FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR THE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY DEGREE. A Final Project in Ministry Proposal. Submitted to the Faculty. of the

Transcription

1 FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR THE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY DEGREE A Final Project in Ministry Proposal Submitted to the Faculty of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry Robert A. Terrell M. Div., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1994 B.S., University of South Alabama, 1990 August 2012

2 ABSTRACT DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE COLLABORATIVE METHOD OF SERMON PREPARATION FOR STEVENS POINT TAPESTY CHURCH Robert A. Terrell, D.Min. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2012 Faculty Mentor: Steve Lemke, Provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Professor of Philosophy and Ethics The purpose of this project is to test the effectiveness of collaborative sermon preparation in order to increase retention and application of the central idea of the sermon by the parishioners of Stevens Point Tapestry Church. Since these parishioners come primarily from a nonchurched background the project director seeks to gain a better understanding of how best communicate and encourage application of the weekly homiletic. Through study into the fields of collaboration and homiletic preparation the project director will study two groups of volunteers from Stevens Point Tapestry Church in an A/B study of the effectiveness of collaborative sermon preparation to determine how effective such homiletic development is for such communication.

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Chapter 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE MINISTRY NEED MINISTRY PROPOSAL AND ITS SETTING THE PROJECT DIRECTOR DOCTRINAL FOUNDATIONS The Doctrine of the Trinity The Doctrine of the Incarnation The Doctrine of the Church The Doctrine of Revelation Theological Summary REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS MINISTRY RESOURCES DESCIPTION OF THE PROJECT PROJECT EVALUATION Ministry Goal One Ministry Goal Two Ministry Goal Three Professional Goal One Professional Goal Two iii

4 Appendix A. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR COLLABORATIVE SERMON PREPARATION B. DR. ALLEN S LETTER C. DR. ALLEN'S VITA D. SURVEY RESPONSE QUESTIONAIRE E. DR. WATON'S LETTER F. DR. WATSON'S VITA Bibliography iv

5 CHAPTER 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE MINISTRY NEED Stevens Point Tapestry Church 1 is a small church of approximately fifty in weekly attendance. Tapestry was planted in September of 2008 in cooperation with the Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention and the Bay Lakes Baptist Association through funding by the North American Mission Board. Tapestry Church is a single staff church. The pastor of the church has been at Tapestry since its founding on September 18, The Stevens Point micropolis 2 is a community in transition. The area contains approximately 71,000 people. It is a mainly Anglo community (94.7 percent) that appears to be stable over the next decade (the largest minority 1 Also known as Tapestry Church or Tapestry throughout the remainder of this paper. 2 A micropolis or micropolitan area defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, as an urban area in the United States based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999. Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas, U.S. Census Beureau, available from tml; accessed June 26,

6 population is the Hmong community within Stevens Point who 2 are about three percent of the area s population). Its median income is $35,400. Therefore, the median income of the Point area is $12,000 lower than the state s median income but $2,000 higher than it was five years ago. The Point area s increase in median income is one of the top five percentage-wise increases within the state of Wisconsin during the five years covered in the Portage County Workforce Profile report. 3 Religiously, Stevens Point is primarily composed of Roman Catholics (47 percent) and those who do not claim any religious affliction (33 percent) However, based on American Religious Database Archives (ARDA) research 52 percent of those who declare themselves Roman Catholic within Stevens Point have not attended a church service within the last six months. The Stevens Point area used to be a strongly blue collar city, but that has changed with an industry move towards the service industries (Portage Country Workforce Profile, p. 3). The change in industry created the transition that is shaping the Stevens Point micropolis. 3 Scott Hodek, Portage County Workforce Profile, portage_profile_2007.pdf (accessed July 1, 2012), 3.

7 The move towards the service industry has lead Stevens Point to a generational shift in its population and 3 residents employment. 4 There is substantial growth taking place within the year old age grouping. At the time of the workplace profile this age grouping constituted 24 percent of Portage County (the county of the Stevens Point micropolis). If the age group is added to the group, then these groups together account for almost 40 percent of the population. 5 The demographic differences between the and the age groups are significant. The younger age group is much more educated, having at least some college education, and is much more likely to work in the white collar industry that is developing around Stevens Point. For example, Sentry insurance is the largest employer within the area. 6 The location of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point within the community creates an additional bond with these younger members of the population. The small town university setting seems to be drawing many of them to stay within the community after their formal education is finished. Most of the individuals 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid., 4. 6 Ibid., 5.

8 who have connected with the ministry of Tapestry Church 4 come from such circumstances. Tapestry Church is primarily composed of individuals who have minimal previous experience with church life, the Bible, and most importantly, Jesus Christ. The proposed project focuses on the special needs of such people for connection with the homiletics of the church. Most of those involved in the church life of Tapestry have many questions concerning faith and understanding Scripture. These questions are difficult to address in a traditional noncollaborative solitary approach to sermon preparation. The traditional non-collaborative approach of sermon preparation depends upon the preacher researching various sources to determine the questions of society. 7 It is the hypothesis of this project director that these individuals will be better served in their understanding, retention, and application of the church s homiletics by a method of collaborative sermon preparation. 7 Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, 6 ed., trans. Edwyn C. Hoskyns (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), 413.

9 CHAPTER 2 MINISTRY PROPOSAL AND ITS SETTING The purpose of this project is to enhance the project director s skill in collaborative sermon preparation at Stevens Point Tapestry Church, Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Six sermons will be developed through means of a collaborative method of preparation, then preached and evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the collaboration in increasing retention of the central idea of the sermon and application of the sermon. Each sermon will be evaluated using the same instrument immediately following its delivery and then again four days after the sermon is delivered. The proposed project will seek to accomplish three goals in particular. First, careful research from current available models from business and academic fields of research will be done to indentify appropriate models and methods for use in homiletical study. Secondly, using this research the project director will develop a method of congregant sermon preparation collaboration for use in the Tapestry Church ministry context. Finally, the author will 5

10 preach the collaboratively developed sermon to the 6 congregants of Tapestry Church during the normal Sunday evening worship gatherings and evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative method for continued use in the ministry context of Tapestry Church.

11 7 CHAPTER 3 THE PROJECT DIRECTOR The project director s life, educational foundation, and professional experience will enable him to complete the proposed ministry project in an effective manner. The project director was called to ministry at the age of nineteen. The project director s calling produced within him a fire in [his] bones the inexorable, relentless, impressible calling to preach the Word of God in a manner worthy of the God who calls. 8 The call to preach demanded that the projector director actively pursuing and continually preparing to do what he believes God has called him to do. Part of this preparation has been the project director s continual training and education which began at a university level with the completion of his undergraduate degree in business management and psychology from the University of South Alabama in The project director s business and psychology education will help him to use 8 Hershael W. York and Bert Decker, Preaching with Bold Assurance: A Solid and Enduring Approach to Engaging Exposition (Nashville, Tenessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), p. 3.

12 properly the research methods necessary for this project. 8 The project director s business study was concentrated on general business management theory which relies heavily on sociological studies and methods. Thus the focus of the project director s business degree will be very helpful in understanding the research methods necessary for this project. The Director s education and training has continued through his graduate and post graduate studies. The project director earned a Masters of Divinity with Biblical Language Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1994 and began working on the Doctor of Ministry degree at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2008 which he should complete no in The project director s Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry studies have ordered his understanding of the theology of that directs this project. The project director has continued developing his homiletic skills through various seminars and conferences. In addition to the project director s education this project will also be shaped by over twenty years of ministerial experience. Sixteen of those twenty years of ministerial service have been in the field of youth ministry. The director s involvement in youth ministry will be an asset for this project. It has been this author s

13 experience that the field of youth ministry requires a 9 great deal of experimentation and adaptation. Such experimentation and adaptation will be very useful in this project. The project will also benefit of the project director s years of weekly preaching. Throughout his twenty years of vocational ministry this project director has been preaching to and with youth, children, and adults on a weekly basis. Such experience equals approximately one thousand weeks of regular preaching which will be extremely helpful for this project. An adolescent s questioning nature is quite similar to the questioning nature of the congregation of Stevens Point Tapestry Church, who come primarily from an unchurched nonreligious background. The project director has two professional goals that he desires to accomplish in this project. The first goal is to increase his knowledge of collaborative sermon preparation. Collaborative sermon preparation is new to the modern field of homiletics. At present there are very few resources or studies regarding collaborative sermon preparation. The project director hopes to not only increase his knowledge in this area but also to add to the resources of this field of study. The project director s second professional goal for

14 10 this project is increase his skill in collaborative sermon preparation and delivery. Over the past two decades collaborative work has been growing in many fields of study. Business and educational models of collaboration have already been developed. It is this author s belief that collaboration will gain even greater importance in the American culture. As collaborative methods become even more important to the American culture their development within the homiletics of the church will grow in necessity. Therefore, it is of importance for this author to increase his skill in collaborative sermon development.

15 11 CHAPTER 4 DOCTRINAL FOUNDATIONS Four primary doctrines support and shape the proposed ministry project. These foundational theological doctrines are the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the incarnation, the doctrine of the Church, and the doctrine of Revelation. While the whole foundation of Christian theology, and more specifically Baptist theology, has influenced this project, the three stated doctrines have been the most influential in shaping it. The Doctrine of the Trinity It is this author s view that the Trinity is the linchpin of Christian theology. All orthodox Christian theology is held together by the truth of God s triune nature. Trinitarian thought should therefore flow into and out of all theological thinking, understanding, and practice. This is just as true of one s homiletic practice as it is of one s understanding of Christian orthodoxy. The project director s understanding of the Trinity has been most profoundly shaped by the social Trinitarian

16 theology of Jürgen Moltmann 9 and Stanley Grenz 10. Within 12 orthodox Christian theology, social Trinitarianism can be understood as focusing on the loving relationship of the Godhead. 11 Rather than an exclusion of the economic or ontological views of the Trinity the social Trinity is merely a change in focus concerning the church s understanding of God s self-revelation. The economic view of the Trinity seeks to understand the Godhead through the members arrangements with each other. 12 In other words, the economic Trinity attempts to understand the Trinity by 9 rgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), Unfortunately the term "social Trinitarianism" is sometimes also used in the Mormon understanding of the Trinity which does not fit within orthodox Christian belief. In the Mormom view of the Trinity there are merely three persons who are unified in their relationship. They are not ontologically one and three at the same time. There is no plurality within unity in the Mormon understanding. However, the social Trinitarinism of modern orthodox Christian thought is still consistent with the traditional understanding of the Trinity. Like the economic and ontological views of the Trinity it is just an attempt to explain the mystery of the Trinity. 12 The word "economic" comes from the Greek word "oiîkonomiða" which pertains to the arranging of duties or "rules of the house." Alister E. McGrath, Historical Theology: an Introduction to the History of Christian Thought (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1998), 243.

17 13 each member s responsibilities within the plan of God. Thus while the economic view of the Trinity would focus on the role of the Father as the sender of the Son, the social Trinity focuses on the relationship between the Father and Son that is shown through the Father s sending and the Son s response. The social Trinity looks for the community of God in everything that God does. Since God is community in Himself, His nature should be reflected in the manner by which the church proclaims the kerygma. Unfortunately while the proclamation of the kerygma has been primarily within the nature of community, the development of that proclamation has not typically been accomplished within the foundation of Christian community. Instead, the traditional model of sermon preparation has been that of the solitary figure spending hours in private study. While this lonely study has been done within the scholarship of the community of God, ideally focusing on both historic and current theology, it has typically not incorporated any relational involvement of other members of the congregation. It is this author s belief that the Trinitarian message of the kingdom of God is probably best served by a communitarian approach to its proclamation.

18 The Doctrine of the Incarnation 14 Preaching is an incarnational event (Jn. 1:14). 13 The delivery of the message of God through the homiletic finds much of its theological support in the doctrine of the incarnation. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 14 From this and many other passages of Scripture, the historic Christian doctrine of the incarnation was developed to convey that Christ was fully God and fully human. esus as God enfleshed was the fullest revelation of the nature of God (Heb. 1:1-2). As God s ultimate act of revelation of Himself, the incarnation is the truest model for preaching. 15 The incarnation is a divine/human event. In a similar manner, preaching is a divine/human event. It is an interaction between the Holy Spirit and the people of God for the purpose of clearly communicating the message of God. In such a way preaching the word of God is an Immanuel event for the people who are with esus (Mt. 13 David Watkins, Michael Welker, and Matthias Gockel, Toward the Future of Reformed Theology: Tasks, Topics, Traditions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), All Scripture quotations and citations from the New International Version, 1984 unless otherwise noted. 15 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998), 190.

19 15 1:23). God makes himself known through the truth of the his word and the power of the Spirit and then uses all that makes up the pastor and the people of the local congregation to shape the delivery of his message. Thus in a collaborative model of sermon preparation God is able to use the personality, nature, talents, and skills of the local congregation to shape the message rather than just the personality, nature, talents, and skills of the preacher. Such a method would have much in common with how the partial and incarnational models of biblical inspiration describe God stirring the writers of the Bible. 16 Therefore, a collaborative approach to sermon preparation is incarnation at work in the preaching ministry of the local church. Collaboration in the preparation of the church s weekly message is based on the doctrine of the incarnation. The collaborative process extends the divine/human event of homiletic preparation from the study of the pastor to the congregation itself. Thereby collaborative sermon preparation involves God working through more of His people than just the clergy to enable and empower people to 16 Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 74.

20 16 effectively hear and understand the message of the gospel. It is the project director s belief that a better understanding of the gospel will help the people of Tapestry Church to be better at living out the good news of the kingdom of God in their lives. Thus God working through His people to develop the message of the church will lead to God working in His people to be the church in their community. The Doctrine of the Church Historically in Baptist theology, and now in a broader consensus of ecumenical thought, the church has been viewed as God s covenant people rather than as merely an institution or place. 17 The church universal and local is a people who have been brought together by the power and community of the Holy Spirit. 18 Therefore, the church is community in her essence. She is the covenant people of the God who reveals Himself as triune. The community of the triune God is why Jesus would tell His disciples that they would must remind others of Him when they love one another (Jn. 13:34-35). Even the primary word for church in the Greek New Testament, ekklesia, has community in its nature. 17 Grenz, Ibid.

21 Ekklesia s translation from Greek refers to the gathering 17 of the citizens of a polis. 19 Stanley Grenz points out that the word arises from a verb kaleo ( to call ) plus the preposition ek ( out of ). 20 Thus root word and preposition of the church s greek name allude to a nature of community within the essence of the church. The descriptions of the church in the New Testament also speak of her nature as community. Paul writes that the church participates in the Lord s Supper and this reminds the church that we, who are many, are one body (1 Cor. 10:17). Later Paul states that the church is the one body of Christ that is composed of many parts (1 Cor. 12:12-31). In his letter to the church of Rome, Paul states that the church is made up many parts which have different functions (Rom. 12:5). The Scriptures clearly demonstrate the nature of the church as community because of the trinitarian nature of the One whose bride she is. Since the nature of the church is community this truth should be reflected in the manner in which the church proclaims the message of her Lord. The present age in which we live is one in which so many aspects of daily life have 19 Erickson, Grenz, 464.

22 18 been made collaborative and therefore have a communitarian focus. Such collaboration has been proven effective in many other areas. Collaboration has proven effective in fields ranging from the business world to the culture of academia. It is the project director s belief that such collaborative methods of preparation will enhance the effectiveness of the clergy s role in the kerygma of the gospel. God gives different gifts to believers for the common good of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7). One of the primary roles of those who are preaching preparing and preaching the church s weekly homiletic is the preparation and development of the church for the works service that build up the church (Eph. 4:11). Collaboration in the development of the weekly message will help the pastor to more effectively connect with the congregation and thereby better build up the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). Since the nature of the church and the God she serves is community it is the assertion of this project director that collaboration within the development of the weekly homiletic of the church should prove effective because of its correlation with the very nature of the church. The Doctrine of Revelation Revelation has traditionally been the bedrock of

23 understanding God in Christian thought. 21 In the midst of 19 the immanence of the incarnation Christians still understand of God as transcendentally completely other. 22 The concept of the completely other connects with the idea of qodesh, holy, apartness, or other than, in the Old Testament. 23 Since God is other than His creation He must reveal Himself rather than be discovered by His creation. Thus in the act of revelation God makes Himself known to His creation which would otherwise have no knowledge of or experience with Him. Historically the church has described God s revelation in two main categories. God reveals Himself through creation, which is known as general or natural revelation. 24 Natural revelation asserts that God has made His qualities clearly visible within that which He has created (Rom. 1:19-20). God has also made special revelation concerning Himself. Special revelation is specific revelation concerning the nature of God which is composed of the text of Scripture (Jn. 1:14-15) and the person of Jesus Christ 21 Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1994), Karl Barth, Grenz, Erickson, 72.

24 20 (2 Tim. 3:16). 25 Special revelation is the this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says of revelation and thus much less ambiguous than general revelation (Jer. 29:4). As the exclamation and proclamation of the truth of Scripture preaching, when practiced rightly, is an extension of God s act of special revelation found in the Bible. 26 When centered on the Word of God the act of preaching becomes a revelatory reminder to the community of God of His special revelation. 27 It is this communitarian aspect of preaching as revelation that specifically relates to this project. Rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15) acts as a mark of the church. 28 Stanley Grenz refers to the church as a community of memory and the edification through the act of preaching proclaims the revelation that forms the core of that memory. 29 The community of memory does not give Scripture its authority, which comes from its 25 Ibid., Albert Mohler, "A Theology of Preaching." In Handbook of Contemporary Preaching, (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), Grenz, McGrath, Grenz, 499.

25 21 inspiration from the living God (2 Tim. 3:16). Instead the community comes together to remind each other of the truth that is the Word of God and be shaped by the teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness that God breathed into it (2 Timothy 3:16). Thus the act of preaching has the idea of community at its core. Even when developed in solitary the sermon which is preached is essentially a community event because it reinforces the revelation that forms the memory of the community. Theological Summary Due to the importance of preaching to the community of God as a revelatory event it is important that the best methods and approaches be used and developed for sermon preparation. The church s homilies must be consistent with the nature of her Lord. The need for theological consistency is just as true for the sermon s development as it is for the sermon itself. It is the therefore imperative that the both the sermon and its preparation come from a strong understanding and influence of the doctrines of the Trinity, incarnation, church, and revelation. To do otherwise would be counterproductive. Marshal McLuhan s famous statement the medium is the message is true for

26 22 the relationship between the sermon and its preparation. 30 Collaborative preparation fits within the communitarian, incarnate, revelatory understanding of the Christian faith and this might help it to convey the kerygma of the gospel all the better. 30 Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, 1st ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), 8.

27 CHAPTER 5 REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS Collaboration has been a part of society for as long as people have lived in community. Collaboration as a field of study within the business and education worlds is relatively modern. The study and intentional use of collaboration within the ecclesial world is an even more modern development. While there have been a few books published concerning collaborative preaching 31 only two thesis/dissertations have been written researching the subject of collaborative sermon preparation 32. The first of these studies is Sermon Preparation for Hearers: A Collaborative Approach to Preaching in the Mitchell Church of Christ by Dr. Allen Burris in For 31 Two of the more influential books that have been cited previously are Pagitt's Preaching Reimagined and McClure's The Roundtable Pulpit. 32 Theological Research Exchange Network. Theological Research Exchange Network. (accessed May 24, 2012). 33 Allen Burris, Sermon Preparation For Hearers: A Collaborative Approach to Preaching in the Mitchell Church of Christ (D.Min diss., Abilene Christian University, 2006). 23

28 seven weeks Dr. Burris used a group of volunteers to 24 collaborate with him on his weekly homiletic. He then measured the group s retention as compared to the rest of the congregation of Mitchell Church of Christ. While Dr. Burris research has many similarities to this project there are two huge differences. First, Dr. Burris study was not an A/B study. An A/B study involves two groups of subjects for the research. During the project each group will rotate between study group and control group. Thus the benefit of the A/B study is that each group of participants is compared to themselves as their own control group during the study. An A/B research design ensures a level playing field for groups of people of varying intelligence, life experiences, education, and biblical knowledge, as each participant assumes a role as a control and an experimental subject. Another main difference between this study and that of Dr. Burris is the use of social media. Dr. Burris collaboration depended upon a weekly meeting with the collaboration group. The project director of this study will meet weekly with the collaboration group but as will be discussed in the next chapter social media such as Google Documents and Facebook will also be used to encourage still more collaboration. The second study that has researched collaborative

29 sermon preparation is Developing Sermons to the Point of 25 Delivery through the Use of a Collaborative System Maintained by Parishioners by Dr. Kenneth Werho in Dr. Werho collaborated with his congregation through the use of four groups with different purposes. 35 Dr. Werho s research focused primarily on how effective these four groups were at helping the pastor to develop sermons. 36 While Dr. Werho s Group Four is similar to the collaboration teams of this study his research varies significantly concerning what is actually being studied. Dr. Werho s dissertation studies the effect of collaboration on ministerial satisfaction while this project researches the effectiveness of collaborative sermon preparation on congregant retention and application of the central idea of the sermon. 34 Kenneth L. Werho, Developing Sermons to the Point of Delivery through the Use of a Collaborative System Maintained by Parishioners (D.Min diss., Denver Seminary, 2011). 35 Group One purposed issues that related to their lives (p. 120), Group Two developed those issues into a preaching calendar (p. 122), Group Three presented the preacher with material from their own private reading that related to the preaching schedule (p. 126), and Group Four were theologically trained and met weekly with the preacher to helped collaborate with the research and development of the homelitic (p. 127). 36 Ibid., 131.

30 CHAPTER 6 MINISTRY RESOURCES Developing and evaluating collaborative sermon preparation within the church community of Tapestry Church will require a large number of resources. Due to the unique nature of this project there are not a large number of resources directly relating to collaborative sermon preparation and delivery. Instead the project director will utilize resources from both the fields of collaborative study and homiletic study. These resources will include books, journal articles, doctoral dissertations, online resources, and other resources that discuss both preaching and collaboration. These assets will both help to shape the project as well as be useful in evaluating the project s results. Three of the resources that will be directly address collaborative sermon preparation and delivery. The first of these key resources is Dr. ohn McClure s work The Roundtable Pulpit: Where Leadership & Preaching Meet. While there has been very little research into collaborative sermon preparation and delivery, Dr. McClure is one of the 26

31 27 two primary individuals who have done the limited research. From his study Dr. McClure believes collaborative preaching is the best way to inspire and guide a congregation. 37 Dr. McClure s work is the initial result of his study into collaborative sermon preparation and delivery. The second resource that focuses directly upon collaboration in the preparation and delivery of sermons is Dr. Maurice Brown s work Preaching from the Round Table: Where Collaboration Amplifies Revelation and Facilitates Proclamation. This work stems from Dr. Brown s Doctor of Ministry project for the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. In this project Dr. Brown believes that he investigated and confirmed that collaboration with members of the congregation can significantly aid the homiletic process. 38 The third work that addresses collaborative sermon preparation and delivery, at least partially, is Doug Pagitt s work Preaching Re-Imagined: The Role of the Sermon 37 John S. McClure, The Roundtable Pulpit: Where Leadership and Preaching Meet (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), vi. 38 Maurice Brown, Preaching from the Round Table: Where Collaboration Amplifies Revelation and Facilitates Proclamation (Belleville: Essence Publishing, 2009), 137.

32 in Communities of Faith. Pagitt s work is based upon his 28 personal experience as the pastor of a primarily postmodern congregation. 39 While not a work of research, it is a substantial work of practical work in homiletic collaboration. Preaching Re-Imagined is extremely informative concerning the development and use of collaborative sermon. Pagitt gives examples of how the church he leads has utilized collaboration in the development of the messages preached within it. 40 In addition to works on collaboration, the project director will use resources concerning the nature and development of homiletics. One of the primary works the director will use is ohn Stott s classic work Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century. 41 In this modern classic, Dr. Stott argues that the purpose of preaching is to bridge the large chasm between the biblical 39 Several of Doug Pagitt s other books are controversial in certain evangelical circles because of his association with the Emergent organization. Still Preaching Re-Imagined is an excellent work. Collaborative sermon preparation and delivery are a substantial portion of the book. 40 Doug Pagitt, Preaching Re-Imagined: The Role of the Sermon in Communities of Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), John R. W. Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

33 world and the modern world. It is the preacher, empowered 29 by the Holy Spirit, who stands in this gap to communicate the truth of God s Word to His people. While some of the illustrative material of this work is dated, it is still a seminal classic and an extremely useful work pertaining to the development of the sermon for a minister s congregation. A second classic work of sermon preparation that will help shape this study is the John Broadus standard of preaching preparation, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons. 42 ohn Broadus work from the Nineteenth century forms the foundation of so many other books about the development of homiletics. While it is not a modern work, it still has great insights to offer to the modern preacher. Broadus does an excellent job of covering all areas of sermon preparation and development, such as understanding and developing different types of sermons, the connection between the subject and text, the structural elements of the sermon, and much more. 1982). A more modern work about homiletics that will be of 42 John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, 4th ed., ed. Edwin Charles Dargan (New York: HarperOne, 1979).

34 great use in this project is Zack Eswine s work Preaching 30 to a Post-Everything World: Crafting Biblical Sermons that Connect with Our Culture. 43 Pastor Eswine s book is based around the question Could I now reach who I once was? He contends that preachers must develop sermons from a missional mindset. Unfortunately much of modern preaching is shaped in such a manner that only the churched can understand it. Another standard relating to the nature and development of sermons is Hershael York s and Bert Decker s work, Preaching with Bold Assurance: A Solid and Enduring Approach to Engaging Exposition. 44 In this work Dr. York, with the assistance of Mr. Decker, focuses on helping preachers to use techniques of effective communication to craft their sermons. This work will be of assistance in shaping the sermon that comes from the collaboration. Another valuable text for the purpose of this project is Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages by Dr. Haddon Robinson. Biblical 43 Zack Eswine, Preaching to a Post-Everything World: Crafting Biblical Sermons that Connect with Our Culture, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2008). 44 Hershael W. York and Bert Decker, Preaching with Bold Assurance: A Solid and Enduring Approach to Engaging Exposition (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003).

35 Preaching is an excellent primer in the art of developing 31 sermons. Dr. Robinson s purpose in writing this book was to teach and encourage expository preaching for the means of communicating the true message of the Scripture. 45 While an exploration of expository preaching s role in achieving this goal is beyond the scope of this study, the goal of this project is to determine if collaborative sermon preparation helps in achieving effective communication, congregant memory, and application of the message. Therefore, Dr. Robinson s work will be a great resource for the project director. Finally, the projector director will make use of a couple of resources dealing with the nature of collaboration across fields of study. These works do not specifically focus on collaboration in within the church environment. Rather these works are about collaboration in general. They will be of great use in shaping the nature of the collaborative process of preparing the sermons. The first of the two works that the project director will use is Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches by Dr. Pierre Dillenbourg. In this work Dr. 45 Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 20.

36 32 Dillenbourg discusses the nature of collaborative learning from the information gleaned via studies of collaboration in computer software development and studies in the field of psychology. 46 This information will enable the project director to consider the psychological considerations and implications of collaboration. Furthermore, by reading texts outside of the homiletical disciplines, perhaps new and different insights and approaches may be presented. An additional work on the nature of collaboration that the project director will use is Evan Rosen s book, The Culture of Collaboration. Rosen sees modern social technologies as essential for the possibility of real-time collaboration. 47 Since the project director will make extensive use of such social internet media as Facebook, mobile apps, and Google documents during the collaborative process, Rosen s thoughts and experiences will be essential for shaping what technologies are chosen for use. Many works other than the ones listed in this section 46 Pierre Dillenbourg, Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches (Amsterdam: Pergamon Press, 1999), Evan Rosen, The Culture of Collaboration: Maximizing Time, Talent and Tools to Create Value in the Global Economy (San Francisco: Red Ape Publishing, 2007), 227.

37 will be consulted. However, the books discussed in this 33 section will make up the primary sources consulted for direction and expertise by the project director. They should provide a substantial practical and theoretical base of knowledge for the research.

38 CHAPTER 7 DESCIPTION OF THE PROJECT This project will involve extensive research into collaborative preparation in various fields of study. The study will begin by evaluating the limited use of collaborative methods within the ecclesiological domain. At present there have been less than three D. Min. projects or Ph. D. dissertations listed within the Theological Research Exchange Network databases. 48 There has been little serious research into the use of collaboration in the development of homilies. Due to the fact that there is not a large knowledge base of collaborative sermon preparation, the project director will analyze the large and growing movement of collaborative involvement in the academic and business worlds. The project director will study the methods and research of collaboration by carefully researching the journal articles and books that have been written on the subject. The project director will determine what methods of collaboration are being used in the 48 Theological Research Exchange Network, Accessed 5/19/

39 academic and business worlds, how effective they are, and 35 how to transform them into use for exegetical purposes. After the completion of the research on collaboration and collaborative methods, the project director will begin the experiment within Tapestry Church. The first step is to determine the method of collaboration that will be implemented. The study of collaboration previously discussed will guide the development of the methodology that will be the basis of the project. After the collaborative method has been decided upon, the project director will enlist people to participate in the project. The project requires ten participants. The project director will enlist people to volunteer for the project. These participants will then be divided into two teams, Team A and Team B, by means of a randomizer. 49 Once the teams have been determined the project experiment will begin. Over six weeks the two teams will alternate between collaborative involvement in the preparation of the sermon and non-involvement. For example, during the first week Team A will participate in the preparation of that week s sermon and Team B will not. Both teams will hear the 49 The Projector Director plans on using the website Random.org ( to establish a truly random selection of the Teams.

40 sermon during that week s Tapestry worship gathering. The 36 method of collaboration will be determined and fine-tuned during the research stage of the project described earlier in the section. An example of how the participants might be involved in sermon preparation follows. Each week the project director will establish a Google Document 50 that contains that week s sermon text 51 and headings for the participants thoughts, research, and ideas for illustration and application. The participants in the experimental group (i.e., those on the collaborative team) will be able to view and add their thoughts and ideas to the Google document. The control group will not be able to view or edit the sermon preparation document for the week they are not collaborating. They will then be tested by an instrument developed by 50 Google Documents is an online word processor developed by Google that has collaboration as one of its central features. Each document is stored online in cloud technology. The document can be viewed and edited by anyone how has been granted access by the document s creator. All edits are saved within the file so that all editors of the document can view any changes, additions, or deletions that have been made to the document Tapestry Church is going through the Gospel According to Mark for its weekly messages for the next year. Therefore, the texts for the sermons to be developed during this project will come from the Gospel According to Mark.

41 the project director and evaluated by an expert in 37 preaching to determine how effective that week s sermon was as judged by understanding of the central idea of the text and examples of application of the message to the participant s daily life. The participants will complete the testing instrument again on the Wednesday of the week after the sermon to assess their retention of the central idea of the text and weekly application of the message. Team A will continue collaborating for a total of three weeks while Team B doesn t collaborate but is still measured by the same instrument. The second three week period the roles of the teams will swap. Team B will now be the team that is collaboratively involved in the development of the sermon and Team A will not be involved. Both teams will be tested using the same instrument from the previous three week period. This is known as an A/B test model. This cycle of collaboration will total six weeks of study, with three weeks of collaboration for each team. Thus each team will have 3 weeks of collaborative involvement within the sermon and 3 weeks of noninvolvement with measurement of the effectiveness of the sermon each week. Once the experiment has been completed the projector director will take advantage of the statistical resources

42 of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Dr. Nate 38 Wetzel, a full professor of statistics in the university s Department of Mathematical Science has agreed to help the projector director determine and select the correct statistical formulas to evaluate the effectiveness of collaboration versus non-collaboration in each week s sermon preparation. This will conclude the research part of the project and then the project director will consider the implications of the study.

43 CHAPTER 8 PROJECT EVALUATION The proposed project indentified three ministry goals and two professional goals. Various tools will be used to evaluate the completion and effectiveness of each goal. The two primaries means of evaluating within this project will be consulting with an expert in the field of collaboration and preaching and the quantitative measurements of the instrument developed by the project director. Dr. O. Wesley Allen, the Associate Professor of Homiletics and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary, is one of the experts who will evaluate the completion of the project s goals. 52 Dr. Maggie Watson of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point will also be consulted as an expert in research methodology. Dr. Watson is a Professor in Communicative Disorders and done an extensive amount of research. She will therefore be a great resource for guiding the methodology of the project s research. Finally, Dr. Nate Wetzel of the University of Wisconsin Stevens 52 See Appendix C for Dr. Allen's Vita, p

44 Point will help with the statistical analysis of the 40 results of the project. Dr. Wetzel a full professor of statistics in the university s Department of Mathematical Science. Ministry Goal One The first ministry goal of the project is to research collaborative sermon preparation skills. To accomplish this goal the project director will research the limited amount of material concerning collaborative sermon preparation. Collaborative sermon preparation is a relatively new field and thus study of the subject is not yet extensive. In addition to researching material concerning collaborative sermon preparation the project director will also study collaboration in the fields of business and education and general homiletic development knowledge. The result of this research will be an annotated bibliography of collaboration and preaching. Dr. O. Wesley Allen of the Lexington Theological Seminary will evaluate the annotated bibliography to determine if it adequately covers and understanding of collaborative sermon preparation.

45 Ministry Goal Two 41 The second ministry goal of the project is to develop a series of sermons utilizing collaborative preparation. Collaboration will happen through a combination of online media, Google Docs and other social media, and a weekly collaboration meeting with the appropriate team of the week. 53 Audio recordings will be made of all the sermon preparation collaboration meetings. In addition to the material produced from the sermon preparation meetings the participants in the study will be interviewed concerning their response to the collaboration. All of this information will be presented to Dr. Maggie Watson a Professor of Communicative Disorders for evaluation. Dr. Watson has done extensive research in her field and will therefore be a great resource for critiquing the methodology of this project. Dr. Watson has already be a valuable asset in shaping the form of the survey questionnaire that will be used in the project As discussed earlier in the proposal the study will be an A/B study. Which will involve three weeks with one team (Team A) collaborating in sermon preparation while the other (Team B) is not involved. After the initial three weeks the teams will their roles, with Team B now collaborating and Team A not collaborating.

46 Ministry Goal Three 42 The third ministry goal of the project is to preach the series of sermons which have been developed by collaborative preparation. The sermons will be evaluated each week through the quantified results produced from each participant completing the instrument developed for the project. These results will then be evaluated by Dr. Nate Wetzel. Dr. Wetzel will consider the methodology, enactment, and results of the A/B study. The project director will then do a personal ministerial reflection concerning the project and results of the study for the use of collaborative sermon preparation in the ministry of Tapestry Church. Professional Goal One The first professional goal is to increase the project director s knowledge of collaborative sermon preparation. This has been accomplished by the submitted annotated bibliography. This bibliography was guided and approved by Dr. O. Wesley Allen. 54 See Appendix F for Dr. Watson s Vita, p 64.

47 Professional Goal Two 43 The second professional goal is to increase the project director s skill in collaborative sermon preparation and delivery. This will be achieved through the success of the A/B study. The results of the study will be evaluated by Dr. Nate Wetzel to verify their accuracy and then reflected upon by the project director. The combination of analysis of the statistics and reflection upon them will enable the project director to accomplish this last goal.