Steve Thomason

This article argues that Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology is both a trinitarian praxis and a helpful pedagogical model for the local, suburban church. The basis of this argument stems from data gathered during a PAR project conducted among suburban Lutheran congregations in 2014. The initial intention of this project was to explore how an increased awareness and understanding of the social Trinity might impact the ideation and praxis of spiritual formation in suburban Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations. The findings of the research team indicated that the process of PAR itself was the way in which the team experienced the social Trinity and was a preferred method of engaging adult learning in the local church context. The primary finding from the data was that the PAR methodology, as it was applied in this project, facilitated deep reflection and reflective action among the research team members, and this was the transformative piece for them. This article will articulate the process of the project and offer some practical implications for religious educators in a suburban church context.

Deep in the Burbs is a participatory action research project that gathered members from three upper-Midwest suburban ELCA congregations to explore how engagement with the social Trinity might impact the research team’s ideation or praxis of spiritual formation. The research team pursued this question through the practice of Dwelling in the Word—specifically in select passages from the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17)—various modalities of communicative learning, and communicative action projects in the community. The data indicate three major themes that became important to the research team: the essential nature of relationships, the necessity of reflection, and the awareness of the Holy Spirit’s agency in the world. These findings indicate that the process of participatory action research itself is a Trinitarian praxis that empowered the research team to shift from a vertical-personal ideation and praxis of spiritual formation to a horizontal-communal ideation and praxis of spiritual formation. This shift demonstrates the self-transcendence inherent in spiritual formation. These findings also provide practical implications for leaders of the missional church who seek to engage the suburban neighbor in the Gospel of peace—to the glory of God, through Jesus, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This paper uses Robert Kegan's Orders of Consciousness as a framework to explore the generation gaps present in sububurban ELCA congregations. We live in a unique moment in human history where the Millenials have the lived experience of a globalized, pluralistic, 5th order world, but are cognitively just entering the 3rd Order of concsiousness. The Golden/Boomer generation grew up in a 3rd Order world, but are the only ones old enough to develop 5th Order consciousness. How can the pastoral leader cultivate spaces to bring these gifts into generative conversation?

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of digital media in a specific participatory action research project and discuss the possible implications for cultivating community in suburban congregations. Three types of media are described: website and private discussion forums via the Wordpress platform; educational animation via YouTube; interactive bibliographies created in Prezi. The use of these media allowed the research team to expand their ability to connect beyond the limitations of the physical meeting space and time. It also allowed them to interact with the research question and communicative action in ways that would have otherwise been impossible without digital media. The research did expose a digital divide that can be a hindrance to cultivating community. There are two digital divides. The first is between those who have access to media and those who don’t. The second, and, more importantly for this study, is between those who are comfortable with digital media and those who are not. The conclusion is that digital media is helpful for cultivating community, but is only one way to do so that cannot meet the needs of all people.

ABSTRACT This article argues that Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology is both a trinitarian praxis and a helpful pedagogical model for the local, suburban church. The basis of this argument stems from data gathered during a PAR project conducted among suburban Lutheran congregations in 2014. The initial intention of this project was to explore how an increased awareness and understanding of the social Trinity might impact the ideation and praxis of spiritual formation in suburban Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations. The findings of the research team indicated that the process of PAR itself was the way in which the team experienced the social Trinity and was a preferred method of engaging adult learning in the local church context. The primary finding from the data was that the PAR methodology, as it was applied in this project, facilitated deep reflection and reflective action among the research team members, and this was the transformative piece for them. This article will articulate the process of the project and offer some practical implications for religious educators in a suburban church context.

This paper will explore how the doctrine of the Trinity informs the topic of spiritual formation in the missional church that finds itself in the increasingly global, pluralistic, late/post-modern era. I will pursue this exploration in four movements. First, I will establish preliminary definitions of the aforementioned terms in reverse order: missional church, spiritual formation, and Trinity. Second, I will briefly discuss the history of the doctrine of the Trinity in the Western church and demonstrate how this history has impacted the understanding of spiritual formation and has created a seeming dichotomy between the idea of spiritual formation as the inner journey and as communal action. Third, I will discuss how this dichotomy can be traced back to Augustine and how a reinvestigation of Augustine’s theology may lead to a helpful constructive move. Fourth, I will present a biblical image for spiritual formation in the missional church by attending to the upper room discourse in John 13-17.

This paper explores the ELCA congregation in the upper midwest suburban context through the lens of the missional church conversation. How should the church leader understand the unique challenges of the suburban context in light of missional leadership and the discernment of what and how God is at work in this particular setting.

This paper will explore how the doctrine of the Trinity informs the topic of
spiritual formation in the missional church that finds itself in the increasingly global, pluralistic, late/post-modern era. I will pursue this exploration in four movements. First, I will establish preliminary definitions of the aforementioned terms in reverse order: missional church, spiritual formation, and Trinity. Second, I will briefly discuss the history of the doctrine of the Trinity in the Western church and demonstrate how this history has impacted the understanding of spiritual formation and has created a seeming dichotomy between the idea of spiritual formation as the inner journey and as communal action. Third, I will discuss how this dichotomy can be traced back to Augustine and how a reinvestigation of Augustine’s theology may lead to a helpful constructive move. Fourth, I will present a biblical image for spiritual formation in the missional church by attending to the upper room discourse in John 13-17.

Nehemiah is often lauded as the leadership handbook for the church. This paper reexamines the narrative of Nehemiah through an Exclusion vs. Inclusion filter and reimagines the lessons from Nehemiah for the missional church in light of Empire.

This essay explores how to lead a missional congregation through the process of decision-making and taking action in the world. It uses the metaphor of the church as a sailing vessel that has been called to take a journey of exploration with God into this wonderful and turbulent world of postmodernity.