Module Title: The Theology and History of Restorationism

Level: Level 4

Credit Rating: Credits 30

Duration: 300 hours of student learning time

Contact time: 66 hours

Academic Responsibility: Matthew Ling

Module Aims: This module aims to enable the students to develop theological, historical and practical tools for reflecting upon the origin and outworking of the Restoration Movement and assess the extent of its contemporary missional impact.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this module students should be able to:

1. Articulate the biblical basis for a restoration doctrine and understand related missional implications for today’s church.
2. Critically evaluate the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements during the 20^th Century in terms of their missional advance.
3. Engage with primary and secondary sources in order to identify the extent of the missional impact of the Restoration Movement.
4. Assess the published critiques of the Restoration Movement.
5. Understand the intended values of the Restoration Movement.
6. Propose ways in which the Restoration Movement could have been/may become more adapted to contextually appropriate mission and worship.

Indicative Module Content:

Students will be introduced to the principal biblical texts that form a doctrine of Restorationism. They will apply this doctrine to the nature of the Church and critically evaluate the degree to which the Church is being restored in the light of this doctrine and the implicit missional repercussions. There will be an examination of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements of the last century and the extent to which they were missional in nature. Academic texts describing the history and emergence of the Restoration churches will be critically evaluated in the light of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources from within the movement, including those who within the movement viewed as having apostolic ministry, will engage with the students in discussions of the core values that initiated the movement’s inception and rapid growth. Students will discuss the extent to which today’s Church would enhance missional drive by developing further the outworking of a Restoration doctrine.

Learning and Teaching Strategies:

The module will involve a series of 44 x 60-minute lectures/seminars:

30 hours: Restoration Theology

5 hours: Worldwide Pentecostal and Charismatic History (through the lens of missional purpose)

9 hours: The History and Development of the Restoration Movement

It will also include 16 hours of discussions:

12 hours will be with primary sources concerning the values of the Restoration movement in its formative years in the 1970s and 1980s.

4 hours will be in smaller tutorial groups.

Students will read and critique three texts (Andrew Walker, Nigel Wright and William Kay) that describe the history of the movement in the light of their own research by engaging with primary oral and written sources.

Students will engage with primary written sources to assess the missional nature of early Pentecostalism at the start of the 20^th century.

Assessment:

Indicative Assessment tasks:

Formative work:

Individually write a 500-1,000 word summary of the origins and history of an apostolic network in the UK. In small groups, peer review each others’ work, and produce a portfolio record of the review process (this may include the use of small group forums in a VLE with students from a North American institution.) (Learning outcome 3)

Individually, write a short reflective log on what has been learned on the “My thoughts” page of the learning blog. (Learning outcomes 3 and 4)

Individually read and critique Walker and Kay with reference to primary sources and write a summary. In small groups peer review and then individually write a 500 word summary on the “My Thoughts” section of the learning blog. (Learning outcomes 3 and 4)

Summative work:

1 x 2,500 word essay on a biblical aspect of Restoration doctrine. (Learning outcomes 1 and 5)

1x 2,500 word essay on a historical aspect of the module. (Learning outcomes 2, 4 and 5)

2 assessed tutorial discussions on the missional implications of outworking a Restoration doctrine in today’s church. (Learning outcomes 4, 5 and 6)

Illustrative Bibliography:

Anderson, A. (2007) Spreading Fires: the Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism. Canterbury: SCM.

Anderson, A. (2004) An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Hocken, P. (1994) The Glory and the Shame: Reflections on the 20^th century outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Guilford: Eagle.

Kay, W. (2007) Apostolic Networks in Britain: New Ways of Being Church. Glasgow: Paternoster.

Walker. A. (1998) Restoring the Kingdom: The Radical Christianity of the House Church Movement. Guilford: Eagle.

Wright, N. (1997) The Nature and Variety of Restorationism and the “House Church” Movement. In Hunt, S. Hamilton, M, and Walter, T. (eds) (1997) Charismatic Christianity: Sociological Perspectives. Basingstoke: MacMillan.

Dissertations

Emmett, D. “The development of a distinctive restoration doctrine in the years 1975-1985 and its subsequent outworking in the city of Manchester”, University of Manchester in partnership with Regents College unpublished MTh dissertation: June 2001).

Robertson, A. “An Evaluation of Apostolic Ministry in Today’s Church, with Particular Reference to the offshoots of Covenant Ministries International”, (University of Wales in partnership with Regents College: unpublished MTh dissertation: June 2006).

Magazines:

Full set of Restoration magazine: 1976-1992.

CD-ROMs:

The Apostolic Faith: The Original Azusa Street Editions 1-13 Plus editions 19-20 from Portland, Oregon.

Confidence: Britain’s First Pentecostal magazine: 140 consecutive issues 1908-1926.

The Elim Evangel and Foursquare Revivalist: 400 consecutive editions 1919-1934.

Redemption Tidings: The First 250 editions of the Assemblies of God magazine.

Transcripts:

The transcripts of prophecies given at early prophetic conferences in meetings of “the 7” and “the 14” in the 1970s.