Considering the Great Commission

by Gunter, W. Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780687493630
• ISBN10: 0687493633
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-30
• Publisher: Abingdon Pr

Summary

A comprehensive guide to the theology and practice of evangelism within the Wesleyan tradition. No one would deny that evangelism stands at the heart of the Wesleyan/Methodist movement. Yet ask any number of representatives of that movement what evangelism means, and you will get an equal number of definitions. Is it bringing the lost to saving faith in Christ? Working to conform the social order to the Kingdom of God? Deepening the commitment of disciples to the work the Gospel? This important new volume answers that evangelism is all these, and more. Drawing on the work of prominent theologians and church leaders, it examines both the theory and the practice of evangelism among the people called Methodist, charting a course for a faithfully Wesleyan fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(6)
Part I: Conceptualizing the Great Commission
The Great Commission 1910--2010	7	(16)
Andrew F. Walls
The Great Commission in an Age of Globalization	23	(18)
Dana L. Robert
The Global Mission of The United Methodist Church	41	(16)
Elaine A. Robinson
Jesus Christ: The Heart of the Great Commission	57	(14)
W. Stephen Gunter
Part II: Contextualizing the Great Commission
Megatrends That Challenge an Evangelizing Church	71	(24)
Achim Hartner
Building the Church in Africa: Church Planting as an Inclusive Praxis	95	(12)
John Wesley Zwomunondiita Kurewa
Evangelization and Church Growth: A Lesson from the Barrio	107	(12)
Harold J. Recinos
Saving Women: Re-visioning Contemporary Concepts of Evangelism	119	(16)
Laceye Warner
The Means of Grace and the Promise of New Life in the Evangelism of John Wesley	135	(12)
Henry H. Knight III
Part III: Practicing the Great Commission
Evangelism and the Practice of Hospitality	147	(12)
Joon-Sik Park
Evangelistic Hospitality in Preaching: Welcoming Everyone to the Story	159	(18)
Rob Weber
New Church Development	177	(20)
Bryan Stone
Faithful Discipleship: A Conjoined Catechesis of Truth and Love	197	(14)
Dean G. Blevins
Sanctified Singing: The Role of Hymnody in Shaping Wesleyan Evangelism, 1735--1915	211	(10)
Candy Gunther Brown
Disciple Bible Study and Changed Lives	221	(18)
Stephen W. Rankin
Forming Christian Witnesses Through the Witness Adventure	239	(16)
Ron Crandall
Three Types of Faith Sharing	255	(14)
Scott J. Jones
The Alpha Course	269	(24)
Philip R. Meadows
Conclusion: The Future of the Great Commission	293	(6)
Contributing Authors	299	(6)
Notes	305