pattern of the narrative nature found within Scripture. To test the proposed strategy's effectiveness, the thesis includes an on-the-ground experiment within the North Street Community Church of the Nazarene, spanning about two years. The experiment seeks to see if the strategy results in narrative formation of both the individuals within the church and the church itself. Finally, the thesis concludes with a project for congregational use that builds upon the experiment's results. The project proposes a practical application of the narrative strategy, incorporating both what was learned during the experiment and adaptations of strategies found elsewhere.

Serious divisions within the United States currently threaten our social fabric. These divisions are acutely on display across the political arena and permeate many aspects of American society. Alarmingly, Christian convictions are contributing to this upheaval. Many conservatives and liberals across the ideological spectrum believe they are following not only the Constitution of the United States but also biblical principles when they engage in inflammatory rhetoric against political rivals. Predictably, justifying political positions with biblical principles has caused many Christians to embrace partisan identities and adopt divisive behaviors. Furthermore, the present political divisions are severely harming American churches at the local level. The kind of rhetoric emanating from pulpits, pews, and Christian publications across most denominations pose a direct challenge to how the church has traditionally understood the Christian life and its bearing upon our relationships with one another. The issue of immigration is a particularly acute example. The tearing apart of family structures, the constant threat of deportation, and the frequent use of dehumanizing rhetoric are stances that some Christians have unapologetically supported. It is my attempt to show how in this time of intense partisanship Christians desperately need to practice right speech and embody Jesus’ commandment to love one’s neighbor. Using the issue of immigration as a case study, I argue that the way we talk about people influences how we treat them.

A careful observer of the current political dynamic in America will understand its precarious position. Following the presidency of Barack Obama, a tide has clearly turned across the country. The sounds of hope, optimism, and progressive change have been replaced by a boisterous quest to “Make America Great” again by restricting U.S. borders, re-visiting trade agreements, limiting access to health insurance, retreating from nuclear treaties, as well as dismissing and altogether denying climate change. Where a warm cultural embrace once stood, profound xenophobia now rests; diversity has gone the way of division. Lost in the shuffle of this dynamic however is the human element of communal relationship with one another. For individuals and institutions that claim allegiance to Jesus Christ, the political speech and actions witnessed across the United States challenge the very nature of Christian identity. Among many Christians there is a dichotomy between the Christian ethic portrayed and the one practiced, a disconnect between what is offered in the Holy Scriptures and reality. If the case can be made that the political dynamic in America is on precarious footing because of the role Christians currently play guiding the nation forward, it too means that Christian identity in America is subject to that same dynamic. When political policy in America is dressed up and disguised as proper Christian action, and supported as such by many Christian adherents, then the very nature of the Christian faith as practiced in America is threatened. This thesis will examine how recent speeches and comments made by political figures on various aspects of immigration law and human rights compel Christians to reflect upon right speech considering the teachings on speech found in the book of Proverbs. For Christians to blindly and unequivocally label immigrants “animals,” “rapists,” and “criminals,” presents a ripe and necessary opportunity to hear the guidance, wisdom and chastisement of the Proverbial writer. A rediscovery of speech that could be considered “Christian” and a recommitment to embodying such speech, is ultimately incomplete, unless it results in right Christian action. Examining the parable of the Good Samaritan in its wider context (Luke 10:25 – 37), I will display how it might inform our Christian praxis. Early followers of Jesus and the historic church have understood this commandment as a necessary component of the Christian life. Noting key textual observations from theologians and Bible scholars including Joel Green , the project will show how aspects of the text speak to contemporary Christian praxis. The research of this thesis will be designed to build upon existing theological literature concerning the role of Christian speech and action and placing these distinct roles in conversation with current political affairs. I argue that in an era marked decidedly by extreme political and cultural polarization, Christians, and by extension the Christian church, must rediscover the role of speech and behavior in the workings of everyday life and the shaping of a more just society for all.

Serious divisions within the United States currently threaten our social fabric. These divisions are acutely on display across the political arena and permeate many aspects of American society. Alarmingly, Christian convictions are contributing to this upheaval. Many conservatives and liberals across the ideological spectrum believe they are following not only the Constitution of the United States but also biblical principles when they engage in inflammatory rhetoric against political rivals. Predictably, justifying political positions with biblical principles has caused many Christians to embrace partisan identities and adopt divisive behaviors. Furthermore, the present political divisions are severely harming American churches at the local level. The kind of rhetoric emanating from pulpits, pews, and Christian publications across most denominations pose a direct challenge to how the church has traditionally understood the Christian life and its bearing upon our relationships with one another. The issue of immigration is a particularly acute example. The tearing apart of family structures, the constant threat of deportation, and the frequent use of dehumanizing rhetoric are stances that some Christians have unapologetically supported. It is my attempt to show how in this time of intense partisanship Christians desperately need to practice right speech and embody Jesus’ commandment to love one’s neighbor. Using the issue of immigration as a case study, I argue that the way we talk about people influences how we treat them.

A careful observer of the current political dynamic in America will understand its precarious position. Following the presidency of Barack Obama, a tide has clearly turned across the country. The sounds of hope, optimism, and progressive change have been replaced by a boisterous quest to “Make America Great” again by restricting U.S. borders, re-visiting trade agreements, limiting access to health insurance, retreating from nuclear treaties, as well as dismissing and altogether denying climate change. Where a warm cultural embrace once stood, profound xenophobia now rests; diversity has gone the way of division. Lost in the shuffle of this dynamic however is the human element of communal relationship with one another. For individuals and institutions that claim allegiance to Jesus Christ, the political speech and actions witnessed across the United States challenge the very nature of Christian identity. Among many Christians there is a dichotomy between the Christian ethic portrayed and the one practiced, a disconnect between what is offered in the Holy Scriptures and reality. If the case can be made that the political dynamic in America is on precarious footing because of the role Christians currently play guiding the nation forward, it too means that Christian identity in America is subject to that same dynamic. When political policy in America is dressed up and disguised as proper Christian action, and supported as such by many Christian adherents, then the very nature of the Christian faith as practiced in America is threatened. This thesis will examine how recent speeches and comments made by political figures on various aspects of immigration law and human rights compel Christians to reflect upon right speech considering the teachings on speech found in the book of Proverbs. For Christians to blindly and unequivocally label immigrants “animals,” “rapists,” and “criminals,” presents a ripe and necessary opportunity to hear the guidance, wisdom and chastisement of the Proverbial writer. A rediscovery of speech that could be considered “Christian” and a recommitment to embodying such speech, is ultimately incomplete, unless it results in right Christian action. Examining the parable of the Good Samaritan in its wider context (Luke 10:25 – 37), I will display how it might inform our Christian praxis. Early followers of Jesus and the historic church have understood this commandment as a necessary component of the Christian life. Noting key textual observations from theologians and Bible scholars including Joel Green , the project will show how aspects of the text speak to contemporary Christian praxis. The research of this thesis will be designed to build upon existing theological literature concerning the role of Christian speech and action and placing these distinct roles in conversation with current political affairs. I argue that in an era marked decidedly by extreme political and cultural polarization, Christians, and by extension the Christian church, must rediscover the role of speech and behavior in the workings of everyday life and the shaping of a more just society for all.

Small membership churches are struggling with the very real issue of their continued survival. However, there is no wealth of information nor work addressing the issues of small membership churches. The purpose of this thesis is to devise a vehicle by which I can analyze and interpret issues of survival as they are lived out in the local church setting. This thesis will explore the biblical and theological basis for parish ministry by using The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. It will assess the role of the small membership church, explore several different denominational approaches to the issue of church survival, provide a study guide, and analyze a process that I am developing for the three small churches I served. This thesis will be beneficial in exposing the state of the small membership church and the hidden dynamics that shape them. This thesis will be the beginning of a road map for the small membership church seeking to survive to participate in God’s Mission.

Small membership churches are struggling with the very real issue of their continued survival. However, there is no wealth of information nor work addressing the issues of small membership churches. The purpose of this thesis is to devise a vehicle by which I can analyze and interpret issues of survival as they are lived out in the local church setting. This thesis will explore the biblical and theological basis for parish ministry by using The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. It will assess the role of the small membership church, explore several different denominational approaches to the issue of church survival, provide a study guide, and analyze a process that I am developing for the three small churches I served. This thesis will be beneficial in exposing the state of the small membership church and the hidden dynamics that shape them. This thesis will be the beginning of a road map for the small membership church seeking to survive to participate in God’s Mission.

This Doctor of Ministry thesis seeks to address the misapplication of Christian Scripture and its contribution to the climate crisis in which we find ourselves. Ellen Davis calls the Christian duty to delineate a responsible vision of what participation in the renewal of creation might mean the most essential theological task of this generation. This is but one small offering. The solution this thesis proposes is the recovery of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the story of everything, a metanarrative which holds together God and all God has made. This ecological (relational) reading of Scripture finds all of Holy Scripture and reality to follow a threefold wisdom pattern of Creation/Uncreation/New Creation. Recovery of this lens allows us to name the time we are living in and imagine what faithful ecological participation in the larger story might look like.

The methodology used in this paper is narrative theology. Such a theology is advocated by Kavin Rowe and can also be seen in Richard Hays’ reading of New Testament texts as echoes of earlier narratives. NT Wright also suggests the metanarrative of the Resurrection of Christ in framing all ethical action and mission of the Church. Agrarian theological readings of Scripture, such as those offered by Ellen Davis, Wendell Berry, and Norman Wirzba, have also formed my understanding and hearing of Holy Scripture. I also have been shaped by the writing of Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann, who explores the liturgy of the Church in worship as the great cosmic story; Christ and the Church are offered “for the life of the world.”

It is this world which is the theme and concern of this thesis, and which much contemporary Christian theology has left behind. It is time to recover the story of a God who so loved the world to bring heaven down to dwell with us.

This abstract describes an oral thesis documentary project aimed at honoring the stories and experiences of trailblazing Black students who integrated Duke Divinity School in 1962 and the development of the Office of Black Church Affairs in 1972. The author/producer, an Interim Director at the Office of Black Church Studies, combines her film production, music, and marketing expertise to produce a documentary highlighting over 50 years of Black student matriculation at Duke Divinity and their empowerment as leaders. The documentary features interviews with historically silenced voices, including the first Black men (1962) and women (1973) to attend Duke Divinity School, providing a lasting testament to the transformative power of education in the face of adversity. The author/producer explores the intersections of faith, leadership, and social change, providing a valuable resource for future research.

Moreover, the author’s research aims to recover narratives of Black women who have actively challenged the status quo regarding who should be granted access to theological education and who should be allowed into the pulpit to preach the Gospel. This focus broadens our understanding of the complexities of the Black religious experience and contributes to ongoing discussions about the role of gender and race in shaping theological discourse. The story of Duke Divinity School’s decision to admit Black students in 1962 and establish the Black Church Studies program in 1972 bears witness to the transformative power of diversity and inclusion in theological education, serving as a reminder of the importance of embracing and celebrating diversity as a reflection of God’s love for all people.

Abstract

This thesis studies Bowen Systems Theory from the perspective of leadership in light of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church because I believe that this theory/systemic understanding of leadership has much to offer to pastoral ministry today and to the theology of the ministerial priesthood within the Roman Catholic Church.

The Second Vatican Council brought forth a renewed ecclesial understanding of the Church and of the ministry of pastoral leadership on the part of the ordained - one that focuses on the people of God as the foundational reality of the Church, and one that emphasizes the sharing of the gifts of all the baptized as the key to a vast project of ecclesial renewal. In this thesis I look at Bowen Systems Theory through the lens of the ministerial priesthood's pastoral leadership in the Catholic Church as articulated by the Council and a series of subsequent official documents that spelled out the implications of the "genius" of the Council. This new understanding of ordained ministry makes the local Roman Catholic parish an ideal place to implement the insights of Bowen Systems Theory as a way to provide a more effective style of pastoral leadership aimed at creating a vibrant, dynamic faith-filled community focused upon the Church's mission of evangelization.

In the half-century since the time of the Second Vatican Council, new insights have matured among researchers studying how families and organizations function, particularly around the role that self-differentiated leadership plays in promoting healthy functioning on the part of organizational leaders. The cohesiveness and intensity of emotional bonds that characterize church systems makes the application of Bowen Systems Theory particularly apt in the study of ecclesial communities. Much has been written about Bowen Systems Theory and its application to church/synagogue leadership in other ecclesial communities, and yet little has been written from a Roman Catholic perspective. By looking at the Catholic Church's theology of ordained ministry in light of Bowen Systems Theory, I draw parallels that ground a robust pastoral theology of leadership within the Roman Catholic tradition.

In a remarkable passage that foreshadowed the challenges to today's pastoral leader, the Council insisted that in order to minister effectively, pastors must be prepared to "break new ground in pastoral methods" . To minister effectively today, a pastoral leader needs to master ministerial approaches that simply were not required by previous generations of pastors. Bowen Systems Theory is one innovative and contemporary understanding of leadership from a systems perspective that is a particularly meaningful and fruitful way to understand the need for a leader to be "self-differentiated" so as to lead more effectively.

1 The Holy See. Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994), 13.

Abstract

In the Black Church tradition, community and connection are the bedrocks on which the culture stands. Much of what is known to be Black culture today was established in the heart of Black religion and the Black Church. This evidence can be found in the way Black religion is expressed. Within the Black Church, religion is expressed in cultural forms like music and song styles, content of preaching, and modes of worship that reflect the overall Black culture.

A good way to understand how people connect, form, and maintain community is by examining their belief system or religious orientation. Although a study of a people’s religion may not answer all the questions about their culture, it would point to a common core of values on which the culture is founded. Conversely, if leadership within religious organizations are viewed through the lens of culture, then perhaps some insight would be gained to why leaders lead the way they do.

Understanding and interpreting Black Church culture is key to effective leadership within that context. Although successful culture may look, and feel, like magic, the truth is that it is not. Culture is a set of living relationships working toward a shared goal. The decisions that are made by a few determine the culture experienced by many.

This paper examines how individuals’ social interactions are influenced by the media environments they inhabit (Media Ecology) and the consequent impact on the practice of developing community in the local church (Ecclesiology). Too often, leaders in the church are uninformed about the ways media use, not simply content, is affecting the social structures of community. Consequently, technology in the church is uncritically embraced and little attention is given to what adaptations need to be made for the church to remain authentic to its Christ-given identity and mission. More specifically, this paper focuses on the obstacle and opportunity of building community in the local church, designed to be densely-knit, in a time of “Networked Individualism,” characterized by sparsely-knit, technologically-meditated interaction.

This paper argues that leaders in the church should strive to establish and preserve close-knit church community, however countercultural, because such community is the best reflection of the community within God’s self. Also vital to maintaining densely-knit community in the church is that human beings are biologically wired to be in close communion with others and thrive in such environments. After providing a biological and theological defense for dense community in the church, practical suggestions are provided for maintaining close communion in the church in light of technologically-mediated engagement. Specifically, an argument is made for prioritizing and encouraging face-to-face conversation amongst parishioners in the local church. Additionally, the paper takes a look at the ways media is currently used in local congregations and determines the merits of such use based upon their virtue or vice relative to maintaining close, embodied community. Finally, utilizing the Biblical narratives of the Tower of Babel and Pentecost, the paper concludes by viewing technology use and close-knit community from the perspective of soteriology and argues that the remedy for humanity’s insecurity and path to true greatness is found in Spirit-filled, densely-knit community.

“Building Community Across Walls: A History of an Integrated Church Amid a Gentrifying Neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina” is a study focused upon the integrated history of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, the congregation I serve in downtown Charleston. The church, which was an African American congregation for much of the twentieth century, integrated in the late 1980’s following the gentrification of our Ansonborough neighborhood. This ethnographic study, centered upon formal interviews with both black and white members of my church who experienced this integration together, in addition to clergy and community leaders, is an attempt to both accurately share this history and to critically examine it to mine how it might inform St. Stephen’s present and future. This study makes the argument that St. Stephen’s history of integration must be understood amid the backdrop of urban gentrification and the ways in which this social phenomenon is impacting downtown congregation’s like my own.

This project will therefore be critically examining the intersection of race and gentrification and the ways in which these forces impact any church trying to build community across the “walls” of various social boundaries in urban areas. The argument of this thesis is that no such community can be sustained without awareness of these forces and an ongoing and intentional commitment to diversity, to combating racism and the ongoing reality of white supremacy in our country.

This thesis will have four parts. The first part will aim to offer critical background meant to put St. Stephen’s story into proper context. Chapter one will detail a short overview of the issue of gentrification and focus specifically on its impact upon African Americans. Chapter two will offer a brief reflection on the significance of the black church to African American identity, culture, and collective memory. This chapter intends to impress upon the reader what is at stake and what is potentially lost when an all-black church wrestles with whether to integrate. These chapters will enable a better understanding and more accurate interpretation of St. Stephen’s story of integration.

The St. Stephen’s story will be explored through a series of ethnographic interviews I’ve conducted with nearly twenty-five black and white members of the church – lay and ordained – who lived through that history together. Archival material will also be utilized and woven into a reflection on the interview responses to deepen learnings and glean insights. Prior to parts two, three, and four pertaining to St. Stephen’s, a brief author’s note will appear. This note will include a fuller description of my interview sample and size along with an acknowledgement of potential biases and the fallibility inherent in a project based upon memory.

The second part will outline and detail St. Stephen’s history leading up to integration. It will include a third chapter that consists of a short early history of my parish and a fourth chapter laying out St. Stephen’s eventful African American history from the early decades of the twentieth century to the late 1980’s. Chapter five will include a description of the gentrification of the church’s Ansonborough neighborhood through historic preservation efforts, spearheaded by the Historic Charleston Foundation, that led to the integration of the parish.

Part three will focus on the parish’s intentional integration. Chapters six through thirteen will constitute the heart of this thesis: an accounting of St. Stephen’s late 1980’s to early 1990’s collective experience and a critical reflection upon its successes, points of tension, and missed opportunities.

Part four will consist of a detailed accounting of St. Stephen’s story since its integrative period in chapter fourteen and fifteen. Chapters sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen will include reflections upon the what the lessons of our past offer us today. I will then highlight a few significant questions for further study and reflection in chapters nineteen and twenty followed by a conclusion.

This thesis identifies the local Protestant church as an intentionally purple space and demonstrates that the Church is positioned to bridge differences. Purple churches are one of the last trusted institutions where everyday people gather. The local congregation is one of the social institutions to equipped to confront division. Our culture will continue to hemorrhage decency and churches will atrophy unless Protestant church leaders focus on bringing our communities back together. My thesis argues that practices of sharing sacraments and rituals together, while also supporting deliberative and democratic habits, serve as the civic function of teaching congregations learn how to address and overcome the polarization characterizing our nation. I contend that purple churches are doing the excruciating and challenging work of whispering hope into this desecrated and shattered moment in our human experience. While it takes a few hours to burn a house to the ground or chop down a tree, it takes a great deal of intention, struggle, and investment to build a community of wholeness out of the ashes of our current political landscape. This is the work of purple churches. My thesis will offer tools to strengthen the purple churches that exist in every town across the U.S. and a blueprint for building a purple church culture within existing protestant churches who face political divisions and struggles among membership. Finally, my thesis also explores stories from scripture that support the work of purple churches and of congregations seeking unity without uniformity.

There is a growing number of people going through deconstructive faith experiences in Latin American Pentecostal churches. Factors like globalization, individualism, high educational rates, the post-colonial experience of the Latin American church, fundamentalism, connectivity, and others contribute to accelerate this trend and shape the environment of faith communities that find themselves amongst increasingly postmodern tendencies. Most pastors are either ignoring the situation, rejecting deconstruction all together, or embracing it blindly. I propose a pastoral response from a distinctively Pentecostal perspective that engages deconstruction of faith critically, while staying open to conceive it as a tool for Spirit-led discipleship that can produce a more mature faith.I examine six affirmations made by Jacques Derrida that explain deconstruction as something that happens, happens from the inside, is not a method, is call, is a yes to the other, and is affirmative of institutions. Each of these is contrasted with specific examples of cultural changes in Costa Rica, Peter’s experience at the house of Cornelius, and a Latin American Pentecostal perspective. By exploring a variety of authors, I have identified different tools that can help Latin American Pentecostal pastors to better engage in discipleship practices that can produce mature believers in a postmodern era.

Young adults find it difficult to transition to life beyond college—in their relationships, professional work, and most especially in their faith. This project explores the practical steps necessary to start a fellows program in Athens, Georgia that would help young adults flourish and integrate their faith into the whole of life, concluding that through sustainable networks, funding, and detailed planning, such a program could become viable within one year.

Fatherlessness may be one of the most critical issues facing American society. With the increasing prevalence of divorce in the twentieth century, more and more children face the harsh reality of growing up without their father present at home. Divorce is the number one predictor and cause of father absence. The emotional, social, and spiritual repercussions of growing up with an absent father last long after childhood ends. In fact, many children experience the tumultuous consequences of divorce and fatherlessness throughout their entire lives. Yet, the scriptures reveal God as a “father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:1, NIV). Thus, as Christ’s Body alive in the world, this issue beckons the church’s best and most intentional response.

This thesis seeks to prove its argument by referencing the wide body of research on this issue available through books, journals, magazine articles and social research data. Sociologists and researchers began widely investigating divorce and fatherlessness in the early 1970s after California Governor Ronald Reagan passed the first ‘no-fault’ divorce laws in 1969. Intended to correct the abuses of the ‘fault’ divorce law system, ‘no-fault’ divorce introduced a whole new set of complications that now plague American society, which among the many include father absence.

Yet, as “the living congregation of the living Lord Jesus Christ,” the church stands in a unique position to address this issue with authority and resolve. This endeavor calls both clergy and lay leaders, alike, who embody the threefold offices of Christ. Courageous leaders walking worthily of their calling (Ephesians 4:1) speak the truth in grace (prophetic), lead the broken and hurting into a life-giving relationship with Christ (priestly), and make a way for the reconciliation of relationships and the restoration of the family (kingly).

As leaders take on this monumental challenge, Design Thinking methodology specializes in finding solutions to complex and seemingly impossible societal challenges, such as divorce and fatherlessness. Design Thinking combined with Traditioned Innovation provides a framework for the church to honor and leverage the best of its history with a clearly defined, solution-based vision. These solutions, however, need practical implementation. This thesis closes with a brief presentation on a Logic Model to provide church leaders a way to execute on Design Thinking solutions toward maximum impact for the community and the Kingdom!

ABSTRACT

In The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn observed,If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Jesus is clear that what comes from our hearts defiles us, and that our propensity for sin against God and others is deep inside us. Stereotypes that polarize run deep, as do attitudes from which bad behavior develops. Racism and attitudes of white supremacy are much in conversation within the church today. Books on racism, its causes, and its consequences abound. By comparison, there much less exploration of why the sin of racism exists and what causes it. Complacency about racism and white privilege afflicts the laity and the clergy alike within the American church, and its complacency in fulfilling the commandments to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves lies at the root of racism. Another word for this complacency is acedia, the root sin at the heart of racism and the role it plays in racism. This topic is relevant to my own ministry because I am white and part of the systemic racism in American culture, and because the church in which I serve is the Episcopal Church, which is predominantly comfortable and white, and I serve in a congregation and diocese that mirror that reality. The longer I study and contemplate acedia, the more clearly I see the turn away from God and God’s creation that defines the source of our “lack of care,” our acedia, at the heart of our racism. Racial reconciliation is difficult for the church, and the church is affected deeply by the lack of reconciliation found there. The presenting problem is the need for racial reconciliation in the church and the church’s difficulty in accomplishing it. This thesis offers a history of racism and a thorough consideration of acedia and its part in racism and white supremacy. Reconciliation, per 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, is explored, as are other texts from the New Testament that pertain to the issue of reconciliation and relationships between people of differing ethnoracial groups. The work on racial reconciliation of Ibrahim Kendi and Jonathon Augustine is explored. The root problem of acedia is considered in light of the scriptures and the work of contemporary authors. Finally, the spiritual disciplines that are effective in dealing with acedia are offered, as well as a mechanism for racial reconciliation based on one’s work overcoming acedia.

This thesis analyzes critical and non-critical approaches to the interpretation of scripture against the four psychological features of religious coping identified by Ken Pargament—differentiation, integration, flexibility, and security—to argue that an ecclesial-critical approach to biblical interpretation is best suited to nurture the psychological resources necessary to successfully navigate spiritual crisis and produce ongoing spiritual growth.

This thesis analyzes critical and non-critical approaches to the interpretation of scripture against the four psychological features of religious coping identified by Ken Pargament—differentiation, integration, flexibility, and security—to argue that an ecclesial-critical approach to biblical interpretation is best suited to nurture the psychological resources necessary to successfully navigate spiritual crisis and produce ongoing spiritual growth.