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Full-Text Articles in Christianity
Field Notes: A Ministerial Community Of Care Responds To A Pandemic, Ron Bruner
Field Notes: A Ministerial Community Of Care Responds To A Pandemic, Ron Bruner
Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry
Abstract: These notes report the interaction of the ministerial team at Westview Boys’ Home with its theology and context during the COVID-19 crisis. This community developed specific practices to protect its staff and residents while continuing to move forward with its mission to care for youth from hard places.
Practicing Missional Hospitality In A Suburban Church, Kevin Stewart
Practicing Missional Hospitality In A Suburban Church, Kevin Stewart
Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry
The West Houston Church of Christ is typical of many churches in North America that struggle to relate in meaningful ways to the surrounding culture. Over thirty years West Houston changed from a small, vibrant young church with a thriving family-like atmosphere to a large church in a new building, yet mourning its loss of family connections. It was struggling to find a new identity. In this article I discuss the ingrained sense of family that has served as the identity of West Houston and explore both theological and practical ways—specifically those involving missional hospitality—through which a church can navigate …
Toward Just Hospitality, Ron Bruner
Toward Just Hospitality, Ron Bruner
Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry
The ministry of Jesus moved through times of seeking justice, sharing hospitality, and withdrawing for prayer. Though inescapably “other” because of his divine identity, he sought solidarity with humans by becoming human and interacting with humanity through hospitable practices. The Ancient Mediterranean customs of hospitality were well-defined, but Jesus took this powerful cultural framework and changed its practice so that it produced reconciliation and justice.
This work briefly reviews the practice of hospitality in the time of Jesus. It also presents the work of scholars identifying linguistic markers that would have cued readers in the Ancient Mediterranean to recognize a …