Approved... sort of
So, yesterday I received the official approval of my thesis proposal from Dr. Borchert after I made a couple of changes. I was going to post the new version on the web page, but for reasons I'm about to explain, I'm going to wait for yet another revision. Last night I had a long conversation with my senior pastor about the project. He and his wife (both equally brilliant scholars and good friends) both took the proposal apart and asked for even more clarification before I proceed with the project. It was painful to go through their comments and realize that I still have a lot of work to do before I do the actual work. But, it was also quite a relief in a sense because knowing that if I do this hard job of really refining and focusing my number 1 goal, then the whole project will be more manageable and more enjoyable. Right now, looking at my original proposal, I feel a lot of fear and doubt about my ability to pull off what my proposal says I'm going to do. But, with the changes and focus that I plan to make in the next 2 days, I think I'll feel a lot better and more confident in my ability to do the job.
so, I hope to have a new proposal posted in a few days. The more work I do now, the easier it will be in the long run.
Here's one change that I'm starting to make. My original "purpose statement" is this:
The purpose of this project is to address the passive nature of our current worship services by designing services that would allow and encourage more participation by the congregation through a trained worship planning team. Worship will therefore support the possibility of transformed lives through the congregants' participation in the act of worship.
The new one, which is still in progress but which I think is moving closer to the really refined and focused goal of the project is this:
The purpose of this project is to explore the connection between participatory worship and transformation in the lives of the congregants. Does participatory worship create more fertile opportunity for God’s transformation than worship that is passive?
Well, that's where I am now...
so, I hope to have a new proposal posted in a few days. The more work I do now, the easier it will be in the long run.
Here's one change that I'm starting to make. My original "purpose statement" is this:
The purpose of this project is to address the passive nature of our current worship services by designing services that would allow and encourage more participation by the congregation through a trained worship planning team. Worship will therefore support the possibility of transformed lives through the congregants' participation in the act of worship.
The new one, which is still in progress but which I think is moving closer to the really refined and focused goal of the project is this:
The purpose of this project is to explore the connection between participatory worship and transformation in the lives of the congregants. Does participatory worship create more fertile opportunity for God’s transformation than worship that is passive?
Well, that's where I am now...
posted by Amy Stewart at 10:14 AM
4 Comments:
The way I see the two proposal statements is that the first one is observable and verifiable. Less participation to more participation can be measured.
The second one is actually more vague, because its success requires transformation as well as participation -- and that can't necessarily be observed or verified.
Elaine
Norman, OK
yeah, I know. Bryan said that it would be more difficult to measure participation than transformation, but it seems just the opposite to me. I guess I just need to do more thinking and reading and studying and praying to figure it out. UGH!
The second is indeed better and more pastoral. Evaluation will be subjective and probably will require a very carefully designed evaluation instrument....
Tranformation is more important than participation.
Blessings on your journey!
It sounds challenging and fun.
Welcome to revgals!
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