Browsing by Author "Sheridan, Timothy Michael"

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    Being a hermeneutic of the gospel : hermeneutical and epistemological foundations for a missional ecclesiology
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-03) Sheridan, Timothy Michael; Hendriks, Hans Jurgens; Goheen, Michael; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The church in the West is facing a crisis of identity. Who are we as the church and what is our purpose in the world today? The recovery of a missional ecclesiology in the West is an urgent task. The aim of this study is to contribute to this work on a missional ecclesiology by focusing on the need for the church to grow its capacity to discern missional vocation. This study‘s central question: ―How can the church in the West discern its missional vocation?‖ The first chapter considers how global realities are forcing the church to re-examine its missional identity and vocation. In addition, the local realities in which this study is situated are highlighted, with particular emphasis on the realities that demand discernment. The chapter concludes with consideration of historical developments in hermeneutics, in particular the development of a missional hermeneutic. The emergence of a missional hermeneutic is important in the church‘s discernment. The second chapter ―puts on‖ a missional hermeneutic to aid in this discernment of missional vocation. Dwelling in the biblical story with this lens, and so allowing the story to renew our understanding of the role and identity of God‘s people, will shape our missional discernment. The third chapter focuses on the contemporary cultural context in its North American expression, in which the church must forge its missional identity. A retelling of the cultural story of the West demonstrates the challenges, both old and new, facing the church. Two important movements are already seeking to answer the question of how the church discerns missional vocation. The fourth chapter engages the important conversations that are happening within both the Emergent and Missional Church movements. These conversations encompass a wide diversity of theological traditions and backgrounds, but are held together by a common desire to discern what a missional ecclesiology means for the West. Particular themes that are important for discernment are highlighted as these conversations are engaged. Finally, the questions of the early chapters converge on the crux of this study: a framework for discernment, articulated in detail in the fifth chapter. Building on important examples, both Western and African, this affirmative-antithetical model of discernment is offered as a broad ―lens‖ for reflective churches seeking to discern their missional vocation. The final chapter then practices discernment in six key areas facing the church in the West today, at times using for illustration the local context in which this study is situated. These parting thoughts seek to both recognize the challenge facing missional churches, and point to encouraging dialogue already happening among those seeking to do the same.
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    The emergent church movement
    (Stellenbosch University, Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, 2013-02) Sheridan, Timothy Michael; Hendriks, Hans Jurgens
    Something about the word “missional” has captured the imagination of many Christians in Western societies and beyond. The term, though relatively new as a description of the church, is now used widely across confessional traditions and within both “Emergent” and “Missional” Church movements. The employment of the term “missional” includes the superficial along with the profound, the culturally captive alongside the richly biblical. At its best, the word “missional” describes not a specific activity of the church, but the very identity and vocation of the church as it takes up its role in God’s story in the context of its culture, and participates in his mission. This article will engage the Emergent Church movement and summarize its contributions toward the development of the missional identity and vocation of the church in the West. In the next article, the Missional Church movement will be engaged and its contributions toward the development of a missional identity and vocation for the church in the West will be summarized.
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    The Missional Church movement
    (Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust, 2013) Sheridan, Timothy Michael; Hendriks, Hans Jurgens
    At the beginning of the 21st century, many different voices have been drawing our attention to two realities that are shaping the future of Christianity: the centre of gravity for the Christian faith has shifted to the global South and to the East; and the church in Western societies has been pushed to the margins and is facing serious decline (Guder 1998, 1). Many are asking themselves, “what are the implications of these facts for the future of the church in western culture?” For many, the term “missional” has begun to capture the imagination of the church in the West. Rather than find “missional” as a new programmatic or methodological solution for the church today, something at the foundational level needs to be discerned, namely, “who we are and what we are for” (Guder 1998, 3). Discernment2 of the church’s identity and vocation is a critical task facing us today. In the previous article, the Emergent Church movement was engaged in order to summarize its important contributions toward the recovery of a missional identity and vocation of the church in the West. In this article, the Missional Church movement as observed in the North American scenario will be engaged and its contributions toward the development of a missional identity and vocation for the church in the West will be summarized.