Description
I presented some of this material at a seminar event at Roehampton at which stakeholders were present. Some colleagues from Practical Theology commented extremely positively and enthusiastically on it. It is a practical offshoot of a potentially 4* research output as listed at 1. This would be the natural consequence of high-quality research and knowledge exchange activities (Impact). The Problem-Solving Church: The Lesson of a First-century Organization for the Twenty-First Century is the story of how a profound conviction was undergirded by key skills that are the hall-mark of any successful organisation today. It tells the story of a historical trajectory of missionary proclamation in which, in the face of the polemic that Jesus can’t be the messiah and wasn’t resurrected from the dead, the early church found new ways—when previous ways became counterproductive—of publicly proclaiming their profound conviction that Jesus resurrected to eternal life really had been encountered.The nature of this organization’s resilience and single-mindedness in proclaiming this profound conviction is testimony to a problem-solving church whose example has much to teach not just the church of today but organizations (companies, guilds, institutions) more generally.
The top four skills employers value are
problem-solving,
team-work,
interpersonal skills,
and listening.
The early church embodied all of these attributes in its mission in the first century.
Moreover, the four skills that employers say are most scarce in the labour market are (again):
problem-solving,
team-work,
emotional intelligence (incorporating interpersonal skills),
and listening.
More remarkably as regards the first skill, the first-century church followed the classic cycle of problem-solving that we find in the best organizations. That is the classic five steps as outlined for example in Aken and Berends' 2012 textbook Problem-Solving Organization Theory (Cambridge: CUP)
Title of case study: the Church as a Problem-Solving Organization or the Church at its most Effective Employs Key Practical (Organizational) Skills and Always Has Done.
This could be a qualitative and quantitative study employing both parametric and non-parametric methods.
Summary of impact
(indicative maximum 100 words) The impact to be degree of agreement that these ideas change the way one thinks about the church.
2. Underpinning research
(indicative maximum 500 words) See above (this column)
3. References to research
(indicative maximum of six references) Main reference: my published book see 1.1
4.Details of impact
(indicative maximum 750 words)
One would generate dependent (and independent) variables measuring the impact defined as degree of agreement that these ideas changed the way one thinks about the church.
5. Sources to corroborate the impact
(indicative maximum of 10 references)
Parametric methods and non-parametric statistics (Chi-test etc.) applied to data collection.
| Period | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Degree of Recognition | National |