Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Stanley E. Patterson

Second Advisor

Simbarashe Musvosvi

Third Advisor

Walton Williams

Abstract

Problem

In 2005, two of the churches in the eastern district of Reunion Island experienced severe conflict between the assigned pastor and elected local elders. The response of one church was the removal of its elders from their posts. In the other church, the church board expressed that they did not want the pastor. The result was minimal church growth during the two years that followed. The continuing confusion and conflict that has stymied the evangelistic potential of the congregations must be addressed in order to recover mission and witness.

Task

The task of this project is to develop and implement a team ministry approach among pastors and elders in the Seventh-day Adventist churches of the east sector of Reunion Island. The project seeks to discover if team ministry can build good relationships and achieve harmony between pastors and elders that benefits the congregations and their potential witness in the community.

Conclusions

Conflict between elders and assigned pastors in a local church produces confusion and chaos, and reduces the evangelistic thrust of the congregation. Mutual support among top leaders facilitates reconciliation when there are problems and produces peace. It helps local churches attain sustained effective leadership that leads to sustained church growth.

Subject Area

Church controversies--Seventh-day Adventists; Church group work; Seventh-day Adventists--Clergy; Elders (Church officers)--Seventh-day Adventists--Madagascar; Reunon Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists

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/537

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