Change Initiative

2009

The preservation and perpetuation of core institutional vision, values, ethos and identity to succeeding generations are critical imperatives that confront all Christian educational organisations. Christian institutions have historically been prone to the dis-integration of their respective cultural distinctiveness through processes of rationalisation and secularisation, and many do not remain distinctively Christian in vision, ethos or identity beyond the second and third generations. This paper will provide a review of the literature relating to the preservation of core ideology within Christian educational institutions and will identify a range of forces that promote and inhibit the preservation of distinctively Christian identities within an ever-increasingly complex and market driven socio-cultural milieu.

One aspect of change that presents a challenge to church leaders is the introduction of innovations. A branch of the discipline of communication, called the diffusion of innovations, or diffusion research, has yielded helpful insights into the initiation and implementation of changes that people in a social system perceive as new. Diffusion refers to the process of the innovation spreading out and through the social system. Since a local church and church organizations are social systems, insights from diffusion research are especially helpful for initiating and implementing change in the church including its various organizations. Furthermore, this information is useful in churches globally, for it has always been grounded in cross-cultural research; its propositions and principles function in social systems throughout the world. This body of scientific investigation offers much help for those churches wanting to initiate and implement changes designed to help God’s people engage their mission more effectively.

2009

2020

Book chapter from: Transformative Researchers and Educators for Democracy

How are Christians supposed to act amidst a rapidly, changing culture? Should the believer align with a political party that best suits their convictions? And how should one interact with different people groups that may be in direct conflict with her convictions? Walking the fine line between Biblical absolutism and cultural relevancy is a delicate task, and for the 21st Century Christian, the endeavor is becoming increasingly mandatory.

Black Theology, 2017

A discussion concerning the negative affect of current culture upon the American Church.

2019

Christian higher education in the United States is experiencing frequent transformational organizational change that is impacting faculty. Researchers have asserted that frequent, secondorder organizational change correlates with interpersonal conflict, and conflict is associated with counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). These associations between change, conflict, and negative work behavior are important to understand as faculty actions could significantly impact change efforts. Because of the context of Christian higher education, this study was designed to determine if faculty organizational identification influenced the correlations of the variables. It specifically utilized a cross-sectional survey design to assess faculty (N = 267) perceptions of organizational change, interpersonal conflict, CWB, and organizational identification at 5 faithbased universities. Organizational change had a statistically significant positive association with interpersonal conflict, and confli...

2016

The Inside Out Church: The Principles of Moving an Internally Focused Church to Become an Externally Focused Church Dale Melenberg Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2015 The purpose of this doctoral project will be to provide missional-minded church leaders in the Christian Reformed Church in Canada with principles to create environments in which their churches’ members grow in becoming active agents for Christ in their own communities of home, work or recreation. The Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA), founded in Canada by Dutch immigrants, remained isolated and insular for most of its history. Despite its rich heritage of reaching out both at home and abroad through evangelical and diaconal ministries, its theological doctrines, beliefs and practices purported a posture of defensiveness against the culture, including other denominations. Canada is saturated with secular values and ideals that either promote Christians to withdraw in...