ABSTRACT

The administration of a local church often so occupies a ministers time that less than appropriate time remains for study of the Word. An administration manual that would objectify and standardize procedures would help alleviate this problem. The purpose of this project was to design a manual that would answer the need for what to do but would go beyond that to provide a theological base for the procedures. A comprehensive survey of Grace Brethren Churches was conducted to ascertain what has been done and what needs remain. This project has incorporated the best insights and hopefully met the remaining needs.

INTRODUCTION

Recently, David Wells,l an eminent evangelical theologian with sterling pedigree, has expressed dissatisfaction and suspicion at the orthodoxy of several ministryrelated applications of the faith. He insists that this dubious orthodoxy, which has overcontextualized itself to modern American culture, is saturated within a stunning array of popular church and parachurch agencies like the widespread use of recovery groups, Christian therapy centers, churchgrowth workshops, seekersensitive servlces, seminars in managerial methods for ministers, and Doctor of Ministry professional degree programs.

His fundamental complaint can be summarized: An overly practical concentration along with a modernized view of the local church has had the cumulative effect of encouraglng Christian leaders to subject its explicit theological foundation, albeit unwittingly, to alien

cultural forces. That is, theologys once assured position of centrality In the life of the local church has now been displaced. Thus, Wells alleges that evangelical leaders

have become enamored with success and technique at the expense of careful theological reflection, especially in matters pertaining to the local church and its ministry.

Theology has, therefore, succumbed to the prevailing winds of praxis.

According to Fuller Seminary President, Richard Mouw, Wells is convinced that evangelicals have formed an unholy alliance with various nonChristian cultural forces: pragmatism, a democratized understanding of truth, a fondness for the therapeutic, and so on.2 This state of affairs, Wells contends, has contributed to an understanding of the Christian faith where at the psychological center of much evangelical faith are two ideas that are also at the heart and practice of democracy: 1 the audience is sovereign, and 2 ideas find legitimacy and value only within the marketplace. Ideas have no intrinsic or selfevident value; it is the peoples right to give ideas their legitimacy.3 But is this contextualization actually occurring at the unprecedented rates or on the infrastructural levels that Wells believes it is Now, moving closer to the project at hand, the task In this chapter shall be to scrutinize whether or not an operations manual, such as that developed ...Get Complete Material.