Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Programa De Capacitacion Para Involucrar Al Nuevo Creyente En La Testificacion En La Asociacion De Allegheny West, Walter Castro

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The purpose of this study was to analyze the results of a training program for the new believers of the Allegheny West Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The AWC was established in 1967, and for more than 30 years there was no Hispanic presence throughout its vast territory that covers almost four states. When they managed to establish some Hispanic groups of believers, it was neither because of soul winning, nor because of a clear established witnessing plan, nor a large evangelistic effort or a strategic evangelistic plan to reach a new area. The records indicate that most …

Making Disciples: Applying Steps To Christ In The Glenorchy Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Mark Falconer

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The spirituality of a large percentage of church members at the Glenorchy church in Tasmania, is primarily based on knowledge about God with little concept of how biblical spirituality interacts with daily life. A recent Natural Church Development survey revealed passionate spirituality and loving relationships scored extremely low and revealed a profound need to engage spiritually with God on a daily basis. The members of Glenorchy Church have a high regard for Scripture and the writings of Ellen White, and therefore have read Steps to Christ, but few have experienced the transformational presence of God in their daily lives …

A Family Enrichment Workshop To Enhance Communication Skills Among African-American Families At The Berean Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Robert L. Davis Sr.

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Research has established that healthy communication skills contribute to marital and family satisfaction among African-Americans. African-American families, in particular, are in need of communication skills and enhancement resources that address their specific ethnic and cultural dynamics. The Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church is a predominately African-American church located in the Belfair community of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Currently the Seventh-day Adventist Church does not provide any researched family enrichment resources that address the specific dynamics of African-American Seventh-day Adventist families, which makes it necessary for research, resources, and programs to be developed that assist Seventh-day Adventist African-American families with healthy communication …

Development Of Lay Leadership Through Teleconferencing In The Early Bird Bible School, Choong Hwan Lee

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

As a pastor in local South Korean Adventist churches in the United States, I tried several times to train and nurture members, but there was not much fruit. I discovered that the activities of lay leaders in these churches were steadily declining. Although there are many causes, the most serious challenge is a lack of leadership development training for lay leaders. And then, when leadership training is provided, the program fails to promote an evangelistic passion and ultimately causes a deficit of training for future church leaders. Even when churches do provide the program, many Korean Adventists cannot attend …

A Worship Model To Blend Cultural Differences At The Los Angeles Spanish-American Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Rogelio Paquini-Ledesma

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The membership of the Spanish-American Seventh-day Adventist Church (SASDAC), in Los Angeles is culturally diverse; it includes immigrants from several Latin American countries, as well as Hispanics born in the U.S. Currently, the mixture of cultures, worship traditions, and language brought to the church setting by immigrants do not blend well with the worship style and language of church members raised in this country. Hispanics born in this country do not feel confortable in a worship service led in Spanish and tend to leave the Hispanic church. As a result, the church has lost many members and tithes and …

A Seminar For Building Strong Marriages And Healthy Relationships In South Bend Hispanic Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Ronald Rojas

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Despite the high biblical ideals for marriage and the divine power that is available to enable marital commitments to endure, the Seventh-day Adventist church recognizes the possibility that some individuals will not survive in marriage. Over the past 35 years (1974-2009) there has been a decline in the percentage of couples still in their first marriage (from 81% in 1974 to 58% in 2009) among Adventists in North America, which is very similar to the decline in percentage of married couples (from 82% in 1970 to 48% in 2010) in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). As a …

A Membership Retention Strategy For The Maranatha Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Conrad St. George Duncan

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

For the past three decades, pastors and lay leaders of the Maranatha Seventh-day Adventist Church, situated in the city of Miami Gardens, Florida, USA, have fostered the longing for a comprehensive discipleship strategy that is geared toward new member retention. Although church leaders have attempted to address the problem of attrition, due to the lack of effective discipleship, by hiring full time Bible workers, forming new member classes, and creating ministry opportunities, a sustainable, competency-driven, and user-friendly curriculum did not emerge. Due to a combined growth rate of 29. 4% in membership, between the years 2002-2012, a comprehensive discipleship …

Desarrollo E Implementacion De Un Seminario De Mayordomia Biblica Para Pastores Adventistas Del Septimo Dia De La Asociacion Colombiana Centro Occidental, Mario Nino

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Administrators of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) in the West Central Colombian Conference (WCCC) have requested a seminar on stewardship to facilitate the preaching, teaching, and better understanding of the biblical stewardship. The Conference is interested in fulfilling the command “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). However, the lack of financial resources has become a challenge to fulfill this mission. Due to this situation, the WCCC reduced the number of pastors between 2005-2009, …

Testing A New Method Of Teaching Homiletics At The Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary: Chmn 505, Micheal Lawrence Goetz

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Preaching has always been at the center of Christianity and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is the most visible part of a pastor’s ministry, and it has a significant influence on the spiritual journey of a congregation. It is the express desire of the homiletics teachers at the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary to guide students to be the best preachers possible. However, the problem that is a review of the dissertations at the James White Library revealed that in the last 35 years no attention has been given to evaluating the effectiveness of methods used in homiletic classes at the …

Enhancing The Quality Of Friendship In Married Couples' Relationships In The Madison, Tennessee Hispanic Sda District, Nathan Delima

Professional Dissertations DMin

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to explore the possibility of enhancing the friendship of certain married couples in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Madison, Tennessee Hispanic District. This project resource should add to the academic field of study by possibly helping pastors, family educators, and church family life leaders to consider using this project to help enrich the relationships of married couples. It will likely provide resource information for those doing projects or working with married couples.

Justification for the Project

There is a need to nurture the friendship of the married couples within the churches of …

The Development And Implementation Of A Community-Based Evangelism Model In The Word Of Life Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Memphis, Tn, Fred Batten Jr.

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Studies (Arn, 1988) reported that over 80% of churches in America are in a period of stagnation or decline relative to growth. Despite the mega-church trend in America, most churches will not add one person to the membership rolls in a given year (Sylvia, 2004). A safe conclusion is that attendance is also on a downward trend. Research (Burrill, 2007) suggests that from historical bases the Seventh-day Adventist church does a good job in the area of evangelism. In 2006 the statistical report of the world Adventist church highlighted that over 3,000 people joined the church through baptism on …

A Modular Graduate Course In Christian Leadership With An Emphasis On Servant Leadership For The Inter-American Adventist Theological Seminary (Iats), Raquel Yridamia Rodriguez

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

An issue of major concern in Adventist universities in the territory of the Inter- American Division is the lack of training in the subject of leadership at the undergraduate level. The curriculum focuses more on the biblical and spiritual areas, while it neglects to offer those classes that develop leadership skills. Since pastors are the model leaders for their congregations, this course on Christian leadership, with an emphasis on the "servant-model," will help to train pastors in this area, hopefully coping with the current leadership training deficiency.

Method

A theoretical foundation was established for suggesting and developing a servant …

Engaging The Men Of Bethel Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Building Authentic Relationship With Other African American Men, Ronald Dave Williams Jr.

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

According to the Pew Study (2009), the majority of African Americans are Protestants (78%) as compared to 51% of the United States population as a whole. However, African American men (16%) are more likely than African American women (9%) to be unaffiliated with any religion. The Pew Study also noted that nearly one-in-five African Americans under age 30 (19%) are unaffiliated with any religion. Pastoral observation further reveals a disproportionate number of women attending regular church services compared to men at Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is a historical problem not only with the Bethel Church, but also in …

Equipping Church Leaders To Minister To Abused And Oppressed People, Marion Winifred Duncan

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Miles (2011) maintains that no church community is "immune" to situations of abuse, "yet" he said, "pastors still receive very little training in this area" (p. x). As a result, many victims of abuse are seen to experience secondary victimization on top of the trauma that brought them to their church for help in the first place. This secondary victimization has been caused by the utilization of simplistic scriptural solutions to complex life situations. These solutions are well known in the churches and commonly used, having been handed down from generation to generation. The pastors who use them are …

Developing Men/Fathers As Spiritual Leaders In The Home In Kitsap County, Washington, Tobin K. R. Dodge

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Adventist church, along with most religious organizations today, struggles to develop a multigenerational faith vision and practice among its believers. Fewer Adventist youth and young adults appear to have an Adventist worldview or share the churches core values. They are often absent from general church life and worship. The research that has led to this project addresses men/fathers as being a primary solution in faith transmission and spiritual nurture of the next generation. Yet, the current vacancy of fathers in the homes and churches has created some of the greatest social needs in American society today. Literature is …

Contextualized Biblical Preaching Program For Young Adult Lay Preachers In Kenya, Fenades Obinchu

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kenya has the highest membership in the East Central African Division (ECD) with an average of one pastor for 1,136 members. Not only is the membership high and increasing, but each pastor has an average of seven churches (as of 2013) (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2003-2013). The majority of the membership is comprised of youth (13-17 years) and young adults (18-30 years). Even though youth and young adults comprise the majority of the membership, there is minimal level of active participation and low commitments from them in the life of the church, especially …

A Soul Care Teaching And Discipling Model To Aid Millennial Youth In Developing Healthy Relationships With God, Self, And Others In The Nottingham Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Georgina Miller

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

A large proportion of youth and young adults classified as Millennials (also known as Generation Y) within the Adventist Church worldwide are hurting because of lack of acceptance, love, and healthy self-worth. This youth group has issues with trusting others, especially society at large and authority figures, due to negative experiences in their past, which has painfully scarred them. They have an unhealthy view of who God really is based on the dysfunctional role models they have grown up with and see around them. The church’s limited ability to connect and relate with the postmodern culture, due to a …

Connecting Daily Christian Living With Adventist Doctrines Through Christocentric Preaching At The Kingsboro Temple Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Donnett Mia Blake

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Kingsboro Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church was an active congregation; however, there was a disconnect between spirituality and the knowledge of and commitment to the distinct Adventist fundamental doctrines. Many viewed the distinct doctrines of Adventism as irrelevant to the Christian experience and daily lifestyle choices, resulting in a nonchalant attitude to the distinctiveness of the Adventist message and the purpose and mission of the church.

Method

The purpose of this dissertation project was to develop and preach a series of Christocentric doctrinal sermons that would impact spiritual growth, doctrinal knowledge, and foster personal evangelism at Kingsboro Temple. Based on …

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 …

Persuasive Appeals For Decision: Preaching The Distinctive Seventh-Day Adventist Beliefs In The Michigan Conference, Daniel Paul Towar

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Personal observations while serving as a pastor and evangelist indicate a need for more effective and persuasive appeals for decisions following sermons. This is especially important when preaching the distinctive truths of the Seventh-day Adventist church. It is both a challenging and rewarding segment of my own preaching experience. For this reason it is my desire to improve on the delivery of appeals by including "prophetic preaching" strategies for reaching the heart issues that most concern those attending the Discover Revelation seminar that I present as an evangelist for the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Method

This project was …

Brazilian Adventist Women And Their Needs: Toward Theological-Missiological Education With An Initial Curriculum Proposal, Hanny Brcic Guzman

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Brazilian Adventist women have had limited access to theological-missiological education, partly because of a hierarchical, male-centered biblical interpretation of gender relations as applied to female teaching and learning experiences within the community of faith. Although the church intends to involve women in a kind of ministry that assumes a hierarchical paradigm, this remediative action is limited to motivation, outreach, and Christian piety.

Method

This theological-missiological non-formal curricular intervention provides access to theological education as well as role models for women in the church. It attempts to transform this restrictive scenario by the interpretation of the perspective and values of …

A Strategic Marketing Plan For Community Ministries At The Toronto West Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Allan Roy Chichester

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

The Toronto West Seventh-day Adventist Church is a large church that has a membership of 1,306, located in a very diverse urban community of Etobicoke North in Toronto, with variety in ethnicity, language, culture and religion. In the church’s neighborhood, there is a growing immigrant population that is currently in flux due to the constant demographic transition. This certainly poses a number of challenges for this church because there are so many varying ethnic and cultural groups that make ministering to this community very difficult. The church has tried to reach its neighbors by hosting community services events such …

A Program For Increasing Personal Reflection From A Biblical Perspective For Spiritual Growth At The Topeka Wanamaker Seventh-Day Adventist Church, George Mclain Goddard

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Shortly after arriving as the new pastor of the Wanamaker church I noticed the appearance of spiritual immaturity and disunity among members and stress between members and leaders. People gave time and talent to the church, yet complained about each other’s actions. It seemed that misperceptions of self, others, and God among members blocked spiritual development toward the maturity and unity that Christ prayed for (John 17). The root of the problem seemed to be perceptual. A developmental program was needed that would be accessible to people across the broad spectrum of understanding and move them toward Christian maturity …