Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

1985

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Garth D. Thompson

Second Advisor

C. Raymond Holmes

Third Advisor

Donna J. Habenicht

Abstract

This project sought to develop programmed instruction materials designed to guide laity of the Philippines in independent study in the art of preaching. Preaching is especially challenging to Filipino lay people-- particularly to the church elders--because of the lack of ordained ministers. Preaching the Gospel and nurturing members rest largely on lay shoulders. Unfortunately, the laity who do the bulk of the work in the Philippines are handicapped by lack of formal ministerial training. Thus Seventh-day Adventist church leadership is challenged to equip and instruct the laity to preach more effectively to meet the demands of a rapidly growing membership. Programmed instruction prepared especially for the laity is one attempt to meet this situation.

Programmed instruction arranged learning activities in a series of steps which lead the learner by independent study to desired goals. The lessons present the information and provide the learner with opportunities to apply it. Behavioral objectives are spelled out so students know what they can and should do after completing each lesson. Programmed instruction in preaching is perhaps most effective when connected with Theological Education by Extension--which brings education to the people who are working in the churches, puts learning into an informal setting, brings instruction to the "right" people, and makes the theory realistic by putting it into immediate application. The programmed instruction reminds the learner that three important factors determine the success of preaching: (1) the preacher, (2) the people, and (3) the sermons.

First, effective sermons are related to the whole life of the preacher, his/her spirituality, his/her Christ-like attitude, his/her diligent study of the Bible, and his/her prayerful life. Second, sermons appropriate to the congregation are preached when the preacher asks him or herself three questions: (1) Do I know the people? (2) Do I really love them? (3) Do I seek to feed them spiritually with divine Word that meets their needs? Third, effective, appropriate sermons can be preached only by careful preparation and development. The programmed instruction in preaching helps the learner to develop a sermon from the initial idea to the final delivery. In all the instruction the learner is reminded that he/she is a messenger called by God, that God's Word revolves around Christ which is the theme and center of the message and that only through Christ does one receive salvation.

Subject Area

Preaching--Biblical teaching; Laity--Philippines

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/326/

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