Toward a consistent ethic-of-life mission for the Wesleyan Church: A primer and an education process.

摘要

Approaching the subject of Christian Ethics by looking at "life" as a comprehensive whole, this dissertation presented three criteria for a Christian ethic of life: (a) A whole life mission embraces life as a comprehensive whole. This holistic mission is an adequate ethic for local church outreach to the whole person in society. (b) A whole life ethic of the local church embodies the compassion of Christ. (c) A whole life ethic is consistent, as a local church engages itself in sanctity of life as well as quality of life issues.;These criteria are the guiding principles of this project and are utilized in this assessment and development of an ethic of life for the local Wesleyan Church. This whole life ethic addresses issues along the whole spectrum of life from conception to death. That spectrum confronts such sanctity of life issues as abortion, capital punishment and modern warfare, as well as quality of life issues such as economic poverty and despair.;This project calls for an introduction and integration of a "consistent ethic-of-life mission" into the social outreach ministry of a local church. Integrating this mission into a local church means that the project was involved in an introductory attempt to insert a new social mission agenda into the present mission of that church. The strategy introduced an educational approach that would lead to the establishment of a social outreach ministry, through the use of a primer that was pilot-tested in three symposiums. The symposiums were conducted at three Wesleyan Churches in the Indiana Central District: Crawfordsville Sonlight Wesleyan Church, Indianapolis Shelby Street Wesleyan Church, and the Tipton Trinity Wesleyan Church.;In order to interpret attitudinal changes in the symposiums, participants were issued a pre and post-test questionnaire exploring the four social issues of abortion, economics, capital punishment and war. Progress was made by the participants toward more consistently compassionate attitudes when they reflected upon the issues of abortion and economics. On the issues of war and capital punishment, the participants reflected a consistent lack of compassion at the conclusion of the symposium process. But generally, the participants and local churches sensed an awakening that moved them toward a consistent and compassionate ethic-of-life mission endeavor.