A Thought on the Christian Formation through Calvin's Reform of Church Office

AbstractTheological Action Research (TAR) is a way of doing and teaching theology and forming students that surmounts the problems associated with both formal theologies and theological ethnographies. Drawing from models of action research developed in other fields, this paper outlines an approach to teaching practical ministry grounded in a collaborative mode of inquiry capable of generating new insights into humanity's relation to God while also engendering the ethical-political powers that give shape to collective life. As a process of what anthropologist Lia Haro calls eth-o-graphy, Christian formation and knowledge production cannot be disconnected from cooperative participation in communities of practice dedicated to this kind of social, ecclesial activity. The paper goes on to describe how the author has begun to implement this TAR model at a Catholic, Jesuit institution, offering some promising preliminary findings on the potential it holds for training ministry students.

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Church Office, Routine, and Self-Exile in Chaucer’s Pardoner

Studies in the Age of Chaucer ◽

10.1353/sac.1994.0003 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 69-98

Author(s):

Fred Hoerner

Keyword(s):

Church Office

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Spiritual Formation and Soul Care in the Department of Christian Formation and Ministry at Wheaton College

Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care ◽

10.1177/1939790918795629 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 271-295 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Barrett W. McRay ◽

Laura Barwegen ◽

Daniel T. Haase ◽

Muhia Karianjahi ◽

Mimi L. Larson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spiritual Formation ◽

Liberal Arts ◽

Historical Context ◽

Christian Formation ◽

Soul Care ◽

Wheaton College ◽

The World ◽

Evangelical Culture ◽

Biblical Foundations ◽

Practical Ministry

This article examines a model of formation within higher education that is committed to educationally based spiritual formation, desiring to see students formed as people who love God and neighbor, devoting their lives to redemptive labor in the world. Deeply influenced by the evolving relationship between the department, the institution, and the broader evangelical culture, the Christian Formation and Ministry department of Wheaton College seeks to equip students with the theological and theoretical foundation, the personal maturity of character and faith, and the practical ministry skills necessary to lead and participate in the formational and caring mission of the church in the world. Wheaton College’s unique approach to teaching spiritual formation and soul care in both their undergraduate and graduate programs is examined through a historical context of the department, a liberal arts and learning-centered approach to education that includes biblical foundations, philosophical framework, pedagogy, and teaching curriculum and assessment.

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Time to Live: Christian Formation through the Christian Year

Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care ◽

10.1177/1939790918805430 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 25-33

Author(s):

Matthew Erickson

Keyword(s):

Spiritual Formation ◽

Christian Formation ◽

Liturgical Year ◽

Average Work ◽

Time Structures ◽

Local Congregations ◽

The Individual ◽

The Church

This article examines the role of the Christian, or liturgical, year as one of the simplest yet most powerful ways of spiritually forming people, both individually and corporately, to become more like Jesus. Many Christians and churches are subtly shaped more by the time structures of the average work week or cultural holidays than the life of Christ or the church. The tendency to address individual spiritual formation focuses largely on cognitivist approaches to change or individual formative practices. However, the author explores several ways in which the Christian year offers a wholistic approach to life formation through the steady, time-bound patterns of the Christian year. Engaging both the conscious and unconscious self in cognitive practices and steady habits, both the individual Christian and local congregations are trained toward Christlikeness.

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A Review of “Practice and Profile: Christian Formation for Vocation”

Religious Education ◽

10.1080/00344087.2013.805041 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 108 (4) ◽

pp. 440-441

Author(s):

Jonathan M. LeMaster-Smith

Keyword(s):

Christian Formation

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The Making of a Canon: Impact of the Old Testament Scriptures in the Christian Canon Development

International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences ◽

10.18052/www.scipress.com/ilshs.80.7 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 80 ◽

pp. 7-21

Author(s):

Kwaku Boamah

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Old Testament ◽

Linear Process ◽

Church Of Christ ◽

Christian Identity ◽

Christian Formation ◽

The Third ◽

Jewish Scriptures ◽

Modern Era ◽

The Church

The formation of the Christian canon was not a one day venture. Some scholars maintain it spanned from the first up to about the fourth centuries. This paper has three main parts: the first draws a linear process of canon generation, beginning from text to scripture and possibly becoming canonical. The second focuses on the creation of the Christian canon by exploring the stages and the implications of naming the canon as `Testaments`. At the heart of the study is a consideration of the use and inclusion or exclusion of the Jewish scripture by Christians as discussed by a heretic (Marcion) and three Anti-heretics (Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian) in the 2nd and/or 3rd centuries of the Roman Empire. The third part takes an example of a modern church (Church of Christ) whose reception to the Old Testament is one of skepticism. Furthermore, the level of usage of the Old Testament by the Church of Christ is key for the thesis of this paper. It is, therefore, important to assess a possible relationship between Marcion and the Church of Christ. Historical, theological and an interview are employed to explore these developments. The paper concludes that by the naming of the Christian canon and inclusion of the Jewish scriptures, the Christian identity can be described as Judeo-Christian. This description has impacted Christian formation and development a great deal from antiquity to the modern era. Marcion and his followers did not take this lightly in the first four centuries of the Christian history. On the other hand, in the nineteenth century the Church of Christ seemingly follows this example in antiquity on including the Old Testament as part of the Christian canon.

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