1. Ryan Barton
MA299
Philosophy of Ministry
Outline
I. Meta Narrative or Biblical Narrative
II. The unbiblical ignorance of the American church of the true image dei (Genesis 2;
Corinthians 15).
III. The Holy Spirit has always been apart of the Godhead.
IV. God is our covenantal King, who we are to follow everyday.
V. An education meant to better the person, not just prepare them for a profession.
VI. Educators should always pray for the Holy Spirit in preparation for a lesson, lecture,
etc.
VII. Course Summaries
VIII. Personal Mission Statement
Appendixes
I. Metanarrative or Biblical Narrative
II. The unbiblical ignorance of the American church of the true imago dei (Genesis 2;
Corinthians 15).
 Creation was made to be good.
 Jesus is the second/better/ultimate Adam.
 God’s redemptive plan includes the physical creation.
Creation:
Life
Rebellion:
Lose
Redemption:
Love
Restoration:
Life

2. - Michael Williams said that, “God does not intend us for heaven. He put us
here on this earth. He gifted and commissioned us for service on this earth.
And ultimately, a renewed earth is our destiny. If earth is the place, heaven
most certainly is not.”1
 We are God’s image bearers.
 We are to treat each with dignity and respect as God’s image bearers.
III. The Holy Spirit has always been a part of the Godhead.
 He was in the Old Testament for inspiring heroic figures, like David.
 The Spirit worked has mysteriously has does now; the only difference is that Israel
could not name who was doing what.
 Jesus transformed the Spirit to be a gift and watchful guardian for the Church.
- Jesus said that “… he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” Acts
1:(4-5)
- Through the gospel He is continuously revealing the truth of the Trinity,
rather it was the truth of Him as messiah or the truth of the Holy Spirit or the
Father.
 He is here to empower and enlighten us.
IV. God is our covenantal King, who we are to follow everyday.
 Not individually, but in community with each other.
1 Michael Williams, review of Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God, ed. Michael E.
Wittmer, Presbyterion, 31, No. 1 (Spring 2005): accessed April 16, 2016
https://sakai.covenantseminary.edu/access/content/group/31547/Syllabus.pdf

3. - Williams said that, “Evangelicalism has nurtured the attitude that the
individual stands at the center of the redemptive activity of Jesus Christ…the
church, family, society, the world, and history – either stand at the periphery
of it or fall outside all together.”2
V. An education meant to better the person, not just to prepare them for a profession.
 The Disequilibrium aspect of that education is crucial.
 It should be transformative for the person.
 The teacher and student relationship should be pastoral, as well as professional.
- Facilitated Agency is a good way to achieve this type of relationship.
- Guthrie best defines the term, “…facilitation will be understood to mean wise
guidance, while agency will be understood to mean responsible image-
bearing.” 3
- The pedagogy focuses on relational and learning aspects, which can open up
more ways of learning like student focused teachers, which requires teachers
take into account different learning styles, and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
- Pursuing this way of teaching, also requires the teacher to be a good student as
well. It is most important for the teacher to be a student of God and the
discipline.
VI. Educators should always pray for the Holy Spirit in preparation for a lesson, lecture, etc.
 The Holy Spirit is ever presence in our lives, Jesus gave us the Spirit as gift to
empower us.
2 Michael Williams, “Individualism and Biblical Personhood,” Pro Rege, March 1993, 7
3 Donald Guthrie, “Facilitated Agency:A Promising Pedagogy,” Christian Education Journal,2015, 163

4. - Acts 2 is a great example of how the Spirit can empower us. Peter grew that
day from being the reluctant disciple to being one of the great apostles and
patriarch of the Church.
VII. Course Summaries
God and Humanity Foundations of Counseling: This was introduction, for me, to the triune God
and what he has done for us; as well as what implications that has on our lives.
Spiritual and Ministry Formation: An encouraging course that takes the class through the lives of
many giants of the faith. This is a reflection course that challenges you to find your place in
God’s mission.
God’s World Mission: An insightful but disequilibrating course, which challenged my
assumptions about the individual nature of missions and America’s place in Christendom.
Apologetics and Outreach: Another disequilibrating course that challenged me to truly love my
neighbor, no matter if they are Christian or not. Jerram and Mark offer wonderful testimonies of
how to live out the apologetic life.
Worship in Today’s Church: A brilliant and personal view of how the biblical story should affect
our worship in the Church.
New Testament History and Theology: A survey of the New Testament that without someone as
unique as Dr. Chapman, would have been very easy to fall behind. This class was very helpful in
given me a better understanding of the New Testament, especially how to interpret the scriptures.
Christ and Salvation: This class enriched my view of the biblical story and how Christ is at the
center of it.
Educational Foundations: A perfect class for learning how not to play Calvin-ball with our
people. The class challenged me to rethink what education is, but Tasha gave me the

5. methodology and pedagogy to gain an understanding of it in the end. It was a good foundation
for my degree, as I continued to be disequilibrated through the degree.
The Story of Christianity: Mark Ryan gave the best survey of the Christian story I could have
asked for. My favorite part of the class was the final project, where he let us choose one
country’s story of the Christian faith.
Ephesians: A great survey of Ephesians that gave the class a firm foundation for how we should
disciple our churches, before sending them out into the world.
Leadership and Ministry Development: The class showed me that people aren’t born to be
leaders, but they are born to be different kinds of leaders. We should be open to these different
kinds of leadership, because the diversity of them makes us better at whatever we do.
Leadership and Facilitated Agency for Learning: Teachers should create a learning environment,
that challenges and nurtures the learner.
Old Testament History and Theology: Three unique views of the Old Testament were given in
this class, which was helpful as they catered to the different learning styles in the class.
Covenant Theology 1: An introduction to how the biblical story affects how we answer our
questions about God.
Spirit, Church, and Last Things: One of my favorite theology classes, because we were
challenged to apply the doctrine to our daily lives more than in any other class. The class offers a
better doctrine of the all three subjects, than most churches have today.
C.S. Lewis Common Objections to the Christian Faith: Not only a survey of Lewis’ life and
works, but a discussion of how the answer some of the issues we have in the Church and in our
daily lives.

6. Teaching and Learning: The most student centered class I have had, mostly because Jessie gives
the time and space to teach not just learn. This class will be one of my most memorable as it has
helped grow as an educator.
Covenant Theology 2: Another great course that gives a fuller picture of the biblical narrative, as
well as challenges to make your own thesis of a biblical passage and enrich your theology.
Capstone: A review and reflection on my time at Covenant, that as been refreshing and
challenging as I meet people from the past two year and revisit old projects.
VIII. Personal Mission Statement
My calling is to be a pastor to teenagers who are struggling to find an identity in a culture
that gives them a false sense of deficiency and inadequacy. I want to let youth know that
although we are fallen creatures in a broken world, God loves us still. Hopefully, some of the
youth will understand that Christ holds their true identity.
 Working with individuals to reach their fullest potential
 Contribution: Giving or making a difference for others
 Prayer Life Understanding: understands the nature of prayer, places priority on prayer
through scheduled, individual and corporate prayer.
 Communicates warmth and personal interest in others