Serving From The Inside Out: A Model For Integrating Contemplative Spirituality With Ministry Activity At The First Baptist Church Of Flushing, NY

2009·0.98 MB·English

by  Gary Joseph Domiano

SERVING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: A MODEL FOR INTEGRATING
CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY WITH MINISTRY ACTIVITY AT THE FIRST
BAPTIST CHURCH OF FLUSHING, NY

By

GARY JOSEPH DOMIANO

A DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

Submitted to
New York Theological Seminary
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MINISTRY

Jamaica, New York

2009
ABSTRACT

SERVING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: A MODEL FOR INTEGRATING
CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY WITH MINISTRY ACTIVITY AT THE FIRST
BAPTIST CHURCH OF FLUSHING, NY

By

Gary Joseph Domiano

The focus of this project was the development and implementation of a model of
personal spiritual formation that afforded the activity-oriented Christians at the First Baptist
Church of Flushing a means to live more spiritually centered lives.
To foster this spiritual centeredness, a spiritual formation handbook was developed
using a modified version of the ancient practice of the daily office. The handbook was more
rigorous than the typical “quiet time” commonly used by many Evangelicals. It afforded
participants the opportunity to pause three times in a day to enter the presence of God
through a variety of spiritual disciplines and exercises. A pilot group consisting of 42
members from the church was invited to use the handbook for a period of three months as a
means of living more spiritually centered lives. Their feedback at a half-day retreat at the end
of the project demonstrated that the handbook was a valuable instrument for them.
Although the handbook was the project’s core, other methods were used to awaken
the entire congregation to the need to live spiritually centered lives to the glory of God,
including a sermon series on the spiritual disciplines, the introduction of contemplative
elements into our corporate worship experience, and the creation of a contemplative worship
experience on the evening of Holy Thursday.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I am grateful for my wife, Hazel-Ann, for her ongoing
encouragement, love, and support throughout this journey, and for my dear children, Ian,
Ashley, Lindsey, and Paul who gave daddy “alone” time to read, write, and edit.
I am profoundly grateful for my site team, Joe Cina, Ray Moy, and Marya Pier,
who journeyed with me for three years and who never ceased to pray for me, encourage
me, and partner with me in this project. I could not imagine a finer site team.
I am also grateful for my advisor, Dr. George McClain, who answered every
question, provided insightful comments on my writing, and who never ceased to cheer
me on through the writing of this project. His words were a balm to my soul.
I am sincerely grateful for the people of God at First Baptist Church of Flushing
who prayed for me throughout this project, for the Senior Pastor, Henry Kwan, who
encouraged me to pursue this degree, and for the pilot group who test drove the spiritual
formation handbook and gave valuable feedback along the way.
I am grateful for my editor, Rajdeep Paulus, a mother of four, who gave of her
time to read and edit my paper, and for my mentor and friend, Professor Richard Kantzer,
who introduced the spiritual formation handbook into his curriculum at Bethel Seminary
of the East.
And above all else, I am eternally grateful to my great God and Savior Jesus
Christ who gave himself for me and who gives me strength every day. To God alone be
the glory in my life.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1.......................................................................................................................1
A GLOBAL CHURCH LIVING AND SERVING IN A GLOBAL VILLAGE...............1
About The First Baptist Church of Flushing...................................................................1
About the City of Flushing...........................................................................................10
About the Problem at FBC............................................................................................13

CHAPTER 2.....................................................................................................................16
ANALYSIS OF THE CHALLENGE...............................................................................16
The DNA of FBC..........................................................................................................16
The Impact of our DNA on Leadership........................................................................18
The Urgency of the Problem.........................................................................................23

CHAPTER 3.....................................................................................................................27
BIBLICAL/THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE................................................................27
Jesus and Solitude.........................................................................................................30
Jesus and Meditation.....................................................................................................34
Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)...............................................................................38

CHAPTER 4.....................................................................................................................46
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SPIRITUAL FORMATION...................................46
Trends among Evangelicals..........................................................................................46
Obstacles to Recovery of the Disciplined Life.............................................................50
Past and Present Examples of the Disciplined Life......................................................56
The Call: To Balance Corporate Disciplines with Personal Devotion.........................61

CHAPTER 5.....................................................................................................................67
THE ART OF DEVELOPING SPIRITUALLY CENTERED DISCIPLES....................67
A Multi-Dimensional Approach...................................................................................67
Listening to the Congregation.......................................................................................69
Preaching and Teaching................................................................................................71
Hands-on Learning........................................................................................................72
Spiritual Direction.........................................................................................................75
Spiritual Formation Groups..........................................................................................78
Leaning on the Holy Spirit............................................................................................80

CHAPTER 6.....................................................................................................................82
PLAN OF IMPLEMENTATION/ GOALS, STRATEGIES, AND EVALUATION .....82
Goal 1 – Raise Awareness............................................................................................82
Strategies for Goal 1.....................................................................................................82
Evaluation of Goal 1.....................................................................................................85
Goal 2 – Recruitment....................................................................................................90
Strategies for Goal 2.....................................................................................................90
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Evaluation of Goal 2.....................................................................................................92
Goal 3 – Implementation..............................................................................................93
Strategies for Goal 3.....................................................................................................93
Evaluation of Goal 3.....................................................................................................94

CHAPTER 7.....................................................................................................................99
MINISTERIAL COMPETENCIES..................................................................................99

CHAPTER 8...................................................................................................................108
EPILOGUE/ THE ROAD AHEAD................................................................................108

APPENDICES................................................................................................................111
APPENDIX 1..............................................................................................................112
Spiritual Formation Survey.........................................................................................113

APPENDIX 2..............................................................................................................115
English Contemplative Service...................................................................................116
RULE OF LIFE...........................................................................................................118

APPENDIX 3..............................................................................................................119
Contemplative Worship..............................................................................................120

APPENDIX 4..............................................................................................................126
Personal Retreat..........................................................................................................127

APPENDIX 5..............................................................................................................128
A Spiritual Formation Handbook................................................................................129

APPENDIX 6..............................................................................................................221
Sermon Series.............................................................................................................222

APPENDIX 7..............................................................................................................275
Bible Reading Plan Congregational Survey...............................................................276

BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................277

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CHAPTER 1
A GLOBAL CHURCH LIVING AND SERVING IN A GLOBAL VILLAGE

About The First Baptist Church of Flushing
Our Tradition
First Baptist Church belongs to the Conservative Baptist Association of America.
Conservative Baptists are a loosely allied family of churches situated chiefly across the
northern tier of the United States, combining conservative theology with missionary zeal.
The Conservative Baptists broke away from the Northern (now the American) Baptist
Convention in 1943 for what they deemed “liberal” theology. The Conservative Baptists’
commitment to missions and theology can be seen in its having both home and foreign
missions societies, and its own seminaries in Denver, Portland, and in several cities in the
Northeast.1 As a church, we embrace the core values of the Conservative Baptist
Association. It is not surprising, then, that First Baptist Church historically has
emphasized biblical communication and missions both locally and globally.
Our Diversity
First Baptist Church is affectionately called “heaven’s mirror,” not because we are
a perfect replica of heaven, but because our church is a reflection of the diverse multitude

1 Bruce Shelley, A History of Conservative Baptists (Wheaton, Illinois: Conservative Baptist
Press, 1971), 1.

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of people the Apostle John saw standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.2
Around that throne in heaven are women and men from every nation, tribe, people and
language. And so it would appear at the First Baptist Church of Flushing (FBC). FBC is a
multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-generational church located in the
heart of one the world’s most ethnically diverse communities, Flushing, Queens. At First
Baptist Church, potluck dinners resemble international feasts.
FBC is also a multi-congregational church. Our rich diversity compels us to
congregate in five different congregations – two Chinese language services (a traditional
service in Mandarin and Cantonese and a contemporary service in Cantonese and
English), one Spanish language service, one English language service, and one English
language youth service that ministers to the English speaking youth from each of our
congregations. But even though FBC is divided by language into different congregations,
we are still one church, not five churches sharing one facility. There is one budget, one
board of deacons, one board of trustees, one missions committee, one children’s ministry,
and one pastoral staff serving the needs of the whole church. Those who join the
membership at FBC do not become members of a particular congregation; they become
members of First Baptist Church and are free to worship and participate in any
congregation or fellowship they choose. Very often people will worship in our other
services whether or not they speak the language. Our Sunday services are arranged as
follows:
• 9:00 AM Spanish Service
• 9:30 AM Contemporary Chinese Service
• 11:00 AM Traditional Chinese Service
• 11:00 AM English Service

2 Revelation 7:9.
2
• 11:00 AM Youth Service
• 11:00 AM Children’s Church
• Lord’s Supper is celebrated the first Sunday of every month
• Every Sunday from 1:00 – 3:00 PM there is a Chinese school
• Every Sunday from 1:00 – 3:00 PM the Chinese congregation gathers
together for lunch
• Every Sunday from 1:00 – 3:00 PM a different fellowship group from
the English congregation meets - a Men’s Fellowship, Women’s
Fellowship, Mom’s Group, and Filipino Fellowship.

In the English congregation, our worship service is a blend of contemporary and
traditional worship. We blend hymns with contemporary choruses, and these are
accompanied by our band, choir, and worship teams. Our other congregations are
arranged in a similar way. The youth congregation is the most contemporary of all of our
services. At 9:30, our people are invited to study God’s Word in a variety of Sunday
School classes taught by pastors, deacons, and gifted teachers (male and female) from the
body of Christ. As the pastor, I teach the adult membership and baptism class. Our other
classes include several discipleship classes,3 a general class that studies the Old
Testament, and two modular classes. The adult Sunday School is only sparsely attended.
Each congregation, including the youth congregation, is shepherded by its own
pastor. The children’s ministry is shepherded by a full-time, seminary trained, minister
who oversees a volunteer team of more than 150 workers. A Senior Pastor leads this team
of pastors and ministers and does not have responsibility for any one congregation. Since
we are one church, the pastors work together for the common good of the whole church.
Though the pastors devote most of their time to their own individual congregations, there
is a sense in which we are each other’s associate pastors. We pray together, share
resources, and share pulpits. For this reason, the most important meeting each week is the

3 We use the Colossians 2:7 series published by the Navigators.

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Wednesday morning Staff meeting where the pastors, administrators, and ministers meet
together for three hours for prayer, biblical encouragement, sharing of concerns, vision
casting, and discussion of the church’s ministries.
At FBC, we strive for unity amid our diversity. This is a theological conviction at
FBC. Because the ground is level at the foot of the cross, we believe that Christians are
all one in Christ.4 Each congregation is equal to all the others regardless of its size or
ethnicity. No one group or congregation within the broader body of Christ receives
special treatment or special favor. Therefore, we embrace and welcome into membership
people of every social strata and every ethnicity into the church. Our former senior pastor
used to say, “We don’t go to the wall for everything, but we will go to the wall for
unity.”5
Our History
The seeds of this approach to ministry can be found in the earliest days of our
history. First Baptist Church was founded by Howard Osgood in 1857. During the first
two decades of the church’s history, a commitment to immigrants emerged. For example,
when many Irish potato farmers immigrated to New York after the 1845 famine, First
Baptist Church helped to care for many of those people. Up until 1940, however, the
church remained predominantly Caucasian. In 1945, a black family from Barbados
started attending the church. One of the daughters from this family remains an active
member of our church, our pastoral staff, and the Bethel Seminary of the East even at 80+

4 Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11.

5 Rev. Russell Rosser served as the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Flushing from 1978
until 1999. He frequently used this saying in leadership gatherings.

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years of age! From Barbados, this family was of mixed ancestry (Black, English, East
Indian, and Scottish).
During the 1950’s, the church began to attract people from different countries,
especially people associated with the United Nations. In 1954, the church enlarged its
facility by adding an education wing to the church. During the 1960’s, the next pastor
began to emphasize home missions over foreign missions when he saw God drawing the
people of the world to New York. This caused a deep struggle within the church which
had been primarily homogenous at the time. In 1964, the church split, seemingly over the
missions issue, but there may have been other factors.6
Flushing underwent tremendous changes after the World’s Fair in 1964 and the
Immigration Act of 1965. Thousands of immigrants poured in to New York City and into
Flushing in particular. Emigration in the latter half of the 20th century had shifted away
from Southern and Eastern Europe to countries in Asia, Latin America and the
Caribbean.7
When Reverend Russell Rosser became the pastor of First Baptist Church in
1978, the congregation numbered around 142 people. The core group at that time
included Caucasian, West Indian, African American, Filipino, Hispanic, Armenian,
Jewish, and second generation Chinese. Reverend Rosser made the decision that the
church would become intentionally multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-congregational.
Within two years, the church added a young adults’ pastor, a pastor to work with Jewish
outreach, and a pastor to start a Spanish congregation. At the same time, the Chinese

6 McKenzie Pier, “First Baptist Church of Flushing: A Portrait of Heaven” (paper, Eastern
Baptist Theological Seminary, October 1998), 4.

7 Ibid., 6.
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