Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Healthy Families-Healthy Church: A Systematic Approach To Family And Church, Lloyd Thomas Newton

Doctor of Ministry

The Church is a larger family system that experiences some of the same types of functional and dysfunctional characteristics, as does an individual or family. There are many systemic principles and concepts that are applicable to both church and family.

God's family is an example of love based on God's example in all families and His church. God's example is seen in the systemic approach. The Holy Trinity is the perfect example of balance, functionality, competence and relationship. Jesus states, "My Father and I are one" (John 1 0:30). "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9b). …

Fathering The Fatherless, Mark Eric Strong

Doctor of Ministry

The purpose of this study is to aid the pastor in mobilizing the local church to minister to those individuals and persons who are affected by father absenteeism. To accomplish this objective, I seek to understand the nature of the problem from a sociological, psychological and biblical perspective, and then propose a simple strategy to aid the congregation in ministering to the fatherless.

The introduction of the paper defines the issue of father absenteeism, stating why father absenteeism is a problematic trend. Chapter One discusses the causes of father absenteeism. The chapter seeks to answer the question from a sociological …

A Failure To Communicate, Donald R. Tucker

Doctor of Ministry

The Christian Community is currently divorcing at a rate equal to and in some areas higher than the secular society. "Born again Christians are just as likely to get divorced as are non-born again adults. Overall, 33 percent of all born again individuals who have been married have gone through a divorce, which is statistically identical to the 34 percent incidence among non-born again adults."1 In order to intervene in a failing marriage and help prevent divorce, the church will need to develop a new genesis of equipping pastors and lay ministers so that they may effectively model positive communication …

Enough Is Enough: 24 Hours/Day Is Enough, James Y.S. Wong

Doctor of Ministry

Today many people are crying for more time. Many pastors are also. The contents of this writing endeavor to address the issue of time starvation among overworked pastors. My conviction is that the God-given 24 hours a day is enough. God will never ask from us what we cannot give. Often we are victims of our own aspirations. The discussions and solutions provided in this writing fit into the shared values of pastoral ministry: a) our faithfulness to our ministerial call; b) our dedication to the Lord; and c) our love for His church and His people. Based upon these …

A Discernment-Based Model Of Church Decision-Making, Charles M. Orwiller

Doctor of Ministry

The problem addressed in this paper is: How can the decision-making process for business meetings in First Denver Friends Church be a process dependent upon paying attention to Christ, understanding His direction, and following in holy obedience? This problem will be addressed by proposing a model for decision-making in which the corporate discernment of God's direction and the corporate affirmation of obedience to that discerned direction take place in an environment of worship. Decision-making in the local church requires paying attention to Christ, our Head, then following His direction. Worship is the means by which a congregation attends to Christ. …