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THEME AND MOTIVATION
The theme of this study is the relationship between recruiting non-Christians for the Korean church through the patterns or styles of its diaconal services, and its influence on the religious actions of the church in South Korea. God acquired the church for Himself with the blood of his own Son (Acts 20:28). The church, the body of Christ, has to grow towards the measure of fullness of Christ and into Christ (Eph 4:13, 15). Diaconal ministry is a key word in the New Testament. It is the „service of caring for one‟s needs,‟ and the „ministry of serving others in general‟ (Klinken 1989:26). Through making disciples, new members are baptised and incorporated into the church. Evangelism takes the form of „preaching the gospel‟ to the unsaved, as well as diaconal service where there is a need in the local community. Hans Küng (1995:238) as a church historian, states that the church should strive for constant progress and improvement. The missionary church has to mature and to expand, serving the needs of the local community (Ac 4:35). Through word and deed it proclaims the gospel to all nations until the end of time (Mt 28:1920). As the quality of life of the Korean society, culture and economics has lately been improving at a much faster pace than in the past, considerable diaconal service changes are needed for building up the local church in South Korea. For example, the older traditional way of evangelising by personal visitation is no longer effective in Korea‟s „new town‟ communities, which is defined as a form of city planning in South Korea. Since access to the apartments are strictly controlled, it is essential for church leaders to find new ways to reach out to the local community and its people, in order to draw the people of the „new town‟ communities to the church.
In this dissertation it is called a „need-oriented diaconal service.‟ This term is derived from „need-oriented evangelism‟, one of the eight criteria of the Natural Church Development (Schwarz 1998:34-35; NCD hereinafter). In chapter 2 the concept „need‟ is explained according to the meaning or applications of the diaconal ministry, which is derived from biblical, theological and church historical perspectives. A „need-oriented diaconal ministry‟ is closely connected with meeting the non-Christians‟ need to have a positive view of the church, in order to settle down meaningfully in Christian life and membership of the Korean congregations. Baumann (1976:67) said that satisfying the nonChristians‟ need should be done to save their souls. He said: “Research your community to identify its needs.”
If you are genuinely willing to seek advice and counsel from your community, you will begin to identify some direction for an enlarged ministry. Meet the needs of your community, and it will beat a path to your door. While it is far easier to guess at community needs while comfortably seated with a committee in the church parlour, it is also far less accurate than if you were to go door to door. If you want the unchurched and non-Christians to visit your church, you must take the initiative to discover what will bring them to you. Be bold enough to inquire. It will be a valuable revelation upon which you can build a growing church.
The basis and the degree of the need have to be assessed, and the age and status of the persons have to be borne in mind (Brox 1988:37). Therefore the Korean society and community, with its rapid pace of change, urgently requires church structures that can change effectively in order to satisfy the needs of the local community (cf. Pierli 2005:33). The motivation of this study is that, having had experiences in traditional diaconal ministry in two well known churches for seven years as an assistant minister, the researcher has learned the following: only a few non-Christians are reached, or are getting involved in any meaningful way in the membership of the church, through the old type of service. Almost all Korean churches have been ministering to non-Christians with traditional diaconal services. With the exception of a few Korean churches it was not a successful process. The unfavourable results of the traditional ministry call for an effective diaconal ministry to help people to settle down as church members. Attfield (2001:16) stated that “Non-Christians are less ready to respond to the community activities of the churches and so to attend regularly for worship.” After new missionary strategies towards non-Christians have been developed, they need to be applied in practice. New and effective missionary strategies are needed for urban communities (Boskoff 1970:11-12) and cultures. When a need-oriented diaconal ministry is fully utilised and applied to the missionary strategy in urban areas, and this results in building up the local church, it will open doors for churches and local communities to maintain intimate contact with one another. Therefore this study will research data related to this topic, in order to ascertain the successful factors or reasons for building up the local church through effective diaconal services. It aims to develop applicable programmes or items of a need-oriented diaconal ministry for Korean congregational development.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The diaconal services of the churches do not relate directly, intimately and lastingly to the needs of non-Christians, and the people served by the mission do not become meaningfully involved in Korean congregations.
EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM
Entering a period of „the stagnation of the church‟ is one of the serious problems of the Korean church (Shin 1997:165). The data of Statistics Korea shows that from 1985 to 1995 the number of Protestants had risen by 3.6%, but since 1995 the rate has dropped, as seen on the table below. This trend has continued to the present.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION
1. Theme and motivation
2. Statement of the problem
3. Extent of the problem
4. Purpose of this study
4.1 Detecting successful elements to integrate people in the local church through the diaconal ministry
4.2 Exploring models of diaconal service for involvement in the church
4.3 Formulating the principles of diaconal ministry to integrate people into the church
5. Hypothesis of this study
6. Methodology
6.1 The methodology of practical theology – a brief overview
6.2 Heitink’s methodology for practical theology
6.2.1 The hermeneutical perspective, ‘understanding’
6.2.2 The empirical perspective, ‘explanation’
6.2.3 The strategic perspective, ‘change’
7. Structure of this study
8. Delimitation of this study
9. Key concepts
CHAPTER 2: THE HERMENEUTICAL PERSPECTIVE: A DIACONAL MINISTRY EFFECTIVE FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
1. Introduction
2. The nature of diakonia
2.1 The meaning of diakonia
2.2 The quest for a new definition of diakonia
3. The biblical perspective on the diaconal ministry
3.1 Diaconal service in the Old Testament
3.2 Diakonia in the New Testament
4. The role of the diaconal ministry in the history of the church
4.1 Diakonia in the early church
4.2 Diakonia during the Middle Ages
4.3 Calvin’s theological view of diakonia at the time of the Reformation
4.4 Diakonia in modern times: from the 18th to 20th centuries
5. The universal foundation of the modern local community
5.1 The concept of the local community
5.1.1 The definition of the local community from the social perspective
5.1.2 The concept of community from the biblical perspective
5.2 The characteristics of the modern local community
5.2.1 The modern local community as a territorial unit
5.2.2 The modern local community as a unit of a social system
5.2.3 The modern local community as a psycho-cultural unit
5.3 The identity of an effective need-oriented diaconal ministry for the modern local community
5.3.1 The diaconal ministry as a centre of the local community
5.3.2 The diaconal ministry as a good communication between the church and the modern local community
5.3.3 The cultural diaconal ministry to the local community
5.4 Developing an effective need-oriented diaconal ministry organised by the church for the local community
6. Conclusion
CHAPTER 3 :THE HERMENEUTICAL PERSPECTIVE: BUILDING UP THE LOCAL CHURCH THROUGH A NEED-ORIENTED DIACONAL MINISTRY
1. Introduction
2. The nature of congregational development
2.1 The church’s role in congregational development
2.2 The definition of congregational development
2.2.1 What is building up the local church about?
2.2.1.1 The building metaphor in the Old Testament
2.2.1.2 The building metaphor in the New Testament
2.2.1.3 The content and purpose of the building image
2.2.1.4 The concept of building up the local church
2.2.2 The concept of church growth
2.2.2.1 The definition of church growth
2.2.2.2 The Church Growth Movement
2.2.3 The concept of the Natural Church Development theory
2.3 The role of church growth and the NCD in the building up of the local church
2.4 The identity of mission and evangelism in congregational studies
3. The foundational issues in building up the local church
3.1 Critique on church growth
3.2 The reason for the growing interest in congregational studies
3.3 The universal type of growth in congregational development
3.3.1 The concept of comprehensive growth in congregational studies
3.3.2 The desirable type of growth according to this dissertation
3.4 Emphasis on congregational development
4. A sound & effective theory of a need-oriented diaconal ministry for the building up of the local church in South Korea
4.1 The nature of building up the local church through the diaconal ministry
4.2 Developing a sound & effective need-oriented diaconal gathering for the building up of the local church
4.2.1 A sound need-oriented diaconal ministry for the building up of the local church
4.2.1.1 The theological principle of a need-oriented diaconal gathering
4.2.1.2 The educational principle of a need-oriented diaconal gathering
4.2.1.3 The cohesive process of a need-oriented diaconal gathering
4.2.2 An effective need-oriented diaconal ministry for the building up of the local church, with reference to McGavran’s theory
4.2.2.1 The homogeneous unit principle
(a) The definition of a homogeneous unit
(b) The characteristics of a homogeneous unit
(c) The biblical and theological basis of a homogeneous unit
(d) The role of the homogeneous unity theory in a need-oriented diaconal gathering of the church
4.2.2.2 A people’ movement
(a) The definition of a people’s movement
(b) The characteristics of a people’s movement
(c) The biblical and theological basis of a people’s movement
(d) The role of the people’s movement theory in a need-oriented diaconal gathering of the church
4.2.2.3 Receptivity theory
(a) The definition of receptivity
(b) The characteristics of receptivity
(c) The biblical and theological basis of receptivity
(d) The role of the receptivity theory in a need-oriented diaconal gathering of the church
4.2.3 A sound & effective need-oriented diaconal gathering for building up the local church
4.3 Leadership for the dynamics of a need-oriented diaconal gathering in the building up of the local church
4.3.1 The definitions of leadership
4.3.2 The theories on leadership styles
4.3.2.1 Trait theory
4.3.2.2 Behavioural theory
4.3.2.3 Contingency theory
4.3.2.4 Transactional and transformational leadership styles
(a) The transactional leadership style
(b) The transformational leadership style
4.3.3 The biblical understanding of styles of leadership
4.3.3.1 Servant leadership
4.3.3.2 Visionary leadership
4.3.3.3 Empowering leadership
4.3.4 The effective role of leadership for a need-oriented diaconal ministry to build up the local church
5. Conclusion
CHAPTER 4: THE EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVE: A CASE STUDY OF BUILDING UP THE LOCAL CHURCH IN KOREA THROUGH THE BABY SCHOOL & THE PREGNANT WOMEN’S GROUP
1. Introduction
A brief introduction to the Baby School and the Pregnant Women’s Group
2.1 The Baby School of the Choongshin church
2.2 The Pregnant Women’s Group & the Baby School of the Gwangyang Daegwang church
3. Empirical research
3.1 Understanding empirical research
3.2 Quantitative research design
3.2.1 Sampling design
3.2.2 Constructing the schedule of the questionnaire
3.2.3 Analysis of data & interpretation of results
3.2.4 Report on the findings
4. Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: THE STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE: A PRINCIPLE FOR BUILDING UP THE LOCAL CHURCH THROUGH A NEED-ORIENTED DIACONAL MINISTRY IN KOREA
1. Introduction
2. Principles for building up the local church through a need-oriented diaconal ministry in Korea
2.1 A diagram of a need-oriented diaconal ministry to promote the building up of the local church in Korea
2.1.1 Defining a diaconal programme
2.1.2 Community research
2.1.3 Determining the actual need of the community
2.1.4 Building up a need-oriented diaconal ministry
2.1.5 Developing the synergy between diakonia, koinonia, leitourgia and kerygma
2.1.6 A people’s movement
2.1.7 Building up the local church
3. Conclusion of this study
APPENDICES Appendix – A
Appendix – B
WORKS CONSULTED
Works consulted
Internet resources
