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Full-Text Articles in Christianity
Intentional Discipleship: Implementing A Theology Of Discipleship For Spiritual Growth, Sheina L. Rivera
Intentional Discipleship: Implementing A Theology Of Discipleship For Spiritual Growth, Sheina L. Rivera
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
One of the greatest needs for the church today is to equip believers to become biblically informed, fully developed disciples so that they are prepared to carry out the mission of Christ. Without fully understanding mature discipleship practices, believers cannot fulfill the Great Commission to “go, teach and baptize” to make other disciples. The failure to understand and teach these practices has led to complacency, lack of interest, and the inability to become disciples among long-term church laity. This dissertation implemented biblical discipleship teachings and practices in a local church through a Sunday School curriculum and was evaluated through participant …
Victory Temple House Of Refuge: A Missional Focused Revitalization Strategy, David Lee Nalls
Victory Temple House Of Refuge: A Missional Focused Revitalization Strategy, David Lee Nalls
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose for this DMIN action research thesis is to develop a revitalization strategy for Victory Temple House of Refuge located in Fayette, Alabama, that will connect the hearts and minds of its leaders to biblical principles for restoring church vibrancy and growth. The purpose rises to confront a problem of church membership decline and community contraction, frequently associated with a lusterless existence. The purpose statement also introduces a study on church revitalization’s incipit principles of returning to missional activities and discipleship fundamentals as a means of restoring congregational vitality. Researching the problem is inextricable to a Christian community’s mandate …
A Look At Short-Term Mission Trips In The Context Of Cypress Baptist Church As A Sending Unit, John Daniel Bodine
A Look At Short-Term Mission Trips In The Context Of Cypress Baptist Church As A Sending Unit, John Daniel Bodine
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This thesis project is a study on short-term missions in the context of Cypress Baptist Church as a sending unit. The purpose of this project is to seek answers of why many of Cypress members are choosing not to engage globally by being part of the ministry of short-term missions at Cypress. Cypress Baptist Church is a rapidly growing church, and as it grows it should see more members participating in short-term missions. The goal is to ask the people of Cypress questions centered around this project so the project manager can get candid, real answers to why many are …
A Missional Resurgence: Helping Bridges Church Rediscover Her Missional Purpose Resulting In Vibrant Growth, Patrick Headen Norris
A Missional Resurgence: Helping Bridges Church Rediscover Her Missional Purpose Resulting In Vibrant Growth, Patrick Headen Norris
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The church in America is facing difficult times. The majority of churches are experiencing plateaued or declining attendance and a lack of spiritual vitality. While every church is unique in her own experience, there are some common factors that can lead to new life and vibrancy. The purpose of this study was to understand how to lead a specific church, Bridges Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to rediscover her missional purpose and discover vibrant growth, as individuals and as a corporate body. This study utilized the REVEAL for Churches Survey, an online survey that is both descriptive and prescriptive in …
The Sent Life: Discovering The Mission Of God And The Christian's Place In It, Cliff Roberts Jordan
The Sent Life: Discovering The Mission Of God And The Christian's Place In It, Cliff Roberts Jordan
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The church in the West today has separated something that was never intended to be divided. This critical error impacts the very core of who a Christian is which informs and empowers what a Christian does. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you,” and in doing so He designated all Christians as “sent ones.” This means living on mission as a sent one is not reserved for a special class of Christians, but is the very calling of all Christians. Since that is true, all Christians need to understand and be equipped for the mission …
The Effective Bi-Vocational Pastor, Cory A. Macneil
The Effective Bi-Vocational Pastor, Cory A. Macneil
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Pastors fill an important role as they lead churches to fulfill the Great Commission. This is especially challenging for bi-vocational pastors who have jobs outside of ministry. Meanwhile, some church members view the bi-vocational pastor as the paid professional and misunderstand their role as members/ministers. The original design of God is for pastors and members to be disciples who make disciples according to 2 Timothy 2:2. The purpose of this project is to help bi-vocational pastors in the Northeast strategically equip their people to become effective members, ministers, and missionaries who realize the significance of being disciples who make disciples. …
A Strategy To Plant Missional Churches That Multiply In Small Urban Communities, Michael Scott Moore
A Strategy To Plant Missional Churches That Multiply In Small Urban Communities, Michael Scott Moore
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This thesis will use Hopewell, VA, as a microcosm of small urban towns across America that are in need of spiritual and economic revitalization. The purpose of this thesis will be to develop a strategy for planting churches in Hopewell, VA, that is not only able to reach its community but serve as a model to reach other similar urban communities. The rationale for this topic is to shine the light on the need for revival in spiritually and economically depressed towns. Demographic and ethnographic research will be done, as well as interviews with a minimum of ten local leaders. …
Missional Metamorphosis: How Identity, Presence, And Praxis Are Reshaping Disciple Making Within Post-Christian Contexts, Justin Thomas Wester
Missional Metamorphosis: How Identity, Presence, And Praxis Are Reshaping Disciple Making Within Post-Christian Contexts, Justin Thomas Wester
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The American Church’s current disciple-making paradigm is struggling to engage post-Christian contexts with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite American society’s steady trending away from a biblical worldview, dwindling church attendance, and declining religious affiliation, the American Church is still operating under a disciple-making paradigm conducive for the Christendom era. What changes must occur to help churches break away from an antiquated paradigm and embrace a more contextually appropriate expression? This project helps to answer that question by capturing and expressing how changes in ecclesial identity, contextual presence, and corporate praxis are altering disciple-making paradigms within post-Christian contexts. Utilizing quantitative …
Block Adoption: Evaluating The Impacts Of Neighborhood Care On Church Attendance At House Of Joy, Victor King
Block Adoption: Evaluating The Impacts Of Neighborhood Care On Church Attendance At House Of Joy, Victor King
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
When a church plateaus, it is a major indication that the church is no longer adding new members. This is a dangerous stage for any church to be. If nothing is done to turn the situation around, the church will likely head down toward decline and death. This Thesis project addresses the problem of stagnation in church attendance. The Thesis project examines how block adoption can be used as an evangelism strategy to reach the people who live in the same community where a local church is located. The thesis project shows how block adoption can be planned and implemented. …
Attractional To Missional: A Strategic Transition Plan For Anastasia Baptist Church, Samuel F. Thigpen
Attractional To Missional: A Strategic Transition Plan For Anastasia Baptist Church, Samuel F. Thigpen
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Anastasia Baptist Church (ABC) has existed for fifty years and has grown into a church of roughly sixteen-hundred regular worshipers. Over the last five years, ABC has plateaued in growth due to its focus on maintaining an attractional church structure. For ABC to grow and be healthy again, it must shift from an attractional model of discipleship to a hybrid one that utilizes both attractional and missional models of discipleship. This thesis seeks to investigate how ABC can strategically shift from an attractional to a hybrid model of discipleship. Research for this project will examine a biblical model for discipleship, …
The Cultural Appropriations Of Organic Church Leadership, Rhythms, And Methodologies Into The Traditional Church Model, Aaron Lewis
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Within this thesis project an engagement with organic church structures, in relation to elements of leadership replication and natural rhythms of life, which are foundational to organic church expressions, will be explored. The metanarrative of leadership replication strategies and methodological elements which are foundational to the bio-communities contained within the context of simple and organic church expressions will be evaluated for their replication within the traditional church context. The intention of this thesis is to provide traditional church communities with crossover methodologies from organic church gatherings for the development of replicating leadership as well as holistic biblical communities.
Tactical Church: Achieving Missional Effectiveness Through Biblical Application Of Ancient Military Principles, Jason Bland
Tactical Church: Achieving Missional Effectiveness Through Biblical Application Of Ancient Military Principles, Jason Bland
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
In reviewing the current literature available on the missional church movement, there is much written from a strategic perspective; however, there are few military parallels offered regarding missional tactics. Through the process of analyzing current literature and research on the missional church movement this project will seek to offer a new application of missional church tactics. Through the case study method this project will seek to offer a tactical translation to the local church of the methodology found in Sun Tzu's Art of War, by utilizing data gathered from related texts, and field experience to determine how today's American churches …
A Plan For Developing An Effective Community Outreach Strategy For Churches In The Northeast, Roscoe Lilly
A Plan For Developing An Effective Community Outreach Strategy For Churches In The Northeast, Roscoe Lilly
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Community outreach is an essential part of a church's mission to be "salt and light" to those around them. Community outreach creates the crucial platform for a church's evangelistic efforts. While many churches want to reach out to their community, few have a clear understanding of how or where to begin. The purpose of this project is to help churches in the Northeast better understand how to increase their community's receptivity to the gospel through a strategic community outreach plan. The project will use NorthStar Church as a case study. It is the aim of this project to demonstrate how …