Church Planting Webinar, Sarah Shin, 13th June

“Avoiding Technique: Church Planting as Attuned Response to the Holy Spirit in Place and Time” 

Sarah Shin (University of Aberdeen)

Thursday 13th June, 2pm

This webinar explores the relationship between technique and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the task of church planting. The paper will consider the work of the French sociologist, Jacques Elliul, and his warning against “technique” in modern society. Building on Elllul’s work, the paper critiques a dominant theme in the church growth literature, namely Donald McGavern’s ‘homogenous unit principle’. In contrast to this, the paper offers a different approach to church planting which provides an account of our response, to the Spirit, Body, and context.

Sarah is currently finishing her PhD at the University of Aberdeen, researching the relationship between atonement and ethics. She also teaches charismatic evangelism and church planting at WTC Theology. She was formerly the Associate National Director for Evangelism for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, USA, where she oversaw the contextualized evangelism tools that were developed for students and faculty. She is the author of Beyond Colorblind (IV Press, 2017) and teaches a video course at Northern Seminary along the themes of the book. She holds the following degrees: BS at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in City Planning and Architecture (2004), a Master in City Planning at MIT (2005), a MA in Theology from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, an MLitt in Analytical and Exegetical Theology from University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Other research interests include ecclesiology, pneumatology, the jubilee, and post-colonial theological inheritance. She, her husband, and daughter live in Aberdeen and are part of Catalyst Vineyard Church.