A Practical Theology of Discipleship Formation in Aotearoa New Zealand

discipleship;practical;theology;urban;vision;bonhoeffer

Day, Jethro Stephen ; Baab, Lynne

University of Otago

关键词: discipleship;    practical;    theology;    urban;    vision;    bonhoeffer;   

Others  :  https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/10523/7004/1/DayJethroS2016MTheol.pdf

美国|英语

来源: Otago University Research Archive

【 摘 要 】

The objective of this research is to develop a practical theology of discipleship formation that would be effective in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. Using research methods from practical theology and the social sciences, I bring together these different strands using the mutual critical correlation approach of theological reflection. First I consider the context of New Zealand as a place that has moved from a culture of religious participation to religious consumption and from public faith to private faith. This means that that people wanting to form disciples need to find new ways of forming community and engaging with truth. I then seek for ways of answering these questions by studying theologians, Gerald A. Arbuckle and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and by creating an ethnography of the theology and practice of discipleship formation of the Anglican missional order, Urban Vision. For Arbuckle formation can be seen as a anthropological process whereby disciples find new ways of understanding themselves and engaging with the world by admitting their need for God and returning to the stories scripture and connecting these stories with their present experience. The experience of chaos is God;;s way of catalysing this process to bring about a new order within the disciple. For Bonhoeffer formation is done through finding oneself in Christ through daily rhythms of communal and private prayer and scripture reading. Urban Vision has a comprehensive espoused theology and operant theology of discipleship formation. It has intentional formational practices for new members and full members, and has created a culture of formation that daily reminds members of the gospel. I conclude that discipleship formation happens in the context of community and mission, and by creating a culture of remembering through the means of daily, weekly and annual rhythms of storytelling, reflection and skilled guides.