That’s right, I’ve removed the password to the essay. The dissertation is handed in now so I figured there’s no point in protecting it anymore! So now anyone can have a read without having to email me. You will find some spelling errors, typos and errors in grammar. That’s because when I copied it into a popular writing programme by a large computer company that features a little annoying paperclip as it’s help tool, I gave it a final edit and spotted that I spelt ‘everyday’ as ‘everday’ a lot, amongst other things. Before long, I plan to copy it back in so that here you’ll have the final edit, but as it is, it’s close enough!
The title is in very badly spelt French which means, “It is finished.” Yes, Jesus’ work on the cross is finished but also my dissertation is finished as well, that is apart from formatting it fully. I’ll be formatting it in a popular writing programme by a large computer company that features a little annoying paperclip as it’s help tool, which means that the web version on this site won’t be fully formatted until I can be bothered to get round to it. That just means with things like footnotes and all that. So there we go. The journey has been a pleasure! Oh, and my brother-in-law dreamt last night that I got it published by Zondervan. Maybe it was prophetic, if not then I’m gonna stone him! Here I finish for now with a cartoon by Asbo Jesus which he published about an hour ago…how apt!
All has been written in first draft form, except for the conclusion. That means that I have effectively 24 hours to write a conclusion, completely redraft it making sure I keep in mind the actual question and make sure that the whole thing is tied together as a complete whole. Oh, and getting the introduction to actually say where I’m going (have gone) with it. Then I’ve got to add a 300 word abstract and then remember, of course there’s formatting… clock’s ticking… no wonder I can’t sleep!
A Front Cover, A Chapter, and a Re-organisation Completed
Published March 28, 2009 Uncategorized 2 CommentsWhat a productive day today has been! I’ve finished the chapter on planting. I don’t feel like there’s anything worth giving you as an excerpt, so I won’t! As well as that, I’ve copied all my notes and quotes into the forthcoming chapters on pastoring and teaching, and rejigged them so that teaching comes first, because it seemed to make more sense that way. Word count is up to around 6,200 words so it seems we’re on target for 10,000. If my conclusion is 1,000 words then both the remaining chapters need to be around 1,400 each.
Finally, and this is quite exciting, I procrastinated for about half an hour, and designed the front cover. I don’t want just another dull dissertation style front cover where all it does is give the title, word count, author, tutor and all that, I want an aesthetically pleasing front cover. So here’s my idea:
The first thing my dissertation tutor said to me as I walked into his office was:
It’s all a load of rubbish; you need to start again!
But then he was reading it off his computer screen!
Then we got on to talking about how things were going and he gave a few perceptive comments. The main two points were that I need to rework the introduction to point out where I am going and that I need to keep in mind my main question. As it is, my introduction is flat and does nothing much more than explain what simple church is. Also, in my first chapter particularly I spend a lot of time analysing the nature of church but not enough time explaining how being small aids such an understanding.
I think one reflection I would add is that the chapters need to be tied togther more as complete wholes rather than a collection of somewhat disconnected paragraphs.
Well, there goes another chapter, written at least as a first draft! The one I just wrote is on evangelism. In case you didn’t spot it, I realised that church planting should really come after the chapter on evangelism so church planting is coming next. The focus of the evangelism chapter is explained in its headings which are as follows: More Relational than Events drive; More Through Community than Through Individuals; More Incarnational than Extractional. I think they’re important points if our evangelism is going to be reaching that actually reaches. And this is whether we’re simple churches or not, it’s just that simple churches make these approaches more natural and easier to do. Check out the chapter, that is if you’re not Sammy and therefore saving it for when the whole thing is done.
Oh and I’ve got a meeting with my dissertation tutor tomorrow so I’ll try and remember to update here on how that goes. I’m hoping he doesn’t say that it’s all a load of rubbish and that I need to start again!
I completely forgot to post on Friday when I completed yet another chapter of my dissertation! So here it is: I completed another chapter! It’s the chapter titled: “Church: Not as a building or meeting but as a people.” It’s far too long so I’ll have to cut it down. But for now, here is an excerpt:
Just as using church to refer to the building can limit church activity to a certain locale, and using church to refer to the act of gathering limits church activity to a certain time, a misunderstanding of individualism limits church identity to nothing more than a group of individuals.
On Saturday, I had a go at writing the introduction. It was the second time I had tried, and it all went wrong. It didn’t feel like I was starting out on my best foot, so to speak. So I gave up and then tried again today, and success! Have a look at my introduction accessible from the essay page. It’s already too long! I can see myself trying to lose easily a few thousand words in the last week of March! Anyway, here’s a couple of excerpts from the first draft of the introduction:
I recently started reading Misisonal House Churches by J. D. Payne, though I haven’t got very far. In the introdcution he defines quntatively his parameters for being missional, and he says he sets them quite low (p.8-9). In his study of house churches, for one to be missional it has to have baptised someone in the previous year and have planted a church within the past years. Doesn’t that disqualify a heck of a lot of churches in the UK? Food for thought!
I’ve read Total Church and Organic Church before. Both around a year ago, but I never made any notes as I never planned to do this as a dissertation. So I’ve re-read them recently (fitting them in around writing an essays for other subjects). Of course, re-reading books is a lot faster than reading them for the first time so it hasn’t taken long. Notes are available.
