교회성장학의 학문적 특성과 실천신학적 평가

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore academic characteristics of church growth in light of integration and connection with social science, as well as to discuss the future direction for developing church growth based on evaluation from a viewpoint of practical theology. Through such discussion, this study also attempts to talk about how practical theology should be developed. Practical theology, born in the mid-19th century, has been divided and specialized into several categories to the trends of social science. However, excessive specialization of each category resulted in weakening its connection with others. For this reason, practical theology needed an academic methodology to integrate its many disciplines. Church growth satisfies such a need by integrating the diverse disciplines of practical theology based on the missional concern of the triune God. To grow healthily, the church must develop its internal areas and external areas in balance, viewing itself as an organism. Not only does it value theological understandings related to the church and its ministries, church growth also actively utilizes academic results of social science to effectively apply those understandings into its ministries. In fact, church growth began with the intent of analyzing both growing and non-growing churches in mission fields to identify reasons of growth and stagnation. To accomplish this, church growth experts utilize social science methodologies including area studies, diverse research methods, strategies, planning, and organization management. Such academic attitude is based on the belief that healthy church growth needs the power of the Gospel related to the biblical text as well as an understanding of situational conditions around the church. It is very pragmatic for church growth to seeks development of diverse human means based on methods derived from social science in order to achieve God’s holy plan of redemption. Nevertheless, the attitude that church growth takes is not unconditional pragmatism but methodological pragmatism. While advocates for the former believe in using any kind of ways and means ignoring ethical dimensions, advocates for the latter believe that every method should be subordinated to the Kingdom of God and God’s mission(Missio Dei). Clearly, methodology of social science cannot be an end in itself, and must be used only within theological frameworks. As such, I set three─biblical principles, life of the faith community, and missional context─as methodological elements of church growth, and present their reciprocal relations as the methodological structure of church growth.