Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Evaluating “Grit” (Genuine Relationships, Intergenerationally Tied) Groups At The Highland Church Of Christ: An Intergenerational Enhancement Of Small Group Community Life, Beth Ann Fisher

Doctor of Ministry Theses

ABSTRACT This project, Evaluating “GRIT” (Genuine Relationships, Intergenerationally Tied) at the Highland Church of Christ: An Intergenerational Enhancement of Small Group Community Life is a response to the request for intergenerational partnership in worship, fellowship, and ministry by the university students at Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. The church’s robust small group life was a logical place to create a vehicle in which intergenerational partners could ride for a determined period in pursuit of their common goals of furthering Highland’s mission and vision. The “Genuine Relationships, Intergenerationally Tied” or GRIT groups were formed by combining existing small groups …

Breaking Depression’S Silence Within The Church Through Friendships, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has a rich history of helping sufferers interpret their experiences of depression, but changing worldviews, the growth of the modern medical model, and the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals monopolized health and shoved the church to the periphery of the conversation. Silence became the church’s typical response, which …

Interview Of Richard Kestler, F.S.C., M.A., Richard Kestler Fsc, Alexandria Moraschi

All Oral Histories

Brother Richard Kestler, FSC. was born John Kestler on January 8, 1942 to John and Alice Kestler. He grew up in the Oxford Circle section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brother Richard attended elementary school at his parish of St. Martin of Tours and went on to La Salle College High School, graduating in 1960. By this time, he made the decision to join the Christian Brothers and began this process for about a year before attending La Salle College. He graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and gained a Master’s in Theology soon after. Brother Richard also has Master’s …

Being Biblical In A Pluralistic Age

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

One way to define a disciple is “a follower of someone’s words.” In a pluralistic age, there are many words beckoning would-be disciples to particular ways of life, all promising some kind of wellness. These word-ways are ingredients of worldviews, a program or map for orienting oneself in the world. Worldviews answer core questions about human existence, often in the form of a story. This essay argues that contemporary pluralism is the result of abandoning the Bible as our control story, a loss that is as much a failure of what Charles Taylor calls the social imaginary. If this diagnosis …

Leadership Principles And Applications For Establishing A Christ-Centered Church In South Korea, Dongho Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide a Christ-centered, biblical Great Commission model for Presbyterian Church pastors in South Korea. Pastor Hanhum Ok said that there are many programs and forms without the spiritual vitality in the Korean Church. Many attractional churches attract people by relying heavily on programs that often alter the focus of believers onto the programs themselves and prevent them from focusing on Jesus Christ. To ensure that the church—the body of Christ—remains faithful to its biblical mandates, thesis project argues that the pastors must have leadership principles and applications in accordance to the Christ-centered biblical …

Disabling The Body Of Christ: Toward A Holistic Ecclesiology Of Embodiment, Nancy Jill Hale

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Dissertation Notice:

Full Text of Dissertation

A brief history of ecclesiology is followed by an assessment of the embodied ecclesiology of selected theologians. The relationship among embodiment, liturgy, and christian formation is probed. Finally, principles are proposed that answer the question, “What would it mean for the church to be a disabled body?” The intention of these principles is to help churches disable those beliefs and practices that keep them from being the message of the kingdom of God and from embodying the new social reality of the gospel that challenges the values of other social bodies in the world.

From Silence To Golden: The Slow Integration Of Instruments Into Christian Worship, Jonathan Lyons

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The Christian church’s stance on the use of instruments in sacred music shifted through influences of church leaders, composers, and secular culture. Synthesizing the writings of early church leaders and church historians reveals a clear progression. The early musical practices of the church were connected to the Jewish synagogues. As recorded in the Old Testament, Jewish worship included instruments as assigned by one’s priestly tribe. Eventually, early church leaders rejected that inclusion and developed a rather robust argument against instruments in liturgical worship. The totalitarian stance on musical instruments in sacred worship began to loosen as the organ increased in …

Musical Contextualization In The Local Church: A Pragmatic Exploration Concerning The Philosophy And Methodology Of Assimilating Sacred Music Into The Worship Vocabulary Of A Congregation, Kaleb Gooden

Senior Honors Theses

God’s mandate for all worship pastors is that they minister to their local body of believers in an effective way. This directive necessitates the use of scripturally and culturally appropriate music that clearly communicates the Gospel to the church congregation. This creative thesis further investigates musical contextualization in the local church.

Five philosophical pillars represent the most basic structure on which the entire process of local church contextualization stands. The minister must be rooted in scripture, led by the Spirit, present-minded, future-driven, and committed to service. After evaluating these philosophical concepts, this thesis will then explore the methodological contextualization process …

God's Dynamic Presence In The Preaching Event, John T. Clark

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Indigenization Of Christian Worship In Urban Liberia : A Key To Christian Discipleship In The United Methodist Church Of Liberia, Isaac Chukpue-Padmore

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Justification And Sanctification In The Southern Baptist Church In West Virginia; Implications In Worship And Practice Of Faith, Todd Hill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to investigate the doctrines of justification and progressive sanctification and its implications in the Southern Baptist Churches in West Virginia. In the Southern Baptist Churches in West Virginia, there seems to be much confusion concerning the subject of justification and sanctification in the life of the believer. This confusion appears to grow out of a misunderstanding of sanctification and its relationship to justification from the error of Roman Catholic doctrine of blending justification and sanctification. The result of this study will expose the disparity of understanding concerning these doctrines and produce a teaching resource …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Outreach And Retention Methods Of Six Congregations Of The Brunswick Baptist Association, Jeffrey Gibby

Doctor of Ministry Projects

I chose two hypotheses to form a survey. The first hypothesis is that persons are reached by the style of building, existing relationships, or advertising. The second hypothesis is that persons maintain their membership based on the content of preaching, the quality of teaching programs, or fellowship.

I employed the Mann-Whitney Statistical Test to analyze the data.

The data revealed that good preaching, good worship, and good fellowship make a growing church. The data results also show the significance of the Pastor and revealed that age-graded Bible study groups are still valid in reaching and retaining members.

The Local Churches And The Universal Church: Reflections On The Kasper/Ratzinger Debate, Adam Koester

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Preaching To Generation X : The Embodiment Of Postmodernism, Matthew Christian Boda

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

O, The Depth Of Love Divine : The Historical Resources Of Methodist Worship In Light Of Contemporary Renewal, Jennifer L. Woodruff Tait

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Address Delivered At The Kingdom Conference, 1993, Oct 13, Jackie Pullinger

ATS Conferences

No abstract provided.

The Free Methodist Understanding Of Baptism In The Light Of John Wesley's Teaching And The American Methodist Tradition, Real Gagne

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Sermons Of Clarence E. Macartney, Quentin O. Hayes

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.