In consideration to the theological rationale the researcher will examine the 23rd Psalm. This Psalm illustrates how God acts in regards to his people. In this Psalm, God is the Shepherd and the congregation represents the sheep. God shows his love and care for the sheep. The shepherd and sheep relationship works best when the sheep remain in the fold and listen to the shepherd. One can draw many illustrations from this Psalm and see the importance of close relationships between pastors and congregants in the modern day Church. The researcher will build on the biblical and theological aspects to show how OGBC can experience a healthy pastoral transition and strengthen relationships between their new pastor and the congregation.
Purpose
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Researcher will educate TTC on William Bridges three stage transition process. Events will be developed to follow William Bridges transition process.
• November 11, 2015- The TTC will meet and conduct initial interview with new pastor.
• November 18, 2015- TTC meet with pastor to give him all relevant church documents and information needed to help him learn the church traditions, practices, members, ministries, auxiliaries, leaders and community resources. The Implementation Phase The implementation of Three-month plan will run from December 13, 2015 thru March 13, 2016. In the month of December, events will consist of activities that embraces the letting go stage of transition. In January, the events will consist of activities that embraces the neutral zone stage of transition. In February, the events will consist of activities that celebrates the new beginning stage of transition. Lastly, the new pastor of OGBC will be installed on March 13, 2016. Also, within this time frame, the new pastor will preach his first sermon on December 13, 2015 and also teach the weekly Bible Study on Wednesday evenings. The Bible studies will be geared towards biblical texts that admonishes pastor/sheep relationships such as the 23rd Psalms. In addition, the new pastor will use Old and New Testaments texts that speaks to leadership transitions such as, Deuteronomy 31 and John 14. Concluding in March, the researcher will complete the exit surveys with the TTC and conduct the exit interview with the new
Wilson, Barbara S., Arlene Flancher, and Susan T. Erdey. The Episcopal Handbook. New York, NY: Morehouse Pub., 2008. Print.
Psalms 8, 23, 121, and 137 are Judeo-Christian writings from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) that were written around 1000 BCE in present-day Egypt and Israel. These pieces of writing express praise to God and were written with intent to be sung; in fact, the word psalm literally means “a plucking of strings” (“Before You Read […]”). These pieces also convey a multitude of emotions ranging from euphoria to hostile anger. In “Psalm 8” the excellence of God and all of his creations are praised, especially humanity because God “made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (“Psalm 8”). This praise toward God is a constant theme throughout the psalms. Fittingly, the Hebrew word for psalm, tehillim, means “songs of praise.” Furthermore, “Psalm 23” conveys the everlasting protection of God and the “goodness and mercy [that] shall follow” those who believe in his greatness (“Psalm 121”). A similar subject is examined in “Psalm 121” when it is stated that “the Lord shall protect thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul” (“Psalm 121”). God is portrayed as a divine protector in many psalms, as shown previously, but he is also questioned for pushing hardship on his people, such as in “Psalm 137”. The anger and sadness of the Hebrews who were exiled from Jerusalem is preserved in the words of this psalm: “we wept, when we remembered Zion” (“Psalm 137”). This unique expression of specific feelings to God is what sets the psalms apart from other parts of the Hebrew Bible (“Before You Read […]”).
As ancient Rome began to fall, Christianity began rising. Around 2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth was born, later to be known as the Messiah or Son of God. When people of the Roman era began to hear of such a powerful being, they began to convert to Christianity. Why did Christianity take hold on the ancient world; Christianity took hold on the ancient world because it offered immortality, equality, and it was spread like wildfire.
Throughout the beginning of Christianity, not much was known about the Holy Trinity. In early versions of the Bible, there is not a single reference to the topic. However, in later works, scholars were able to identify where in the Bible the Trinity makes appearances, such as during the baptism of Jesus Christ, when the white dove descended upon him (Matthew 3:16). The Trinity can also be seen in Luke 3:22 which states “And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased.” This is talking about the birth of Jesus Christ, in which the white dove, which symbolizes the holy spirit, descends upon the stable and is shown to Jesus.
The fall of the Roman empire and the rise of Christianity didn't seem to come over night but it did seems to be a correlation. Yes, fall of one and the rise of another took over an 80 year period. Well, one thing is that Rome grew too big and tried to cover top much of the world for it emperor to be stable. The people as they got farther out from Rome was in a sense hired hands for war and had no loyalty to Rome. Barely loyalty to officers over them.They were in it for the gold. This is just one of the reason that the Roman Empire would fall. The rises of Christianity will also contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire such as the things that Christianity presented to everyday people,
Bryan, Eric. "FBC World Missions." Fellowship Bible Church. Fellowship Bible Church. Web. 2 Apr 2014. .
(CNN) -- Christianity was born in Bethlehem, in what's now the West Bank. It took root among people like the Assyrians, who flourished in ancient Mesopotamia. It soon found a home in places like modern-day Turkey.
In this essay, the reader will get a good bit of insight on many different areas in the pastoral ministry field of work. I hope the reader can take away something from this paper that previously they did not know before. Another goal of this paper is to inform the reader in what we have been learning in this short amount of time since the class started. But what I want to really focus on today is a variety of things; I will be addressing the importance of establishing priorities in ministry; the roles of character, integrity, compassion, vulnerability, and dependability as they relate to pastoral ministry. As well as answering a two questions, one being “How does the pastor incorporate spiritual renewal, public worship, preaching, pastoral
As the New Testament Church grew and became established , it began to encounter an ever-mounting number of challenges to both core doctrine and practical growth. These challenges were compounded as the Gospel spread beyond well-established Jewish roots into Samaritan and Gentile cultures and lands. Men and women walked in the presence and authority of God's Spirit and saw the outpouring of His Spirit and demonstrations of His power just as Jesus had promised! (Joel 2:28, John 1:50) However, with growth came the need for new believers to be established in sound doctrine and God 's Word .
The intention for this section of the paper is to present an expositional examination of Psalm 23, which will finally provide adequate evidence for arriving at a conclusion that proves the LORD is the only necessity in an individual’s life due to the character of a shepherd. Each verse will be analyzed separately with the intention of satisfying the hypothesis of the paper. Each verse will have a standard functional examination followed by exposition.
In this regard, the churches in the Reynoldsburg community are receiving “the goodwill of all the people.” At current, the Reynoldsburg church is preparing to propose a shared service event (weekly meals) together with a proposal to initiate a shared Eucharist experience with the various churches in Reynoldsburg. We realize the complexity of such a proposal, but we feel that even though we are a small church, God is moving this church toward becoming influential and impactful in these
During the Rise of Christianity, Judea, the home of the Jews and the early Christians, fell under the rule of the Roman Empire from around 60 A.D. to 476 A.D. The Roman Empire stretched from Italy to Egypt, the Middle East, and beyond in all directions. The Romans worshiped many separate gods, so they differed with the early Christians, who only believed in one all-powerful God. The Romans began to see Christianity as a threat to their empire after a rebellion was sparked in Judea. They began to persecute anyone engaging in Christian practices, and this became particularly harsh under the rule of Emperor Nero from around 64 A.D. to 68 A.D. Christianity was a faith that appealed to everyone, especially the poor and unfortunate, so it grew even
The pastor of the author’s church has revealed a concern about the direction of the church to the author on a number of times. He revealed that more time is spent devising programs and events than on true discipleship. That concern is on many pastors surrounding the globe. Some college students also voiced their lack of interest in continuing to attend church. The writer questioned some of the college students at his church and discovered that many were discouraged by what they called “reruns.” When pressed, they continued that the Sunday School materials and the sermons were the same. It was either academically based or just “plain boring.” There was “no daily accountability or encouragement” from members or staff. There is a lack of interaction from members and it seems to have become “mandatory instead of desirable to attend church.” These concerns are not just limited to a city in the deep south United States. It is evident that something is missing in many churches. Church attendance for many has become a habit or cultural demand. The writer has also been frustrated by what he sees as a cultural Christianity in the south. What has evaded many churches is true discipleship. The writer’s pastor voiced his displeasure in the fact that his ministry had been relegated to management. He spends more time managing buildings, budgets, staff, goals, and guidelines instead of ministering. The results are evident; growth in membership plateaued a couple years ago, worship has been stagnating and giving has dropped. Dr. Michael Mitchell claims that the essential activity of Christian ministry is to “make a disciple who worships Jesus” (Mitchell 2010, 262). Dr. Mitchell’s assertion that the essential activity of Christian ministry is about...
The shepherd and sheep relationship is the best illustration for the relationship between pastor and parishioners. When Jesus asked Simon Peter does he love him three times and said to him “Feed my sheep”, the shepherd and flock relationship has been set. Since Jesus is our good shepherd (Jn. 10:11a), he laid out a good example for us to follow - to lay down his life for the sheep. (Jn. 10:11b) Thus, the wellness of both in and out of the parishioners should always be the concern in the pastors’ hearts. Soul care for the people is essential. Christian friendship is the foundation of Christian soul care. Pastoral ministry including preaching, teaching, and worship forms the broad context of pastoral counseling. Pastoral care is within pastoral ministry but broader than pastoral counseling. God’s love is the source and motivation. Within the pastoral care, there are spiritual direction and pastoral
As everyone know, Christianity is one of the most popular religion in the world. There are three main types of Christianity which are Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodox Church. Although there are different types of Christianity, there is only one faith they believe in, which is God. Ever since my ancestors, my family and I are Buddhist and I do not know much about Christianity. In the recent years, Christianity has become very popular in China. On my last winter vacation, I flew back to China to visit my family. As usual, I was invited out for dinner by most of my relatives. Out of surprise, one of my aunt invited me to a Christmas gathering to have dinner with Christians. I was totally surprised by the amount of people attending the party. The whole room was very crowded and everyone there are very friendly. The Christianity community is growing at a very fast pace and many Buddhists in China has converted to Christians. I am a very democratic person and I think it is a great thing to have faith no matter which god people choose to believe in. Personally, I do not have much knowledge in Christianity; I only know Christianity is a religion about love and forgiving, but I did watch many movies that are related to Christianity. No matter what religious I believe, the history and knowledge about Christianity is still good to study. After the course “Introduction to Christianity”, my understanding about Christianity has grown rapidly. I am really interested in the parables in the Bible. Parables are the easiest and most effective way to understand God’s behaviors. Parables are the stories told by Jesus, and these parables represents the reasons why Jesus talked about parables, the faith, and God’s character.