Date of Award
Spring 5-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Primary Advisor
Dr. Jeff W. Childers
Secondary Advisor
Dr. Carson E. Reed
Committee Reader
Dr. Myles P. Werntz
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to address an identified problem Courtyard Church of Christ members were having with decision-making in a way that promoted shalom and reflected Christ to the world. I proposed that Wisdom Christology could assist in the decision-making process and formed an intervention team of five additional people from within the congregation to explore the situation through participatory action research. We met for six sessions in the early months of 2020. The team embarked on a thorough examination of Wisdom Christology through the Scriptures climaxing in the Wisdom Hymn of Col 1:15–20. Our subsequent collective understanding of Wisdom guided us in the creation of a four-part intervention plan to incorporate Wisdom Christology into the congregation’s phronesis.
The first component of the intervention plan is a twelve-part sermon series on Wisdom Christology using twelve key passages from the Old and New Testaments. Second, the members are invited to attend Wisdom Feasts in small groups in homes to discuss real-life decisions they are facing. This is done with the assistance of a mnemonic device pamphlet that was created by the intervention team. Finally, the intervention brings the church into a silent retreat to observe Wisdom’s revelation in creation. The culminating effect of this plan is intended to help the members make decisions more confidently and for those decisions to promote shalom, thus bearing witness to Christ in the world.
Fundamental aspects of this project are that God has a plan for Wisdom to bring people into reconciliation, and Wisdom is revealed in all of creation. Also, wisdom is fully embodied in Christ. Therefore, Wisdom is available in Christ’s example, but also by participating with Christ who is present in the body of the church. This plan helps the church restore Wisdom as a primary virtue of the Christian faith and helps them to recognize Wisdom in their midst for maturity in phronesis.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Dahlman, Tiffany A., "Incorporating Wisdom Christology into the Phronesis of Courtyard Church of Christ" (2022). Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations. 44.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/dmin_theses/44
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