Religion Commons^™

Cultivating Reproductive Small Group Leaders Within Southwest Church, Springboro, Ohio, Roger D. Hendricks

Doctor of Ministry Theses

ABSTRACT

This project was designed to address an ongoing challenge within the Southwest Church (SWC) in Springboro, Ohio. The specific challenge that SWC leaders have faced throughout the twenty-five-year history of the church is to continually increase the number of small group options within a growing congregation. Small groups have been identified as the primary vehicle for SWC members to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. This congregational emphasis has led to the good dilemma of having more individuals willing to participate than lead weekly small groups. In the past few years, SWC leaders have identified the need for the …

Recovering A Missional Ecclesiology: A Framework For Reviving Congregational Mission Within The Baptist Union Of Victoria, Gayle Hill

Doctor of Ministry Theses

ABSTRACT This project is an intervention to develop a theological and theoretical framework

that will become the foundation for a future curriculum for recovering a missional ecclesiology for the pastors of the Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV). Despite mission being central to the overall vision of the BUV, declining numbers, the post-COVID context in Victoria, and an overarching post-Christian and pluralistic context have significantly challenged the centrality and functioning of mission across our denomination. The impetus of this project was the observation that our churches were floundering rather than flourishing in the missional space. Many chronic and acute provocations were …

Buddhist Nationalism: Rising Religious Violence In South Asia, Eva Chappus, Benjamin Nourse

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Buddhist nationalism has contributed to expanding religious violence in many South Asian countries. The roots of this violent form of nationalism are complex and multi-faceted, making a clear solution difficult to achieve. Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma are some of the most pressing and violent case studies in South Asia today and can illustrate the reliance of Buddhist nationalists on ethnoreligious identities to relegate non-Buddhists to second-class status, to the point of massive acts of violence and aggression. This paper seeks to illuminate the complex social history driving the rise of Buddhist nationalism in these countries, particularly strong military-religion relationships, …

Losing And Finding Braj: Commodification And Entrepreneurship In The Sacred Land Of Krishna, Leena Taneja

All Works

Braj is a sacred place revered by Bengali Vaishnavas, followers of the bhakti sect of Vaishnavism, one of four branches of Hindu devotion. Followers of the sect worship the God Krishna, who it is believed manifested in Braj and carried out many divine feats and activities that are imprinted onto the land. Braj today is dotted with thousands of holy shrines, temples and natural places connected to Krishna. Devotees connect to Krishna through the landscape of Braj; it is where the transcendental and the physical realms meet. Braj has been transformed in a multitude of ways with the influx of …

The Role Of Darkness And Trial In Spiritual Growth As Described In The Cloud Of Unknowing, Carrie O'Neil-Smith

Obsculta

This essay was written in Professor Michael Rubbelke's class titled "Growing into God: Spiritual Development in the Christian Tradition." The piece looks at darkness and trial and three resulting fruits of spiritual growth: humility, knowledge of one's true nature, and an experience of God's pure love as described in the fourteenth century work The Cloud of Unknowing.

This Is The Way: Christian Asceticism Alive In The Star Wars Universe, David Allen Osb

Obsculta

This article is a creative reflection on how the Desert Fathers, especially St. Antony, could be compared in a pastoral way to the Jedi Masters found in the Star Wars Film and Television Canon.

Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

“Transcendence: Exploring the connections between transgender/gender non-conforming identities and experiences of nature through art” is the written portion of a creative thesis revolving around an immersive art installation and short film. Transcendence, the installation, was created to promote connection by exploring the overlap between transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) experiences and experiences of nature. Part of this installation is a short film of interviews conducted with transgender and GNC individuals about nature, their gender experiences, and the transcendent nature of the two. The written thesis analyzes existing literature on nature as a restorative, therapeutic, spiritual setting, offers insight into …

Is This Our Story? Is This Our Song?: Discovering The Formational Experiences Of Black Christians In Predominantly White Churches, Christopher Lynn Shields Ii

DMin Project Theses

This project explores the formative stories of Black Christians in Predominantly White churches. What has become of the Ministry of Reconciliation widely adopted in evangelical circles? What are the experiences of Black Christians in predominantly White Churches, many of whom have mirrored racialization in America? This project focuses on the synthesis of these two horizons and offers a critique, call, and creative reflection for readers of this project.

Chapter one serves as an introduction to the work and provides context of the researcher. Chapter two will theologically reflect on the ministry of reconciliation by considering its relationship to justice and …

Institutional Decline Or Evolution?: An Intergenerational Analysis Of African-American Religiosity, Ellis Braveboy Walker V

Whittier Scholars Program

African American religion, born from the traumas of institutionalized slavery, has played a significant role in the religio-cultural development of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Forced to adapt to the tumultuousness of systematic mistreatment and dehumanization at the hands of oppressive European forces, African peoples managed to create faith-based safe spaces in which they could socialize freely amongst themselves, ultimately protecting their indigenous spiritual belief systems and negotiating them with a reinvention of Eurocentric Christianity into the Black Church. This hybridization of West African spirituality and the Christian faith cemented itself into the culture of Black Americans for generations. However, …

Missional Renewal In A Large And Established Suburban Western Church, Michael Stevens

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis addresses the topic of missional renewal at Clovercrest Baptist Church (CBC), specifically focusing on participating in the mission of God through simple, memorable, and reproducible missional practices. The identified problem is a lack of process or framework for enhancing participation in God’s mission and churchwide missional renewal at CBC, a large suburban Western church. The purpose of this project intervention is to develop a resource guide of missional practices that facilitate participation in the mission of God at CBC towards missional renewal. This intervention is guided by the theological foundation that God is a God of mission. He …

Faith Influences On Health Of Rural Appalachian Older Adults In East Tennessee: An Ethnonursing Study, Karina Elizabeth Strange

Doctoral Dissertations

As the U.S. older adult population increases and diversifies, healthcare providers need innovative, cost-effective, and culturally congruent approaches to gerontological nursing care. Decades of multidisciplinary evidence demonstrate that spirituality enhances older adult holistic health. However, although research about spirituality and nursing has become more culturally diverse, little is known about spirituality-health linkages of rural Appalachian older adults (RAOAs). This knowledge gap is significant because Appalachia leads the country in mortality related to chronic comorbidities such as heart disease, cancer, and depression. Given age, poverty, limited transportation, and health provider shortage areas, RAOAs experience severe health disparities. Moreover, spirituality is an …

Soul Quest Church Of Mother Earth: Ayahuasca Decriminalization And The Struggle Of An Institution To Become A Church, Tarryl Janik

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the process by which Soul Quest Church of Mother Earth Inc., an ayahuasca church, in Orlando, Florida, seeks to become a legal church in order to be exempted from the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 which classifies DMT, the psychedelic by-product of the boiled ayahuasca vine and chacruna leaf, as an illicit substance. The three-year study charts the process by which Soul Quest undertakes to demonstrate their practice and belief in terms that will conform to the State’s idea of what “church-ness” looks like and how sincere belief should be demonstrated in terms the law will find …

Purpose In Place: Discerning And Forefronting Forgotten Landscapes Using The Methodological Lens Of Augmented Reality, Lindy Westenhoff

Doctoral Dissertations

Augmented reality (AR) is an under-studied tool that deserves more academic attention and gaze. By using the built landscape as its point of orientation, but providing a virtual interface with which to engage, the augmented landscape serves as a departure of the traditional digital-physical divide. This realm raises questions regarding purpose and intention, but also has its own limitations and issues with dynamic, complex spaces that change frequently. Each chapter of this dissertation stands alone as a “part” – they connect, however, through the use of this technology to answer questions unique to their spaces.

Part 1 explores the relationship …

Interpreting San Cecilio: Ritual And Discourse In A Granadan Celebration., Martha M. Popescu

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

The romería de San Cecilio is an annual, local short pilgrimage and celebration of the patron saint of Granada, a city in Andalusia, Spain. The romería takes place at the Abbey of Sacromonte, a monastery built on top of the site where San Cecilio’s remains were found as part of the famous discoveries of the Lead Books of Granada in the late sixteenth century. These books were ultimately declared to be Islamic forgeries, yet the romería persists today as a granadino, or Granadan, tradition. Consisting of both a Mass at the Abbey as well as a popular celebration, the …

Religion And Ptsd In Puerto Rico Natural Disaster Survivors, Abraham Reynolds

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Religious coping can influence recovery from natural disaster trauma. Participants were recruited from a religiously sponsored university in Puerto Rico, affected by several natural disasters between 2017 and 2020, using an online survey. A significant relationship was found between negative religious coping and changes in mood and cognition, mediated by the effect of worthiness of self. Results indicate that negative religious coping may adversely influence an individual’s view of self and increase PTSD-related changes in mood and cognition. If clinicians only examine a client’s view of self, they may miss the influence of negative religious coping.

Where Does The Church Stand In Today’S Mental Health Landscape?, Noah T. Mursu

Honors Capstone Projects

Religious involvement in care for those living with mental illness has been going on for centuries, and perspectives on it have changed throughout the years. This literature review evaluates the place of religious groups, mainly Christian churches, in today's mental health situation by considering past and present involvement. It incorporates sources regarding different eras of mental hospital reform, modern perspectives of mental health clinicians and clergy, and the current gaps in mental health support among a variety of groups, including veterans, African Americans, and people in developing countries. This review then considers potential future involvement, especially considering how these gaps …

Developing A Program Of Well-Being For Coptic Orthodox Clergy In The Diocese Of Melbourne, Australia, Abanoub Attalla

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project aims to develop a holistic recommendation of policies, procedures, and practices that can contribute toward achieving better well-being for clergy that will equip and support them for healthy and sustainable ministerial practices. Without a plan for suitable intervention, the current situation could be quite harmful to both clergy and their congregations. Therefore, it is critical to develop processes and protocols that will facilitate the support and practices of the clergy of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Australia so they can lead a balanced and spiritually fulfilling life. Within the context of this project, I will use the word …

Executing Vision: Operationalizing The Vision Statement Of Logos Preparatory Academy In Sugar Land, Texas, Jason Henderson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis addresses the problem of finding a way to operationalize the vision statement of Logos Preparatory Academy. Logos Preparatory Academy (Logos Prep) is a school of around six hundred students located in Sugar Land, Texas. After interviewing some of the school founders and student leadership and examining documents from the founding of the school, it became evident Logos Prep is a school in need of a more efficient and effective way to execute the vision statement of “Families and students making an impact for Christ” through the goals set forth in their Portrait of a Graduate. Using the works …

A Holy Land Guidebook: Cultivating Spiritual Disciplines For Pilgrimages, Johnnie L. Birks

Doctor of Ministry Theses

A small group of research participants and I assembled for this phenomenally enriching project intervention to create a proprietary branded guidebook for Miracle Loaves And Fishes World Hunger Ministry, Incorporated, and its subsidiary, Anointed Royal Tours, to be used for pilgrimages to the Holy Land. These pilgrimages will create sustainable funding for the ministry to support universal efforts to eliminate global hunger while simultaneously attempting to equip believers with a transformative and/or restorative walk in Christlikeness for the sake of creation, humanity, and eternal life in God’s Kingdom. The path of Christlikeness is to be transformed (Rom 12:2 NRSV), as …

Tell Me The Old, Old Story: An Educational Curriculum For Junior Week At Christian Youth Encampment, Justin Lance Simmons

Doctor of Ministry Theses

The purpose of this project was to create a curriculum framework for the Junior Week of camp at Christian Youth Encampment (CYE) in DeRidder, LA. The initial step in this project was to develop information on the ministerial context of CYE by investigating its history and interviewing those who have experienced camp both as campers and staff. Next, an examination of theological and theoretical foundations was made, considering the history of narrative in the instruction of children both for Israel and the church. Also, the concept and practices of narrative and its usefulness as a pedagogical tool were explored. Using …

An Examination Of The Association Of Religiosity, Purity Culture, And Religious Trauma With Symptoms Of Depression And Anxiety, Kaelyn R. Griffin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While no consistent definition yet exists for religious trauma, religious abuse is typically defined as a misuse of authority by a spiritual leader to coerce, control, or exploit those under their leadership, which may in turn lead to the experience of religious trauma. Numerous studies suggest that experiencing abuse within a religious environment is a both global phenomenon and common experience. The impact of religious abuse has recently gained greater media attention, specifically related to the social and psychological impact of leaving high-cost religious groups (i.e., those with rigid rules or groups from which departure leads to isolation and rejection …

Lgbtqia+ People And Religious Trauma, Cira Abiseid

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning), intersex, and asexual people (LGBTQIA+) experience religious trauma caused by the harmful messaging often aimed at sexual and gender minorities. Identity dissonance can be created when LGBTQIA+ people find their religious and sexual or gender minority identities at odds with each other. A review of existing literature revealed themes of identity erasure, internalized homophobia, and resilience, but there was limited research involving this population. This qualitative study centers the voices of those who have experienced religious trauma based on their identities and works to understand their healing journeys. Fifteen LGBTQIA+ individuals participated …

Muslim Enough? Egyptian Enough? American Enough?, Essraa Nawar

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Essraa has studied, lived and worked in many places, including the Gulf area (Qatar), Washington D.C., where she worked for The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, and Alexandria, Egypt where she worked for Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2002, she moved with her husband and family to the United States where they have been studying, working, and living for 20 plus years. In this vulnerable presentation, Essraa will share for the first time her journey navigating motherhood as an immigrant, Muslim women while thousands of miles away from her family in Egypt. Everyday Essraa will ask herself: Is …

"There Is No Emperor": Merlin And The Ideal State In That Hideous Strength, L. S.B. Maccoull

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

C. S. Lewis’ Merlin has been brought forward from the sixth century. In the world he knew, though there was no longer a Roman Emperor in the West, there certainly was an Emperor reigning in Constantinople who could be called upon for aid. A closer look at Lewis’ depiction of Byzantium reveals what role the positive qualities he attributed to the city played in the development of his own views regarding the nature of the realm (or world) we should strive to realize here on earth.

A Return To The Roots: Mysticism And Psychodrama For Traumatized Populations: A Literature Review, Hyde Nichols

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper is a literature review on the spiritual roots of psychodrama and how this can be utilized for traumatized populations. To support this hypothesis, I reviewed research done on post- traumatic stress disorder, spirituality and mysticism, as well as how psychodrama has been utilized for traumatized populations. J.L. Moreno’s original writings on psychodrama and its components and philosophy are utilized to situate mysticism and spirituality within the psychodramatic paradigm. All terms listed above are defined using research done within the United States, although Moreno began his career in Austria. To end the paper I discussed the importance of staying …

Catholicism Online: How The Church Is Communicating In The Visual Field, Alexandra Barfield

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT

Given the rise and importance of social media in the last two decades, religious institutions, especially the Roman Catholic Church, have an important place online to fulfill their mission and belief of spreading the Gospel message. Communicating this message on social media and with contemporary marketing practices is an opportunity and a challenge for churches, Catholics, and apostolates alike. In this study, I analyze a variety of Catholic-related Instagram accounts and interview individuals involved in Church management and content creation. This primary research is prefaced with secondary research exploring the status of the Catholic Church in the United States, …

Measuring Performance: The Economics Of Cleaning The Outside Of The Cup, Joshua Hollinger

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Sometimes focusing too much on what we can measure distorts our beliefs and actions as we turn away from immeasurable things that matter."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the economics of evaluating workers based on their performance from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/measuring-performance-the-economics-of-cleaning-the-outside-of-the-cup/

Efficacy Of A Christian Intervention To Promote Posttraumatic Growth In Women Recovering From Intimate Partner Violence, Jerra L. Dooley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative pretest-posttest design evaluated a biblically based personal development program (PDP) for promoting PTG in Christian women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). A convenience sample (N = 7) of volunteers included women within a large county in the Southeastern United States. Participants were recruited through numerous large and small Southern Baptist churches. Qualifications included being female, at least 19 years old, and having experienced IPV but not within the last 12 months, to reduce the possibility of reinjury by rumination. Participants completed pretest assessments, attended the 3-hour personal development program, and completed a posttest assessment. Data was …

Mirroring Jesus’S Prayerful Approach To Interactions With Dissatisfied Followers Through The Lens Of The Modern Worship Pastor, Bryant Timothy William West

Masters Theses

This study shows the life and mission of Jesus through His interactions with conflict and will show how worship pastors can apply these lessons to the church. Detailing Jesus's prayer life and His approach to interacting with others, examining the approach worship leaders should have when interacting with similar people. The report will concentrate on three areas of study, including Jesus's prayer life, his ministry, and how the worship pastor can create a church that parallels Christ. Jesus' ministry and discussions with the Pharisees show worship pastors how they should approach church members. This discussion is due to the struggles …

A Phenomenological Study Of Social Media Usage In Southern Baptist Churches In The Atlanta Metropolitan Area, Patricia Maria Rankin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore social media usage according to leaders from churches in the Southern Baptist Convention in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. For this study, social media was defined as any social media networking platform used to share the Gospel. The research was guided by the mathematical theory of communication (Shannon, 2001; Weaver,1953) developed by Shannon, Weaver, Schramm, and Berlo. The communication model effectively understands and explores the literature gap regarding God and how He communicates with His people. The study started with purposeful sampling and recruitment of participants, who then voluntarily completed the …