Where are we going?

Read the course materials for Module 4. In them, you will read about an attempt to identity five phases in the story of the Wesleyan Church over the last five decades and more. Since this history is still being written, these categorizations are open for debate.

If you know much about the history of the evangelical church and the Americas over these last few decades, you will see some convergences. For example, the evangelism phase of the Wesleyan Church coincided with the Evangelism Explosion movement created by Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The”hippie” revolution and the Jesus Movement of the 70’s led Wesleyan leaders to focus on the youth of our denomination, at times endorsing the new Age of Aquarius and at times offering a Christian alternative to the change moral values of our society. The church growth movement in the Wesleyan Church corresponded to the broader church growth movement that was taking place at the time under the influence of figures like Donald McGavran of Fuller Seminary. 

Similarly, a focus on biblical justice in the early twenty-first century corresponded well with the Obama administration and the rise of the millennial generation. Robert Webber summed up these trends well in a book called, The Younger Evangelicals. You could also argue that the Wesleyan Church is currently undergoing a conservatization as broader evangelicalism is tightening ranks in response to widening acceptance of homosexuality and gender fluidity. Organizationally, our current moves toward decentralization reflect the influence of thinkers like Alan Hirsch and the prevalent aversion to institutional Christianity among many disaffected evangelicals and a growing number of “nones.”

If we aren’t aware of these influences on us, we will simply be “driven and tossed by the wind,” as James 1:6. We always use biblical language to justify what we are doing, but the passages we focus on have everything to do with broader cultural trends. 

Where do you think The Wesleyan Church is currently going? Do you think this is the direction in which it should ideally go? To what extent are we being influenced by not only the world but the churches and Christian thinkers around us? What advice would you give the next General Superintendent?

Make an initial post of at least 200 words answering these questions. Then, after making your initial post, please read through the responses of your classmates and make at least three follow-up comments on a different day than your original post. These responses should contribute meaningfully to the discussion, whether by asking insightful questions, providing additional examples or perspectives, or challenging ideas respectfully. Each follow-up comment should be at least 100 words. This discussion is worth 30 points.