Mobilizing Cantonese speaking young adults into missional disciples in a North American attractional Chinese immigrant church by stories in gathered and scattered worship PDF
Preview Mobilizing Cantonese speaking young adults into missional disciples in a North American attractional Chinese immigrant church by stories in gathered and scattered worship
MOBILIZING CANTONESE SPEAKING YOUNG ADULTS INTO MISSIONAL DISCIPLES IN A NORTH AMERICAN ATTRACTIONAL CHINESE IMMIGRANT CHURCH BY STORIES IN GATHERED AND SCATTERED WORSHIP A THESIS-PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY CHI MAN WONG MAY 2017 Copyright ©2017 by Chi Man Wong. All Rights Reserved. To Jennifer, my amazing wife, companion and cheerleader, whose sacrificial care for me and our children, Jocelyn and Jasmine, made it possible for me to complete this thesis. Missions Exists Because Worship Doesn’t. ― John Piper CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x ABSTRACT xi Chapter 1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING 1 2. THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS 21 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 49 4. PROJECT DESIGN AND OUTCOMES 77 5. IMPLICATIONS 109 Appendix A. CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. SERIES SERMON OULTINES 126 B. CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. WORKBOOK (ENGLISH) 137 C. CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. WORKBOOK (CHINESE) 193 D. CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. DEVOTION THEMES AND THEIR PASSAGES 245 E. CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. SERMON DISCUSSION OUTLINE 246 F. WEEKLY PRAYER ITEMS BEFORE THE JOURNEY 247 G. THEME SONGS MUSIC SCORE SHEETS 254 H. PRAYER MEETINGS DURING CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. JOURNEY 258 I. CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. SURVEY QUESTIONS 260 J. CALLED TO B.L.E.S.S. POST JOURNEY ADDITIONAL SURVEY QUESTIONS 272 v K. ANALYSIS RESULTS 274 L. SUB-GROUP ANALYSIS ON SELECTED SURVEY QUESTIONS 290 BIBLIOGRAPHY 297 VITA 302 vi ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 1. Called to B.L.E.S.S. Journey Timeline 85 2. On Worship (Mean Score) – Before and After Journey 96 3. On Prayer (Mean Score) – Before and After Journey 98 4. On Others’ Needs (Mean Score) – Before and After Journey 101 5. On Stories Sharing (Mean Score) – Before and After Journey 104 6. Number of people you shared the gospel message with in the past 2 106 months 7. Number of unbelievers that you have witnessed to in the past two months 107 8. Transformation Sweet Spot 122 Tables 1. How God Works in our Lives through Stories 47 2. Summary of Mean Score Change (Post-Score minus Pre-Score) on 94 Questions in the “Called to B.L.E.S.S.” Questionnaire vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS How gracious is God to have called Richmond Hill Christian Community Church to serve Him as one body in Christ! I have truly experienced God’s amazing guidance in inspiring and unifying our team. Without their support, this thesis-project – “Called to B.L.E.S.S.” learning journey, could not have materialized. My heartfelt appreciation goes to the following teams: • our pastors for their valuable contributions to the content and revision of the workbook, as well as preaching this sermon series • our curriculum team for developing the Bible studies and “Life Discovery” Exercise materials • our translation and editorial teams for their diligence in meeting the tight timeline, • our publishing team for putting together the beautifully designed workbook • our Celebration department for composing two theme songs to accompany and reflectively inspire us on this journey • our promotion and decoration team for their creative ideas in rallying our brothers and sisters to get excited about this journey • our prayer team for their unceasing prayer support throughout this journey. I believe that nothing is possible without prayers! I would like to acknowledge the support of two external sources. This thesis- project framework is adapted from the book “Discover Your Mission Now” by Pastor Dave Ferguson, who is the lead pastor of the Community Christian Church in Chicago, IL. viii I would like to give special thank for his generosity in granting RHCCC the rights to adapt his book for our journey. I would also like to thank the Centre for Christian Leadership at the Dallas Theological Seminary for granting us their permission to use the "Life Story" framework that is found in “Community – Discovering Who We Are Together” for our “Life Discovery” exercise. A special thanks goes to Dr. Ambrose Kwok and Dr. Spike Lee for their expert advice on the survey design of the questionnaire as well as Dr. Ambrose Kwok for his help on statistical analysis. A special thanks goes to my editor Justin Tsui, whom I have known since my first year of seminary studies at Tyndale. His relentless effort to edit this thesis is very much appreciated. My heartfelt appreciation to my mentors Rev. Dr. Paul Detterman and Rev. Dr. Jim Singleton, who made every step possible for me to get my thesis done in a timely fashion. Their infinite patience, prayer, affirmation and coaching encouraged me to think deeper theologically and pastor with a loving heart. Last, but not least, may all glory go to our Heavenly Father who has graciously called us together to serve Him and to experience Him in a deeper way! ix ABBREVIATIONS ACEM Association of Christian Evangelical Ministries CTB Called to B.L.E.S.S. RHCCC Richmond Hill Christian Community Church TSS Transformation Sweet Spot x
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