Abstract:
RESEARCH STRATEGY FOR MISSIONSL TRANSFORMATION. In this study, an innovative research process
was developed to support a missional ecclesiology. The research strategy was designed as a
practice-oriented research process in service of faith communities as ‘problem owners’ of the
research. The goal is to inform and serve the process of missional transformation. The approach
taken was defined as a process of discernment to participate in the missio Dei, appreciating the
work of the Holy Spirit and the reciprocal relation between confession and praxis. Scripture
and tradition are constitutive elements of the language house that forms the congregational
life and imagination. The innovate process comprises three cycles moving through four
quadrants in the deployment of a missional strategy, the four quadrants being: guidance,
research, design and training. This was developed along 12 movements: (1) articulate the pain,
(2) clarify the question, (3) develop the prototype, (4) testing, (5) practice capacities, (6) observe
patterns, (7) build a model, (8) implementation, (9) accepting into the culture, (10) describe
breakthroughs, (11) support the learning community, and (12) institutional alignment.
INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : The research includes the following
disciplines: Missiology, Missionary Ecclesiology and Practical Theology. It has wide-ranging
implications, as it presents an innovative and comprehensive research process that can
significantly influence research on missional transformation.
