Empowering Ongoing Transformation in Two Churches by Discerning and Participating in the Mission of God through Looking Up, Around, Back, In and Forward

Abstract

This project assesses the effectiveness of the discerning process of Looking Up, Around, Back, In and Forward as a means of empowering a church to experience ongoing transformation by discerning and participating in the mission of God. It applies the teaching of Romans 12:2 where the church is instructed to "not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This thesis looks at ways that the church has embraced the patterns of the world and how the Looking process can move them toward Christ and his Kingdom values. Two Action Research churches went through the Looking process. In addition, three Case Study churches served as exemplars that shed additional light into the Looking process. This project demonstrates that the Looking process is an effective way for a church to experience ongoing transformation through the discernment of and the participation in the mission of God.