Abstract
This thesis considers the relationship between soteriology, missiology and pedagogy in fresh expressions of church.Having identified the key theological and pedagogical challenges for the fresh expressions of church movement, three heuristic models of the dominant contemporary approaches to Christian education are identified, positing a direct relationship between soteriological and missiological beliefs and the consequential pedagogical praxis of Christian communities.
The methodology of the qualitative research is shown to be grounded within the field of practical theology and utilizes a critical realist framework for the ethnographic approach undertaken in the participant observation of three fresh expressions of church.
The pedagogical praxis, soteriological and missiological beliefs of the three communities are thus outlined and analysed, allowing the ethnographic data to critique, and be critiqued by, the heuristic models put forward.
The three models are shown to be in part upheld by the praxis of the three communities whilst the data analysis challenges the integrity of the theological diversity of the fresh expressions of church movement and calls for further research to be undertaken on identifying the nature and purpose of Christian education with, and for, the unchurched.
| Date of Award | 2015 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Andrew Wright (Supervisor) & Peter Ward (Supervisor) |