| Quality control is important in the church and in industry. Two methods for maintaining quality control in the church are membership criteria and external persecution. Traditional societies, Hellenistic Judaism and the postapostolic church exercised quality control through the monitoring of minimum standards maintained during the transition phase in rites of passage. Candidates during the transition phase lose their former status and so seek new identities and acquire new skills to qualify for new statuses Few other occasions in life provide a more significant pedagogical opportunity for promoting personal development and spiritual growth. It is the universal method par excellence for maintaining quality control in societies. Donald McGavran (1959:126) describes a group of "Malayan Christians" who sprang up in a remote mountainous region of Taiwan between 1939 and 1945. This movement began about 1930 when a convert decided to share her experiences with others. After eight years of fruitful witnessing, several members of her clan became interested * Christianity. However, during World War II the Japanese opposed her biblical teachings. Nevertheless, people in other villages secretly sought her out to learn more about her religion. And even though the Japanese banned such activity and aggressively opposed her followers by beatings, imprisonment, starvation, and killings, many secret Bible studies were held in fields, in forests, and under cover of darkness. When the war ended, some four thousand clansmen emerged from the mountains requesting Christian baptism. This example of spontaneous church growth among a remote and simple tribal people illustrates the significance of quality controls for Christian converts. Quality control is as essential in the Christian church as it is in industry. Two kinds of quality control have existed in church history: (1) the deliberate standards placed upon fledgling Christian converts by the body of Christ and (2) the persecution techniques applied from outside of the church by hostile opposition. Both methods have consciously and unconsciously placed minimum standards on church members. The Judeo-Christian religion has historically stressed quality -control the process of incorporating new converts into the fellowship. Hellenistic Judaism monitored its converts by means of the "test," while the postapostolic church monitored its converts through catechumenical schools. Modem missionaries have also acknowledged the need for competent church members. In 1888 John Nevius advocated extensive training of up to 24 months for catechumens (McGavran 1970:338). Harold Cook (1959:227) describes a variety of areas to be covered during this period of instruction. Donald McGavran (.1970:341) suggests that as much time should be spent in training Christian neophytes as is spent in training missionaries. And Peter Wagner (1981:575) notes that the growth of the church depends upon some systematic program of training for church members. Although modem missiologists acknowledge a general need for a knowledgeable church membership, they give little attention to the actual training of the general membership. The bulk of their attention is focused upon the training of lay leaders (Clinton 1984). In an age of fast foods, prefabricated houses, and rapid copying machines, it is important to focus upon the institutional craftsmanship involved in developing neophyte Christians into productive church members. This study takes a new look at an old method of quality control that has universal application. The transition phase in rites of passage produces important socio-psychological factors that are conducive to the Christian transformation from a biblically illiterate pagan to a biblically grounded and spiritually maturing member of the body of Christ. The transition phase in rites of passage will be analyzed under four sections: (1) its anthropological foundations, (2) its historical Judeo-Christian applications, (3) its christological exemplification, and (4) its contemporary need for increased clarification and implementation. The Anthropological Foundation Van Gennep (1960:3) observes that in the process of moving members from one status position to another, during the process of socialization, most societies conduct a series of ceremonials known collectively as rites of passage. For analytical purposes, rites of passage are divided into three phases: separation, transition, and incorporation. The separation phase refers to the process whereby an individual is ceremonially removed from a personal identity and pattern of behavior associated with a former social position. The incorporation phase refers to the process whereby an individual is ceremonially and publicly integrated into a new social position. The transition phase refers to the interval of time between the other phases in which an individual is retained in a state of social limbo in order to acquire the needed knowledge and skills required to fulfill the social expectation associated with the new position. This transition phase is characterized by marginality, self-reflection, cognitive dissonance, and reorientation. First, the transition phase emphasizes marginality by stripping the novice of all former status, in the separation phase, and by denying the novice rapid integration by postponement of the incorporation phase. This delay forces the novice to come to terms with the seriousness of his or her present predicament. Stripped of all previous social symbols associated with the former social role (such as rank, property, or prerogatives) the novice is forced to develop a new set of expectations. Meaningful participation in the future role is delayed until adequate performance is demonstrated. Second, marginality encourages the novice to create a new identity, to seek new knowledge, and to acquire new skills. Turner (1967:105) views the transition phase primarily in terms of "reflection"-reflection upon the behavior of the past role, reflection upon the behavior expected in the new role, and reflection upon how the novice plans to fill the position in the future. Third, reflection heightens the magnitude of cognitive dissonance. Increased dissonance widens the gap between the behavior associated with the past position and the behavior associated with the future position. Dissonance is stressful, and therefore, individuals seek to reduce it (Festinger 1957:18). A deliberate effort is made to increase dissonance through social isolation and physical deprivations. Dissonance is also increased through cultural symbols associated with the transition phase: silence, pollution, darkness, or death (Kuper 1947:197-225). This symbolic drama increases dissonance, goading the novice into action to reduce it. Bernard and Pelto (1987:362) contend that "a key mechanism for bringing about behavioral (social) change is the drive to reduce cognitive dissonance." Fourth, the pressure to reduce cognitive dissonance contributes to a general reorientation of an individual's perception of self, of social obligations, and of social behavior. An extended period of transition provides the time and the incentive for the novice to work out a new integration of what it means to be a participant in the new position. Lewin (1947:35) suggests that "all successful change includes ... three aspects: unfreezing ... the present level, moving to a new level, and freezing group (individual) life on the new level." This kind of change is neither simple nor easy at the individual or societal level. It involves a creative new synthesis: the selection of elements from the former status, the selection of key elements associated with the new status, the selection of key elements from personal observations, and a creative mix of the three to form a new "blueprint," "mazeway," or "individual strategy." It is an intensely creative and personal process.
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