Christianity Commons^™

Rethinking Foreign Missions: How Churches Can Engage In Global Missionary Work Without Leaving Their Communities, Stuart Alan Cocanougher

Doctor of Ministry

For three hundred years, the modern missions movement has established a paradigm in which evangelical churches, denominations, and parachurch agencies have recruited, trained, funded, and sent missionaries around the world. Taking seriously Christ’s command to reach the nations with the gospel, U.S. churches spend millions of dollars each year to send a few select missionaries to faraway nations, while most Christians are not engaged in cross-cultural ministry. But the world has changed. Now there are millions of foreigners living in the United States. I propose that evangelical church leaders consider a new strategy that involves training American Christians to minister …

Oral Culture And Digital Natives: What The American Church Can Learn From The Mission Field, Pamela Jean Hiscock Braman

Doctor of Ministry

Digital Natives (those who have grown up with technology) are not just a new generation, they are a new culture which learns in a different way than the literate culture of preceding generations, but with significant similarities to oral cultures. Because of this, storytelling training models effectively working within oral culture can be utilized with Digital Natives for the successful training of emerging leaders within the Church. Section 1 describes the problem: Digital Natives differ greatly from the generations before them, including the way they learn. This creates a challenge to the Church in developing new generations of Christian leaders. …

A Simple Cup Of Coffee: What Starbucks Can Teach The Church About Hospitality In How We Reach Our Neighbors, John Austin Hinkle Jr.

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation explores a local church’s implementation of Christian hospitality through the examination of a local Starbucks coffee house that successfully offers hospitality to its customers both in and outside its community. A critical problem facing mainline churches today is a decline in overall membership and worship participation. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has experienced a significant decline over the last 40 years. This decline is now being experienced even in larger evangelical churches. In this dissertation the researcher plans to explore whether a local Presbyterian Church can more effectively reach out to its neighboring community by renewing and implementing outward …

The Nature Of Evangelism In Missional Churches, Russell York

Doctor of Ministry

Evangelism has long been at the heart of God's mission for the church. The arrival of the twenty-first century brought with it renewed interest in both the mission of the church and evangelism, a practice central to the church's mission. A leading factor in this resurgence is the decline in church attendance over the past several decades. The most influential factors leading to the decline in attendance are culture changes from modernism to postmodemism and from a Christendom society to a post-Christian pluralistic society. These culture shifts resulted in the diminishing influence of the church and non-Christians' often harboring hostile …

Dependence Versus Independence: An Evaluation Of The Relationship Between World Gospel Mission And The Africa Gospel Church In Kenya, Patrick L. Murunga

Doctor of Ministry

Africa Gospel Church has a serious problem of an unhealthy relationship with the World Gospel Mission. Since its inception, the mission has struggled to let go off the church. The church on the other hand, has been happy to see this relationship go on in the same dependent way without much concern. The Africa Gospel Church is over seventy years now and is at a place in its life where it needs to chart its own course.

This study evaluates the relationship between the mission agency and the Africa Gospel Church in Kenya. It investigates the historical challenges that might …

The Good Soil Process: A Strategic Missional Process For American Institutional Churches, Keith Tilley

Doctor of Ministry

The Primary Readers: Christian laity and clergy who are interested in learning about the increasing institutionalization of American mainstream denominations and the problems associated with maintaining such large corporations. They include those who have a burden for postmodern 21st century North America as a mission field and wish to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ effectively. The two project artifacts will specifically be contextualized for smaller to mid-size rural East Texas communities of faith. Much of the history and denominational traditions drawn upon in this written statement will be influenced by United Methodist heritage and experience but provided for …

It Takes A Missional Order To Raise A Leader: "Order-Ing" Leadership Communities For Life Transformation And Missional Impact, Daniel L. Steigerwald

Doctor of Ministry

The times in which we live in the West grow more complex from year to year. This presents a problem, as church and para-church leaders find themselves increasingly less prepared to meet the demands of "missional leadership," that is, leadership that exemplifies and passes on the passion, practices and perspectives conducive to fostering growth in God and fruitful missionary engagement with his world.

In chapter one I identify this problem both from the vantage point of my own leadership journey and also from that of Christian leaders in general. I then propose my thesis: Amid the complexities, distractions and pressures …

Re-Envisioning Theological Education And Formation For Mission, In-Context, Using Distance Education, David Wollenburg

Doctor of Ministry

Distance Education Leading To Ordination (DELTO) is a program of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) designed to prepare individuals for pastoral ministry. It is non-residential, and it is contextual, as those in the program are already engaged in ministry.

Three concerns about DELTO are addressed in this work: the first is that it is a "dumbing-down" of pastoral formation; the second is that it is not possible to form a spiritual commWlity of support on-line; and the third is the need for the seminary faculty to have enough information to be able to confidently certify DELTO graduates for ordination.

This …

Recommendations For Lay Leadership Training In Central Brazil, Ralph W. Wilde

Western Evangelical Seminary Theses

Evangelical pastors in central Brazil who pertain to the Brazilian denomination known as the "União das Igrejas Evangélicas Congregacionais e Cristãs" do Brasil(the U.I.E.C.C.B.) serve charges with as many as twenty-eight preaching points. Distances are great. Roads, communications and means of transportation are poor. Outpost stations, outpost Sunday schools and outpost congregations do well to see their pastor once a month. Some see him only once a year.

Since these U.I.E.C.C.B. pastors are overburdened with responsibility for sermons, sacraments and supervision, most of the speaking, teaching, witnessing and administering in the local church is done by laymen. Very few of …