Ecclesiology: Doctrine Of The Church

St80611 20 Units 6 Study Credits £60

DESCRIPTION: 

A study of the biblical teaching on the doctrine of the Church, focussing on the nature, identity and purpose of the Church, and giving consideration to what the Scriptures say about its leaders, members, sacraments and worship.

OBJECTIVES:     

As a result of the student’s successful completion of this module, s/he will:

Head:  

  • have a biblical understanding of the nature and purpose of the church
  • have a clear grasp of their own position on such issues as baptism and church government

Heart: 

  • have a greater love for the church as God’s primary means of engagement in the world

Hand:  

  • be able to apply their understanding of the church as they look for a church to be part of or to serve in
  • play a more effective role as a member of a local church       

READING:          

  • Dever, M     The Church: The Gospel Made Visible  (B&H, 2012)
  • Balchin, John F     I want to know what the Bible says about the Church    Kingsway Publications 
  • Carson, Don A     The Church in the Bible and the World     Baker / Paternoster
  • Ferguson, Sinclair   Devoted to God’s Church   Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2020
  • Grudem, Wayne     Systematic Theology    Leicester: IVP, 1994     (pp853 – 1049)
  • Clowney, Edmund     The Church     Leicester: IVP, 1995
  • MacArthur, John     The Master’s Plan for the Church     Chicago: Moody, 2008
  • Dever, Mark and Platt, David    9 Marks of a Healthy Church     Wheaton: Crossway, 2013
  • DeYoung, Kevin     Why we Love the Church     Chicago: Moody, 2009
  • Wright, D     Three Views on Baptism     Leicester: IVP, 2009
  • Bridge, Donald and Phypers, David     The water that divides    Leicester: IVP, 1977

SCHEDULE:        

Unit 1                 Why Study the Church?

Unit 2                 What is the Church – by definitio

Units 3-4             What is the Church – by description

Units 5-6             What is the Church – by description

Units 7-8             The Sacraments – Baptism

Units 9-10           The Sacraments – Communion

Units 11-12         Offices in the Church

Units 13-14         Forms of Church Government

Units 15-16         Church Membership and Church Discipline

Units 17-18         Worship

Units 19-20         Worship

ASSIGNMENT:   

Based on the course work covering Offices in the Church and Forms of Church Government write up a case study of a local church.

  1. Base the study either on your home church or a church you are regularly attending while at College.
  • Use your own knowledge of the situation but also talk to some of the church leaders to verify your own insights as well as learn from them.
  • Compare the situation you are studying with the principles outlined in the course, showing where it closely follows those principles and where, in your opinion, it doesn’t.
  • Identify what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the form of church government being used in that congregation.    Your opinions are strictly confidential and solely for the purpose of this assignment.
  • Use the following outline to complete your case study.

Case Study Outline:

  1. Name of Church
  2. Denominational affiliation (if any)
  3. Number of people in church membership
  4. Average number of attenders at Sunday worship
  5. Which of the three models of church government does the church most closely resemble?
  6. Describe, briefly, the leadership structure of the church you are studying.
  7. Which teaching about the role of church officers does the church, in your opinion, most closely model and which least closely?
  8. What are the strengths of their form of church government, in the opinion of the church leaders and in your own opinion?
  9. What are the weaknesses of their form of church government, in the opinion of the church leaders and in your own opinion?