2023 Evangel Gathering - Friendship and Flourishing for Missions

2023 E vangel G athering

TUMI Press • 3701 East 13th Street North • Suite 100 • Wichita, Kansas 67208

2023 Evangel Gathering: Sacred Roots Thriving in Ministry: Friendship and Flourishing for Missions

© 2023. The Urban Ministry Institute. All Rights Reserved. Copying, redistribution, and/or sale of these materials, or any unauthorized transmission, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher is prohibited. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to:

The Urban Ministry Institute 3701 East 13th Street North Suite 100 Wichita, KS 67208

ISBN: 978-1-62932-362-6

Published by TUMI Press A division of World Impact, Inc.

The Urban Ministry Institute is a ministry of World Impact, Inc.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, © 2001 by Crossway Bible, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Welcome

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Speaker Biographies

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Devotionals D evotional 1 A World to Win, 1 John 4.9-10

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D evotional 2 Christ’s Secret Weapon for Missions: Co-laborers Together, Philippians 1.27-28

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Plenaries P lenary 1 Missions-DNA: Instructions for Survival, Development, and Reproduction P lenary 2 Friendships That Flourish for Missions, Acts 13.1-3 Workshops W orkshop 1 Flourishing with Friends: How Spiritual Classics Can Help Us Finish Well in Ministry

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W orkshop 2 Reading Spiritual Classics Together: How to Facilitate a Sacred Roots Study Group

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Appendix A ppendix 1 Study Group Thrive Plan

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A ppendix 2 “Engage Scripture Like an Augustine?”

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A ppendix 3 About the Sacred Roots Project

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A ppendix 4 Glossary of Terms for Sacred Roots Evangel Gathering A ppendix 5 Ten Key Cross-Cultural Church Planting Principles A ppendix 6 Advancing the Kingdom in the City: Multiplying Congregations with a Common Identity A ppendix 7 Christus Victor: An Integrated Vision for the Christian Life and Witness

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A ppendix 8 The Church Leadership Paradigm: The Case for Biblical Leadership

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A ppendix 9 The Interaction of Class, Culture, and Race

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A ppendix 10 Quality and Numbers: Multiplying Disciples through Legitimate Representation A ppendix 11 Discipling the Faithful: Establishing Leaders for the Urban Church A ppendix 12 Fit to Represent: Multiplying Disciples of the Kingdom of God

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A ppendix 13 From Before to Beyond Time: The Plan of God and Human History

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A ppendix 14 Going Forward by Looking Back: Toward an Evangelical Retrieval of the Great Tradition

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A ppendix 15 How to PLANT a Church

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A ppendix 16 In Christ

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A ppendix 17 Jesus of Nazareth: The Presence of the Future

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A ppendix 18 Let God Arise! The Seven “A’s” of Seeking the Lord and Entreating His Favor

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A ppendix 19 Living in the Already and the Not Yet Kingdom A ppendix 20 The Nicene Creed with Biblical Support

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A ppendix 21 Once Upon a Time: The Cosmic Drama through a Biblical Narration of the World

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A ppendix 22 Overview of Church Plant Planning Phases

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A ppendix 23 A Schematic for a Theology of the Kingdom and the Church

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A ppendix 24 Steps to Equipping Others

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A ppendix 25 The Way of Wisdom A ppendix 26 The Apostles’ Creed

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A ppendix 27 Apostolicity: The Unique Place of the Apostles in Christian Faith and Practice

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A ppendix 28 Ethics of the New Testament: Living in the Upside-Down Kingdom of God

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A ppendix 29 The Method of the Master: Faithful Servants Representin’

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A ppendix 30 Paul’s Team Members: Companions, Laborers, and Fellow Workers

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A ppendix 31 Paul’s Partnership Theology: Our Union with Christ and Partnership in Kingdom Ministry

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A ppendix 32 Traditions (Paradosis)

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A ppendix 33 Understanding Leadership as Representation: The Six Stages of Formal Proxy

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A ppendix 34 The Theology of Christus Victor A ppendix 35 Story: The Crux of Revelation

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A ppendix 36 Substitute Centers to a Christ-Centered Vision: Goods and Effects Which Our Culture Substitutes as the Ultimate Concern A ppendix 37 Imagining a Unified, Connected C1 Church Planting Movement

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A ppendix 38 Representin’: Jesus as God’s Chosen Representative

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A ppendix 39 The Story of God: Our Sacred Roots

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Welcome

Greetings, dear friends and fellow warriors, in the strong name of Jesus Christ! Welcome to the Friendship and Flourishing for Missions: Sacred Roots Thriving in Ministry Conference ! We are partnering with our dear colleagues, Dr. Hank Voss and his friends at Taylor University, to challenge you with crucial insights regarding the power of friendship in the Gospel and its wide-ranging impact on spiritual nourishment, flourishing, and fruitfulness for the Great Commission among the unreached. God is forming strategic networks of fellow disciples and disciple-makers worldwide to spur fresh church planting and formation initiatives for his glory’s sake. This conference will detail why and how to build new networks of deepening friendships for missions through the ongoing engagement of our spiritual classics collection. In the short time of our collaboration, the cohorts who have engaged the spiritual classics have proven to be both spiritually refreshing and missionally significant. During this conference we turn our attention to our partners who work with disciples of Jesus who are inside-the-walls, and those who are returning citizens. The early fathers and mothers of the Church have much to share with this remarkable community of saints, whose lives and testimonies mirror much of the critical lessons of the apostolic age. Creating befriending friendships among this unique group of valiant servants of Christ can provide us with a cache of new laborers of the Gospel, men and women fully equipped for every good work. We welcome you here this week! Our dear leader, Rev. Bob Engel, will oversee our time of worship, fellowship, and interactions together, and we look forward to hearing from Dr. Voss and his remarkable team of scholars and leaders from Taylor University. We have prayed fervently for months for you personally and this conference, and we are convinced God will meet us here in Atascadero as we learn together from the ancients how God wants our friendships to spawn transformative missions efforts among the poor around the world! Pray that God will so meet us here that we are all moved to seek deeper friendships that cause our discipleship to grow and new outreaches to occur as we are equipped through dialogue with our spiritual classics! May God transform us all! Apprenticed by the ancient church of old for lasting impact today, Rev. Dr. Don Davis

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Speaker Biographies

Rev. Dr. Don Davis Dr. Don Davis serves as Senior Executive Adviser to the President of World Impact. As Founder and former Executive Director of The Urban Ministry Institute, he has been involved in urban ministry and missions with World Impact since 1975. He has spent his entire ministry career as pastor and theologian seeking to raise up a new generation of qualified spiritual workers, church planters, and pastors who can serve emerging churches in the most vulnerable and unreached urban communities in America and across the world. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and Wheaton Graduate School with degrees in Biblical Studies (BA) and Systematic Theology (MA), with summa cum laude honors in both degrees. He earned his Ph.D. in Religion from the University of Iowa School of Religion (2000, Theology and Ethics). As a recipient of numerous teaching and academic awards, he has authored many publications and books (including The Capstone Curriculum , Sacred Roots , and Get Your Pretense On ), training curricula, and study materials to equip and empower biblical leaders to serve the Church of Jesus among the poor and underserved around the globe. He married his wife, Beth, in February 1975, and together they have three children (one deceased), and four grandchildren. Rev. Bob Engel Over forty years ago the Lord called Rev. Bob Engel to World Impact, a Christian missions organization. Presently, he is the Director of Church Planting. He serves to assess, resource, and coordinate urban cross cultural church planters and their efforts on behalf of World Impact’s missionaries, urban church plant teams, and other missional partners who are seeking to plant healthy reproducing churches and facilitate church plant movements from and for the poor. Bob and his wife, Susan, have four children: Rachel, Tristan, Chase, and Mihaly. Rev. Eric Himelick Rev. Eric Himelick and his wife Rachelle are currently serving as the Director of Urban Ministry and Development for Evangelistic Faith Missions. They live with their six children— Kaylynn, Rebecca, Sarah, Samuel, Esther, and Karissa—in Upland, Indiana, at Victory Acres Farm. Eric graduated in 2000 from Union Bible College with a degree in Pastoral Ministry. Rachelle attended UBC for two years. They served

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as the founding directors of Victory Inner-City Ministries for fifteen years before joining EFM in June 2015.

Rev. Dr. Hank Voss Rev. Dr. Hank Voss is assistant professor of Christian Ministries at Taylor University. He has authored, co-authored, or edited twelve books including Introduction to Evangelical Theology (T&T Clark, 2021) and The Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei (2016). He serves as Senior National Staff with The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI), and directs the Lilly-funded Sacred Roots Thriving in Ministry Project for which he edited Aelred of Rievaulx’s (d. 1167) classic, Spiritual Friendship (SRSC 3). Hank, his wife Johanna, and their four teenage children reside in Muncie, Indiana.

Devotionals

D evotional 1 A World to Win, 1 John 4.9-10 Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

We are running out of time. What’s at stake in our salvation? The world.

God’s Gospel workers flourish in friendship for the sake of winning the world.

1 John 4.9-10 (ESV) – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

I. Love’s Ultimate Manifestation, 1 John 4.9

A. God’s love truly manifest among us, v. 9

B. God sent his Son into the world, v. 9b

C. That we might live through him, v. 9c

II. Love’s Decisive Act, 1 John 4.10

A. Love’s ultimate definition, v. 10a

B. Negatively said: not our love for God, v. 10b

C. Positively defined: that God loved us, v. 10c

D. Jesus, our atoning sacrifice, v. 10d

Love for the Entire World John 3.16 (ESV) – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

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Salvation to Cover Us All 1 John 2.1-2 (ESV) – My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. [2] He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world .

III. The Open Secret

Everything is at stake in God’s ultimate plan of salvation. Although the mission is foundational, without the flourishing of true friendship, we will fumble, fail, or forget it altogether!

Not for pleasure , nor for utility , but because they share God’s passion for the lost!

Matthew 28.18-20 (ESV) – And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

God’s Gospel workers flourish in friendship for the sake of winning the world.

Takeaway Volunteer afresh to join God’s fight for his creation. Join hands with your partner who’ll stick closer than kin. There’s a world to win.

The Last Word . . . Link arms with those dedicated to winning the world.

D evotional 2 Christ’s Secret Weapon for Missions: Co-laborers Together, Philippians 1.27-28 Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

What’s the one thing that keeps us moving forward? What do we need most of all, that keeps us strong? A partner in arms!! A friend who sticks closer than a kinfolk!

Proverbs 17.17 (ESV) – A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18.24 (ESV) – A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Christ’s secret weapon for flourishing is a co-laborer in the faith, a friend with whom we fight side by side.

Philippians 1.27 (ESV) – Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, . . .

I. A Worthy Manner of Life, Phil. 1.27

A. Live worthy of the Gospel, v. 27a

B. Stand firm in one spirit, v. 27b

C. With one mind strive side by side for the Faith of the Gospel, v. 27c

1. Flourishing for mission

2. Friendship for mission

3. United together for mission’s sake

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Philippians 1.28 (ESV) – and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

II. A Worthy Opponent to Fight, Phil. 1.28

A. Have no fear of foes’s schemes, v. 28a

1. The world, 1 John 2.15-17

2. The flesh, Gal. 5.16-24

3. The devil, 1 Pet. 5.8-9

B. They will be destroyed, v. 28b (1 John 3.8)

C. You will prevail through God!, v. 28c

III. The Open Secret

Christ’s secret weapon for encouragement and supply in effective missions are fellow warriors who fight side by side and push you forward!

“Sometimes we lose hope and a friend speaks truth that pushes one to continue forward for missions.” ~ Rev. Bob Engel

Philippians 1.27-28 (ESV) – Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, [28] and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

Ɵ Paul’s Team Members (see Appendix 30) Ɵ Paul’s Partnership Theology (see Appendix 31)

Mark 3.14-15 (ESV) – And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach [15] and have authority to cast out demons.

D evotionals • 19

Ɵ Quality and Numbers: Multiplying Disciples through Legitimate Representation (see Appendix 10)

Christ’s secret weapon for flourishing is a co-laborer in the faith, a friend with whom we fight side by side.

Takeaway Find your team. Play your part. Push them forward.

Plenaries

P lenary 1 Missions-DNA: Instructions for Survival, Development, and Reproduction Rev. Bob Engel

I. Missions-DNA

A. “Much that once was is lost.”

B. Missions and ministry

C. All living things have DNA.

1. Survival

2. Development

3. Reproduction

II. Missions-DNA: For Survival – Two Kingdoms in Conflict

A. The purpose of two kingdoms in conflict

B. The priority of two kingdoms in conflict

C. The plan of two kingdoms in conflict

III. Missions-DNA: For Development – “The Golden Text”

A. The character of God

B. The scope of God

C. The being of God

D. The desire of God.

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IV. Missions-DNA: For Reproduction – An Apostolic Missions Platform

A. Jesus is Lord: Endearment

B. The Holy Spirit: Empower

C. The Gospel: Evangelism

D. The Church: Equipping

E. The Kingdom: Embrace

V. Missions-DNA: Takeaway

A. Apostolic wisdom of the early Church

B. Apostolic wisdom for the 21st century Church

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Notes

P lenary 2 Friendships That Flourish for Missions, Acts 13.1-3 Rev. Dr. Don Davis

Definition of Missions, Mere Missions “Definition of missions: the sending forth of authorized persons to unchurched communities to proclaim the Gospel in order to win converts to Jesus Christ, make disciples from the converts, and gather together the disciples to form functioning, multiplying local churches, that bear the fruit of the Kingdom of God in that community (Acts 13.1-3, Acts 26.18, Eph. 4.11 [some are apostolic in gift and calling], Jonah 3, Mark 16.15, Matt. 28.19-20, Luke 24.47, John 20.22-23, Acts 1.8).”

~ Rev. Bob Engel, Mere Missions

Friendships that flourish for missions are relationships of mutual affection, shared vision, and common values, all for the sake of Bob Engel’s definition of missions!

• Affection: what our mutual respect and love is • Vision: what our shared commitments are • Value: what common aspirations guide us

Friendships that flourish for missions = FFM! FFM affirm apostolic calling, promote costly spirituality, and leverage missional opportunity.

I. FFM Affirm Apostolic Calling

A. Mutual allegiances: calling and gifting, Acts 13.1-3

B. Common values and vision, Phil. 2.19-22

C. Recognized gifting and anointing, 1 Tim. 1.18-19

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Acts 13.1-3 (ESV) – Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. [2] While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” [3]Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Philippians 2.19-22 (ESV) – I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. [20] For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. [21] For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. [22] But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 1 Timothy 1.18-19 (ESV) – This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, [19] holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith.

II. FFM Promote Costly Spirituality

A. Life together: the “with him” principle, Mark 3.13-15

B. Shared experiences: suffering and success (milestones), 2 Tim. 3.10-11

C. Representation: assignments, boundaries, and deadlines, 2 Tim. 4.1-2

Mark 3.13-15 (ESV) – And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. [14] And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach [15] and have authority to cast out demons. 2 Tim. 3.10-11 (ESV) – You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, [11] my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra – which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

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2 Tim. 4.1-2 (ESV) – 1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: [2] preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

III. FFM leverage missional opportunity

A. Constant engagement of the field, 1 Tim. 4.11-16

B. Active problem solving and adaptation, 2 Tim. 1.6-8

C. Spur on to new fields and opportunities, 2 Tim. 1.9-13, 21

1 Timothy 4.11-16 (ESV) – Command and teach these things. [12] Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. [13] Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. [14] Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. [15] Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. [16] Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 2 Timothy 1.6-8 (ESV) – For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, [7] for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control. [8] Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. 2 Timothy 1.9-13, 21 (ESV) – Do your best to come to me soon. [10] For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. [11] Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. [12] Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. [13] When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

[21] Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.

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Implication Some friendships are essential for flourishing for the sake of missions. Others are not. 1 Corinthians 15.33-34 (ESV) – Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” [34] Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. Titus 3.9-11 (ESV) – But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. [10] As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, [11] knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Ɵ Paul’s Team Members (see Appendix 30) Ɵ Paul’s Partnership Theology (see Appendix 31)

Friendships that Flourish for Missions • An organic approach • Shared relationships and experience • A “friendship with a purpose” • The power of synergy: one vs. two horses • Affection and “shared selfhood”

Ɵ Quality and Numbers: Multiplying Disciples through Legitimate Representation (see Appendix 10)

FFM affirm apostolic calling, promote costly spirituality, and leverage missional opportunity.

Takeaway Ask God to help you launch as an apostolic friendship circle. Use the Sacred Roots Thriving in Ministry cohort as a prototype. Start right away. Don’t quit. Multiply.

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Notes

Workshops

W orkshop 1 Flourishing with Friends: How Spiritual Classics Can Help Us Finish Well in Ministry Rev. Dr. Hank Voss

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith

~ Hebrews 13:7

What you wish to ignite in others must first burn inside your heart.

~ Augustine

Big Idea Engaging Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics with friends can help pastors finish well in ministry. Objectives: 1) Head. You will know how to answer the question, “Why spiritual classics?”

2) Heart. You will feel excited about using spiritual classics to form the hearts and minds of the next generation of missional leaders.

3) Hands. You will be ready to fill out the six components of your cohort’s Thrive Plan.

I. Story Time: The Voss Family Visits Italy and Mrs. Elisabeth Fry

A. The catacombs of St. Callixtus

1. There are over sixty Christian catacombs in and around the city of Rome. 1

2. A deacon in the Roman church, Callixtus, was appointed administrator of the church’s burial ministry. He later became the “senior pastor” of Rome (“bishop”) and was martyred on August 6th, 258.

1 Antonio Baruffa, The Catacombs of St. Callixtus: History, Archeology, Faith , trans. William Purdy (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2006), 11.

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3. The Callixtus catacombs run thirteen miles in length and run at five different levels. Archeologists estimate there are as many as 500,000 Christians buried in this single catacomb complex. 4. Of the first thirty-one “Senior Pastors of Rome (“bishops”), twenty-eight died as martyrs. As many as fourteen of these leaders were buried at the Callixtus catacombs. 2

B. The Pantheon, the recipe for concrete, and the Florence Cathedral

C. Mrs. Elizabeth Fry (1780–1845),

1. In 1813 began a prison ministry working in Newgate Prison in London, England.

2. Fry brought lasting transformation to prisons in the United Kingdom and around the globe.

3. An important part of her strategy included providing libraries of spiritual classics in prisons across the United Kingdom.

II. Introducing the Spiritual Classics: Three Definitions of “Spiritual Classic”

A. Definition #1: Spiritual classics provide “catholic” perspective on our generation’s blind spots.

1. We believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”

a. The Nicene Creed teaches us that the church is “catholic.”

b. “Catholic” means universal. Every generation and every culture has riches they will bring into the Kingdom of God to share with their sisters and brothers.

2. Arthur Holder’s definition of spiritual classics emphasizes their catholicity.

a. He defines spiritual classics as “texts that can make a difference in a person’s life.” They are:

2 Antonio Baruffa, 183.

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b. “Any text claiming a religious truth that has made a profound difference in the lives of generations of readers across time and space .” 3 3. Holder helps us recognize how the catholicity of spiritual classics helps our own generation recognize its cultural blind spots.

a. Mapping our blind spots: Space (place) and time (year)

1) Timothy George’s “Generational Mapping Model” helps leaders visually identify their generational location.

2) Draw a Kingdom chart where the X axis shows place and the Y axis shows time.

b. Space. The Copernican Paradigm Shift (Science of Cosmology)

1) Earth is not the center of the universe.

2) Geographic Location: family, ethnicity, nationality, class, etc.

c. The Perennial Paradigm Shift (Theology of Time)

1) My generation is not the center of time.

2) Temporal Location. This generation.

d. Western blind spots in 2022

1) Structural secularism vs. active secularism 4

2) Consumerism, noise and busyness 5

3 Arthur Holder, ed., Christian Spirituality: The Classics (New York: Routledge, 2010), xix. 4 George M. Marsden, The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1996). 5 Robert Sarah and Nicolas Diat, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius, 2017).

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B. Definition #2: Spiritual classics help us make friends with wise Christian leaders from other centuries and other cultures.

1. Friendships with people who love Jesus from other cultures and centuries is a primary way to identify cultural blind spots and grow closer to Jesus. 2. Professor Dana Roberts provides dozens of examples of how friendships transformed Christian leaders and their ministry strategies in Faithful Friendships: Embracing Diversity in Christian Community. 6 3. Bernhard Christensen’s definition of a spiritual classic emphasizes the transforming relationship that can take place between a reader and the historical Christian leader to whom they are apprenticed. His four characteristics of a spiritual classics climax with a description of friendship.

a. They are not just about doctrine, but also about a person’s life with God.

b. They have stood the test of time.

c. They are ecumenical, appealing across Christian traditions.

d. They are books to be read more than once, over and over. “They are not passing acquaintances but abiding companions on the way of life.” 7

6 Dana L. Robert, Faithful Friendships: Embracing Diversity in Christian Community (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019); See also the stories discussed in Chapter 2 of Uche Anizor, Rob Price, and Hank Voss, Evangelical Theology , Doing Theology Series (London: T&T Clark, 2021). 7 See Bernhard M Christensen, The Inward Pilgrimage: An Introduction to Christian Spiritual Classics, Rev. ed (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1996), 11. Christensen also includes a fifth characteristic, “they deal with prayer.”This characteristic is certainly true for many spiritual classics, but there are others where this is not a main focus of the work (e.g. Pilgrim’s Progress ).

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C. Understanding the Sacred Roots definition of a spiritual classic.

1. “A spiritual classic is a non-canonical text that has proven helpful in addressing perennial pastoral problems across many cultures and over many centuries.” 8

2. Three important aspects of the Sacred Roots definition.

a. “Non-canonical”

1) Spiritual classics are not Scripture.

a) With Scripture, our interpretations can be wrong, our translation or textual tradition may have an error, but the Scripture itself as spoken by God and recorded by humans is perfect and without error (e.g. Moses with horns). b) Spiritual classics, in contrast, have much that is valuable, much that leads to increased intimacy with God, much that heals our souls. But all spiritual classics have bones—things that must be rejected.

1. Principle: Eat the meat; spit out the bones.

2. Example: Protestant use of the Apocrypha. 9

2) Principle: Identify which of four types of reading best fits your text:

a) Leisure reading aims for enjoyment.

b) Informational reading aims for knowledge.

c) Spiritual reading aims for transformation.

8 For more on an evangelical understanding of spiritual classics see Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel, eds., Reading the Christian Spiritual Classics: A Guide for Evangelicals (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2013). Note that Sacred Roots team members involved with this book include James Houston, Greg Peters, Evan Howard, Kyle Strobel and Tom Shwanda 9 Ben Sirach, Books Jesus Read: Learning from the Apocrypha , ed. Bob Lay, vol. 5, Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics (Wichita, KS: The Urban Ministry Institute Press, 2022).

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d) Lectio Divina (literally meaning Divine Reading ) is reading Scripture (the divine book) with an aim to meet the triune God. 1. For example, the tagline of Taylor University’s Center for Scripture Engagement is “Engage Scripture. Encounter God.” 2. Lectio Divina is the primary way God’s people have read Scripture throughout the last three thousand years. 10 3) Reading spiritual classics must never replace Scripture engagement. Rather, reading spiritual classics helps us engage Scripture and encounter Jesus at ever deepening levels. a) Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends (SRSC 1) helps us recover the lost art of praying the Psalms. b) Becoming a Community of Disciples (SRSC 2) can help us how to recover the lost art of silence (Ps 46:10) as we come before the Lord.

b. “Perennial pastoral problems”

1) “Cure of Souls” is an ancient way of describing the work that leaders in the church are called to do (Heb 13:17).

a) Jesus often presented his ministry using medical terminology like a doctor for souls.

b) Jesus also used the language of agriculture, like a farmer caring for an orchard of fruit trees.

10 Lectio Divina is one of the seven essential practices of the church described in Uche Anizor and Hank Voss, Representing Christ: A Vision for the Priesthood of All Believers (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016); For more on lectio Divina see Jim Wilhoit and Evan B. Howard, Discovering Lectio Divina: Bringing Scripture into Ordinary Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2012).

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c) Church leaders must be able to help Christians when they suffer from “ soul sickness ” and “ soul snares ” (Ps 127:4). Those who suffer from soul sickness and soul snares may suffer from the consequences of personal sin, corporate sin, or simply from living in a fallen and broken world (e.g. Ps 107). 11

2) Soul Work: the personal work of watering, weeding, pruning, and fertilizing the garden of one’s own soul.

3) Soul Care: the pastoral work of nurturing growth another’s friendship with God.

c. “Across many cultures and centuries”

1) The test of cross-cultural fruitfulness. Spiritual classics have helped to God’s people in many different cultures.

2) Spiritual classics have helped believers in many different time periods.

3) Spiritual classics pass the test of “catholicity” and are gifts to the church as a whole.

3. Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics (SRSC). The Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics are a collection of sixteen spiritual classics divided into four subject areas: Biblical Studies, Theology and Ethics, Christian Ministry, and Global Mission.

a. All SRSCs have four subject areas ; the same as those covered by TUMI’s sixteen-module Capstone Curriculum.

b. SRSCs have eight sections like Capstone Modules’ eight sections.

c. SRSCs have been edited by leading evangelical scholars from schools like Biola University, Dallas Theological Seminary, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Yale University, Taylor University, and others.

11 For more on soul sickness see especially Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule , trans. George Demacopoulos (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007).

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d. SRSCs are designed to be read in community with friends, family, and coworkers. Every SRSC includes forty discussion questions.

III. Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Reasons This Generation of Church Planters Need the Spiritual Classics

A. Biblical reasons to engage with spiritual classics:

1. Hebrews exhorts us to remember and consider the lives of past Christians.

a. Remembering the cloud of witnesses helps our faith grow and encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb 11 and 12:1–2).

b. We are commanded to remember , to consider , and to imitate the faith of past Christian leaders.

c. “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Heb 13:7). 2. Close friends of Jesus share an inner beauty because Jesus is the same in every age. Spiritual classics help us recognize and embrace this inner beauty.

a. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8).

b. The Example of Pastor A. W. Tozer (d. 1963)

1) Tozer only had five years of formal education. He was working in a tire factory in Ohio when God called him to start preaching. He never had the opportunity to attend a Taylor University or The Urban Ministry Institute. 12

12 Bruce Demarest, Satisfy Your Soul: Restoring the Heart of Christian Spirituality (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1999), 259.

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2) Pastor Tozer had a powerful ministry in his generation, and in every generation since he died. Professor Glen Scorgie reports that Tozer’s works have had significant impact among China’s persecuted church, especially Tozer’s books: 13

a) The Pursuit of God (SRSC 10)

b) The Knowledge of the Holy

3) When Tozer was asked where he had nurtured his passion for God and his deep understanding of God’s character, he would point to his thirty-five “teachers.”

His “teachers” were a list of thirty-five spiritual classics that had shaped his spirituality and his theology. 14

4) Tozer’s example provides the tag line for the Sacred Roots project: “Toward 10,000 Tozers!”

3. Remembering God’s work and the people he has used in the past is modeled for us in Scripture.

a. Historical Psalms (Pss 78; 105; 106) 15

b. Spiritual Biographies and Autobiographies in the Bible

1) OT: Job, Jonah, Ruth, Esther, Nehemiah, Ezra, Daniel, etc.

2) NT: Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts

13 Personal conversation with Glen Scorgie. Professor Scorgie is editing SRSC 10, A. W. Tozer’s Pursuit of God. 14 For a list of Tozer’s thirty-five spiritual classics see: Don L. Davis and Hank Voss, “Urban Church Planting: A Topical Bibliography,” in The Evangel Dean Handbook: A Guide to the ABC’s of Equipping Urban Church Planters ( Wichita, KS: TUMI Press, 2015), 237−56. 15 Carmen Joy Imes, ed., Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends , Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics 3 (Wichita, KS: TUMI Press, 2021), 290.

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c. Many spiritual classics follow the biblical example and share biographies or spiritual autobiographies of Christian leaders who are worthy of remembering, considering, and imitating (Heb 13:7). Examples from the SRSC include:

1) Tobit and Ben Sirach’s stories (SRSC 5)

2) Athanasias’ The Life of Anthony (SRSC 6)

3) John Woolman’s Journal (SRSC 12)

4) Theresa’s The Interior Castle (SRSC 15)

5) George Mueller’s Autobiography (SRSC 16)

B. Historical reasons to engage spiritual classics:

1. Examples from Sacred Roots

a. Reading Athanasias spiritual classic, Life of Anthony, led Augustine to commit his life to ministry and to launch a movement of disciples that has lasted fifteen centuries. 16

1) Augustine’s proverb, “What you wish to ignite in others must first burn inside your heart.”

a) This motto continues to animate the Augustinian Novacella Monastery located in the Italian Alps.

b) This monastery has been in continuous operation since it was founded in 1142.

c) Augustine’s life and the spiritual classics he wrote has nurtured movements of Christian leaders that have lasted for over fifteen centuries.

16 David Wright, “The Life Changing ‘Life of Antony,’” Christian History Institute (blog), 1999, https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/life-changing-life-of-antony.

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2) Augustine’s teaching on the Psalms can be explored in SRSC 1

a) Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends (SRSC 1) helps leaders in our generation rediscover how to pray the Psalms daily. 1. Like all church leaders of his generation, Augustine set his heart to memorize the book of Psalms so that he could pray them daily. 2. All twenty-seven “friends” of Augustine whose voices we hear in the Psalms would have memorized the book of Psalms as they prayed them daily for decades. b) Leaders who pray the Psalms daily have access to resources greater than any other prayer resource on the planet. 1. Like children who learn to speak by repeating the words of their parents, so Christians learn how to pray by speaking the words our Father has given us to learn how to speak to him. 2. I tell my students they will only reach 1 percent of their potential in the Kingdom of God if they do not learn to pray the Psalms daily. 1) Las Casas was listening to a spiritual classic being read (the Apocrypha) when he realized that he needed to participate in God’s mission of justice. 2) Las Casas labored for many decades to ensure that native peoples in the Americas would be recognized as bearing the image of God.

b. Example of Las Casas

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c. Examples from “A Letter to God’s Friends and Fellow Warriors on Why We Read Spiritual Classics Together.” This letter is the introduction to the SRSC series and is found in the back of every SRSC.

1) Charles Harrison Mason (d. 1961)

2) Phoebe Palmer 17

2. Rebecca Proton and Moravian Movement

a. The example of Rebecca Proton 18

b. The Moravian Missionaries explained, “We abundantly share with them [unreached people groups] the printed booklets which they read among themselves and send from one place to the other.” 19

3. John Wesley and the Wesleyans 20

a. John Wesley printed a collection of fifty spiritual classics which he called the “Christian Library.” 21

1) “We must give special importance to supplying the poor with shorter, cheaper and simpler books than those that have existed up to now.” John Wesley 22

17 Phoebe Palmer may be the most important female church leader in Protestantism. See discussion of her theology and ministry in Anizor, Price, and Voss, Evangelical Theology. 18 Jon F. Sensbach, Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006); See discussion of Protton’s influence in Anizor, Price, and Voss, Evangelical Theology . 19 Klaus Bockmuehl, Books: Gods Tools in the History of Salvation (Vancouver, BC: Regent College, 1986), 17. 20 For more on John Wesley’s use of spiritual classics see the plenary video from the 2021 Evangel/Sacred Roots conference: Kwesi Kamau, “The Cost of Apprenticeship: Historical Foundations for the Pursuit of Wise Spiritual Mentors: The Example of John Wesley” (Wichita, KS: TUMI Press, 2021), https://vimeo.com/556345841. 21 Demarest, Satisfy Your Soul, 259. 22 Bockmuehl, Books , 13.

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2) “Wesley emphasized: Every preacher a distributor of Christian literature.” “The Methodist preachers covered the circuit of congregations assigned to them on horseback, and all they carried with them were two saddle bags: one contained a change of clothes, the other held a supply of Methodist books for sale.” 23 3) “This was a primary rule for the Methodist preachers: from four to five o’clock in the morning they would read the Scriptures together with the exegetical notes published by Wesley, and the hours from six to noon were spent over several parts of the ‘Christian Library’ or similar literature.” 24 4) “This portion of the Wesleyan preacher’s daily schedule often gave ground to posterity for terror and admiration, and may perhaps be too difficult to follow today. However, it can provoke us to reconsider where we put the emphases of our own life’s work.” 25 b. Taylor University was founded by a group of itinerant (horseback riding) preachers who received their ordination by studying the Bible and reading the spiritual classics as Wesley had instructed.

4. The Evangelical Missionary Movement

a. Dilley and Woodberry demonstrate how the Protestant missionary movement’s emphasis on the printed Scripture as well as spiritual classics and other printed resources has had a major impact for good on the Church in the Global South. 26

b. Scorgie shows an example of this impact on the church in China. 27

23 Bockmuehl, 14. 24 Bockmuehl, 14. 25 Bockmuehl, 14–15.

26 Andrea Palpant Dilley, “The World the Missionaries Made,” Christianity Today , January 2014; Robert Woodberry, “The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy,” The American Political Science Review 106, no. 2 (2012): 244–74; Anizor, Price, and Voss, Evangelical Theology. 27 Glen G. Scorgie, “The Diffusion of Christian Mysticism: From the Medieval Rhineland to Contemporary China,” Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality 20, no. 1 (2020): 1–24,

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C. Contemporary reasons to engage the spiritual classics:

1. Pastors in this generation are tired, having faced a plague unlike any other in the last one hundred years.

a. Results from the 2022 Evangel Conference Delegate Survey.

b. Sacred Roots Leaders: Pastor Cuco Moya, Pastor Robert Vasquez

2. “The Great Resignation” and pastoral burnout

a. According to surveys conducted last summer by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford International University, 37 percent of clergy had “seriously considered leaving pastoral ministry” at least once during the preceding year, and 67 percent had thought at least once during that time that it was the hardest year of their ministry experience. 28 b. Likewise, Barna Group, a research firm that focuses on religion, found in fall 2021 that 38 percent of pastors had considered quitting full-time ministry within the past year, up nine percentage points from January 2021. 29 3. Leaders of movements today need to find ways to help congregational leaders nurture their souls so they can finish running their race with excellence.

IV. How SRSC Help Leaders Flourish as Apprentices to Wise Historical Mentors

A. Defining “Flourish” and “Apprenticeship”

1. What does it mean for leaders to “flourish” or “thrive” in ministry?

https://doi.org/10.1353/scs.2020.0017. 28 Edie Gross, “The Great Resignation: Are Pastors Resigning, Redefining or Reevaluating?,” Faith and Leadership, July 26, 2022, https://faithandleadership.com/the-great resignation-are-pastors-resigning-redefining-or-reevaluating. 29 Gross.

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a. Flourishing is a central aspect of humanity’s ultimate purpose according to Scripture.

“Scripture is about a way of being in the world that promises true human flourishing, now partially and eschatologically fully, through believing in and aligning oneself with Jesus Christ, God’s authoritative Son.” 30 For more theological resources on Christ and human flourishing today see resources at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture: www.faith.yale.edu/initiatives/christ flourishing. b. There is a false dichotomy between being God-centered and recognizing that God created humans to flourish with joy in his presence. “The Bible’s telos is simultaneously God centered and human focused.” 31 God receives glory when we flourish as he intended.

c. Six components of human flourishing in Tyler Vanderweele’s 2017 study at Harvard University.

1) happiness and life satisfaction;

2) health, both mental and physical;

3) financial and material stability;

4) meaning and purpose;

5) character and virtue; and

6) close social relationships.

30 Jonathan T. Pennington, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary (Baker Academic, 2018), 290. 31 Pennington, 293.

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2. Three kinds of apprenticeship in the Sacred Roots program:

“Apprenticeship provides a system for training a new generation of practitioners in a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often includes accompanying study (cohort work and reading).” a. Apprenticeship to Historical Mentors . Every generation of the church has produced gifted leaders, but some leaders have influenced not only their own generation, but every generation that has come after them. We apprentice ourselves to these wise practitioners to deepen our skill in soul work and soul care. b. Apprenticeship to Contemporary Mentors. Sacred Roots Contemporary Mentors are world-class evangelical scholars who have spent years getting to know the Historical Mentors we meet in the Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics. They are the editors of each SRSC in the series. c. Apprenticeship to Study Group Leaders . Sacred Roots Study Group Leaders are the leaders of specific groups of congregational leaders who have gathered in a Sacred Roots study group to learn from Historical Mentors like Augustine, Benedict, Basil, and others. They know the context and the communities in which the study group

members work and they nurture and encourage friendships within the study group they lead.

B. Examples of how the Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics help Christian leaders flourish as God intends:

1. SRSC 1. Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends. What kind of soul work and soul care practices will this volume help my leaders develop?

a. See the “Soul Work and Soul Care Appendix,” pp. 277–292.

b. This volume teaches us how to do “Psalm Work” or “Psalmody.” It teaches us how to recover the lost art of praying the Psalms in a daily rhythm.