A critical analysis of Southern Baptist Hispanic church-planting strategies in North America, 1970-1994

Suarez, Gustavo Vicente The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation analyzes and critically evaluates Southern Baptist Hispanic church-planting strategies in North America during the period of 1970-1994. This twenty-five-year study demonstrates that these years were both important and influential days for language missions among Southern Baptists. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the reality that the United States is a nation of many "nations." Each culture is extraordinarily unique and, consequently, requires that strategies be contextualized to reach successfully the increasingly diverse population in North America. Chapter 2 explores the historical context that was the genesis of Southern Baptists' language missions in North America. Key people instrumental in reaching language/cultural groups, starting new churches, and developing indigenous leadership among different ethnic groups helped to paint the overall language missions landscape. Chapter 3 introduces Oscar I. Romo and explores Romo's missiological principles, sociological understanding, and theological foundation for language missions. The chapter investigates how Romo's theology influenced his methodologies, and to what extent he influenced other people and agencies. Chapter 4 introduces the reader to three important questions one must answer in order to have a better understanding of the importance and influence of language missions in the Southern Baptist Convention during the period of 1970-1994. While Chapter 4 is descriptive of each strategy, Chapter 5 analyzes, evaluates, and critiques the strengths and weaknesses of both primary and secondary strategies. Chapter 6 draws conclusions from the historical, theological, missiological, sociological, and ecclesiological lessons learned during the period of 1970 to 1994. Additionally, chapter 6 examines the lessons learned from the past, reflects on current church-planting practices of the NAMB, and answers important and practical questions.

An analysis of the theological development and controversies of the Korea Baptist convention, 1889-1997

김용국 The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2001 해외박사

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the theological development and controversies of the Korea Baptist Convention from 1889 to 1997. The dissertation argued that the theological development of the Korea Baptist Convention relied on both missionary origins and native Korean responses. It therefore focused on the examination of the theologies of the missionaries and of the native Korean pastors and theologians. The study is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one investigated the biographical and theological background of Malcolm C. Fenwick, the first foreign missionary to the early Korean Baptists. Chapter two compared and contrasted the theological similarities and differences between Fenwick and Adoniram Judson Gordon, pastor of Clarendon Street Baptist Church. It led to an objective and synthetic understanding of Fenwick's theology, given Gordon's influence on him. Chapter three described and traced Fenwick's influence in the life and faith of the early Korean Baptists from 1889 to 1944. This chapter also dealt with some controversies about Fenwick because modern Korean Baptists have different views and estimations about potential antinomianism and the questionable Baptist identity of Fenwick and, by extension, of the early Korean Baptists. Chapter four surveyed the activities of Southern Baptist missionaries in establishing both Baptist theology and Baptist traditions in Korea from 1945 to 1977. This chapter also examined the theology and schism of the Korea Baptist Convention. Chapter five investigated the theology of Albert Gammage, Jr., who significantly influenced Korean Baptists theologically from 1959 to 1997. Because Walter Thomas Conner seemed to influenced him directly, this chapter compared their theological similarities and differences to arrive at an objective understanding of Gammage's theology. Chapter six examined the theological characteristics of the native Korean Baptist theologians and pastors from 1978 to 1997, because they have governed their denominational theology since 1978. This chapter also investigated their understandings of Baptist origins and soul liberty. This dissertation concluded in chapter seven with a summary and evaluation of the development of the denominational theology of the Korea Baptist Convention. This chapter also contained the author's suggestions for the future of Korean Baptist theology.

A historical and theological inquiry into the impact of Adiel Sherwood in the establishment of Georgia Baptist institutions

Burch, Walter Jarrett The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation demonstrates that Adiel Sherwood (1791–1879), a neglected figure in Baptist history, had a formative impact on Georgia Baptist denominational consciousness and practice. He led in the organization of ecclesiastical institutions (the Georgia Baptist Convention, new associations, societies, and a manual labor school), while he included theological justifications for what he enacted. In a historical and theological fashion, Sherwood propelled Georgia Baptists toward accepting ideas and practices similar to trends present in early nineteenth-century New England evangelicalism, while offering educational and ecclesiological arguments that were unique to him and Baptists of the South. In chapter one, the existence of strong state conventions at the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention provided dependable traditions to model. The Georgia Baptist Convention, as one of the more successful state models, offers an early example of the diverse societies incorporated within a state structure, but based upon associational connectionalism. The entrance of Adiel Sherwood into Georgia Baptist life played an instrumental role in the development of a successful state convention. Chapter two describes Sherwood's theological understanding of revivalism and missions as it related to Georgia Baptist life. His role as a revivalist in the Great Georgia Revival of 1827 and his polemic against the emerging Primitive Baptists shaped Georgia Baptist thought and practice. Chapter three tells how Sherwood played an instrumental part in the founding of the first Baptist Sunday school and first local temperance society in Georgia, two prevalent societies that represented the developing Georgia Baptist Convention. Chapter four relates Sherwood's efforts in organizing a state convention and local associations—his proposal to form the Georgia Baptist Convention as well as his efforts in establishing new associations for churches expelled from antimissionary associations. Sherwood's actions strengthened a state convention through the adoption of a new form of connectionalism on a state level. Chapter five details how Sherwood introduced the manual labor education system into Georgia as a means to teach ministerial students, leading to the impetus for the founding of Mercer University. Chapter six discusses how Sherwood interpreted Baptist ecclesiology during a time of western expansion by outlining the exegetical differences between Baptists and their ecclesiastical opponents. Chapter seven establishes Sherwood's role as historian of Georgia Baptists. Chapter eight concludes with the contributions of Adiel Sherwood as pointing to a correct theory of state conventions. The organizational and theological tradition of the Georgia Baptist Convention laid one foundation for a successful Southern Baptist Convention.

Improving the level of care for Southern Baptist intercultural missionaries serving in North America

DeLoach, Trent Isaac The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation explores the contemporary conditions and challenges of Southern Baptist cross-cultural missionaries serving in North America for the purpose of determining how Southern Baptists can improve the level of care for their domestic missionaries. The dissertation will be guided by three basic questions: How are the missionaries doing? What challenges are they facing? How can Southern Baptists better care for their needs? The spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial condition of the missionaries will receive special attention. An effort will be made to identify challenges that are unique to cross-cultural missionaries in the North American context. Finally, the data obtained from the missionaries will determine how Southern Baptists can improve the level of care for its domestic missionaries. Chapter 2 describes the significance of cross-cultural missions in North America. Research will be presented that reveals the growing gap between the diversity of North America and the diversity found within Southern Baptist churches. Chapter 3 presents the results from the qualitative research gained from the surveys, interviews, and site visits. Special attention is paid to the spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial condition of the missionaries. The missionaries' assessment of the care they are receiving from the Southern Baptist entities concludes the chapter. Chapter 4 provides a response and an interpretation of the data collected from the study. Strengths and weaknesses of Southern Baptist care for cross-cultural missionaries in North America are explored. Chapter 5 concludes the study by presenting a strategy to improve missionary care in North America among Southern Baptists. The strategy includes practical steps that can be taken to ensure Southern Baptists remain on the frontlines of engaging the nations in North America. Chapter 6 reviews the salient observations from the study and presents areas that need further research.

Counterfeit money or genuine gift? Gift, giving, and salvation in the Gospel of John

Brunansky, Robert Earl The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation studies the concept of gift in the Gospel of John, especially as it relates to God's gift of salvation to humanity. Chapter 1 defines the problem of the gift both for New Testament studies as well as philosophy and sociology. In light of the discussion of the gift historically and in contemporary scholarship, and in view of the biblical text of the Gospel of John, chapter 1 presents the thesis that the Fourth Gospel describes salvation as a gift rather than an economic exchange. Chapter 2 argues that the Fourth Gospel presents God as a unilateral giver. The foundation for this argument is the Prologue of John's Gospel, which sets forth creation, light, life, and grace as unilateral gifts of God. When the Gospel of John discusses these gifts, it insists that when God gives them, He receives nothing in return from the recipients. Chapter 3 narrows the focus to God's gift of salvation. It begins by defining salvation in Johannine terms. When John's terminology for salvation is examined, it becomes clear that salvation means nothing less than deliverance from the condemnation that results from sin unto eternal life. Salvation is tied to God's gift of His Son. Indeed, salvation is given in the gift of the Son. The gift of the Son, however, is a transcendent gift wherein God gives to humanity exhaustively. Chapter 4 discusses the role of the recipients in the giving and receiving when the giver is God, who gives unilaterally and transcendently. The role of human donees must be viewed within a Johannine concept of Trinitarian giving. The triune nature of divine giving and God's gift of the Spirit to His people present an aneconomic model of giving. Chapter 5 summarizes the main arguments of the dissertation, focusing on the epistemological presuppositions requisite to understand the gift and offering a definition of gift. It also notes remaining challenges that need to be addressed in future studies on the gift in the context of Christian theology.

The conceptualization and perception of biblical servant leadership in the Southern Baptist Convention

McMinn, Thomas Franklin, Jr The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

The concern for the developing of volunteer Christian lay leaders to become biblical servant leaders is explored through analysis of the conceptualization and perception of servant leadership in Southern Baptist churches. This dissertation examines the understanding of biblical servant leadership in a sample of Southern Baptist churches in the Southern Baptist Convention denomination. Chapter 1 defines both the secular business definitions with the Christian definitions of servant leadership. The deans of the schools of theology or biblical studies of the Southern Baptist seminaries were interviewed for their definitions of biblical servant leadership and how they perceive churches are responding to the need for developing volunteer Christian lay leaders to become biblical servant leaders. Chapter 2 presents profiles for developing Christian leaders, a biblical view of servant leadership and processes for developing volunteer lay leaders. A profile of the current research study is presented. Chapter 3 addresses the research data gathering process giving attention to the survey instrument, “Servant Leadership Readiness,” and its use with a sample of Southern Baptist churches, The research adopts an interview and survey (Likert scale) approach. Chapter 4 presents the findings of the research study. Responses from the deans of the schools of theology or biblical studies at the seminaries and from paid church staff members and volunteer lay leaders of Southern Baptist churches provides the data of the research study. Commonalties and conceptualizations of biblical servant leadership are examined to identify criteria for designing a process to develop volunteer Christian lay leaders as biblical servant leaders. Chapter 5 provides an examination of possible criteria for a process of developing biblical servant leaders for a Southern Baptist church. Conclusions are presented on the understanding of biblical servant leadership by Southern Baptist Churches and how this conceptualization affects the way lay leaders are developed to become biblical servant leaders. This work contends that Southern Baptist churches do not fully conceptualize biblical servant leadership and therefore they are not developing volunteer lay leaders in becoming a biblical servant leader model. On the basis of findings in this study, it is recommended that Southern Baptist churches design a process to develop volunteer Christian lay leaders in becoming biblical servant leaders using the criteria presented. And, that this process be intentional if the Southern Baptist Convention denomination is to produce authentic biblical servant leaders.

The relationship of mentoring to ministerial effectiveness among pastors of the Southern Baptist Convention

Belcher, Gregory David The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2002 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mentoring and ministerial effectiveness among senior pastors serving in Southern Baptist churches. The sample consisted of five hundred pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention who were randomly selected to receive a mailout package containing a version of both the Kentucky Mentoring Survey (KMS) and the Ministerial Effectiveness Inventory (MEI). Of the five hundred mailouts, 143 usable returns were received. This research showed that mentoring is a common occurrence for Southern Baptist pastors as more than 83% of respondents indicated that they had received mentoring of some sort, including singular (25.9%), primary (38.5%), and group (18.9%) mentoring. Pastors primarily assessed their mentoring relationships as being “very helpful” (48.74%), and those who were informally mentored or who encountered singular mentoring had a statistically significant tendency to in turn mentor others. Whereas the overwhelming majority (91.6%) of pastors who were mentored characterized their mentoring relationships as being informal instead of formal, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical procedure further showed that pastors who were informally mentored registered significantly higher ministerial effectiveness scores than did those who were formally mentored. Moreover, it was determined that pastors who experienced closeness of relationship with their mentors were more likely to score higher in terms of ministerial effectiveness as measured by the MEI. Mentoring proved significantly to have both positive and negative influences on ministerial effectiveness depending largely upon the friendliness of the relationship as perceived by the mentee and upon the comprehensive nature of the relationship in terms of it extending beyond the workplace. As such, merely having a mentor did not guarantee having a significantly higher ministerial effectiveness score. In some cases having a mentor resulted in a significantly negative impact upon ministerial effectiveness. Hence, while mentoring holds great biblical promise for raising up strong pastoral leadership in the Southern Baptist Convention, such relationships should be entered into with great discernment and with an intentional focus on building abiding friendships.

Equipping believers to become personal evangelists at First Baptist Church, Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Workman, Jerry Clinton The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

ABSTRACT EQUIPPING BELIEVERS TO BECOME PERSONAL EVANGELISTS AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PRESTONSBURG, KENTUCKY Jerry Clinton Workman, D.Min. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2013 Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Jeff K. Walters This project equips groups of believers at First Baptist Church, Prestonsburg, Kentucky, to evangelize confidently on a personal level. Chapter 1 describes the ministry context of First Baptist Church. Chapter 2 presents the biblical and theological basis for equipping believers to become personal evangelists. This presentation uses Old and New Testament Scripture passages. Chapter 3 considers the theoretical and practical issues of personal evangelism. This task is accomplished by summarizing, evaluating, and comparing five well-known methods designed to equip believers to become personal evangelists. Chapter 4 details the elements of implementing the ministry project. Chapter 5 evaluates and analyzes the results of the project.

The relationship between mentoring functions and personality temperaments of seminarians called into vocational ministry

Thompson, Daniel Wayne The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2002 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation examines the relationship between spiritual mentoring and God's call into vocational ministry by way of analyzing personality traits and perceptions of seminarians in North America. A need for cultivating the ministry call within theological institutions was identified by the voluminous literature on the subject; thus, signaling researchers to examine what factors might contribute or serve as a catalyst to enhancing one's call to vocational ministry. This study selected spiritual mentoring as one of those factors. Theological, historical, and biblical assumptions of mentoring and God's call were initially established along with an emphasis on educational theories and personality behaviors of seminary students. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter II was used to categorize respondents among one of the four personality variants: Rational, Idealist, Artisan, and Guardian. A mentor survey was created, validated, and also utilized to discover affinities toward particular mentor functions, perceptions of an expressed need for mentoring relationships, and the inclinations toward desiring a formal or informal approach toward mentoring. Seminary administrators, educational researchers, and others involved with mentoring strategies might find the Thompson study useful due to the significant results that were stratified. It was found that mentoring appeals toward Guardians and Idealists while Rationals and Artisans do not necessarily aspire a mentor. Furthermore, Artisans were discovered to be unfavorable toward the mentoring functions of sponsor, spiritual guide, and divine contact; yet, the approach to informal mentoring was most attractive if mentoring was not an option. Rationals also leaned toward informal mentoring, but had little preference for one mentor function over another. Idealists, on the other hand, showed the greatest affinity toward formal mentoring while desiring to be mentored through the leadership of a spiritual guide and certainly not by the functions of a coach or sponsor. Like the Idealists, Guardians demonstrated little preference for the manner in which a coach or sponsor would mentor. At the same time, they gravitated towards a less structured mentoring format. Mentoring, consequently, may not be the panacea for spiritual growth and stimulation of a seminarian's call to ministry, yet if modulated appropriately, it may greatly assist Idealists and Guardians alike.

An analysis of John Stott's understanding of the theological relationship between evangelism and social responsibility

Hefner, Christopher Clayton The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2013 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation analyzes John R. W. Stott's understanding of the theological relationship between evangelism and social responsibility. Chapter 1 defines important terms and states the case for researching John Stott's views on the subject. Chapter 2 presents a biographical sketch of John Stott's life, giving particular attention to his theological and social contexts which shaped his views on the tension between evangelism and social responsibility. Chapter 3 explores Stott's views on evangelism and social responsibility from the perspective of his pastoral ministry. Stott's role as rector at All Souls, Langham Place in London provided the ministry framework for Stott's practice and theology of evangelism. Furthermore, while in his role as pastor, Stott's views on social responsibility began to shift. Chapter 4 examines Stott's international ministry within the Lausanne movement and his books that address the topic of evangelism and social responsibility. This stage of Stott's ministry was the primary arena where he adapted and implemented his understanding of the partnership between evangelism and social responsibility. Chapter 5 recognizes Stott's broad influence on this topic among evangelical thinkers and surveys consequences related to the topic that developed as a result of Stott's position. Chapter 6 analyzes Stott's understanding of evangelism and social responsibility theologically, exegetically, and practically. This chapter evaluates Stott's position exegetically, theologically, and practically and encapsulates the strengths and weaknesses of his position. Chapter 7 concludes the dissertation by offering a discussion of discipleship as the proper place of social responsibility in the Christian life. As a final means of analysis, implications raised by Stott's understanding are presented and explored in light of greater evangelicalism.