Abilene Christian University
Graduate School of Theology
Developing New Churches in North America
February 3-5; March 24-26, 2011
BMIS 652.E1
3 credit hours
Dallas Education Center
Irving, Texas
Class Times: 1:00-5:00 and 6:00-10:00 p.m. on Thursdays
8:00-12:00 a.m.; 1:00-5:00 p.m. on Fridays
8:00-12:00 a.m. on Saturdays
Place: The Dallas Education Center, 1710 West Airport Freeway (US 183), Irving, TX 75062;
(972) 259-2631. (Directions: The Dallas Education Center is on the frontage road of Airport
Freeway/US 183. Exit off of 183 at Story Rd. If you are coming from the east, loop back under
freeway.)
Professor:
Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen
Address:
4207 Meadow Ridge Drive:
Carrolton, TX 75010
Email: gailyn@missionalive.org
vanrheeneng@acu.edu
Web Sites:
www.missionalive.org
www.missiology.org
Telephone: (972) 939-4337 (office)
(972) 754-9663 (mobile)
Meeting with Teacher:
For this course, e-mail is the preferred mode of communication but the teacher is also available
by phone, preferably in the afternoons.
GST Mission
By equipping students with the requisite skills, knowledge, and experience, the Graduate School of
Theology aspires to produce graduates with trained minds and transformed hearts. The College of Biblical
Studies seeks to fulfill ACU’s mission to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout
the world by providing leadership preparation and resources for effective worldwide ministry in the cause
of Christ. The purpose of the GST in particular is to equip men and women in effective missional
leadership for ministry in all its forms, and to provide strong academic foundations for theological
inquiry.
Course Description
Developing New Churches in North America equips Church Planters to develop biblically-informed,
comprehensive, and effective plans for planting new churches in selected areas of North America. The
course will define the relationship between Theology and Practice and how these theologies and practices
shape Structure. The course likewise enables Church Leaders to develop theologies and ministry
practices for the missional renewal of their churches.
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Course Goals
Developing New Churches in North America enables church planters and church leaders to . . .
 evaluate their call and abilities as apostolic leaders, equippers, and evangelists.
 explain theological paradigms formative to incarnational/missional ministry.
 develop biblical theologies to facilitate transformative practices of church planting and renewal.
 analyze contexts for church planting and renewal.
 learn historical narratives which form the worldview assumptions of the cultural context of the
church plant or existing church.
 implement culturally-relevant practices of ministry, congruent with their theological assumptions,
to plant missional churches and renew exiting ones.
Course Readings

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
Halter, Hugh and Matt Smay. The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community; The
Posture and Practices of Ancient Church Now. San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2008.
Halter, Hugh and Matt Smay. The Tangible Kingdom Primer: an eight-week guide to
incarnational community. Anaheim, CA: CRM Empowering Leaders, 2009.
Hirsch, Alan with Darryn Altclass. The Forgotten Ways Handbook: A practical guide for
developing missional churches. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2009.
Roxburgh, Alan J. and M. Scott Boren. Introducing the Missional Church: What it is, Why it
matters, How to become one. Baker, 2009.
Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Dream the dream . . . again”
Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Imaging Christ’s Church in the City”
Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Contrasting Missional and Church Growth Perspectives”
Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Church as ‘Place’ or ‘Service’”
Competencies and Measurements
By the end of this course, learners will be able
to:
Achievement of the competency will be measured
by:
1.
Evaluate their call and abilities as
apostolic leaders, equippers, and
evangelists.
1.
Group reflections in class; personal
interaction with class members and the
teacher of the course; reading reflections
on articles.
2.
Explain theological paradigms formative
to incarnational, missional ministry.
2.
Class discussion, reading reflections on
the Van Rheenen articles and Hirsch and
Roxburgh/Boren texts.
3.
Develop biblical theologies to facilitate 3.
transformative practices of church planting
and renewal.
Analyze contexts for church planting and 4.
renewal.
Class discussion; the “Historical and
Cultural Analysis” paper
Learn historical narratives which form the
Class discussion; the final integrative
4.
5.
5.
Class discussion, the “Theology of the
Church” paper.
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6.
worldview assumptions of both the church
planter and the cultural context of the
church plant or existing church.
Implement theologically-focused,
culturally-relevant strategies to plant
missonal churches and renew existing
ones.
paper on “A Contextual Strategy Model.”
6.
Class discussion; the final integrative
paper on “A Contextual Strategy Model.”
Course Assignments
1. Pre-Course Readings: Before the commencement of the course on February 3, learners will
write one-page, single-spaced reflections on each of the two texts listed below and another on the
four articles (a total of three reflection papers). These reflections should (1) give the major thrusts
of the readings and (2) critically engage its content by raising implications, questions, and
objections and by applying the material to church-planting or church-renewal ministry. These
readings will prepare you for the first half of the course. If for some reason you register late,
please contact the teacher (gailyn@missionalive.org; 972-939-4337) for a rescheduling of this first
assignment.
 Halter, Hugh and Matt Smay. The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational
Community; The Posture and Practices of Ancient Church Now. San Francisco: JoseyBase, 2008.
 Hirsch, Alan with Darryn Altclass. The Forgotten Ways Handbook: A practical guide for
developing missional churches. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2009.
The four articles are . . .
 Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Dream the dream . . . again”
(www.missionalive.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114:dream-thedream-again&catid=35:mission-alive&Itemid=97).
 Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Imaging Christ’s Church in the City”
(http://www.missionalive.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:ima
gining-christs-church-in-the-city&catid=35:mission-alive&Itemid=97).
 Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Contrasting Missional and Church Growth Perspectives”
(http://www.missionalive.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137:cont
rasting-missional-and-church-growth-perspectives&catid=35:mission-alive&Itemid=97).
 Van Rheenen, Gailyn. “Church as ‘Place’ or ‘Service’”
(http://www.missionalive.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=190:chur
ch-as-place-or-service&catid=35:mission-alive&Itemid=97).
2. A Theology of the Church. Based on the readings, research into significant texts about the
church, and class lectures and discussions, learners will write an ecclesiology in preparation for
church planting and renewal. This assignment is due on March 24 at the beginning of the second
weekend of the course. This paper will give theological reflections in five areas:
 Basic Beliefs: What basic beliefs form the identity of the church that God is leading you
to plant or renew?
 Beliefs Shaping Ministry: What missional practices are inferred from these basic beliefs?
How do these basic beliefs shape ministry? (This area can be combined with “Basic
Beliefs.”)
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


A Brief Description of the Church: Based upon these beliefs, describe the identity and
focus of the church.
Entering into God’s Story: Which biblical story(ies) best describes your identity? Why?
Core Values: Based upon these theologies, what core values shape your identity?
3. A Historical and Cultural Analysis for Church Planting. Based upon class lectures and
discussions, learners will write a five-page historical and cultural description of a church-planting
context of personal interest. This analysis will present the results of demographic analysis,
participant-observation, and interviewing of resource people within the possible church planting
context. This assignment is due at the beginning of the second weekend of the course on March
24.
4. Mid-Course Readings. Before the second half of the course begins on March 24, learners will
write a one-page, single-spaced reflection on each of the texts listed below. These reflections
should (1) give the major thrusts of the readings and (2) critically engage its content by raising
implications, questions, and objections and by applying the material to church-planting ministry.
These readings are in preparation for the second half of the course.
 Halter, Hugh and Matt Smay. The Tangible Kingdom Primer: an eight-week guide to
incarnational community. Anaheim, CA: CRM Empowering Leaders, 2009.
 Roxburgh, Alan J. and M. Scott Boren. Introducing the Missional Church: What it is,
Why it matters, How to become one. Baker, 2009.
5. Practicum and Contextual Strategy Model. Learners will develop a contextual model of
strategy for a specific church planting or church renewal which builds on the theological and
historio-cultural perspectives of their previous papers. The material for this paper will be
developed in community as a group of Christian leaders are led by the student through The
Tangible Kingdom Primer: An eight-week guide to incarnational community. This paper will . . .
.
 discern abilities and qualities of apostolic leadership.
 illustrate a model of moving from Theology to Practice to Structure.
 provide a guide to engage culture, form missional community, and equip leaders.
 describe the communion, community, and mission of the developing church within a
culture of individualism, consumerism, and materialism.
This 12-15 page paper, sent to the professor as an email attachment on or before April 24, will
describe the practice of ministry of a proposed church planting or church renewal based upon
above-mentioned community learning, theological and anthropological research and divine
imagination.
Course Grading
Assignment
Percentage of Final Grade
Pre-Course Readings
30%
Mid-Course Readings
10%
Theology of the Church
15%
Historical and Cultural Analysis
15%
Practicum and Contextual Strategy Model
30%
Date Due
Feb. 3
Mar. 24
Mar. 24
Mar. 24
April 24
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Preliminary Course Outline
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Why Plant Churches?
Qualities of Apostolic Leaders
The Mission Helix
The Tangible Kingdom
Theological Reflection on Missional Renewal and Church Planting
A.
Missio Dei
B.
Incarnation
C.
The Kingdom of God
D.
Covenant
E.
Inspiration
VI.
Cultural Analysis for Missional Renewal and Church Planting: Incarnational Learning of Social
Contexts
A.
Demographic Analysis
B.
Participant Observation: Watching and Listening
C.
Ethnographic Interviews: Asking Good Questions
D.
Logging People’s Stories
E.
Seeking God’s Direction: Prayer Walks
VII.
Historical Reflection on Church Planting and Missional Renewal
A.
Personal Histories
B.
Restoration Histories
C.
Cultural Histories
VIII. Strategy Development: Incarnational Practices for Missional Renewal and Church Planting
A.
The Place of Strategy and Spiritual Formation within the Missional Helix
B.
Redefining and Measuring Effectiveness
C.
Paradigm of Hirsch in The Forgotten Ways
D.
Paradigm of David Watson for Church Planting Movements
E.
Reciprocal Moves between Theology and Practice
F.
Who is God Forming You to Be? Apostolic and Pastoral Ministry
G.
Forming Missional Values
H.
Re-Imaging the Church for a Post-Modern Context
I.
Becoming a Church Planter
1.
Discerning
2.
Equipping
3.
Planting
```
4.
Reproducing
J.
Practices of the New Paradigm
1.
Telling the story of God’s salvation
2.
Walking intimately with God, reflecting his love and holiness
3.
Growing in Christ within Christian community
4.
Overcoming sin and Satan
5.
Cultivating spiritual friendships with searchers
6.
Equipping for works of ministry
7.
Practicing hospitality
8.
Serving the poor, weak, and oppressed
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H.
J.
K.
9.
Fellowshipping all of God’s people
10.
Living for the sake of the world
Process of Church Planting
Engaging the Culture
a. Contexts of Incarnation
i. Family
ii. Neighborhood
iii. Workplace
iv. Third Place
b. Ministries of Mission
i. Hospitality
ii. Social Justice
iii. Proclaiming the Kingdom of God
c. Deconstructing the Modern Church
Developing Communion, Community, and Mission within a culture of individualism,
consumerism, and materialism.
1.
Living Out
2.
Inviting In
Class Attendance and Late Assignments
Regular attendance is expected of all students. If learners are absent for any reason during this short course,
they must talk with the professor. Late assignments will be reduced by one letter grade for each week
or part-thereof that it is late without permission of the professor.
Academic Integrity
Violations of academic integrity and other forms of cheating, as defined in ACU’s Academic Integrity
Policy, involve the intention to deceive or mislead or misrepresent, and therefore are a form of lying and
represent actions contrary to the behavioral norms that flow from the nature of God. Violations will be
addressed as described in the Policy. While the university enforces the Policy, the most powerful motive
for integrity and truthfulness comes from one’s desire to imitate God’s nature in his/her life. Every member
of the faculty, staff and student body is responsible for protecting the integrity of learning, scholarship and
research. The full Policy is available for review at the Provost’s office web site
(http://www.acu.edu/campusoffices/provost) and the following offices: provost, college deans, dean of
campus life, director of student judicial affairs, director of residential life, and education and academic
departments.
Professor Vitae Summary
Gailyn Van Rheenen served with his family and co-workers as a church-planting missionary to East Africa
for 14 years, 13 years among the Kipsigis people of Kenya. He taught missions and evangelism at Abilene
Christian University for over 17 years. During this time wrote Missions: Biblical Foundations and
Contemporary Perspectives (Zondervan), Communicating Christ in Animistic Contexts (William Carey
Library), The Changing Face of World Missions (Baker Academic; authored with Michael Pocock and
Doug McConnell), and participated in authoring Evaluating the Church Growth Movement (Zondervan).
His Missiology website (www.missiology.org) continues to provide "resources for missions education" for
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local church leaders, field missionaries, and teachers of missions. In 2004 Gailyn formed Mission Alive
(www.missionalive.org), a ministry that partners with churches to plant churches throughout North
America. Gailyn and his wife Becky have four children, Jonathan (deceased); Rebecca Gail, Deborah, and
David and three grandchildren, Anjali, 6; Eli, 6; and Eva, 5.
Professor Role and Availability
The role of the teacher during this course is that of mentor in equipping class participants to think through
the nature of missional ministry and the process of developing contextual strategies for church planting and
renewal based upon theological reflection. He is available for personal advising on each project of this
course by telephone or email.