Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Planning and Preparation for a Project

Many of you may know that the past few years have found me pursuing a degree known as the Doctor of Ministry.  I have been taking classes and am now approaching the last one, to be taken next summer.  Outside of that class, all that remains is the conducting of my project, the write-up of which serves as the basic elements of my dissertation.

Part of my plan for the project will begin to be enacted in the life of the congregation I serve.  My tentative plans are to begin some major parts of it this fall.  For those who may be curious, there are a couple of interesting facets to what I want to do with the project, and the impact that I want to see lived out in the life of the congregation.

A big component of the project has to do with utilizing Martin Luther's Small and Large Catechisms.  One of the basic assumptions I am making as I begin the project is that many people simply do not fully know or understand even the most basic teachings of the Christian faith.  As I have pointed out in previous posts, Martin Luther wrote the Small Catechism in a time which seems to be a fair comparison to this day and age, especially in terms of knowing even the basics of the Christian faith.  It seems that making use of such a resource may be completely appropriate.

Additionally, my focus area for my studies has been in the field of "Missional Leadership."  What exactly does this mean?  It means that my focus is on how I can lead and equip God's people in growing in their understanding of the teachings of the faith, and then guiding them in the living out of God's will in their lives.  A significant part of this involves teaching the different doctrines, as well as demonstrating how they apply to God's people as they live their lives.

I am currently in the process of putting together the different resources that I plan to utilize for enacting the project.  It will require some fairly significant commitments on my part, and I'm hoping that a decent number of people in the congregation will also commit to following through with it.  In future posts, you will be hearing about some of the components, as I plan to make use of my blog to help me clarify my thoughts and plans, as well as to seek feedback and input.

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