Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Graduate School of Theology

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Wes Crawford

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Chris Flanders

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Myles Werntz

Abstract

Hanoi International Fellowship (HIF) is a multinational, multiethnic International Church (IC) in Hanoi, Vietnam. This thesis investigates how HIF constitutes unity among such lived diversity in its congregation. Chapter one reviews existing literature and provides the methodology of the study. Chapter two investigates where unity and diversity are present in HIF, focusing specifically on its mission and values, ministries, and leadership. Chapter three provides a theological basis for unity in diversity. Chapter four presents the research findings from this study. Lastly, Chapter five expresses the study’s limitations, summarizes the findings, offers suggestions to HIF and other Christian communities, recommends future studies, and describes the significance of this research. In conclusion, this research asserts that HIF’s unity derives from a shared purpose, HIF’s name, and the structure HIF provides. Additionally, this research clarifies the difference between unity and diversity versus unity in diversity. The former HIF has, and the later it needs to work toward.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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