Christianity Commons^™

Risen With Healing In Her Wings: An Ecclesiological Ethnography Of Three Young Congregations In St. Paul, Minnesota, Catrina Louise Ciccone

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This dissertation assumes that death and resurrection is the rhythm of life for all disciples of Jesus Christ, and that this baptismal pattern of dying in Christ and being raised to new life in Christ plays itself out in many penultimate iterations across our lives until our ultimate Death and Resurrection. As such, living in a cultural climate in which the white North American Christendom Church is captive to an ecclesiology of death, fixated upon and anxious about its imminent demise, this dissertation seeks to provide a counter-narrative: an ecclesiology of the resurrection occurring in this new missional era, a …

Deep In The Burbs : A Participatory Action Research Project Exploring How The Social Trinity Impacts Spiritual Formation In Suburban Elca Congregations, Steven P. Thomason

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

Deep in the Burbs is a participatory action research project that gathered members from three upper-Midwest suburban ELCA congregations to explore how engagement with the social Trinity might impact the research team’s ideation or praxis of spiritual formation. The research team pursued this question through the practice of Dwelling in the Word—specifically in select passages from the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17)—various modalities of communicative learning, and communicative action projects in the community. The data indicate three major themes that became important to the research team: the essential nature of relationships, the necessity of reflection, and the awareness of the …

Complexities Of Pastoral Change And Transition In The Megachurches Of The Baptist General Conference, Evangelical Lutheran Church In America, And Presbyterian Church (Usa), Sheila Strobel Smith

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

The emergence of the megachurch in the United States represents a unique phenomenon which was shaped by a variety of cultural, political, economic, and religious forces. Megachurches have grown exponentially in recent years and now exercise unprecedented influence on the religious landscape in this country. Accompanying this phenomenon is a new and unique group of leaders who have guided these congregations through periods of rapid growth and substantial organizational change.

It is anticipated that many megachurches will encounter significant challenges in the future as the current senior pastors retire. Since existing research on megachurches has focused primarily on the congregations, …

Reframing Mission: An Action-Research Intervention Into A Mainline Judicatory, Dwight J. Zscheile

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

A system-wide, action-research intervention into a mainline church judicatory sought to empower its members to respond to the adaptive challenges facing them through reframing their understanding of mission in light of their changing context and theological tradition, and through actively discerning the leading of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing that the problems facing mainline denominational systems in 21st century America require attention to foundational questions of identity and purpose in a post-Christendom era, this study utilized a multi-layered, participatory process that encouraged grass-roots transformation.

Over the course of one year, approximately 2,000 members of a diocese of the Episcopal Church participated …

Congregations As Systems For Empowering Missional Leadership: A Lutheran Hermeneutic For Leading In Mission, Terri Lynn Martinson Elton

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

What are the cultural dynamics within a congregational system that are vital to the empowering of missional leadership? Do Lutherans have anything to contribute to the missional church movement in the United States? These two questions were primary for this dissertation and emerged out of two gaps identified in the missional church literature. Seeing congregations as complex, open systems, missional leadership within congregational systems was studied using a grounded theory, qualitative research approach. The five ELCA congregational systems in this study were identified by their peers as excelling in helping their faith community discover their calling as disciples of Jesus …