The pastoral task of aero-duck-nautics: Imagination, resistance, and life meaning system within a perichoretic construal of ecclesial life

This project is an exploration of the possibility that there is a correlation between a Christian's dominant image of God and the Christian life, and the Christian's level and intensity of participation in the corporate life of a congregation. The thesis is that a correlation does indeed exist between the person's underlying paradigmatic imagination and the person's participation in the corporate life of the congregation.; The context for the project was the pastor's transformed paradigmatic imagination founded upon the trinitarian understanding of the perichoretic dance. The preaching and teaching of the main components of the perichoretic dance (communing, self-revelation, freedom and disposability) was stirring up the "congregational pot." There existed an unspoken "no" to full participation in ecclesial life accompanied by a sense of distance between the pastor and people.; Also considered in the project was the possibility that the parishioners agree with the pastor's image of God and the Christian life but find God's claim upon their lives incorporated in this image to be threatening. Therefore, the distance between pastor and people could be an expression of resistance.; Included in the project report is a 24 question interview document and the transcripts of 14 parishioners who participated in the interview process. Half of those interviewed were considered by the pastor to be very participative while the other half were considered non-participative.; The findings of the project included the fact that there is little difference in imaginative construal of God between the two groups. Participation had more to do with comfort with intimacy than it did with theological imagination.; Behavioral findings of the project focus on the synergistic interaction of resistance and imagination.; The chapter on theological analysis examines the differences between organic faith and static faith from a Mercersburg theological perspective.; An explication of the pastor's task of penetrating the life experience of his or her parishioners is undertaken in the final chapter.