A Qualitative Analysis of Discipleship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Responses to a Global and Regional Survey
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Used by permission: Digital Commons @ Andrews University © 2016
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Abstract
In 2014 the South Pacific Division1 (SPD) of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church commissioned a research team from Avondale College of Higher Education to investigate the nature of discipleship. The aim of the research project was twofold: to provide an objective description of a Seventh-day Adventist disciple of Jesus, and to provide a criterion/criteria by which the attainment of discipleship may be measured and shared in the context of the Adventist Church’s mission. This paper reports on stage one of the project in which international and national church leaders were interviewed regarding their understanding of discipleship as articulated and applied at division, union, conference, and local levels. This qualitative data was then analyzed for common themes, areas for development, and contributions towards a description of a Seventh-day Adventist disciple. Five key findings emerged from stage one and are reported below, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses in the Church’s understandings of and approaches to discipleship.
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Hattingh, S., Morton, L., Ferret, R., Petrie, K., Heise, J., & de Waal, K. (2016). A qualitative analysis of discipleship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Responses to a global and regional survey. Journal of Adventist Mission Studies, 12(1), 156-171. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jams/vol12/iss1/12/