Drew University Library : University Archives : Theses and Dissertations
    
author Sela E. Finau
title A Moana Navigator on a Voyage: Following Jesus and Creating Third Space Faith Communities
abstract This paper explores some of the reasons people are not attending Sunday worship and to discover and create ways of being the church in the present time and space. Rather than continuing to do church the way it has always been done and becoming less and less relevant to a growing and multicultural population, this project offers the church and community an alternative way—a third-space—the gospel can be planted, take root and flourish. The third-space, as defined by the postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha, is the intersection of cultures and persons, creating a new fluid identity he calls hybridity. The third-space is always changing, never permanent, and always becoming. It is an in-between and in-betwixt negotiable space for the present time and people. It is neither here nor there but always in-between, tā-vā (time-space). The third-space is unconventional, communal, mobile, and is always on a voyage. No matter the space, whether in a traditional sanctuary, bar, restaurant, sidewalk, coffee shop, park, or backyard, the Table is set, and Jesus is Host and Captain.

At the Table, food is shared, and conversations occur, known in the native Tongan - Pasifika language as talanoa. The talanoa (storytelling) will be told as a voyage across the moana (seas), encountering five waves or chapters. The first wave will contextualize the author's story by telling the context of her faith and where it began. The second wave explains the context of the church and mission field. The third wave explores the context of the larger culture and society. The fourth wave invites others to the conversation through creating third-space faith communities. The fifth wave reflects and uncovers how each talanoa intersects and interweaves throughout the voyage. This wave will affirm the need for a unique particularity in each context, since no two contexts are the same. Others are invited to pursue their own third-space where faith and fellowship can abound.

school The Theological School, Drew University
degree D.Min. (2021)
advisor Gary V. Simpson
Leonard I Sweet
full textSFinau.pdf