Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Strategic Approach To A Discipleship System And Culture At The Adventist Community Church Of Vancouver, Washington, Ryan H. Whitehead

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Discipleship is a term that church congregations use to articulate their goal of fulfilling the call of Jesus to make disciples (Matt. 28:19, 20). The Adventist Community Church (ACC) in Vancouver, Washington is no different. With a mission to “Reach Up in Worship, Reach Deep in Discipleship, and Reach Out in Evangelism,” a discipleship culture is key to the church’s mission. A deficiency in the discipleship culture at ACC is evident in the absence of a disciple-making system. The strategy to address this challenge is to invest in an intentional and robust discipleship growth plan.

Method

A systems-thinking approach …

Programa De Discipulado Para Líderes De Las Unidades De Acción Del Distrito Misonero De "La Era" De La Iglesia Adventista Del Séptimo Día, Lima Este 2022, Hector Willy Roncal Salazar

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Since 2018, North Peru Union Mission (NPU) has promoted discipleship through the structure of the Sabbath School made up by the Action Unit teachers who shepherd their members through friendship, relationship, and the missionary action units that also have the function of small groups in the district mentioned above, the leaders of the action units focus on fulfilling traditional Sabbath School teachers and not on being leaders who shepherd their small group members. For this reason, the leaders of these units are required to have a disciple-makers profile. Several authors affirm that if you learn how to make disciples …

Divine Attachment: A Canonical Model For Discipleship And Religious Education, Kristina Marie Freed

Dissertations

Problem

Christianity is in decline in the United States and, with it, discipleship engagement. While several explanations and many remedies have been offered as solutions to the problem over the last half-century, demographic research shows that the decline continues. The problem addressed in this dissertation is the lack of a theological model to augment psychological models of religious attachment theory. The research sought to identify a canonical model of divine attachment which may contribute to the revitalization of personal discipleship and religious education by offering a new relational context. This model is based on an understanding of God as an …

Discipleship Coaching For Empowering Members At Norwalk Seventh-Day Adventist Church, John W. Strehle Jr.

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Based on members' feedback, there were concerns of judgmental and critical attitudes at the Norwalk Seventh-day Adventist Church. A study in 2009, “Christ’s Mission in Norwalk” by Monte Sahlin, Senior Consultant for Center for Creative Ministry, indicated a need for personal involvement in the Norwalk church in meeting the challenges of one another and the community. Yet, the judgmental and critical atmosphere was limiting the lay involvement. Likewise, the Natural Church Development (NCD) survey confirmed in 2014 that Loving Relationships was a minimum factor for the Norwalk Church. The survey showed that the community was not relying on friends …

Intentional Discipleship: Using A Personal Growth Plan With Microgroup Support As A First Step In Creating A Culture Of Discipleship At The University City Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Ryan Lee Ashlock

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

There is a general lack of understanding and practice of discipleship within Western Christianity. This lack of discipleship can be observed within the University City Seventh-day Adventist Church. Many Christians view their relationship with Jesus as something that affects the afterlife but has little effect on the present. There is a grave need for the church to have a culture of discipleship in which people are encouraged to have a daily and lifelong connection with Jesus.

Method

Building on conclusions drawn from theological reflection and a review of relevant literature, an intervention was developed that sought to draw church …

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 …

Missional Leaders' Multiplication Through Holistic Discipleship: The Fishermen Project As A Model For German Millennials In The Central Rhenish Conference, Christian Badorrek

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

If not through the influx of Seventh-day Adventists from diverse countries and their missionary efforts, the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany would be stagnant. Most growing churches consist of people with migrant background and a large number of them conserve their native languages in their activities. Consequently, new approaches to reach the extremely secular indigenous population are rare, since the number of people who naturally have the potential to connect with them is rapidly declining. This downward spiral leads to an overaged Seventh-day Adventist church in Germany and seems to accelerate. Only very few millennials are …

Missional Prayer : The Ebenezer Model As A Relational Catalyst For Disciple Making Through The Collegedale Seventh-Day Adventist Church, James Gordon Moon Sr.

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

In a 2010 missional assessment, the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church was made aware of a missional blind spot in relation to the external needs of its ministry context. A 2017 MinistryInsight.com Priorities Report also identified the region's desire for warmth and friendship from religious communities as a top ministry preference. In a 2018 effort to begin addressing these needs, Collegedale’s pastoral staff chose "Christ has called us to Make Friends," an actionable expression of Jesus' commission to make disciples. In light of these factors, the Collegedale Church needs a relational catalyst to encourage attenders and members to make friends …

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, …

A Strategy For Empowering Parents In Family Discipleship At The Philadelphia Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Hubert A. Wilkie

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Although the Bible clearly calls parents to train their children in the faith and pass on faith to the next generation (Deut 6:4-9; Eph 6:4), few parents at the Philadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church seem to be involved actively in their children's spiritual development. As a result, the way God designed the family to function is being inadvertently abandoned. This apparent lack of faith and values transmission has resulted in a very high attrition rate among our youth, who are usually disengaged by age 15 and leave the church by age 25. This perceived crisis over the dropout rate has …

The Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Preaching Discipleship Training Program For Church Members In The Knoxville First Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Marcus Alden Swearingen Bates

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Knoxville First Seventh-day Adventist Church has members endowed with the spiritual gift of speaking (preaching). However, no training program was available for these gifted members to develop and practice their preaching skills. The senior pastor, associate pastor, and guest speakers handled the preaching responsibilities, while these members were not edifying the congregation through the exercise of their preaching gift. The absence of a preaching training program also revealed a neglect of the pastoral responsibility to disciple members in the area of preaching. This project was an effort to train gifted members in the preaching craft for a potential …

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 …

A Strategy For Discipleship Of New Members At The Mount Of Olives Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Michael G. Coleman

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

There was no discipleship strategy for new members at the Mount of Olives Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although the majority of new converts remained with the congregation, the church lacked a clear plan for nurturing the spiritual growth and leadership development of its new members.

Method

A strategy was developed in harmony with the practices and principles of biblical discipleship found in the New Testament and described in academic literature. It entailed the development of new members, particularly, and the entire congregation in general, by addressing the following four areas: spiritual nurturing, evangelism, leadership development, and stewardship/financial management. The strategy …

Men Of Valor: A Study Of Following Christ's Example Of Discipleship With Five Key Men In The Local Church, Bradley D. Cassell Jr.

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Tampa First Seventh-day Adventist Church is a diverse congregation with over 40 countries represented in its membership of nearly 600. There had been a steady increase of attendance and membership through transfers and conversion for several years. One of the biggest challenges that we faced at Tampa First was the discipleship of men. I have perceived in my 23 years of ministry that when the father is growing spiritually, the family unit had a greater tendency to grow with him, and the children were much more likely to stay connected to God and the church. It was imperative …

A Discipleship Model For Youth At The Paradise Adventist Church, Milton Daniel Marquez

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

For more than a decade the Paradise Adventist Church had been experiencing a common problem facing most churches in North America: approximately 60% of the youth were leaving the church. Rainer and Rainer (2008) argue that one of the factors in two-thirds of young adults between the ages of 18 and 22 leaving our churches after high school is the lack of a simple and effective discipleship process. Pastoral observation concurs that a primary contributing factor to the loss of Adventist youth is that the youth are not being discipled effectively and thus not rooted in Scripture, connected to …

Making And Training Disciples Of Christ Using The Pursuit Of "Life... To The Full" As The Catalyst For Mission In High Springs Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Mark Swaisgood

Professional Dissertations DMin

Task

In the Spring of 2012, the High Springs Seventh-day Adventist Church had about 29% of its membership "active in ministry," meaning these members were involved in "ministry activities outside of Sabbath morning" or they served in "leadership responsibilities during Sabbath school and worship time" (i.e. I did not consider mere attendance as "active in ministry"). Approximately 9% of the membership was "missionally engaged," meaning they were participating in activities through "service to others outside of our denominational affiliation" (I considered serving people within our church membership as "active in ministry" not "missionally engaged"). The goal of this project was …

A Discipleship Project For New Members At The St. John's Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Wayne Rupert Knowles

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

During the first decade of the 21st century, a review of the ministry structure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in St. Johns, Antigua, was done. It revealed that there was a need for a systematic plan to nurture new members into leaders. Although there were new converts classes held and materials were available for study, there were few organized plans within the church that would assist new members to become spiritually mature and equipped for ministry. This lack of structure has resulted in very few people being prepared to serve in the ministries of the church. Something needed to …

A Discipleship Model For The Hill Portuguese Seventh-Day Adventist Church Of Johannesburg, Dioi Cruz

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Hill Portuguese Seventh-day Adventist Church is a community composed of immigrants from Portugal, who were well established in Angola and Mozambique and who moved to South Africa after escaping the independence wars in the 1970s. Despite their professional success, they have not been successful in personal ministry outreach during the past years, resulting in a clear decrease of membership.

Method

This project sought to create, implement, and evaluate a strategy to help bring about inner healing and discipleship in order to increase the number of members witnessing creatively and reaching out to the Portuguese neighborhood of immigrants in …

A Discipleship Program For Developing Community In The Amazing Grace Seventh-Day Adventist Church Plant In Johannesburg, Samuel O. Misiani

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Many believers hunger for a deeper experience with Christ in their spiritual life, but do not know how to go about it. This discipleship and spirituality project was an attempt to discover a model that one could use to develop an authentic community in the ministry context of the researcher. Discipleship is a loving relationship with Christ in which the one whom He calls submits to His Lordship, and makes God’s purpose and glory the sole reason for being. In essence it is about total commitment to the Lordship of Christ, and cooperation with the Holy Spirit in His …

Desarrollo De Una Escuela De Discipulado En La Iglesia Del SéPtimo DíA De Chino, California, Misael De La Cruz

Professional Dissertations DMin

The biblical concept of discipleship consists in training and equipping people so they can become responsible Christians. The idea of equipping church members for the ministry appears often in the New Testament. According to Paul, the work of equipping is a joint effort between the Deity and the Christian leader: “And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph 4:11, 12, NIV). The word “equipping” comes from the Greek katartizo, which means to prepare, equip, or perfect, as translated in other Bible …

A Discipleship Model For Evangelism In Northeast Brazil, Emilio Abdala Dutra

Professional Dissertations DMin

Churches in Northeast Brazil (NB), including the Seventh-day Adventist Church, have been growing rapidly. Their numerical growth is phenomenal by any estimation. However, these churches are growing numerically and not in depth. We see a discipleship deficit among new believers in the form of a high rate of backdoor losses, unawareness of the meaning and duties of discipleship, spiritually undisciplined members, absence of intentional relationships to share faith, biblical illiteracy, and lack of church fellowship. How can churches in Northeast Brazil grow in quality, reproducing fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ?

Method

Current literature related to the problem was reviewed, …

Programa De Discipulado Para La Iglesia Adventista Del Séptimo Día De Rio Grande, Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Joel Soto

Professional Dissertations DMin

A discipleship program is the key to maintaining a healthy church in constant growth. It also provides the opportunity to consolidate the believers in church philosophy, exercising faith through practice of spiritual life. The purpose of this dissertation was to elaborate a program that would retain new believers in the church, leading them to action in their spiritual life, and in the practice of lay activities.

The investigation revealed the causes for lack of participation in spiritual activities, in the practice and discovery of spiritual gifts, and intervention in missionary work. This program is expected to better-equip members so they …