Christianity Commons^™

Recovering The Art Of Testimony, As Embodied Within The Historical Black Church, As A Missionally Formative Practice, Christopher Cobbler

DMin Project Theses

This project aims to consider how the art of testimony, as embodied within the traditional Black church, functions as missionally formative practice. The purpose of this project is to examine the ways testimony service can be utilized to reimagine an alternative eschatological community in a postmodern society. Testimony, in the historical Black Church, was a central component to the life of the congregation; it served as a tool to shape and navigate the theological imagination within a particular community, it cultivated and nurtured centered belonging and was a primary vehicle for spiritual formation. As a result of modern rationalism’s cognitivist …

Global Hospitality : Discovering The Hierarchy And Best Practices, Tammy L. Cessna

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Families After God's Heart : A Biblical Perspective On Marriage, Family And Discipleship, Paul Kumar

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Field Notes: A Ministerial Community Of Care Responds To A Pandemic, Ron Bruner

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Abstract: These notes report the interaction of the ministerial team at Westview Boys’ Home with its theology and context during the COVID-19 crisis. This community developed specific practices to protect its staff and residents while continuing to move forward with its mission to care for youth from hard places.

Opening Your Door And Dinner Table As Evangelism, Gary Alan Fox

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

With the decline of membership in most mainline denominational churches, can people with no religious affiliation, or who have left the church, or who want nothing to do with the church, enter into a relationship with God through community in small neighborhood groups meeting in homes? The problem for most mainline churches is that small groups are viewed as only being for short term Bible Study or information gathering. Yet, a life transforming encounter with God often happens through long-term small groups that are focused on relationship building and life stage support as the primary focus. It is in community …

Practicing Missional Hospitality In A Suburban Church, Kevin Stewart

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

The West Houston Church of Christ is typical of many churches in North America that struggle to relate in meaningful ways to the surrounding culture. Over thirty years West Houston changed from a small, vibrant young church with a thriving family-like atmosphere to a large church in a new building, yet mourning its loss of family connections. It was struggling to find a new identity. In this article I discuss the ingrained sense of family that has served as the identity of West Houston and explore both theological and practical ways—specifically those involving missional hospitality—through which a church can navigate …

Toward Just Hospitality, Ron Bruner

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

The ministry of Jesus moved through times of seeking justice, sharing hospitality, and withdrawing for prayer. Though inescapably “other” because of his divine identity, he sought solidarity with humans by becoming human and interacting with humanity through hospitable practices. The Ancient Mediterranean customs of hospitality were well-defined, but Jesus took this powerful cultural framework and changed its practice so that it produced reconciliation and justice.

This work briefly reviews the practice of hospitality in the time of Jesus. It also presents the work of scholars identifying linguistic markers that would have cued readers in the Ancient Mediterranean to recognize a …

Church Hospitality: A Biblical Model For Growth Based On The Seven Churches In Revelation, Gesner Noel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Church growth seeks both to actualize the precepts of the "Great Commission", to attract new members and sustain current congregation. One of the fundamental problems is the inability to preserve hospitality. The pertinence of hospitality to the Church originates from Scriptures that clearly exemplify Christ's deeds and teachings of hospitality. This thesis project will investigate the seven churches in Revelation and reveal factors of outstanding and inhospitable practices in relation to Church growth and hospitality. Surveys will be based on unregulated interactions among pastors. Twenty pastors across five denominations, Evangelical Lutheran, Charismatic, Pentecostal, Seven-Day Adventist, and Roman Catholic will demonstrate …

Communally Discerning A Covenant Of Hospitality For The Care Of Children At Westview Boys' Home, Ron Bruner

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project addressed the lack of a covenant defining the practice of hospitality towards children for team members of Westview Boys’ Home. The purpose of the project was to facilitate the creation of such a covenant. The Westview ministry team already claimed hospitality as a strength; the hope was that reframing the ministry around this strength would improve the quality of care for children and the quality of life for the community. Invited into a communal discernment process (the methodology), the ministry team invested weeks in the examination of biblical texts, theological tradition, personal and communal narratives, cultural trends, psychological …

Strangers Welcoming Strangers, Christine D. Pohl

ATS Conferences

No abstract provided.