The Church in Times of Crisis
The Church in Times of Crisis focuses on how the early century church responded to plagues, famine, and persecution and what lessons the contemporary church can learn.
What to expect
In the Church in Times of Crisis, you'll hear from leading experts and practitioners about how the church responded historically to crises and how the church can respond today. Our instructors bring years of ministry to bear on how times of hardship inspire us to innovate so that we will be more effective in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting as well as engaging social justice. Among other things, you'll take away:
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How Christians respond to government actions
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Ideas about engaging in racial reconciliation
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A clearer understanding of how the early church grew during times of crisis
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The important role that leadership plays during times of crisis
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Considerations for how the church might change during crisis in order to effectively engage culture
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An appreciation for the ethnic diversity in the early church and ideas about how the church today might address racial tensions
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Recover the church's identity rooted in a missiologically theocentric passion for God's mission
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Reflections on the changes that you might make in your ministry.
Course curriculum
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1
Class Overview
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Welcome to this Ephesiology Master Class
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Introducing The Church in Times of Crisis
FREE PREVIEW -
How to use this course
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Before we begin...
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2
Christianity and the Government
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What you'll learn in this session
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Christianity's Relationship with the Government - Dr. Michael Cooper
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Notes
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Reflections
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Other Resources
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3
The Church and Ethnic Tensions
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What you'll learn in this section
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Confronting our Bias
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Ethnicity and Diversity, Part 1 - Rev. Devlin Scott
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Ethnicity and Diversity, Part 2 - Rev. Devlin Scott
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Reflections on the Church in Ethnic Tension
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Other Resources
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4
Church History and Plagues
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What you'll learn in this section
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Free Book Download
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The Early Church and Plagues - Dr. Michael Cooper
FREE PREVIEW -
Reflection
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Other Resources from Michael
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5
The Coming Change in North American Evangelicalism
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What you'll learn in this section
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Jeff Christopherson and North American Evangelicalism
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Reflection
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Other Resources from Jeff
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6
Leadership in the Time of Crisis
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What you'll learn in this section
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Alan Hirsch and APEST Leadership
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Reflection
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Other Resources from Alan
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7
Responding to Crisis
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What you'll learn in this section
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Heath Haynes and Pushing Shepherding to Small Group Leaders
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Reflection
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8
The Role of the Sermon
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What you'll learn in this section
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Russell Cravens and the Changing Role of the Sermon
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Reflection
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9
The Missiologically Theocentric Micro-Church
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What you'll learn in this section
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Matt Till and Resources for the Micro-Church
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Reflection
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Resources for ‘Going Micro’
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10
A Hypothetical Case Study
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Case Study Introduction
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What will the church of 2050 look like?
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11
Recovering the Growth Posture of the New Testament Church
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Recovering a Growth Posture - The Ephesiology Team
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Download this Roadmap to Growth before you proceed
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Recovering a Growth Posture for Your Church
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More Resources for Growing the Church during Crises
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12
Additional Resources
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Want to go further? Here's what's next.
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Before you go...
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Meet your instructors
Church Planting
Jeff Christopherson
is Chief Missiologist and Co-Founder of the Send Institute. Author of several books including Kingdom Matrix: Designing a Church for the Kingdom of God, and Kingdom First: Starting Churches that Shape Movements. His weekly column ‘Missio Mondays’ is featured in Christianity Today. Jeff serves as a Co-Vocational pastor of The Sanctuary in Oakville, Ontario. He is married to Laura and has two children.
Missiological Theology
Michael T. Cooper
Dr. Cooper earned a PhD in Intercultural Studies with a focus on religious movements and a minor in early church patristics from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He currently serves as a missiologist for a missions agency where he focuses on missiological research and equipping missionaries for effective cultural engagement. He has thirty years of missions experience, including ten years as a pioneer church planter in Romania after the fall of communism and has equipped church planters and leaders in Africa, Europe, North America, South America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Email
APEST Leadership
Alan Hirsch
Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network, 100Movements, The 5Q Collective, and Future Travelers. All these are focussed on developing missional leadership and movemental organization. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is considered to be a thought-leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. Hirsch is the author of The Forgotten Ways; 5Q; The Shaping of Things to Come, ReJesus, and The Faith of Leap (with Michael Frost); Untamed (with Debra Hirsch); Right Here, Right Now (with Lance Ford), and On the Verge (with Dave Ferguson).