Digital Commons Network^™

Online Vs On-Site: Navigating The Tension Between Curating Content And Cultivating Connections For Children In The Post-Pandemic Church, Mckinzie Marcus

Senior Honors Theses

The common Christian cliche “church is not a place, but rather a people” was challenged by the Coronavirus pandemic of early 2020. With the traditional means of assembling in physical spaces unavailable, congregations worldwide resigned themselves to adapting their in-person programs into internet assemblies. As churches step into the post-pandemic era, it is important to consider the implications of this forced shift, especially as it relates to children’s ministry. A consideration of traditional messages and trending methods is necessary. Twenty-first century children’s ministries must seek a healthy balance between curating content and cultivating connections for the children in their churches.

Through The Looking Glass: Worship Music With Indigenous Sounds In Los Angeles And Manila, Maria Rica Bartolome Silbol

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the Philippines’ wonderful indigenous music and talents, Manila Baptist and Los Angeles Baptist churches do not utilize indigenous sounds in typical worship practices. This paper contends that the untapped resources of cultural sounds may contribute to a dynamic worship experience that resonates more effectively as Filipino. This study investigates the absence of indigenous sound in two Filipino Baptist churches from Los Angeles and Manila (QC). It analyzes relevant ethnic music components and each church’s response to the fusion of indigenous and traditional music in the worship experience. The explanatory sequential mixed method will focus on an artistic-creative study to …

The Relationship Between Multicultural Christianity And Spiritual Formation: Quantitative Correlational Study, Jack Andrew Wingard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The population in America has changed dramatically over the past twenty years. The homogenous communities present when churches began in America have become heterogeneous. The homogeneous church growth models have possibly hindered spiritual formation for churches in America. Multicultural churches seek to solve this problem by creating environments that strategically create congregations that match the demographics of American communities. This correlational study aimed to explore if a relationship exists between multicultural church practices and spiritual formation in spiritual, social, and intellectual areas. The study employed survey instrumentation that used the MCSFS. Overall, five distinctly multicultural churches spread out across America …

Racial Reconciliation: A Theological Approach To Building Relationships, Calvin Glass

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Racism within the Christian community in America has resulted in social unrest and has plagued the Christian church in a way that mandates urgent solutions to this untamed malady. This research focus is centered on learning a practicable methodology based on biblical principles that address racial reconciliation (building God-approved relationships) that will combat racial disunity among Christians. The study method used BBR (Building Better Relationships) consisted of interviewing and teaching a focus group representing a Black pastor and five church participants on racial relations issues within the church context. From the recommendations of the senior pastor, a focus group from …

A Groundbreaking Christian Ministry Study On The Authority Of God Among Independent Churches In Mid-Atlantic America, Troy Shawn Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The commandments and covenants in the Bible are important in Christian ministry. Defining these aspects may cultivate Christian organizations such as Christian citizenship and Christian organization is vital in addressing the fabric of designing a loving and ethical culture built on the commandments and covenants. This includes love God, love one’s neighbor, or love one another. Designing a strong and integrity driven culture and showing how love should be put in operation in the church such as how a Christian leader views the actions and policies of the church. In return, this can create a love God design for churches …

Prosperity Gospel In Liberia: A Theological Alternative To The Gospel Of Jesus Christ, Jerome A. Newman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many indigenous Liberian pastors are not theologically grounded on a solid biblical foundation. As such, many Liberian Christians lack foundational knowledge of the truths of the Gospel of Christ for salvation. The prosperity gospel or “Faith, Wealth, and Health” theology in Liberia is a significant deviation from the Gospel of Christ that undermines sound hermeneutical interpretation of Scripture. This study examines why a growing number of pastors in Liberia are replacing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the prosperity gospel. An anonymous survey research study of 12 pastors from Unity Light Ministry Network (Unity Community Church) in Kakata, Liberia, West …

Race, Ethnicity & Culture With Purpose: The Growth Of A Multicultural Church Ministry, Jamar R. Mabry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christianity is a major galvanizing factor. However, it is prudent to pay attention to the real and latent divisions in society that hinder social harmony: even without the calming effect of the Christian faith. Attempting to form a multicultural church must therefore involve an understanding of the races and ethnicities that comprise the target population. That process is as academic as it is pragmatic. The academic aspect of conceiving race involves a historically literate understanding of the heritage and factors that created the present race and ethnic power relations not only in the locale: but across the entire country as …

Redemptive Penology Vs. Exclusive Retributive Justice, Samuel Chuks Japhets

Masters Theses

Grounded on long-standing penal notions of exclusive retributivism inherited from classical theorists, Ancient Near East lex talionis, and theonomist penology, the United States federal sentencing and corrections system aims to administer just desert sentences on offenders, to curtail crimes. This exclusively retributive model of criminal sanction is, presumably transformative and innately capable of dispensing holistic justice to society, victims, and criminals. However, the preponderance of high rates of recidivism raises the question of whether this exclusively retributive doctrinal framework that drives the federal penology empirically results in a redemptive administration of penal justice, especially to the offender. Given the traditional …

It Is Well With My Soil: Ecocriticism Of Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow And Hannah Coulter & Marilynne Robinson's Gilead And Housekeeping, Lauren Hoessly

Masters Theses

Ecocriticism places nature as the central subject of life, but avoids analysis of human relationships as an integral part of man's relationship with nature. Wendell Berry's novels Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter, and Marilynne Robinson's novels, Gilead and Housekeeping posit ecocritical claims about man and his work in nature without forsaking the union of the body and soul. Thus, Berry and Robinson connect relationships between people to this work in nature in order to reveal the relationship between man and God. They integrate principles of environmental recovery with Christian principles of redemption, and thereby offer new possibilities for ecocritical writing …

Missão Integral [Holistic Mission Or The ‘Whole Gospel’] Applied: Brazilian Evangelical Models Of Holistic Mission In The Arab-Muslim World, Edward L. Smither

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

In this article, I will first show the historical development of this theological approach within the Brazilian and Latin American evangelical spheres through the work of the Latin American Theological Fraternity – a movement founded in 1970 that maintained historic evangelical values (i.e. a high view of Scripture, the necessity of conversion) whilst also taking Latin America’s great social needs into account. Nurtured by thinkers such as René Padilla (Ecuador), Orlando Costas (Puerto Rico), Samuel Escobar (Peru), and later Valdir Steuernagel (Brazil), the movement has not only responded to the concerns raised by Liberation theologians, but it has also influenced …

Preaching In The 'Hear' And Now: Justification, Development, And Assessment Of 'Parabolic Engagement' Pedogogy In French-Speaking Missionary Settings, Daniel Sheard

Faculty Dissertations

This thesis argues the utility of ‘parabolic engagement’ method for preachers and listeners in the French Antillean context. The opening chapter defines key terms and clarifies how this imaged sermonic style addresses the listening habits of targeted audiences. It explains that figured delivery is often context-interpretive, involving a more personal, experiential decoding by the listener. Engagement technique increases auditor involvement and creates unique communicative rapport. The chapter points out that the entire experimental process validates the usefulness of the pedagogy. Part One addresses the theological rationale for ‘parabolic engagement’ method. Chapter Two reviews appropriate literature with respect to engagement. Chapter …

To All Nations: An Exegetical Analysis Of The Parables Of The Lord In Luke, James A. Mann

Faculty Dissertations

This dissertation provides students of the New Testament and missions a biblical foundation for missions as revealed in the Gospel of Luke, and especially that foundation revealed in the parables found in this gospel. The study first examines the Gospel of Luke and the theme of universal missions found within it. Next, the history and theory of parable research and interpretation are examined. From this point the parables of the double and triple traditions are compared and contrasted in order to determine if Luke reveals his theme of universal missions in these parables.

Ultimately, this study focuses on an exegetical …

Review: Integrative Theology, V 1: Knowing Ultimate Reality And The Living God, A. Boyd Luter

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

No abstract provided.

Church Growth: State Of The Art, C. Peter Wagner, Win Arn, Elmer L. Towns

Books

No abstract provided.

Theoretical Foundations Of African And Western Worldviews And Their Relationship To Christian Theologizing: An Akamba Case Study, Jones Kaleli

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the theoretical foundations of African and western worldviews and their relationship to Christian theologizing. The dissertation seeks to contend two propositions: (1) Christian theology results from the disciplined reflection on God's biblical revelation by the believing hermeneutical community, and (2) a disciplined hermeneutic reflection on God's Word can best be done within the context of a people's worldview. The study adopts both a diachronic and a microcosmic approach to Christian theologizing in contemporary Africa, i.e. a non-generalizing Christian theologizing method that confines itself to a specific people, their culture and worldview. Thus, …

Review: The Letter To The Hebrews, James A. Freerksen

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

No abstract provided.

The Sociology Of Knowledge And Biblical Interpretation, Edward Hindson

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

The social, economic, political, and other contexts of texts as well as of interpreters have an important bearing upon the "meaning" of such texts. Any interpreter should be conscious of this fact and inculcate it into his pronouncements on the "meaning" of a text.