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Mission & Ministry Leadership for the Chinese Church

Informing spiritual passions by…
Forming mentored learning communities, thereby…
Transforming ministers and ministries for a lifetime.

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Informing

The rise of China as a major global power is one of the most dramatic and significant developments of our age. At the same time, the past thirty years have witnessed a truly remarkable expansion of Christianity in China, first in rural areas and more recently among urban intellectuals. Currently it is estimated that there is a faith community of about eighty to one hundred million members in China. However, due to this rapid growth, the lack of a strong Christian tradition, and continued political restrictions, the churches in China have a dire need not only for more leaders with sound theological training, but also for greater access to the resources of the global church to help them achieve their full potential in the areas of theological education, church planting, social engagement, and mission sending.

The current Church leadership especially within house churches desperately needs to reequip themselves and sharpen their pastoral skills. After many years of over-working under unfriendly circumstance, they need to refresh themselves and reflect on their past experience, and wrestle with the current issues and challenges in their ministries, and explore the new ways to minister and planting the churches.

Forming

As a Doctor of Ministry student, you attend three two-week intensive residencies (seminars), one each year for three years. The residencies consist of lectures, case studies, participant reports and individual consultations. The classroom sessions are collegial in style and stress learning within a community context.

In preparation for each residency, you read between 2,000 and 3,000 pages of assigned and collateral reading. Sample reading for the first residency includes:

• Adeney, David, China: The Church’s Long March (Ventura, CA: OMF, 1985).
• Aikman, David, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power (Regnery Publishing, 2003).
• Burklin, Werner, Jesus Never Left China, The Rest of the Story, the Untold Story of the Church in China Now Exposed (Enumclaw, WA: Pleasant Word, 2006).
• Cook, Richard R. and Pao, David W., eds., After Imperialism, Christian Identity in China and the Global Evangelical Movement (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2011).
• Engen, Charles Van, Mission on the Way, Issues in Mission Theology (Grand Rapids, MI:Baker Books, 1996).

To order these books through Christian Book Distributors, go to our online bookstore:

GCTS Bookstore

Transforming

Here is how your studies will transform you and your ministry by seeking to fulfill our general Doctor of Ministry goals in some track-specific ways:

• To resource students through a biblically-grounded educational program taught by faculty who are committed to God’s Word and the application of principles of Scripture to the issues of contemporary culture.
  • Students will be able to re-confirm the Biblical fidelity and historical orthodoxy, and deepen their understanding of God’s Word in the context of their ministry in China, so that they will be encouraged and equipped to lead their congregations faithfully and capably in the face of doctrinal confusion, moral bankruptcy, and religious pluralism.
• To form in students a sound foundation of theological and biblical inquiry in their professional doctoral program’s specialized track that they are able to integrate into the life of Christian ministry.
  • Students will be able to re-think their theological positions and formulate a biblically centered pastoral theology that will form a solid foundation for their mission and ministry leadership.
• To provide students with the skill set and understandings in a specialized area of ministry to such an extent that they can impact their congregation or community more powerfully for God.
  • Students will be able to obtain necessary and updated skills and knowledge in ministry-related areas, such as Chinese mission history, missiology, church planting, and pastoral counseling.
• To create through the cohort model of the program a dimension of Christian community and spiritual nurturing so that students form strong friendships with one another and enter long-term relationships with the scholars who guide the learning experience.
  • Students will be able to strengthen their spiritual bonds with their fellow pastors from China, and establish new relations with the churches in America and other parts of the world so that the Chinese Church and global Church can support each other more fully in the future.
• To develop in students a deeper understanding of Christ’s lordship in all areas of life for the common good of the contemporary world.
  • Students will be able to develop a deeper sense of Missio Dei and God’s sovereignty over the world, and to recommit themselves to the Church’s witness in all spheres of life;
  • Students will be able to analyze past interactions between the Church and society and the current state of Chinese culture and society.
• To cultivate within students through critical reflection and careful research through the residencies and projects an enriched Christian witness in the places of society they are called to serve.
  • Students will be able to explore the most effective ways to convey the gospel, and plant and lead the churches in an increasingly challenging social and cultural environment.
• To instill in students a refreshed view of their ministry as it relates to the proclamation of the Gospel among all people.
  • Students will be able to be recharged spiritually and intellectually to better lead the Chinese Church for the world mission. A fresh perspective and incentive will be enhanced for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, not just in China, but also worldwide.