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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Re-Innergized The Ministry Of The Holy Spirit, Stacey Spence-Baldwin
Re-Innergized The Ministry Of The Holy Spirit, Stacey Spence-Baldwin
Doctor of Ministry
In this Project Portfolio, I will address the following NPO: The church is in decline or dying because it lacks connection with the Holy Spirit. Through the church relying on human reason instead of the will of the Holy Spirit, the church has lost its light. The key finding in my research is that when a church embraces the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will live again. This finding came from my personal experiences of the Holy Spirit resurrecting three small rural churches which were in decline/death back to life. When congregations allowed the Holy Spirit to prompt their …
Healing Through Homecoming Rediscovering The Hospitality Of Jesus As The Mission Tone Of The Church, W. Matthew Rice
Healing Through Homecoming Rediscovering The Hospitality Of Jesus As The Mission Tone Of The Church, W. Matthew Rice
Doctor of Ministry
This Project Portfolio addresses the following NPO: In an increasingly hostile culture, there is an opportunity to incarnate the hospitality of Jesus to a world in need of God’s embrace; in doing so, the Church will rediscover and release the mission tone of Jesus, a kindness that heals as it welcomes people home and leads to Spirit-empowered turns. The key insight of my research is that the coming of Jesus is the ultimate expression of ancient hospitality, and when God’s kindness permeates the mission tone of a church, it creates an environment where the gospel is heard, the Spirit’s power …
Conflict Between The Clergy And The Laity In The Quaker Church In Kenya, John Muhanji
Conflict Between The Clergy And The Laity In The Quaker Church In Kenya, John Muhanji
Doctor of Ministry
The Quaker church missionaries came to Kenya as part of the West's Christian movement to the dark continent. Historians have usually referred to the Society of Friends' spiritual life as quietism, which did not resonate well with African spirituality which was disregarded by the missionaries as evil. Africans unquestioningly believe in the supreme creator of the universe and humanity. There is no ethnic group in Africa that does not have a specific name for a supreme God.1 Therefore, the Quaker belief that "there is that of God in everyone" was not considered by the Western missionaries that Africans believed in …
Missional Communities: Why They Are Failing And How To Help Them Thrive, Matthew L. Murphy
Missional Communities: Why They Are Failing And How To Help Them Thrive, Matthew L. Murphy
Doctor of Ministry
Missional communities are failing. Missional communities are failing because they do not contextualize the nature, function, and historical forms of the church. Specifically, missional communities fail due to lack of leadership, gospel proclamation, incarnational living to a particular people, and mission dependence on the Holy Spirit. All of these things stem from not putting the nature, function, and historical forms of the church before modern forms.
Missional communities will begin to thrive if communities will not just copy forms of other missional churches, but if they will contextualize the nature, functions, and historical forms of the church in their own …
Elder-At-The-Fire: Missional Generativity, Jo A. Harlow
Elder-At-The-Fire: Missional Generativity, Jo A. Harlow
Doctor of Ministry
Societies and cultures are changing at an unprecedented pace. In this time of uncertainty, how does the Church continue to advance God’s kingdom and nurture fully mature disciples of Christ? This paper will show that global shifts demand a new type of Christian leader—Elder-at-the-Fire—who is able to apprentice others to a life of Missional Generativity. The so-called ‘proven’ forms of discipleship are becoming ineffective. People in the world are floundering to understand their purpose; many seek spiritual guides and self-help solutions in search of spiritual meaning. In biblical times and in ancient tribal traditions, elders provided spiritual wisdom for life’s …
Mind The Gap: Navigating The Pitfalls Of Cross-Cultural Partnership, Ashley Purcelle Goad
Mind The Gap: Navigating The Pitfalls Of Cross-Cultural Partnership, Ashley Purcelle Goad
Doctor of Ministry
Living Waters for the World is an organization that trains hundreds of mission teams to install clean water systems in Haiti and beyond; however, many of these projects lay in disrepair: unused, despite the best of intentions of the American volunteers. Section One examines current problems of many existing partnerships in Haiti. Americans tend to have a skewed interpretation of what the word “partnership” means or what partnership connotes in a cross-cultural context. This results in an American organization providing a service or product for a community, which at first glance, seems positive, but, in fact, results in a lack …
The United Methodist Church And The Willingness To Embrace Change: Attracting Members Of The Emerging Generation And A Return To Vitality, Jody Glenn Ray
The United Methodist Church And The Willingness To Embrace Change: Attracting Members Of The Emerging Generation And A Return To Vitality, Jody Glenn Ray
Doctor of Ministry
Christian culture within the United States has been experiencing phenomenal change related to shifts in the larger U.S. culture, as well as shifts taking place in the Church. As such, five sets of research questions were presented in this phenomenological study. These consisted of - What is the current state of the Church? Is the Church divided doctrinally, theologically, and in areas regarding polity? If so, what is causing this division? What are the primary causes of the decline in membership currently being experienced by the United Methodist Church? What are the greatest challenges facing the Church? What are the …
Positive Deviance : Empowering Ecclesial Contextualization With Theological Praxis, Douglas Wayne Balzer
Positive Deviance : Empowering Ecclesial Contextualization With Theological Praxis, Douglas Wayne Balzer
Doctor of Ministry
No abstract provided.
Rethinking Missions: A Pathway For Helping The Next Generation To Fulfill Christ's Great Commission, Jon Olson
Rethinking Missions: A Pathway For Helping The Next Generation To Fulfill Christ's Great Commission, Jon Olson
Doctor of Ministry
No abstract provided.