Description: Re-envisioning the Church as Soteriological Communion with the Triune God and One Another Rethinking Leadership for Community in a Time of Unprecedented Change Description: This D.Min. seminar focuses on Trinitarian revitalizing of the Church, the Body of Christ. There has never been an effective movement of revitalization in the history of the church that did not have a profound theological element arising out of a deep encounter with the Gospel. It is always a theological dimension embedded within the participation of the Church in the actual Trinitarian soteriological and ecclesiological “Realities” that make the Gospel what it is, our hope in life and in death. Congregational revitalization and theological revitalization are always intertwined. The basic theological affirmation is that first and foremost, revitalizing the church is something the Triune God does and something we participate in. This seminar will enable the pastor to: 1.) develop a robust Trinitarian vision for the Church, its essence, its communal life, its revitalization, its relation to the current cultural ferment in the midst of the a rapid metamorphosis, and 2.) begin to imagine what a revitalized church might look as the Spirit unites Christians to Christ as the Body of Christ and through Christ with God the Father so that they become the temple of this indwelling and fellowship-creating Triune God. The seminar will also 3.) analyze the characteristics, issues, problems, and opportunities of the cultural context, and 4.) think about and discuss what is a theologically appropriate, culturally sensitive, and critical ecclesiological response to the cultural context. The seminar will also discuss (and practice) spiritual formation, spiritual disciplines, and communal spirituality that will foster revitalization of Trinitarian Christian community. In addition, the seminar will take up the questions of 6.) Christian leadership for revitalizing the church in light of the unraveling of many churches in the midst of the current rapid cultural metamorphosis, 7.) how to manage the transitions congregations need in order to move into the revitalization the Triune God intends for the church, and 8.) how to group or regroup the church to foster vibrant Trinitarian Christian community. This seminar will accomplish these ends through a sustained dialogue with the robust Trinitarian vision for the church in Wesley and early Methodism, several outstanding recent ecclesiologists (the Torrance brothers and Volf), one of the most seminal and influential leaders in the Missional Church movement (Roxburgh), and also important leadership literature (Beaumont, Bridges, ), and Boren, a leading expert in grouping the church.

Seminary: University of Dubuque Theological School

Science areas:  Neuroscience