| | On Monday (June 2) I begin my much anticipated study sabbatical. For the next six weeks I'm going to be a writing and research machine. So, you won't be hearing anything from me on Yinkahdinay till mid-July (July 15).
My Th.D. dissertation is on the relevance of the Belgic Confession for the practice and study of missions (missiology). Back in 2003/2004 when I started this journey, I chose this topic for a number of reasons. One was because it combined my interests in missions, church history, and the Belgic Confession. But more importantly, in the last 30 years, a number of strong assertions have been made about the relevance of the Three Forms of Unity for missions, including the Belgic Confession. These assertions were especially made in the Christian Reformed Church and I wanted to investigate this area to see if these claims have any validity. Is it possible to be confessional and missional? This is an area of research in which very little has been done and what little has been done has been in Dutch. So, I'm convinced that this will be an original contribution to the field of missiology.
I have presently completed drafts of two chapters (out of a projected eight). A third is nearly done. A lot of work still remains, mostly writing, but also research. Next week my plan is to evaluate what research still needs to be done and how much of it can be done here. If I need to, I can travel on my sabbatical to do some research elsewhere (e.g. Hamilton or Grand Rapids), but I would prefer to do as much as possible right here at home. I know my family prefers that too. They've also been looking forward to this sabbatical, a time in which I'm going to be working eight hour days, five days per week and I'll be home every evening -- no meetings, no visits. In short, we get to be a normal family for six weeks.
So, farewell until July!
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| | Posted 5/30/2008 9:03 AM - 213 views - 5 comments
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Certainly not us anyways.
