Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Celebrating Smallness

The average size church in America, I'm told, is 75 people.  When I served as a teaching pastor in a large, mega-church I remember wondering how a church could remain less than a hundred people for long.  Now that I've been a church planter for almost 3 years, God has greatly tempered my previous ignorance. If the average size is 75, then it only makes sense that many churches attract fewer than 75.

We had 61 people at Church Requel two weeks ago and we were thrilled! Ironically it was a weekend when Mary Kay and I weren't even there.  We received emails and text messages from many parishioners celebrating the evening.  It felt good.

We're the size church that has to look up to see "average."  With that mindset it's easy to fall into a sense of inadequacy.  We live in a world of "super" things: Super Bowl, supermarket, and megachurch. In such a super atmosphere, where BIG is celebrated, where large numbers equals success, it's easy to suffer from low esteem.

Thanks to the foresight of our leadership team, I'm back to my seminary studies at Ashland Theological Seminary.  Interestingly, the best class available to me this quarter is "Smaller Churches: Challenges & Opportunities."  Wow!  Talk about a class designed just for me.  Small. Challenge. Opportunity.  This class speaks my language!

Are Human Beings Immortal?

I completed my final Theology II class last evening.  That means final exam time.  Part of our final exam, we were told, was an essay question.  We were informed that there was no official right answer and that we will be evaluated as much for how we think and write and defend our position than for what we say.  When I opened the exam, here was the question:

There are difficulties with the various ways of understanding our intermediate state between death and resurrection.  Are human beings immortal?  Historically, the Church has said, only conditionally.  If humans are immortal only conditionally, what are those conditions?  How does this fit with the affirmation of total depravity?  Does eternal punishment require immortality?  Why or why not?  Is there a part of us (soul?) that never experiences death? What biblical support can you offer for your last answer?

Are you thinking like I'm thinking?  Not a single question at all!  What would you have said?  How would you have answered?  I struggled right out of the gate because I took issue with the presumption that the Church has historically said human beings are immortal "only conditionally."  Our essay length was limited to 2 pages, double spaced.  But the teacher said he would give us grace for a third page if we needed it.  I needed it.  If you are interested in my answer, click "Continue Reading" below.

Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved?

Last night was week #9 of 10 for my Theology II class at Ashland Theological Seminary.  The evening presented one of the more interesting challenges in my theological education thus far.  Our assignment was two-fold: First, we were to  read Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved? by Hans Urs von Balthasar.  Second, we were to come prepared for a formal debate.  The proposition in the affirmative? That Christians should hope that all men be saved. 

There were a few secondary wrinkles that made this assignment even more interesting.  I am in a very small class of only six students.  So there is no place to hide.  We were divided up into two teams of three students.  Our position would be determined by a coin toss.  That meant that we had to prepare for both sides of the debate and that we wouldn't know until we showed up exactly which side we would be on.  Finally, at the end of the evening, we were required to turn in our own individual reports arguing our personal viewpoint on the issue, which very well could have been the opposite of what we had just argued in class.

By virtue of the flip of a nickel, my team was placed in the affirmative position.  That meant that I had to argue convincingly and from Scripture why we should hope for the salvation of all men.  Want to know what I really thought?  Want to see my debate prep?  Click "continue reading" to see a reproduction of my work.

What I Believe About the Holy Spirit

What follows is what is known as a credo statement, and was submitted by me earlier this month to Ashland Theological Seminary in pursuit of my M.Div. degree.  Admittedly this is an academic work, and as such, may not be the kind of thing my readers are accustomed to seeing here.  But since it was something I wrote and because it is important to those who may wish to accompany me on this new Church Requel journey, I am publishing it.  My professor was most affirming.  I didn't tell him, but I will share with you... I wrote most of it in the back seat of Roc's car on the way to Chicago a few weeks ago. I welcome your thoughts and discussion.

Pneumatology is the branch of Christian theology concerned with the Holy Spirit.¹  How should one understand the person of the Holy Spirit?  Further, what is the work that is accomplished by the Spirit?  This is a subject worthy of study.  The English Standard Version of the New Testament mentions “Spirit” or “spirit” 378 times,² the vast majority of which referring to the third person of the Trinity.  The purpose of this credo paper is to describe this student’s understanding of the person and the work of the Holy Spirit.

While the word Trinity is not found in Scripture, orthodox Christianity has long affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity as three unique persons existing in one God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  There are several places in the Bible where one reads of all three persons of the divinity existing together, including the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17), the great commission (Matthew 28:19), teaching on unity (Eph. 4:4-6) and in several epistolary doxologies (2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2; and Jude 1:20-21).

The study of the Holy Spirit is no less important than the concentrated thought given to the Father and the Son, and for the Christ-follower desiring connection to the Godhead, perhaps even more important.  Some may consider the Father as unreachable and transcendent.  Some may consider the Son as unreachable in history.  “But the Holy Spirit is active within the lives of believers; he is resident within us.  He is the particular person of the Trinity through whom the entire Triune Godhead currently works in us.”³

The Holy Spirit is described as being sent by the Son but also proceeding from the Father (John 15:26) and also given by the Father by request of the Son (John 14:16).  However, it would be incorrect to think of the Spirit as not existing eternally (Heb. 9:14).  One reads of the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters before the creation story (Gen. 1:2).  Further, Paul describes the Spirit as the One from whom a believer will “reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8 ESV).  Logically the Spirit could not grant eternal life without also possessing such a characteristic.

God is Great, God is Good

Tonight I turned in one of my credo papers for my Theology class on the nature of God.  I used as my theme a simple prayer I learned as a child.  I thought that some of you might be interested in reading my work. 

God is great.God is good.
Let us thank Him for our food.
Amen.

This simple child’s prayer I learned before I have distinct memories of learning.  I have taught it to all four of my children and now I listen as my grandchildren recite it.  Until this week’s study upon the attributes of God, I thought of the prayer as only a simple prayer for simple minds.  Now I see the profundity hidden within the simplicity.  Within this simple prayer I recognize the essential affirmations within the Christian faith about the being and nature of God  and His relation to creation.

God is great.

As a child I knew that God is great.  But, then, to a child, all things are great.  As we grow and mature, what once was large becomes small.  We return to a house or a yard or a school that we remember as being enormous, only to be surprised by its normality.  It seems as though as we grow larger, everything around us grows smaller in comparison.

But this is not so with God.  Surely if we are careless in out thinking, we may cordon away our childhood thoughts of the great God.  This, however, is not the result of God becoming smaller, but rather our thinking of God becoming smaller.  If we focus upon the greatness of God, as I have done this week, we find that our brains begin to hurt because our thoughts cannot contain God or His greatness.  I wonder if Isaiah experienced a headache upon penning these words of God: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9 ESV).

God Centered or Man Centered?

I am enjoying my Theology class at Ashland Theological Seminary immensely. There's just something about thinking deeply on Who God is that is both deeply challenging and fulfilling at the same time.  Speaking as one fully engaged in full-time ministry, it's surprisingly easy to forget Who God Is and what He means to me daily.  So when I come across something absolutely incredible in my textbook and I write in my margin, "Should read and be reminded daily," I thought that my readers may also be interested in reading this brief excerpt.  (Put into today's lingo, consider the following a retweet from Millard Erickson!)

If we have fully understood who and what God is, we will see him as the supreme being.  We will make him the Lord, the one who is to be pleased and whose will is to be done.  This reminder is needed in our day, for we have a tendency to slip from a theocentric [God-centered] to an anthropocentric [man-centered] ordering of our religious lives.  This leads to what might be called "inverted theology."  Instead of regarding God as our Lord, whose glory is the supreme value and whose will is to be done, we regard him as our servant.  He is expected to meet all of our perceived needs and to answer to our standards of what is right and wrong.  We need to learn from Samuel, whose response when the Lord called him was, "Speak, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam. 3:10).  He did not see this an an opportunity to pour out his concerns to the Lord, saying, "Listen, LORD, your servant speaks."  [Highlights are my own.]  When we adopt the latter stance, we in effect make ourselves God.  We presume to know what is right and what is best.  In so doing, we take upon ourselves a great responsibility: to guide our own lives.  But it is God who knows what is best in the long run.  He is the almighty and loving Lord.  He has created us, not we him, and we exist for his glory, not he for ours.  We will stand before him in the last judgment, not he before us.  If we have truly understood God's nature, then with Jesus our first concern in prayer will not be for the granting of our desires.  It will rather be, "Hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  [Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 326.]

How Do I Know God?

If you were given the assignment to write an essay on God's Revelation of Himself, what would you write?  That is my assignment for my theology class this evening.  The following is what I am turning in tonight.  If any of you make it all the way through, please let me know what you think.  Thanks.

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How do I know God?  This is the question that is the basis for all religion, and ultimately for the philosophy of life.  How do I even know if there is a God?  And if there is a God, how do I know about Him?  How do I KNOW Him?

At the very root of the question of knowing God is a more basic question.  Does God wish to be known?  If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, while I am limited in my own knowledge and power, then for me to know God first requires that God wishes to be known.  For no matter how much I personally would like to know about Him and to KNOW Him, my wishes would be for naught if He did not wish to reveal Himself.  I am limited and finite.  He knows no limitation and is infinite.  I cannot know Him without His desire to be known.

Fortunately I love the God, who desires to be known as Abba - Daddy (Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6), who was also known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 3:15, Matthew 22:32), who revealed Himself to Moses with the name “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14), and who revealed himself most supremely through His Son, Jesus Christ.  The reason I love this God is because He first loved me (1 John 4:19) and revealed Himself to me.  He has revealed Himself to me in many ways:  first and foremost through the incarnation of His Son, Jesus; secondly, through His Holy Word, the Bible; third, through His creation; fourth, through history, and fifth, through His most precious Holy Spirit.

Seminaries Not Just For Pastors

Derek Cooper, who wrote the book, So You're Thinking About Going To Seminary: An Insider's Guide, was recently interviewed by Christianity Today.  As in the past, poor economic times proves to be a boon for seminaries around the U.S.  As the unemployment rate increases, so apparently, does the enrollment of seminaries.  But are all these new seminarians planning on entering the ministry?  Nope... this is one of two big misconceptions, according to Cooper, of seminaries.  Speaking of the two misconceptions:

First, those who attend seminary assume that one of seminary's main purposes is to provide the answer to this or that great biblical or theological question. Instead of understanding seminary or theological education in terms of a mathematical formula to be solved, however, it is more like a tension-filled narrative that is to be lived out. Seminaries, in other words, are better at asking questions than answering them.

Second, those who do not attend seminary assume that only people called to the pastorate or some other full-time Christian ministry are encouraged or even eligible to attend seminary. The truth is, however, that seminaries are filled with students who will pursue a variety of professions after graduation.

I wonder if Ashland Thelological Seminary has seen any increase in enrollment lately.  Anyone know?

A Fascinating Evening with the Pentateuch

Hey everyone!  Tonight was an enjoyable evening invested in my seminary education at Ashland Theological Seminary.  For those who might not be familiar with my seminary quest, I have been attending school faithfully now for 3 1/2 years.  I've been taking one class at a time, so this means almost nine years if I remain on track.  This particular quarter my class is Old Testament I: The Pentateuch.

For the last two days I have focused on nothing else besides the historical and cultural context of Genesis 9:1-17.  I've written multiple exegesis papers on the New Testament, but this is my first one written on the Old Testament. (If you'd be interested in reading my submission, download Pierce - Historical Context Gen 9 1-17 ) Maybe it's because I'm not as familiar with the texts, but I find this work to be both difficult and fascinating all at the same time. 

Before class tonight I had the privilege of enjoying a meal with my professor, Dr. Dan Hawk.  We met at Applebees at 4:30 and ordered the reduced price appetizers.  We found we had a few things in common.  He had attended Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY.  Asbury is where my son, Jonathan, attended college.  And I also had some connection with Asbury twelve years ago with my brother, Todd, with the Beeson Institute of Asbury.  Beeson offered a 3 year program for pastors desiring to grow their church.  Todd would go to these great churches all over the country and come home excited and tell me about it.  I go so excited that I went a few times with Todd.  This was really the beginning of my call into ministry.

Back to my conversation with Dan Hawk: I found out that his oldest son is attending Baldwin Wallace University.  My niece, Christy Anne, also attends BWU.  As we talked I told him about our church plant here in Mansfield.  I found out that he has also been involved in several church plants over the years.  He is a musician and has played keyboard in worship bands.  We found we have a mutual friend who has much church planting experience.  Our hour together at Applebees went by way too fast.

During our class time we talked about the Exodus.  We engaged in a challenging discussion of why God would harden Pharaoh's heart.  (I wrote about this yesterday.)  Dr. Hawk explained the Suzerain-vassal treaties of the ancient Near East and that this was the model followed by several of the covenants that God made with man in the Pentateuch.  He taught us that many of the festivals of the Israelites were at the same times of other people in the ancient Near East, but the reasons for the festivals were different.  We talked about the importance of remembering what God has done during these festivals. 

I know that I'm not doing a very good job a conveying the sense of the "aha" that I have while I'm in class, but I can tell you that I don't think I'll ever look at these texts of the Old Testament in quite the same way after taking this course.  I think I've done quite enough writing for one day.  Thanks for checking in with me.  I'll talk with you again soon.  Mark

Four Lessons from the Hardened Heart

Today I gave a good deal of thought to the lessons we might learn from Pharaoh's hardened heart.  Here is the question that was put to me by my seminary professor, Dr. Daniel Hawk:  "During the contest between Moses and Pharaoh, we are informed at some points that the Lord "hardened Pharaoh's heart" (4:21; 9:12; 10:1, 20; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 27) but at others that "Pharaoh hardened his heart" (7:14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32, 34; 9:7, 35).  We may assume that the biblical writer set this tension before us for a reason.  What is it?  What theological message might be conveyed by these opposing declarations?"  The following is my answer.

There are multiple theological messages that might be conveyed by the opposing declarations of the LORD hardening Pharaoh’s heart on the one hand against Pharaoh hardening his heart on the other.  I’d like to briefly address four possible theological conclusions.

First, we might conclude: “Be careful what you wish for.”  A careful reading of the text demonstrates a timeline order of events that show that Pharaoh’s first hardened his own heart and then, later, the LORD strengthened Pharaoh’s resolve by hardening his heart for him.  Exodus 4:21, the first reference to Pharaoh’s hardened heart does indicate that it is the LORD who will harden Pharaoh’s heart.  But this exegete believes it is important to note the verb tense in this verse.  “But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”  In other words, in this first reference the Lord is giving Moses a look into the future at what the Lord will do in regards to Pharaoh’s heart.

Literary Analysis of Genesis 9:1-17

I didn't publish much here on the blog today because my entire day was taken up with the literary analysis of Genesis 9:1-17.  This is work that was due at 6PM tonight for my Old Testament I seminary class.  I must admit that I'm not pleased with the amount of time I have to invest into this class.  The time and effort necessary to plant a new church sucks all the available study time away from my seminary course.  And it's a real shame too because I'm learning so much from this class and from my excellent teacher, Dr. Dan Hawk. 

As with the rest of my life, I am putting my work up here on the blog.  If you would like to know the significant things I learned today about the literary nature of God's covenant with Noah after the great flood, read on!

The pericope of Genesis 9:1-17 proclaims the blessing of God upon Noah.  The purpose of this brief paper is to demonstrate how the literary form and context of this passage support the message of God’s blessing.  The placement of this section within its larger context, the repetition of key phrases, the two smaller sections within the passage supporting the key idea, the use of broad inclusive words such as “all” and “everything,” the different parties with whom God phrases His covenant, the use of divine speech, and the parallel and inclusio structure of the covenant itself all emphasize the message of God in 9:1: “God blessed Noah.”

The Pentateuch Comes Alive!

Not that it was ever dead, of course.  What I'm talking about is my current seminary class dubbed with the boring title, "Old Testament I".  What it's really about is the Pentateuch, which is another way of saying the five first books of the Old Testament - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  One of my textbooks is pictured on the left.  This is a core class for anyone wanting a graduate degree from Ashland Theological Seminary. 

I have totally lucked out!  My teacher is Dr. L. Daniel Hawk.  I have now sat under his teaching for six hours and the time has totally sped by.  He is really interesting and makes the Pentateuch come alive.  After six hours we have finally finished (I think) Genesis chapter one so I'm guessing things will speed up from here. 

Our class is using an online facility named "Angel Learning," where we can connect up with fellow students and our professor.  We have the responsibility to answer one online question each week.  We will also be in the process of writing an exegetical paper, which must also be submitted online and be subject to peer review.  The combination of the Bible nerd and the geek nerd within me is almost more than I can bear! :)

For those of you who are interested, click the continue link below and I'll share with you one fascinating online discussion I had today about the creation.  It's mostly my writing with the occasional probing question by Dr. Hawk.

Starting 4th Year of Seminary

I braved the freezing ice and rain and survived the slippery drive to Ashland, Ohio for my winter quarter class.  I realized as I drove the now familiar route that it was exactly three years ago this week that I began my seminary journey.  Since then I have continuously taken at least one course, mostly in Ashland, though I did spend one summer in Detroit.  The old adage about enjoying the journey more than the destination seems to apply to my seminary experience.  (I haven't arrived at the destination yet so I admit I don't have an accurate comparative.)  What I do know is that I have enjoyed my studies immensely.

This quarter I'm taking Old Testament I from Dr. Daniel Hawk.  The word on the street is that he is a great lecturer and a hard grader.  I'm not masochistic or anything - I'll take the easy grade when it comes my way - but if I have the choice between the great teacher or the easy teacher, I'll take the great teacher every time.  I'm here to learn.  So far, no one has ever asked me about my Seminary grades. 

This quarter will be different in that I'm now self-employed as a pastor.  My reason for beginning three years ago was because Crossroads offered me the Director of Maturity position, which involved quite a bit more teaching.  I figured if I would be responsible for teaching men and women Biblical truths that I had an obligation to learn everything I could myself.  Nothing has changed in terms of my self-imposed obligation.  If anything, now that I'm the pastor of a church - small though it is currently - that responsibility to be schooled is even greater. 

My McDonalds chicken sandwich is now gone and my soup has one slurp left.  The time is almost 6pm.  Time to stop blogging and to start being a student.  Classroom, here I come!

Medieval Help Desk

For the past three years I have been enrolled at Ashland Theological Seminary pursuing my M.Div. degree.  I only take one class at a time, so I have six more years to go before I finish.  The contrast is often pronounced between my actual work experience as executive pastor at a contemporary church and my experience in the classroom.  Currently I am taking a homiletics course, where I learn how to correctly prepare and deliver a sermon.  The other day we were learning about resources that can assist the preacher.  The entire talk was given on print resources.  When our teacher finished, I raised my hand and asked about software resources.  Personally, I'm an avid fan of Logos Bible Software.  All the resources our teacher had just taught us to use are also available electronically in Logos; it's just much faster and more efficient to use the software.  I can open twenty books to a topic in the time it takes me to look up and find one print reference.  Our teacher told us that he personally did not use software and preferred "the feel of a book."  I couldn't help but think I had time warped into the middle ages, which brings this video to mind.

The Burdensome Joy of Preaching

I am glad that I am attending Ashland Theological Seminary.  It sharpens my mind and exposes me to writing, thinking, culture and history that I otherwise would never have known.  However, I must admit to being disappointed in my reading assignments for my current Homiletics class.  The Burdensome Joy of Preaching by James Earl Massey is the second book for this particular course on how to best preach sermons.  (I wrote my review on the first book last month.)

"Burdensome" is a good adjective to describe the book as well as the joy of preaching.  I recognize that I have not done this as long as many.  But I have been actively preaching for four years now.  Sure there are times when preaching is hard work.  But "burdensome"?  I'm reminded of someone who is forced to do something he'd rather not do.  A chore. A heavy load.  Something that is hard to carry and aches the shoulders. 

Preaching is not like that for me, and I hope it never becomes that.  There is a great thrill to the study, an appreciation for the intellectual pursuit, and an apprehension of encountering God in the pages of His Word.  This is mixed with a love of the people of my congregation, an awareness of their temptations and difficulties, as well as a celebration of their victories and joys.  By far the greatest joy for me is the quiet time spent in my office, thinking of the "crossroads" of God on the one hand and my congregation on the other.  How will my sermon cause an intersection between the sacred and the secular?  Will my words move people to spiritual growth?  Will my stories identify me as a fellow traveler, or simply as a travel guide, or even worse... as a travel guide writer, who has never actually traveled?

Living Water A Bit Dry

For my Homiletics class this week, I had to read Living Water for Thirsty Souls by Marvin McMickle and write a book review about it.  McMickle addresses 8 areas of exegetical preaching: (1) Limits, (2) Literature, (3) Language, (4) Location, (5) Leads, (6) Links, (7) Lessons, and (8) Life Application.

I can't say that I would recommend this book as a first book for learning how to preach.  While the book does provide exposure to the exegetical process, the examples of sermons in the book surprising do not always seem to follow the advice given in the book.  Here is my conclusion in my review.

I am disturbed by the almost total lack of address to preaching to the unconvinced, what we call in our church the “unchurched.”  McMickle states his presupposition in his sermon, A Report from a Roman:

“The world will not be saved by the efforts of those of us who are preachers.  The world will not be saved if we are relying upon a process that involves those outside of Christ deciding to come inside the church and hear a sermon.  The fact is, they are not coming.”   

This is not a fact.  They are coming.  The largest and fastest growing churches in America are filled with those who are spiritually hungry and want to know what God has to say to them.  Weekly our teaching pastors at Crossroads in Mansfield see people from all walks of life enter our auditorium, because they are curious, spiritually hungry, and because of God’s good grace.  How do I, as a preacher, speak to these thousands of adults in a winsome way that communicates God’s message straight from His Word? 

Most sermons we read in the New Testament did not deal with the inequities or hardships of life, but rather with the powerful message of God’s love expressed through His son, Jesus.  As a result of one sermon, thousands responded and were baptized into the faith.  How do we preach that same message today?  Should we not expect the same results today?

If you have a desire to read the full book review, you can download my Word document.

Homiletics Begins Today

Today I begin a new course at Ashland Theological Seminary:  Homiletics.  I am about 1/3 finished with my seminary studies.  I am definitely taking the slow road to completion.  I only take one course at a time, because I don't want my studies to interfere with my job at Crossroads or my family life at home.  I figure I can take one course at a time, enjoy it, benefit from it, but not be overwhelmed by it.  There are two drawbacks to this strategy: cost and time.  It is the most expensive way to take classes because one doesn't benefit from the cost breaks with more classes.  It also takes more time.  There are 36 courses one must complete for the M.Div. degree, normally a 3-year program for full-time students.  I've already been going for 3 years and I figure at this rate I have another 6 years in front of me.

However, I'm absolutely loving everything I am learning.  I also love being with the many other students at ATS.  I figured I would be the oldest one there when I first signed up.  I have since found this not to be the case as many other second career men and women are also in my classes.  It's a great mix of younger and older students.

Homiletics is the study of preaching.  I am really looking forward to this class, because this is something that I already do in my present job at Crossroads.  But like all my other classes, I'm sure I will learn many new things I don't know OR will confirm some of the things I've learned on my own.  The course description is as follows:

The basic course in homiletics is designed to introduce students to the history, theories, methods and purposes of preaching.  The course is designed to introduce students to a variety of methods for the development, delivery, and evaluation of sermons.  The students will be aided in understanding how to do biblical exegesis for preaching and how to use a lectionary or some other method of text and topic selection that will allow them to keep their preaching biblically focused and doctrinally solid.

Our textbooks are The Burdensome Joy of Preaching, by James Earl Massey and Living Water for Thirsty Souls by Marvin McMickle.

The schedule today will be challenging.  Usually I take evening classes.  But this quarter I registered for a Monday afternoon class.  Mondays are my day off, so I figured this would work out well.  However, I'm still returning from vacation.  Hopefully I've worked it out so that I arrive in time for my 1:30 PM class.

C. S. Lewis and the Contemporary Church

C. S. Lewis is a popular author for Evangelical Christians these days.  Two of his children's books have been turned into movies, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and now Prince Caspian.  Lewis is also well known for his apologetic works, especially Mere Christianity.

I have just completed a seminary course at Ashland Theological Seminary on the Theology of C. S. Lewis.  One of my requirements was to write a research paper on one theological topic and explore Lewis' theological views.  Since we at Crossroads Community Church are now in the process of considering the multi-site strategy, we are in the process of asking the question, "What is a church?"  With that background in mind I decided to look at Lewis' writings to explore this same question.

In particular I addressed the question of how would C. S. Lewis have viewed today's contemporary church.  We know that he believed the purpose of the church was to attract people to Christ.  But what would he have thought of rock and roll music in the church?  Would he have identified with the concept of a "church for the unchurched?"  My research paper attempts to answer these questions.

If you'd like to see my conclusions, download the link below, a PDF file.  Be forewarned that this is an academic work, heavily footnoted and written in a formal style.  But hopefully it will be interesting to those who wonder about C. S. Lewis and today's contemporary, evangelical church.

Download Lewis_on_the_Church.pdf.