Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Developing A Shared Ecclesial Identity Utilizing Story-Based Elements With First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Georgia, Jeremy T. Shoulta

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The Body of Christ is challenged to, “be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). How then could a congregation, comprised of individuals harboring diverse cultural worldviews, discover and live into this reality? Through various individual and group exercises, participants sought to determine whether story elements have the power to serve as a true sense-making device within an ecclesial setting. The results indicate that that a majority of participants found the story-based framework beneficial in regards to their personal understanding of the work of First Baptist Church.

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.