McGavran and Global Information Culture

The 'back story' for my Fall quarter was a wrestling match with Donald McGavran.  As founder of my school, and as an inheritor of his church growth classes at Fuller (after C.Peter Wagner, Eddie Gibbs did their respective runs), I had to make up my mind about him. I read most all of his many books and I read what his adversaries said about him. I read him in his context (primarily in the 1950s and 1960s). I presented on him to my church growth class in October, to a conference on church growth in November, and I had many conversations with senior faculty over the last few months. All three of these venues were helpful to get a better handle on things. I also brought his material into conversation with some of my dissertation work on practices, Jesus, the kingdom, modernity, postmodernity, and global information culture. What served to bring all these perspectives together was a 5000 word article I wrote on McGavran for Missiology this coming spring. That paper gave me fits -- how to synthesize all these streams together to say what I thought about McGavran -- what ought to be brought into the new millenium and what ought to be left behind.

That 'little' paper took me over a month to write! I just couldn't bring it all together. However, in the end, I felt this assignment was more a gift than a burden -- it provided me the opportunity to weave together many threads that have been dangling there for at least ten years. I feel I found a way forward with McGavran -- a way to look at this man in light of our changed context. Here is the abstract for the upcoming article in Missiology:

LOOKING BACK TO MCGAVRAN AND FINDING A WAY FORWARD
This article explores Donald McGavran’s writings for resources that enable mission engagement today in the culture of late modernity. There is, indeed, much of value in McGavran’s 1955 classic, “The Bridges of God,” among other writings. With these resources in hand, the author situates McGavran within the socio-cultural changes of the twentieth century. Adding deterritorialization to people movement theory enables the formulation of a theory that maintains the dynamics of mission within spaces where people are no longer associated with particular places or cultures. If mission stations represent mission engagement in modernity, and people movements in postmodernity, the author proposes practice movements as a viable way forward for mission in global information culture.

Technorati Tags: Donald McGavran, Global Culture

Comments

[drew moser]

I look forward to reading your article. I too have been wrestling with McGavren and the implications of his thoughts for future church growth strategy. This should help me connect some dots.

[matthew krabill]

it was good to hear some of your reflections following our class this quarter. i look forward to round 2 when your article is published.

[alex perdigueros]

hi ryan,

i was part of the every nation school of campus ministry fall 2005 and i took 2 subjects under you. i need to get in touch with you ASAP. i hope you read this soon. can you email me and i'll try to write or call you back? thanks.

[Chuck Warnock]

Ryan, I look forward to reading the article. McGavran's bio on Wikipedia is very inadequate -- I added some stuff, but he deserves better. I'm in Branson/Roxburgh's DMin cohort. Hope to see on campus in Jan 07.

[Alan Hirsch]

Ryan, when is the article appearing? I remain convinced that McGavren was the only real true church growth exponent ever. He is very close to being what we would call 'missional' today.

[Matt Myers]

Ryan,
Is the article somewhere to download?

[Dan Sheffield]

I will look forward to the Missiology article. It is interesting how many people think McGavran developed his materials on his own initiative when he specifically identifies Methodist missionary, Bishop Pickett and Pickett's massive research project in India, as the foundation for his analysis. Even most of McGavran's key factors were articulated by Pickett in the 1930s. But.. I'm sure you've integrated all that into your article, so...

[jared looney]

Ryan, I think this article will be pretty helpful for me. When do you expect it to be out?

-Jared
www.bronxfellowship.org

[Sivin]

Dear Ryan, on a totally different track. I was wondering whether you could email me or post and thoughts on the recent critique of Brian McLaren by David Hesselgrave in the latest Evangelical Missions Quarterly (43:1, Jan 2007) entitled "Brian McLaren's contextualization of the gospel" (p. 92-100).

Brian is coming to Malaysia in March 3-5 for some meetings. So, we'll have a chance to interact with him then. But any thoughts from you? or Prof. Eddie Gibbs?

[Dan Wilt]

I'm very interested in considering the content of the article and its relevance to the worship leadership/creative community within the emerging church community, Ryan.

We have much to engage, and quickly, for our worldview to turn in time to have effect in the now.

[Sivin]

to echo Dan, I'd be interested too with the content of your paper.

[Brad]

Like the new look of the blog, we met at the ASCG conference in KC a few months ago.

[Ryan]

Thanks for the interest -- I'm told it will be in the upcoming issue of Missiology -- will link to it when it becomes available...

Sivin - I didn't see your request until after the date -- I will look into that article...

[Sivin]

Thanks Ryan for taking note of the request. I'm still interested to hear your views.

[Andy Rowell]

Here is the bibliographic information for Ryan's article:
Practice movements in global information culture: looking back to McGavran and finding a way forward By: Bolger, Ryan K. Source: Missiology, 35 no 2 Ap 2007, p 181-193.
The PDF is available at ATLAS if your school has access to that. http://www.asmweb.org/missiology.htm#Online

Ryan,
No need to comment or respond to this but I just thought I would post it here in case you ever teach on McGavran again, you'll have a copy of it and it might help someone else. I thought I would suggest two essays by John Howard Yoder that graciously, fairly and briefly analyze McGavran's approach theologically. I think you and your students would like these essays.

John Howard Yoder, "Church Growth Issues in Theological Perspective," in The Challenge of Church Growth: A Symposium (ed. Wilbert R. Shenk; Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001), 25-48.

In this essay, Yoder asks questions about the approach which seeks to get everyone in the church and then later to "perfect" them. This would be relevant to McGavran's heirs who lead megachurches. Their challenge is to (1) attract people far from God and then later to (2) help those same people grow into fully devoted followers of Jesus. Yoder merely sheds light on the difficulty of this two step process.

John Howard Yoder, "The Social Shape of the Gospel," in Exploring Church Growth (ed. Wilbert R. Shenk; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983), 277-284.

In this essay, Yoder asks whether transcending cultural boundaries is part of the gospel or secondary to it. In other words, should evangelism embody transcultural relationships or can the gospel be taught to racists and addressing the racism be done later. Yoder argues from Galatians and Acts that transcending the Jew / Gentile barrier was a key component of the Gospel. From my work in New Testament, I know this question continues to be one that is debated under the discussion of justification and the New Perspective on Paul.

Andy Rowell
Th.D. Student
Duke Divinity School
Blog: Church Leadership Conversations http://www.andyrowell.net/

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