Son, Sent, and Servant

This study challenges the claim that Jesus is the archetypical servant leader as described in contemporary leadership literature. Based on a theological reading of the Fourth Gospel, the paper suggests that, as a servant, Jesus cannot be understood apart from his mission and obedience to God. Consequently, Jesus was not primarily a servant leader but rather the Son who was sent to the world to enact the Father’s will. In this regard, the Fourth Gospel provides a unique perspective that is barely noted in the current discourse on servant leadership modelled on the example of Christ. Although certain aspects of servant leadership theory correspond to John’s portrayal of Jesus, the study concludes that other descriptions of him as a servant leader suffer from a one-sided and reductionist Christology. Implications of this view for Christian ministry are briefly sketched out.

Lederskab og spiritualitet i en missional kirke

The thesis of this article is that leadership and spirituality in a biblical perspective are intertwined and closely connected. In the life of the leader this has to do with calling, discipleship, a life of faith, and a discovery of one’s spiritual gifts. The same pattern applies to the congregation: The growth and spiritual maturity of the congregation depend on an understanding of leadership where the center is equpping the saints for service, to build up the body of Christ. The thesis is thus that the precondition for developing a missional congregation is to develop the spirituality of the congregation. This calls for a missional leadership which is able both to develop missional congregations and able to bind together missional with a living congregational spirituality.

Hvordan lede frivillige i kirken?

The Church of Norway was until 2012 a state church, and is now more clearly based in the third sector and strengthened as a voluntary organization. Several reforms in the church have only indirectly ad- dressed the place of volunteers and voluntary work. This article presents a theoretical model for lead- ership of volunteers in congregations. The model integrates two distinct traditions within management theory, namely managerial work studies exemplified by Mintzberg’s (2009) empirically based and practice oriented research, and institutional leadership (Selznick 1957) emphasizing the key role of values and identity. This combination gives room both to general management and a more specific type of leadership in church, according to the distinguishing features of a religious organization. The author discusses how leaders in their practice should combine four dimensions, i.e. values and identity, administration, leading and doing. He then points at three challenges in leading volunteers in a church context: Mapping motivation and the differing needs for flexibility among the volunteers, balancing organizing and structures with motivational leadership, and lastly developing a strategy for systematic voluntary work in the congregation. In the context of the Church of Norway, this calls for an emphasis on the role of the employees as leaders of volunteers.

Evangelikalismen utfordret

The article analyses the implicit epistemology of James K.A. Smith in his book Who’s Afraid of Post- modernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard and Foucault to Church (2006). The analysis concentrates on Smith’s interpretation of three French postmodern philosophers: J. Derrida, J.F. Lyotard and M. Fou- cault, but includes also a yearlong discussion between Smith and D.A. Carson, rendered in the book and in Carson’s books Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church (2005) and Christ & Culture Revisited (2008). Carson defends the evangelical movement which today is criticized and challenged by several post-evangelical writers, among them Smith, who claims that faith is the sole bridge be- tween reality and knowledge. He calls his view confessional realism. The aim is to present and con- structively evaluate Smith’s epistemology and its relation to issues like rationality, truth, objectivity and reality. The theoretical basis for the assessment of Smith’s presentation of Radical Orthodoxy andits epistemology is what M. Stenmark calls “The everyday life epistemology upgraded” (Vardagslivets kunskapsteori uppgraderat (VKU). Stenmark argues that we may know the truth, but nobody own the truth. Based on VKU, the article critiques Smith’s epistemology and his theology of incarnation, as partly built on a local language game, partly on his intrabiblical understanding of reality, and partly for the risk of ending up in fideism. VKU is also the basis for a critical assessment of the epistemology ofevangelicalism and Carson’s arguments for the biblical “non-negotiables”. The article defends a criti- cal realism which allows a view of revelation that the triune God is able to transcend the limitations of human sin and subjectivity, and that God the Creator is able to communicate his plan of salvation to rational men. Human rationality never replaces faith, but rationality is able to give good grounds for faith among people endorsing modernity or postmodernity.

Låg- och frikyrklig teologisk utbildning i ett efterkristet Skandinavien

The present crisis in churches is often addressed by means of pragmatic solutions. However, we con- tend that the problem is rather a lack of theological reflection. Secularization and pluralism require that churches within Free Church traditions renegotiate their own self-understanding. This thesis is primarily based on a historical analysis of the theological ideas operative in the conceptualization of conversion of youth within the Swedish Baptist denomination Örebromissionen (presently Interact). The analysis demonstrates that conversion over time became perceived primarily as a datable and emotional experience whereas the earlier strive to be different from others in society was replaced by an ambition to be a responsible actor in society, promoting the shared moral values of society among the youth. In light of the analysis, we claim that the Free churches should utilize their resources to give room for a more holistic understanding of the human being that emphasizes emotion, cognition and practices. In conclusion, we argue that such a holistic view challenge present theological education within the Free Church tradition to develop a post-secular competence and a missional perspective.

Editorial

Denne utgaven av Scandinavian Journal for Leadership and Theology (SJLT) inneholder til sammen sju fagfellevurderte artikler. To av artiklene har bakgrunn i forskningskonferansen «Skandinavisk kirkeliv i end- ring» som ble avholdt ved Ansgar Teologiske Høgskole i Kristiansand 16.-17. juni 2016. På denne konferansen ble det holdt foredrag og lagt fram papers om endringsprosesser som fore- går i hele Skandinavia og spesifikt knyttet til lavkirkeligheten og frikirkeligheten.

Inspirational Sources for Church Development

The purpose of this article is to identify and discuss key issues in church growth movement and the litera- ture following in its wake, which represents vital sources for the emerging discipline in practical theology of church development. The church growth movement has had a strong impact on churches around the globe. Factors such as scriptural authority, evangelism, cultural openness and relevance, pastoral leader- ship, organization, planning, vision and goals are among issues and factors discussed in the literature. Among the shortcomings of church growth thinking is an all-too-simple theoretical reasoning, a lack of causal modeling and theological issues only superficially discussed. Oftentimes, the growth is assumed to come simply by addressing a few factors. Nevertheless, several of the issues and factors that are identified and discussed have influenced subsequent work on church development.

Læringsarenaer som kan fostre misjonalt lederskap

This article explores evangelical perspectives on how to foster missional leadership on key learning arenas. The Lausanne Movement is widely regarded as representative for evangelical perspectives, and its roadmap The Cape Town Commitment (CTC) is therefore selected as the material. In line with CTC, missional leaders are viewed as a broad category which includes church and mission leaders, Gospel-inspired social action leaders, and Christian thought-leaders in the public arena. The background is today’s pluralistic and secular context, with ‘the civil public square’ as a desirable common vision. Key evangelical convictions in CTC, shaping the fostering of missional leaders, include the foundational grace of Christ, a classical evangelical theology, a holistic missional approach, and a ‘whole person’ leadership development. The church, theological education, and the academy at large are selected as significant learning arenas in CTC. The church arena, claims CTC, should be shaped by biblical teaching, equipping for apologetics, and a holistic view of calling. As a learning arena, per CTC, theological education needs to have a focus on the missional intention, the missional tasks, and the missional equipping, all of which presuppose the centrality of the Bible. Therefore, every theological education should undertake a «missional revision». In terms of the arena of the academy at large, CTC emphasizes its formative role, stresses the need both for Christian institutions and Christians in the ‘secular academy’, encouraging faith and learning as well as public apologetics. All this leads to final missiological reflections, where it is argued that fostering missional leaders on these arenas (a) is enhanced by an emphasis on «bearing witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching in every nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas», (b) presupposes an understanding of cognitive dissonance as a key challenge in the contemporary secular context, and (c) should include a comprehensive apologetic strategy for all three arenas.

Kulturrelevans og menighetsutvikling

The article analyses the term cultural relevance and its importance for Church development. The questions are: What is the understanding of the term cultural relevance and what is the significance of the cultural factor for the understanding of the Church’s nature and task and consequently what are the consequences for the Church’s working methods and strategy? The principle issues are discussed through an analysis of the typology and five relational types of H. Richard Niebuhr’s book Christ & Culture, an evaluation of Jimmy Long’s five corresponding church types and Miroslav Volf’s ecclesiastical identity, including a theological discussion related to the paradigm change from modernism to postmodernism. The author defends Volf’s understanding of the church’s identity and nature and defines cultural relevance foremost as a new eschatological fellowship, expressing its own identity in the common culture. The task and goal of the church is to become an influencing church, i.e. by avoiding ideological pitfalls and enhancing all possibilities in the prevailing culture. In the practical part of the article, Jackson W. Carroll’s combined strategy of resistance and adjustment are defended after a presentation and evaluation of several church movements’ relation to culture. The concluding part of the article defends the use of the combined strategy as the best way to become an influencing church, and is closed by four practical-theological implications for church development.

Teologisk normativitet og menighetsutvikling

This article attempts to answer the following question: how significant is theological normativity for church development practice. At a time when many leaders are busy developing local churches ac cording to secular organizational models and experiences, this question always arises: to what extent does the normative character of the Bible impact Christian faith, church life and ministry and how might normative theology affect development projects that are going on in the church. The overriding issue that both current practice and the article focuses on is how theological normativity and empirical data can be integrated in church development. After explaining the concepts of theological normativity and empirical data and the relationship between them, the article discusses how different national (Norwegian) and international researchers within practical theology attempt to resolve the issues relat ing to integration. The article’s authors believe that these attempts end up in either assimilation or integration that is not fruitful for church development practice. The authors therefore propose an alter native integration model that distinguishes between three levels / degrees of theological normativity corresponding to three different fields / areas for church development. From this perspective, one can see how the integration of empirical data in these three levels of normativity brings both challenges and opportunities. The authors’ conclusion and recommendation concerning the function and signifi cance of theological normativity in church development, is that theological normativity bestows iden tity as well as having a guiding and corrective function.