Becoming An Acts 1:8 Church--A Strategy for Developing Missional Churches in the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania/South Jersey

by Gail B. Hallman
June 1st, 2007
This dissertation project is the culmination of years of study, research, trial and error, consultations, questions asked, and prayer. Several resources and tools have been the result of that work.

The purpose of this project was to determine the missions involvement of the Southern Baptist churches of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania/South Jersey (BCPSJ). The goal, then, was to develop a strategy and process to assist these churches in becoming missional and for them to become more involved in missions and ministry locally and globally as stated in Acts 1:8.

A major part of this process was the use of an assessment tool, which helps the church leadership to determine their strengths and weaknesses in ten different areas of missions life in their congregation. The intent of this process was to determine which of these ten areas were the strongest and which areas needed the most assistance. The next step, then, was to develop a consultation process to provide the churches with the appropriate resources and assistance to strengthen the areas that needed concentration in order to develop a more balanced approach to missions.

As the project developed and more research was done, it was decided to utilize a case study with one church, Valley Baptist Church, over a two-year period to test the process. At the end of that two-year period and additional study, a strategy would bedeveloped for working with the other churches of BCPSJ to help them in their goal to become missional churches and to assist their leaders in becoming transformational leaders.