Date of Award

4-2022

Document Type

Project Portfolio

Degree Name

Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives (DLd)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Pablo Morales, DMin

Second Advisor

Julie Dodge, DMin

Third Advisor

Jason Clark, DMin, PhD

Abstract

The Global Immersion Project targets faith leaders who are disoriented by a Christianity that justifies actions, nonactions, and political positions informed by greed, racism, and violence. Endorsements of injustice and demands for partisan allegiance by prominent Christian leaders cause many to become suspicious of their inherited religion. This often ignites a search for a faith that generates a restorative ethic. Within our immersive trainings, they encounter the values that have shaped their inherited religion and are awakened to their contrast to the values of Jesus. By training’s conclusion, many stand, on the precipice of a perilous pilgrimage, asking, “Where do I go from here?” While many embark upon the pilgrimage, we have observed that few navigate it transformatively. This project seeks to answer one question: What do these leaders need to navigate the pilgrimage through disorientation transformatively?

The result of this research is a program called Beyond the Precipice. This eight-month cohort prepares disoriented faith leaders to navigate the pilgrimage from fidelity to Imperial Christianity to participation in God’s restoration. Beyond the Precipice is not the actual pilgrimage nor is it intended to be prescriptive of the journey ahead. Rather, it is an orientation to the pilgrimage. As a result of the program, participants will understand six key factors: (1) the transformational power of pilgrimage; (2) the evolution, values, and some manifestations of Imperial Christianity; (3) the values of Jesus that shape a restorative ethic; (4) the three factors that cause premature abandonment from the pilgrimage; (5) the four elements for support necessary to remain in the pilgrimage; and (6) the four practices for navigating pilgrimage as a way of life.

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