This study began with the urgent crisis of the comparative lack of lay-equipping process in Korean churches today. The traditional churches in Korea, which are hierarchical, institutionalized, and clergy-driven, generally do not have a well-organized sequential process for equipping the laity. As a result, in these traditional churches, lay people remain as bystanders, subordinates, and receivers of ministry, rather than becoming creative partakers in ministry. In contrast, some churches in Korea are focusing on lay development through well-organized sequential phases and are deploying equipped lay people in various ministries according to their spiritual gifts. These churches are called "equipping churches."
This study confines itself to researching equipping churches in Korea by asking the following questions. (1) What do the pastors of equipping churches know about developing the laity for ministry and leadership? (2) How do equipping churches develop lay people for ministry and leadership, and how do equipped lay leaders lead various ministries? (3) How do lay people change and become partners-in-ministry and committed lay leaders through a lay-equipping process? How can their changes be characterized? (4) How are laity's partnership (dimensions of respect, trust, and sense of obligation in relationship) and commitment (dimensions of identification, loyalty, pride, and sense of involvement) changed through a lay-equipping process? (5) What are essential qualities that shape the equipping church?
Chapter 2 expounds the theoretical perspectives informing lay development for ministry and leadership, used to interpret the data collected from the research: Theology of the laity, the church growth perspective on the laity and lay ministry, theory of centered and bounded sets, the delegation and deployment principles, organizational commitment, leader-member exchange theory, and relationship-based leadership are described.
This study uses both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. From the case studies and interviews with thirteen Protestant church pastors and thirteen lay leaders, this study uncovers ten characteristic commonalities shared by equipping church pastors regarding lay development and lay ministry (Chapter 3), and ten characteristics of equipped lay leaders (Chapter 4). The analysis of survey responses from 356 lay people reveals that lay people change and become partners-in-ministry and committed lay leaders through a lay-equipping process. The research results provide solid statistical evidence that laity's partnerships and commitment are changed through a lay-equipping process (Chapter 5).
Chapter 6 concludes this study by discussing its missiological implications for Korean churches, recommendations for further study, and final remarks. In particular, this chapter presents an overarching conclusion from this study, "Five Pillars of the Equipping Church," that is, five essential qualities that shape the equipping church: (1) Equipping pastor, (2) Equipping process, (3) Equipped lay leaders, (4) Shared ministry, and (5) Laos-Driven Structure.
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