Well, my proposal for the Capstone Project has been approved. This means that unless things go completely haywire, the Master's of Ministry program will be completed, if the Lord wills, this December.
So, you may be asking, "what exactly is the Capstone Project?" Over the past 31 semester hours of study several "practical ministry" courses have been consumed. These are not your "Bread" courses, but rather how to serve "Bread" (hoping everyone sees the biblical tie-in and that the intent was not so much "studying the Word" as "exploring ways to help contemporary culture see the Word as relevant"). The Capstone Project is a student-designed way to integrate the previous learning into a single, powerful, relevant exposition of learned concepts.
My proposal involves exposing family, friends, acquaintances, and current strangers to lyrical ideas that explore cultural, spiritual and religious issues we face each day. The Capstone Project involves three basic stages. The first is recording a set of songs that are lyrically thought-provoking, musically interesting, and culturally relevant. The second stage is presenting these songs to others, in group settings and individually, for the explicit purpose of generating conversations about the issues the lyrics address. The third stage is to synthesize the results of the conversations for presentation to my evaluators before graduation to the next level.
So. What exactly does this mean for Jeff Kreh? I am embarking on a ministerial experiment to test whether music can be used in the same basic way any other form of advertising is used by the church. We advertise with our buildings, newsletters, dress and rituals, office answering machine messages, sermons, and a multitude of other things - all with the intent and purpose of introducing souls to a greater and more meaningful relationship with Christ. This project will reveal whether a song-based method of attracting and engaging souls is relevant.
To be clear, this is not a "praise & worship" project. These are songs directed, in the main, outward and away from "spiritual" Christians . I define "spiritual Christians" as those who have come to faith in Christ on His terms.
So, you may be asking, "what exactly is the Capstone Project?" Over the past 31 semester hours of study several "practical ministry" courses have been consumed. These are not your "Bread" courses, but rather how to serve "Bread" (hoping everyone sees the biblical tie-in and that the intent was not so much "studying the Word" as "exploring ways to help contemporary culture see the Word as relevant"). The Capstone Project is a student-designed way to integrate the previous learning into a single, powerful, relevant exposition of learned concepts.
My proposal involves exposing family, friends, acquaintances, and current strangers to lyrical ideas that explore cultural, spiritual and religious issues we face each day. The Capstone Project involves three basic stages. The first is recording a set of songs that are lyrically thought-provoking, musically interesting, and culturally relevant. The second stage is presenting these songs to others, in group settings and individually, for the explicit purpose of generating conversations about the issues the lyrics address. The third stage is to synthesize the results of the conversations for presentation to my evaluators before graduation to the next level.
So. What exactly does this mean for Jeff Kreh? I am embarking on a ministerial experiment to test whether music can be used in the same basic way any other form of advertising is used by the church. We advertise with our buildings, newsletters, dress and rituals, office answering machine messages, sermons, and a multitude of other things - all with the intent and purpose of introducing souls to a greater and more meaningful relationship with Christ. This project will reveal whether a song-based method of attracting and engaging souls is relevant.
To be clear, this is not a "praise & worship" project. These are songs directed, in the main, outward and away from "spiritual" Christians . I define "spiritual Christians" as those who have come to faith in Christ on His terms.
This involves listening to His Word, accepting His claim of Lordship, repenting of the will to rebel against His Lordship, proclaiming Him in word and deed as Lord of their life, and submitting to His example and commands for life. Scripture gives baptism into His name for His stated reasons of the forgiveness of sin and gift of the Holy Guest as a key turning point away from rejection of and toward reconciliation with God.
But being a truly "spiritual" Christian means continuing to progressively submit every aspect of life to Christ, not to self or some "institution". These messages are specifically designed to challenge the assumptions of "institutionalized" Christians and non-Christians.
The main purpose and intent of the song-based material is to establish relationships between those souls who are seeking a spiritually significant life and those who are bearing the fruit of being transformed into the image of Christ. This begins with engaging each other over common issues so that we can share our story of a common struggle and our Savior as the common cure (extraordinarily common and simple in profoundly disturbing ways though He is...)
All of these songs are both from a Christian worldview and instrumentally accompanied. However, in the words of a mentor, "these are not songs that I can see being performed in a worship setting." Anyone concerned for me about this will, I believe, understand what is meant by this statement when they read the lyrics...
I ask that you join me in praying for my Capstone efforts during the course of this semester whenever you see “6:14” on a clock (my birthday is June 14, hence “6:14”). Please pray especially that God's will be done and that He bless me with emerging wisdom and a sensitivity to opportunities for influencing souls He entrusts to my presence.
I ask that you join me in praying for my Capstone efforts during the course of this semester whenever you see “6:14” on a clock (my birthday is June 14, hence “6:14”). Please pray especially that God's will be done and that He bless me with emerging wisdom and a sensitivity to opportunities for influencing souls He entrusts to my presence.
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