Missional Church:

A Biblical Response to Mission in Western Culture

2015 Cohort - Courses and Schedule

Concentration Goals
Learning Modalities
The Cohort Experience
Course Descriptions
Contact the Coordinator

Currently, there is no new cohort launch scheduled for this concentration, following the 2015 cohort now in progress.
 

Mission

Following the incarnational God who sends us into mission, the Missional Church concentration is designed to develop spiritually mature and visionary professionals to lead a 21st century missionary movement for western culture in a Seventh-day Adventist context.

What is Missional Church?

Missional church is a biblically formed 21st century missionary movement of western culture. It defines the church as God's sent people. It is a way of life that models the incarnational life of Jesus Christ who took the form of his creation to show humankind the Father. (John 14:9-11) Just as Christ transcended culture to show us the Father, the missional church transcends culture in order to show lost people Jesus Christ through sharing life together. The result of the missional life is restoration of sinful people as we follow the ways of Christ through deeper understanding of truth. (John 14:6)

Concentration Goals

The outcomes of the Missional Church concentration include; 1) a knowledge base, 2) a transformational emphasis on being, and 3) doing evidenced in skill training for missional church practitioners.

Knowing: The knowledge base has the following components:

1. Understanding biblically faithful 21st century mission praxis in western culture
2. Appreciation and awareness of the personal spiritual life as foundational for mission
3. Systems thinking and change theory
4. Leadership development as the framework for a biblically faithful missional church

Being: In the process of the Missional Church concentration, participants will experience development in the following areas:

1. One's identity formed through discipleship
2. An exemplar of wholeness as defined by spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being
3. Incarnational mission as a way of life
4. A shaper of missional culture
5. A lifelong learner
6. Agent of biblically based transformation and restoration
7. Commitment to multi-ethnic collaboration for mission

Doing: Participants in the Missional Church Concentration demonstrate competency in areas fitting their context selected from the missional practices listed below:

1. Implementing spiritual health into the fast-paced life of the 21st century
2. Forming habits for spiritual and emotional renewal
3. Discerning and following the leading of the Holy Spirit
4. Developing a team for biblical church leadership 
5. Modeling incarnational ministry
6. Establishing clear indicators for assessing missional church ministry
7.  Utilizing systems thinking to create a process model
8. Processing and managing change
9. Abiding with broken people 
10. Utilizing coaching as a platform for leadership development
11. Developing organic discipleship as a foundation for developing leaders
12. Leading a mission of multiplication
13. Facilitating community-wide transformation through collaboration and networking
14. Creating a culture of inclusivity for missional practice

Learning Modalities

The following learning modalities will be included in the concentration's pedagogy:

1. Ministry development plan
2. Journaling
3. Context support group
4. Learning groups including collective assignments, consultations, and accountability
5. Mentoring as a professional relationship
6. Classroom consultation including didactic and experiential learning, as well as networking with top practitioners and experts in the field of missional church
7. Research including current literature, assigned readings, and case studies
8. Praxis including implementation of leadership interventions in the context of ministry
9. A project including theological reflection, field research, and intervention involving a specific challenge in their ministering context

The Cohort Experience

The program is delivered in the cohort model, wherein participants proceed through the sequence of courses together. Study and learning are year-round, with pre-intensive, during-intensive, and post-intensive activities and experiences. Pre-intensive assignment preparation can begin as early as six months prior to an intensive. There are four annual teaching sessions presented by ministry professionals. During the program you will participate in regional work groups, follow a ministry development plan, read and reflect on the best literature in your concentration area, and develop and evaluate a professional project within the context of your own congregational or other leadership responsibilities.

Cohorts are identified by the year in which they formed. For example, if you are a member of a cohort that formed in 2015, during the five-six years you expect to be in the program, the title of your group will be "the 2015 Missional Church Cohort."

Course Descriptions

1. CHMN707 - Incarnational Missional Church
   Credits: 4
   Investigates 21st century western culture and corresponding mission praxis. Includes theological reflection, literature, theory, and practics in ministry. Prepared for leaders who desire to engage the church in effective mission to Western culture; pastors, church planters and administrative leaders who wish to gain an understanding of the implications of missional church.
    
2. GSEM790 - DMin Project Seminar
   Credits: 4
   Participants receive assistance in forming their DMin project proposal, and orientation to issues in successful completion of the project. Areas of focus include a literature review, theological reflection, critical thinking, experiential learning, reflective observation, research design and techniques, reading and evaluating research, academic writing, development of an effective work plan for completion of the project, and other project-related topics.
    
3. GSEM706 - Spiritual and Theological Foundations for Ministry
   Credits: 8
   This module looks at theological and spiritual foundations as a basis for engagement in ministry. Ministry is based on being as well as doing. This module builds the spiritual and theological foundation from which the practice of mission and ministry grows and seeks to lead the participant into a self-reflection and examination of life and belief.
    
4. CHMN708 -Transformational Leadership and Organic Systems Thinking
   Credits: 5
   Personal and theological reflection will be integrated with principles for leading change. Systems thinking, transformation of organizational culture, and human development theory are investigated in the context of missional leadership. The module also pursues further development and application of missional-lifestyle modeling. Practical focus on incarnational mission skills is initiated.
    
5. CHMN709 - Discipling Leaders for Mission
   Credits: 5
   Leaders transact vision through developing disciples according to the biblical model for an apostolic movement. Those whom missional servants lead become mature in Christ and thus a missional movement is multiplied. Coaching and mentoring skills are taught so that the leader can develop people toward maturity in Christ.

Contact

The concentration is coordinated by:

Dr. Michael F. Cauley, president, Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists: 1-407-644-5000; mike.cauley@floridaconference.com and...

Dr. Michael R. Cauley, pastor of Oasis and Gracepoint Seventh-day Adventist Churches, Kentucky-Tennessee Conference: 1-615-766-7766; cauley@andrews.edu. See also www.michaelrcauley.com (hint: works best with the FireFox web browser).

Schedule

Travel and lodging information is provided in the links under the "Intensive Location" column in the tables below. 
Cohorts are identified by the year in which they formed. Cohort participants will take these courses and modules:

2015 Cohort Syllabi and schedule for the cohort forming in 2015: (follow the linked titles to obtain the syllabi)
Course Number	Course Name	Instructor	Intensive Dates	Intensive Location
CHMN704	Incarnational Missional Church (4 cr) Daily schedule for intensive	M.F. Cauley and M.R. Cauley	Jan 26-Feb 3, 2015	Altamonte Springs, FL
GSEM790	DMin Project Seminar (4 cr) Daily schedule for intensive	Bill Knott and/or James Wibberding	February 4-12, 2015	Altamonte Springs, FL
GSEM706	Spiritual and Theological Foundations for Ministry (8 cr) Daily schedule for GSEM706 intensive (Field Research Symposium April 18 & 19, Petr Cincala) DailySchedule for Field Research Symposium	Jon Dybdahl	April 6-19, 2016	Andrews University
	Implementation Symposium	David Penno	Dec 13, 2016 1:00-5:00 EST	virtual meeting via Zoom
CHMN713	Transformational Leadership and Organic Systems Thinking (5 cr) Intensive starts Sunday, April 30 at 1:00 and ends Friday, May 5 at 2:00	M.F. Cauley and M.R. Cauley	April 30-May 5, 2017	Altamonte Springs, FL
GSEM796	DMin Project (3 cr)		spring semester 2017
CHMN714	Discipling Leaders for Mission (5 cr)	M.R. Cauley	February 4-13, 2018	Altamonte Springs, FL
GSEM796	DMin Project (3 cr)		spring semester 2018

The Doctor of Ministry reduced residency (for intensive venues other than the Andrews University campus) is offered as an approved exception to Association of Theological Schools Degree Program Standard B, section E.3.1.1.

Ordering books

For a schedule of dates and locations of intensives planned for cohorts in other concentrations, see the four-year DMin Program Planner.

You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software loaded on your machine to access any pdf documents referenced on this page.

4/26/2018