Rediscovering Pentecost: The Evangelistic Ministry of the Revd Dr Rob Frost and its Authenticity as an Expression of Methodist Theology and Practice

Abstract

The Revd Dr Rob Frost (1950 - 2007) was the most significant British Methodist evangelist of his generation. He exercised an influential and effective evangelistic ministry within the British Methodist Church at a time in which the denomination itself was characterised by continuous, significant decline and by an almost all-pervasive lack of confidence in evangelism. This thesis therefore seeks to identify the contribution of Frost's theology and practice to British Methodist missiology and the wider scholarly debate in the field of evangelism. It begins by establishing the formal missiology of the British Methodist Church of Frost's day, which formed the context for his ministry, as presented in official reports to the Annual Conference, the British Methodist Church's highest authority, and exemplified through the practice of three distinctive Methodist ministers: Donald Soper, John Vincent and William (Bill) Davies. Frost's evangelistic ministry is then analysed as a practical outworking of official policy which gives a significant insight into authentic British Methodist evangelism. Subsequent developments within official British Methodist policy are then considered. Finally, the collective insights of the study are brought into dialogue with the scholarly debate in evangelism which, pertaining to Methodism, has largely developed in the United States of America, through consideration of the work of William Abraham, Scott Jones and Elaine Heath. Three major elements of Frost's legacy, and their implications for contemporary Methodism and the wider Christian church, are highlighted by way of conclusion: evangelism in the vernacular of the people, inaugurated eschatology and the rediscovery of Pentecost.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Stephen Skuce (Supervisor) & Benjamin Pugh (Supervisor)