Spiritual
Formation for Ministry Leaders
Post
Residency Project Proposal
Submitted by
Tim Foley
May 28, 2014
Gordon Conwell
Theological Seminary
Mentor: Dr. Stephen A.
Macchia
Reader: Dr. David
Currie
Approved Thesis:
My thesis is
entitled "The Salvationist and The Sabbath". I will be exploring the issue of the Sabbath
as it relates to the life and ministry of a Salvation Army officer.
Challenges:
As I have progressed over the years in my own
spiritual journey, I have struggled with the concept of experiencing personal Sabbath. Quite frankly, I am lousy at it. I certainly bare most of the blame here with
my lack of attention to this discipline.
I was immediately drawn to this topic as I began an earnest study of
spiritual formation. The topic deeply resonates
with me. In discussions that I have had
with fellow Salvation Army officer colleagues about this topic I have had a
variety of responses of both good and bad experiences with Sabbath taking. Many officers I have met with have expressed
a great interest in learning how to become better at Sabbath keeping. Hopefully this project will aid others in
adapting and incorporating Sabbath into their own personal lives.
I have now
devoted over three decades of my life in ministry for one of the worlds
favourite, yet least known charities:
The Salvation Army. I work within
an organization that is committed to 'doing the most good' which none can argue
the validity of that. But in a sense the work inside the organization can become
very machine like. If an individual officer (minister) is not careful it can
simply do in ones body, mind and spirit.
The organization cannot be blamed, as there is plenty of opportunities afforded
to an officer to rest and to physically and mentally recoup. The problem lays solely at the feet of the
individual in what they do with those said opportunities.
I am more
aware now than ever that the organization, though at times does its best to
create boundaries, taking Sabbath rest is not within the vocabulary of the
culture of The Salvation Army. To experience this commandment it must come from
within the discipline of heart of the individual officer.
I will be
attempting to do a very critical exploration of the biblical texts regarding Sabbath,
explore various authors who have covered this topic at length and look at some
pragmatic steps of how Sabbath can become a living reality for Salvation
Army. My hope is that the term Sabbath
will become commonplace and I am passionate to see how that it can work within
the confines the officers of this organization.
Methods:
I begin this
study with my own personal spiritual formation statement in mind:
Spiritual formation is a deepening of our/my faith, rooted in the
strength of God’s word, developed in the depth of prayer and reflection,
cultivated and acted upon holistically, as we/I become more like Christ each
moment of our/my journey of life and love.
Chapter
One
In the first
chapter I will explore the problem that faces the individual officer in regards
to Sabbath knowledge and the lack of application to one's personal life. I plan
to explore the challenge of a Christian institution that respects the
corporation ideals of Sabbath but the individuals have a difficult time making
it a living reality in their lives. I will lay out what constitutes a theology
of Sabbath in the first portion of this chapter. In the latter portion of the
first chapter will deal specifically with the problem I plan to explore. I plan to conduct research in the form of personal
surveys and case studies that will need to be developed. Here is a brief
outline of my plan:
- The plan will focus on selecting and conducting a survey of both active and retired officers assigned specifically to the Western Territory region in regards to personal Sabbath keeping. (This is the geographic area that I am currently assigned to.)
- Data will be collected from field officers in Corps ministry (church), administrative headquarters (denominational district leadership and resource positions), ARC (drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers) education (training colleges) and retired officers.
- The scope of the plan is to limit the number of this group to get an over all sampling to over 650 active and 100 retired officers living in the Western Territory of The Salvation Army, USA.
- The data to be collected represents a wide range of ages, cultural backgrounds, years of ministry experience and educational backgrounds.
- Data will be collected primarily using the digital tools survey monkey. The plan also will call for the use personal interview format either over the phone, Skype or face to face. No more than 25 participants will be selected for this portion of the survey.
- Next steps include working with the GCTS research specialist as well as a local specialist in research methodology to make sure that the questions are geared in such a way that able to garner the right information that will be needed for the overall thesis conclusions.
There will be no doubt
some additional thoughts that will come to my research methodology as I
consider more opportunities in the development of this plan. I reserve the right here to allow for
additional or considerations for modifications here.
Sample
Questions
To conclude the first
chapter will give a listing of questions that I will be using. I plan to keep this line of questioning very
succinic and short, attempting not to ask more than 12 to 15 questions.
Please note:
I have not at the time of this writing formatted all the types of questions
that I would use in the survey. I would
like to consider formatting some yes & no format questions; multiple choice
and allowing open-ended short answer type responses. The following is a simple
example of the types of things I might ask:
- How would you define Sabbath?
- Do you practice Sabbath in your life?
- If so how is it practiced in your life?
- What are some of the challenges that prevent you from taking a regular Sabbath?
- What have been some of the benefits in your life of taking a regular Sabbath?
- Do you use all your furlough time each year? If not, why not?
- In your ministry setting what are some of the challenges that you face that prevent you from taking a regular Sabbath?
- What do you think what is the value of Sabbath keeping?
- In what ways has Sabbath keeping played into your longevity in ministry? (This would be asked for officers service 15 years up plus retired officers.)
- What are some of the ways you have practiced Sabbath over the years?
- What does the practice of regular Sabbath look like for you?
- If you do not practice Sabbath on a regular basis do you feel you are violating a commandment of God? If so, why? If no, why not?
Note: again this is by
no means a complete or final list of questions but will act as a basic
guideline as I work on fine-tuning this before the questions are sent out in
the survey.
Additional
Methodology
Some of my face to face
interviews would be with selected Salvation Army officers that would fit a
certain demographic based on age, ethnicity, years of service, environment of ministry
(Urban, rural, suburban, etc.) budget, programs offered to the community, etc. I
am proposing that this particular research would be limited to a maximum of 20
individual interviews. I would integrate
some of these feedback into my project as quotes and comments from said
individuals.
Spiritual
Formation
The second
chapter has been completed which is the basis of my own spiritual formation,
with the word, prayer and reflection as the primary foundational focus. I will expand this chapter with an
explanation of the concept of Sabbath as laid out in the biblical text. I will also add an brief appendix explaining
Salvation Army terminology.
Literature Review
The third
chapter I will engage in literature review that focuses on spiritual formation
matters in particular the subject of Sabbath.
The following is just a short sample of books and no way a complete
list. Most of these books listed here
have already been used in my first chapter Sabbath theology. I plan on reviewing
and exploring the author’s concepts regarding Sabbath keeping. I am particularly interested in giving
comment to the writings of Mark Buchanan, Marva Dawn, Tilden Edwards and Abraham
Heschel. I will be adding more books to this list to provide a very
comprehensive bibliography as I work further into this project.
Sample Literature
Review
The
following is a very brief bibliography of books that I have used in writing a
Sabbath theology presented in the first chapter of this project.
Buchanan,
Mark. The Rest of God: Restoring Your
Soul by Restoring Sabbath. Nashville, Tenn.: W Pub. Group, 2006.
Cowan,
Horace G. The Sabbath in Scripture and
History. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1948.
Cox,
Harvey Gallagher. Turning East: The
Promise and Peril of the New Orientalism. New York: Simon and Schuster,
1977.
Dawn,
Marva J. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly:
Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans
Pub., 1989.
———.
The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of
Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church, and the World. Grand Rapids,
Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 2006.
Edwards,
Tilden. Sabbath Time: Understanding and
Practice for Contemporary Christians. New York: Seabury Press, 1982.
Heschel,
Abraham Joshua. The Sabbath: Its Meaning
for Modern Man. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
Muller,
Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal,
and Delight in Our Busy Lives. Bantam trade pbk. ed. New York: Bantam
Books, 2000.
Postema,
Don. Catch Your Breath: God's Invitation
to Sabbath Rest. Grand Rapids, Mich.: CRC Publications, 1997.
Ringwald,
Christopher D. A Day Apart: How Jews,
Christians, and Muslims Find Faith, Freedom, and Joy on the Sabbath.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Schaper,
Donna. Sabbath Keeping. Cambridge,
Mass.: Cowley Publications, 1999.
Research Methodology Review
My fourth
chapter will deal the overall project problem and expand on my hypothesis. I
will analyse and discuss the data that I have been able to obtain with research
methodologies that I will have used. I
plan to have statistical data divided into various categories that have yet to
be determined. This will be forged more
as I work on my fine-tuning research questions.
So What?
In chapter
five I plan to explore the 'so what' of what I have learned as the result of my
research and study. The summation will
conclude with some pragmatic steps that a Salvation Army officer can take to
make Sabbath a regular part of their own spiritual journey.
My over all
goal of this thesis is not to point out the 'errors' that lie within the lives
of the officers that word very diligently within this fine ministry
organization. I would like to take an honest look at how
personal Sabbath keeping must once again rise to the top in the thinking of a
Salvationist. I hope to provide helpful
suggestions on how to do Sabbath that I will glean from other sources and from
my own experiences.
In closing I
would like to point out that this thesis is written for me: I pray that I can become more of a person of
Sabbath that in turn will infuse me for spiritual vitality and physical
strength for the work God has called me to do.
My hope is that my work here will enable those who read this to be
mindful of the need to stop, rest, regroup, reflect and be recharged for the
work God has called us to do.
copyright 2014 Tim Foley
Rancho Palos Verdes
lttlmac publishing
Revised May 2014
