A Missiological Approach To Theological Education In The Korean Context PDF Download

This thesis outlines the search for "home" and a sense of "belonging" that the various generations of Korean immigrants have undertaken in past decades within the context of the Korean-Canadian Immigrant Church (KCIC). The second-generation members of the KCIC are on the brink of defining a unique ecclesiology and missiology in the Canadian context, and this thesis seeks to identify the Christian education model that will work best in supporting and proliferating these transitions within the church and beyond. This thesis specifically proposes a Christian education model that brings to life Lesslie Newbigin's notion of the congregation as the "hermeneutic of the gospel." Newbigin's ideas about the congregation as the "hermeneutic of the gospel" are interlaced with the ecclesiology, missiology, and Christian education theories of Letty Russell, Parker Palmer, and Robert Schreiter. Korean-American scholars Sang Hyun Lee, Jung Young Lee, and Steve Kang and their notions of liminality, marginality, and the dialogical-self respectively, are included as part of a Korean Canadian contextual framework for this dialogue with Newbigin, Palmer, and Russell. The KCIC context that is the focus of the discussion is unique in terms of the prominence of a culture of han, jeong, and a theology of "belonging," all of which require critical examination and transformation. The contributions of the abovementioned dialogue partners are used to identify a dialogical model of missional biblical hermeneutics for the future KCIC that will also inform a new missional ecclesiology of "belonging for the stranger" and create a renewed sense of "home". A dialogue that takes place within creative liminal spaces, and that employs a missional biblical hermeneutic is one pathway through which the Korean-Canadian second-generation can forge a new ecclesiology for future generations. This educational model can provide a framework that will help in the re-formation and reconciliation of identity and community in the Korean-Canadian context, and also build foundations for new bridges of local mission and "thick", multi-dimensional engagement between the future KCIC and the Canadian public.