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Equipping Christians With A Post-Christian Evangelism Paradigm At Great Oaks Church Of Christ, Tim Alsup

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Loft: Where Gen Z Goes To Build Relationships And Discover Spiritual Truths, Jeremy S. Deweerdt

Doctor of Ministry

It is an alarming but indisputable fact that the vast majority of Generation Z, specifically those between ages 18 and 25, are not attending and/or not interested in the faith or beliefs of the American Protestant Church today. Studies show that the Western Christian church is losing touch with an entire generation and that reality is the driving force behind this research project. We know from research conducted for this Doctoral Project, as well as from multiple academic and sociological studies that members of Generation Z are often interested in spirituality but are either ignorant or highly skeptical of organized …

Using Christ's Method: Reshaping Evangelism In Milton Keynes International Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Sampson Osei Aboagye

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Milton Keynes International Seventh-day Adventist Church (MKI) is not able to evangelize its multiethnic/multicultural neighbors. This is because individual members of the church consider evangelism to be an annual event where speakers are invited from abroad to hold two- or three-week campaigns. Despite the high cost involved in this method, few people are baptized and even then, it is difficult to retain the new members. The culprit is the church's inability to connect with its multiethnic and multicultural community because of not using the evangelistic method of Jesus Christ effectively.

Method

A total of six hours over four Sabbaths …

Programa De Capacitación Evangelística Para La Iglesia Adventista Hispana De Poughkeepsie, New York, Fernando Rosario Castro

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

An investigation conducted along with the church board revealed that the congregation has not had an evangelistic training program in the last 5 years. Consequently, only 5 of the 347 members are involved in the evangelistic work of the local community. An evangelistic training program has the potential to involve members fully equipped to evangelize the people in their community.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to develop an evangelistic training program to involve more church members in the evangelization of the community and to involve church members in holistic growth.

Methodology

This investigation belongs to the discipline …

An Evangelistic Approach To Children Of The Brantford Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Brantford, Canada, Alexander Gietsel

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Over the past five years (2015-2020) the Brantford Seventh-day Adventist Church has experienced a decline of baptism among young people ages 10-14. Some of them have been involved in church programs, and some have attended the local Christian school. According to Barna (2003a), children are more ready to accept Jesus at ages 10-14. At Brantford Seventh-day Adventist Church, this is the average range of the children. This church has more than 80 families and more than twenty-five children at that age group. After many of them leave for high school, they lose interest in baptism and in following Jesus. …

A Follow-Up Program For Public Evangelism Using Online Discipleship In The Indiana Conference, Eric Freking

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Traditional Adventist public evangelism in North America typically sees a large drop in attendance of new converts or potential converts shortly after the meetings end. I have personally held or been a part of around thirty evangelistic series in the past twenty years and have seen this pattern in each of them. The consequences are the loss of new or potential members, who, given more interaction with the evangelist, may assimilate into the church.

Method

An online discipleship program was created and launched in the Summer of 2020 in Indiana. Its purpose was to educate the participant on how …

To Make Man Whole: Towards A Strategy For Gospel-Centered, Comprehensive Health Evangelism, Kyle L. Allen

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Historically the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an evangelistically oriented movement. In harmony with this historical precedent, the evangelistic focus of the Church has included an emphasis on God’s plan to restore the whole person—to make people whole physically, mentally, and spiritually. This wholistic focus on evangelism is based on Christ’s method of a threefold ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing. When this is the practice, many prejudicial barriers are reduced and the reception of the message the Church is called to share is made easier. Despite this focus, the evangelistic strategies of the Church have often not effectively integrated …

Developing And Testing Concise Evangelistic Videos For Millennials And Generation Z In Columbia, Missouri, Hiram Rester

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Gathering an audience for evangelistic meetings has become increasingly difficult via traditional proclamation approaches. This challenge is even greater among young adults and has been observed where the researcher pastors in Columbia, Missouri. Research shows that technology has changed the way people choose to receive information. This is particularly true of Millennials and Generation Z. Additional strategies must be developed to meet the needs and demands of the digital age, especially by making use of concise online videos. Concise videos need to be developed and tested to aid in engaging with Millennials and Generation Z. Beyond that, it was …

The Invisible Language: Unintentional Patronage And Missions Practice In Contemporary Thailand, Samuel Burton Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Patronage-clientelism is a current and important topic of discussion among the anthropological and missiological community. The effects of unintended patronage by Western missionaries in the context of Thai culture, however, are underexplored in academic research. In this study, I analyzed the effects of unintentional patronage among Western missionaries in a Thai cross-cultural ministry context. To do this I utilized a multiple case study method in which I compared four cases and analyzed for examples of how unintentional patronage is generated. I discovered that unintentional patronage was likely a result of insufficient missionary education regarding patronage-clientelism, as well as a lack …

Developing A Discipleship Program For Chinese Speaking People To Create A Core Team For The “Abiding Christ Net” Via Zoom Video Conference, Sung Sub Song

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research (ASTR) data in December 2019 showed that among the 1.4 billion population in the Mainland China, there were 467,516 Adventist members, and the population per Adventist member ratio was about 3,000:1. Furthermore, there are about 50 million Chinese people living overseas. As a result, there is a great need to efficiently and effectively spread the Gospel to nearly 1.45 billion Chinese people around the world. In July 2020, the online Chinese discipleship network, ACN, was established to create a global Chinese discipleship network by connecting and utilizing Spirit-filled human resources, …

An Evangelism And Discipleship Pathway To Address The Cultural And Worldview Distance Between The Preston Seventh-Day Adventist Church And The White British Culture In Preston, Jeff Keith Couzins

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem.

The UK Preston Seventh-day Adventist Church in the North England Conference is a predominantly Black church situated in a White British city. The Church has seen a numerical increase of almost 25% since 2013, but only one person from this growth was from the majority culture population, a group who tend not to be attracted to traditional Adventist forms of evangelism. The hypothesis for this project, therefore, is that when the cultural and worldview distance between church members and individuals in society is reduced, it is easier for the Christian witness to then explain the Kingdom of God. Also, …

Increasing Effectiveness And Efficiency Through A Collaborative Evangelism Strategy Within The Georgia-Cumberland Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Victor Maddox

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

There were a number of organizations, ministries, and individuals throughout the Georgia-Cumberland Conference (GCC) territory engaged in various forms of evangelism which include health education, literature distribution, media presentations, community service, Bible instruction, etc. All had some level of success. Personal observations of these efforts revealed a redundancy in programing, uncoordinated planning, insufficient record-keeping, inadequate follow-up on interests generated, and failure to build upon the results of previous evangelistic meetings within the GCC.

Method

The goal was to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the evangelism process in the GCC through the coordination of evangelistic meetings between organizations, …

Mission As Virtuous Practice: A Theology Of Mission Through The Lens Of Virtue Ethics, Michael Niebauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work uses theological virtue ethics as a guide both for critiquing various models of Christian mission and for constructing a model of mission that adequately addresses these criticisms. The first section of the dissertation (chapters one, two, and three) is devoted to an assessment of three major models of mission, which I have labeled mission as the missio Dei, mission as growth, and mission as dialogue. This assessment generates three recurring issues within the field of missiology that have remained largely unresolved: the problems of distinction, agency, and persuasion. The second half of the dissertation (chapters four, five, …

Development And Implementation Of A Community-Based Health Evangelism Strategy At Fellowship Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Tallahassee, Florida, Daphnis Ricardo

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Fellowship Seventh-day Adventist church desired to reach its community but did not have a strategic plan on how to do so. The lack of a strategic plan hindered the effectiveness of the church in making an impact in its neighborhood and left the members with a sense that they were not making a difference in their community. Initial observations done through formal talks with church leaders suggested that health ministry was a focus where their church had a strength and was a means by which to reach the neighborhood.

Method

The methods used were to develop a team …

Developing A Mentor-Method Of Evangelism At Redeemer Lutheran Church, Rolla, Missouri, Nathan Kuhlman

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Kuhlman, Nathan, A. “Developing a Mentor-Method of Evangelism at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Rolla, Missouri.” D.Min. MAP, Concordia Seminary, 2018. 196pp.

Past models of evangelism are not as effective as they once were. To meet a changing, post-Christian culture, a model of evangelism that better speaks in today’s context is necessary. To address this need, this project was born. The purpose of this project was to develop and launch a mentor-method approach to evangelism at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Rolla, Missouri. This was accomplished through the launch of a pilot group of 12 test subjects from Redeemer who worked through a 10-week …

The Salvation Of The Household In Lukian Theology A Tool For Mission And Evangelism In The West African Church; Acts 16:25-34 As A Case Study, Jean Baptiste Mberebe

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Mberebe, Jean Baptiste. “The Salvation fo the Household in Lukan Theology: A Tool for Mission and Evangelism in the West African Church, Acts 16:25-34 as a Case Study.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2018. 251 pp.

What is the “salvation of the household” in Lukan theology? What does it mean for mission and evangelism in the West African context? These are the questions the author is attempting to answer, and in so doing he hopes to draw the attention of the reader, both in the West, and especially in Africa, on the nature of salvation-that the nature of salvation is not …

An Approach To Discipleship To Create A Culture Of Evangelism In The Adventist Churches In St. Lucia, Caius Alfred

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

In spite of an annual growth in membership, a significant number of Seventh-day Adventists in La Bayee and Vieux Fort are not engaged in personal evangelism. Although the members reported that they have a good relationship with Christ, one does not see the evidence of spiritual transformation that is expected of the believers (National Church Development, 2009). Neither is there the type of penetration of the Gospel in the work place, neighborhood, among friends and associate as it should be. Several attempts were made to address the problem but to no avail. The current state of things in the …

Faith Comes By Hearing: The Interrelationship Of Theology, Faith, And Practice, Nathan Olson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Olson, Nathan, J. “Faith Comes By Hearing: The Interrelationship Between Faith, Theology, and Practice.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2017. 202 pp.

This work provides a constructive systematic framework which sets forth a conception of faith as Trust in a Promise, utilizing an understanding of justification as God’s declaration of man being made right with Himself, a theology of the Word as an effectual promise and effectual act, and a pneumatology which acknowledges the Spirit’s role to elicit faith by killing and making alive in those who hear the gospel. Through a critical assessment of selected church practices and of the …

The Economy Of Evangelism In The Colonial American South, Julia Carroll

Masters Theses

Eighteenth-century Methodist evangelism supported, perpetuated, and promoted slavery as requisite for a productive economy in the colonial American South. Religious thought of the First Great Awakening emerged alongside a colonial economy increasingly reliant on chattel slavery for its prosperity. The records of well-traveled celebrity minister and provocateur of the Anglican tradition, George Whitefield, suggest how Calvinist-Methodist evangelicals viewed slavery as necessary to supporting colonial ministerial efforts. Whitefield’s absorption of and immersion into American culture is revealed in his owning a plantation, portraying a willingness to sacrifice the mobility of the disfranchised for widespread consumption of evangelical thought. A side effect …

The Russian Mission: Seventh-Day Adventism, Bolshevism, And The Imminent Apocalypse, 1881 - 1946, Garett B. Tree

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The first Adventist missionaries made their way into Russia in the late 1880’s, where they experienced imprisonment, exile, and sometimes both. The scope of my thesis concerns the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and how Adventist missionaries and leaders endeavored on the Russian Mission. Using the writings, letters, and correspondence of these missionaries, as well as the myriad Adventist periodicals, I explain and analyze the evolution of the Mission from its inception to the end of the Second World War. In what ways did Adventist missionaries or Adventist media outlets abroad understand, explain, or justify the Russian Mission and its hardships? What …

A Comprehensive Strategy For The Calgary Metropolitan Area Churches, Christopher L. Holland

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

In my 16 years of ministry, in every location I have pastored, the church has struggled to connect with the surrounding community. In Calgary, there are 14 Seventh-day Adventist churches and companies. These churches have, on occasion, worked in unity for evangelism. However, according to several of the local pastors, that has not happened for over 10 years. If the churches in Calgary are to fulfill the Great Commission, an effective way of engaging the community is needed. Because the communities that surround churches are growing increasingly secular, comprehensive evangelistic strategies may be an effective way of reaching them. …

"The Family" & Faith: The Theology Of Power, Erika Phillipo

Senior Theses

The Family & Faith: The Theology of Power hopes to shed light on the relationship between American politics, American history, and the Christian Fundamentalist group known as The Family. This paper uses the book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet as its main source. By connecting the relationship between this mega-group with American politics and politicians, the theme of power arises and refuses to go away. Thus, the focus goes beyond simply just political influence and history and instead results ultimately with how the group gains and maintains their power within the …

Transformation Of The Prescott Foursquare Church: Becoming A Church Planting Church, John W. Gooding

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a qualitative study of the Prescott Foursquare Church and its transformation from a small, broken denominational church to a disciple making and church planting fellowship of churches. The project sought to discover the key trigger events or processes that brought about church growth in the Prescott church and led to the growth of a fellowship of over twenty-two hundred churches in one hundred and sixteen countries. The result of interviews of pastors and review of historical data of the church and Christian Fellowship Ministries was the discovery of a discipleship culture in the local congregation in Prescott …

A Simple Cup Of Coffee: What Starbucks Can Teach The Church About Hospitality In How We Reach Our Neighbors, John Austin Hinkle Jr.

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation explores a local church’s implementation of Christian hospitality through the examination of a local Starbucks coffee house that successfully offers hospitality to its customers both in and outside its community. A critical problem facing mainline churches today is a decline in overall membership and worship participation. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has experienced a significant decline over the last 40 years. This decline is now being experienced even in larger evangelical churches. In this dissertation the researcher plans to explore whether a local Presbyterian Church can more effectively reach out to its neighboring community by renewing and implementing outward …

Models Of Faith: The Role Of Faith-Based Organizations In International Development, Mara Hochberg-Miller

MA IDS Thesis Projects

Faith-based organizations make up a large percentage of organizations doing development work both domestically and internationally. Faith-based development organizations (FBDOs) can be successful because they have spiritual drive to work for the social good, and large religious organizations to support them. However, not all FBDOs practice good development, and in the past many of them have undertaken development projects that proved to be damaging and detrimental to the host communities. The purpose of this research is to explore how different FBDOs conceptualize and operationalize their faith while doing development work abroad. Through exploring different models of faith-based development and analyzing …

Reaching The Community Through Childcare: A Plan To Use Early Childhood Centers To Assimilate Members Into Resurrection Lutheran Church In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Christopher Ascher

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Ascher, Christopher D. “Reaching the Community Through Childcare: A Plan to use Early Childhood Centers To Assimilate Members into Resurrection Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.” DMin Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary—St. Louis, [2014]. [207] pp.

Churches have for some time operated early childhood programs. Often times the stated reason is to reach out to those in their community, and the unstated reason is to bring members and growth into their congregations. This project is a descriptive study that surveyed congregations operating an early childhood center. Follow up interviews were then conducted with church staff whose congregations saw some growth …

Missional Communities: Equipping Churches To Reach Their Local Context, Robert Glen Parker

Doctor of Ministry

In the Northeast region of the United States, surveys suggest church participation is steadily declining. We contend that a primary reason for this decline is that churches have become insular and exclusive, leading to a failure to meet the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of their communities. The problem raises the question, "How do churches move beyond exclusivity to engage in relevant ministry within their local communities?" Throughout the Bible, God is the initiator of a relationship with humanity. God created Adam and Eve, and set out a redemptive plan to restore them to right relationship when their connection to …

An Introduction To The Process Of Re-Purposing The Fort Worth First Seventh-Day Adventist Church From Maintenance To Mission, Tyler Bower

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem. In 2008 the Fort Worth First Seventh-day Adventist church had nearly 200 filled volunteer positions (according to the nominating committee report) as well as a wide range of ministries that served the needs of the members. The weekly attendance at that time averaged between 220 and 250 individuals (including children). In a self-administered survey only 20 members (less than 10% of weekly adult attendance) reported that they were engaged in direct evangelistic ministry aimed at recruiting new members (accessions). A similar survey was filled out by ministry leaders and 58% of these ministry leaders reported that their ministry had …

A Strategy Of One-On-One Evangelism In The Nyamira Conference, William Ongaga

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Public evangelism has been a successful way of bringing converts to the church, and by using public address systems the church has been able to reach those who are afraid or too skeptical to come and sit in the meetings. Some have actually made a decision and have been baptized as a result of listening from a distance. But with time the public address systems have been misused with people complaining of noise pollution. This concern has forced the government to pass a bill in parliament banning loud noises in public places. This change calls into question the public …

Health And Social Ministries: A Holistic Approach To Ministering In Contemporary Society, Ezekiel Adeyemi Oyinloye

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

It has been observed for thirty years that Adventists conventional way of doing outreach ministries especially in the cities, fail to have expected response that fulfills goals. Attitudes of people are apathetic and reserved they stand aloof and are removed from sharing in what has been offered. They cannot be bothered. The inner city of Ibadan especially displays this type of attitude. Thus, inner city Ibadan has remained unentered by the Adventists since the inception of the Church in Ibadan a century ago. There is no single church of the Seventh-day Adventists in inner city Ibadan.

Method

A strategy …