Education Commons^™

Religious Orientation And Coping In Third Culture Kids, Kayla Zerbe

Honors Projects and Presentations: Undergraduate

This study examines the correlation between religious orientation and religious coping in Third Culture Kids (TCKs). Young adult TCKs often struggle with their identity, mental health, and cultural adjustment during the reentry process. Despite the unique struggles TCKs experience, very little research has been done on this population. Religion may play a role in the reentry process as support, challenge, or way of coping. The present study examines religion in TCKs through the lens of motivation, using the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS), which measures intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation, and the Brief RCOPE, which measures positive and negative religious coping. …

Refining The Eden Community’S Pathways For Shaping Regenerative Christian Culture In The Apprenticeship For Regenerative Culture, Laura Callarman

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents a project designed to meet a need of the Eden Community, an intentional Christian community, regarding the pathways it uses to shape regenerative Christian culture among college students in its apprenticeship program, ARC. In this thesis, I connect the pragmatic aims of the Eden Community to theological foundations regarding the importance of ecclesial diversity and creative contextualization, features that empower the church to embody a variety of life-giving “alternative stories” with the capacity to present the gospel as truly good news to the entire world.

In this project, a team of nine stakeholders met …

Examining The Cross-Cultural Competence Of United States Christian Missionaries Engaged In Developing Indigenous Leaders: A Mixed Methods Study, Craig W. Goodman

Dissertations

For the past two millennia, missionaries have crossed from one culture to another to bring the Christian message to all cultures of the world. Questions about the effectiveness of these mission efforts have been asked and researched by many; however, one key question remains unanswered: what personal attributes help a person to be more competent at crossing cultures as they interact with people from other cultures? Although cross-cultural competence has been studied in a variety of fields over the past 50 years, the models and assessments used have never been applied to Christian missionaries.

To address this deficiency, this parallel …

God And Satan: A Look At Martin Luther’S Titles For Satan And What They Reveal About The Relationship Between God And Satan, Alexandria M. Shick

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Shick, Alexandria M. “God and Satan: A Look at Martin Luther’s Titles for Satan and What They Reveal About the Relationship Between God and Satan.” M.A. Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2022 87 pp.

The relationship between God and Satan is complex and intertwined. There is a tendency in Christianity to overemphasize Satan’s power and his place in the realm of evil and in so doing neglect and disregard what it means for God to be truly omnipotent. Luther understood Satan as being under God’s will, only having the ability to act where, when and how God allowed or permitted. The complex …

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear: Exploring The Effectiveness Of A Person-Centered Disability Awareness Seminar In A Congregational Setting, Joshua H. Jones

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

People with disabilities and their families frequently experience barriers toward inclusion and belonging in multiple spheres of life. These barriers are also present in Christian congregations. However, many congregations express a godly desire to love people with disabilities and their families without these obstacles.

The Old and New Testaments provide examples of how God’s people sought to love people with disabilities in their midst creatively and intentionally in response to God’s gracious actions, invitation, and command. Recent research in disability studies routinely highlight the necessity of being attentive to the uniqueness of each person with disabilities and his or her …

The Effects Of Trauma On Adjustment To College For Children Of Missionaries, Melissa J. Winfield

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Missionary Kids (MKs) encounter challenges in adjusting to college due to cross-cultural transitions and unique experiences related to missionary life. Though trauma is more common among missionaries than for the general American population, little is known regarding the impact of past trauma on missionary kids as they adjust to college. This study compared adjustment to college and psychological well-being of missionary kids and students who are not children of missionaries. The extent to which students have experienced trauma was used as a covariate in the study. MK students were recruited through college organizations and missions’ agencies. They were asked to …

Implementing Vocational Training At Escuela Quiteña De Estudios Bíblicos, Joshua K. Marcum

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This DMin project addressed the problem of the absence of a viable training model to equip graduates of EQEB (Escuela Quiteña de Estudios Biblicos) for self-sustaining ministry. Based upon a theology of vocation, the project implemented and evaluated the inclusion of a technical-skills component to EQEB’s current seminary training. The project followed the integration of sixteen EQEB students in the vocational program implemented during the 2015-2016 school year. Qualitative research data gathered from five group interviews with these students, my own field notes, and a faculty interview provided the substance upon which I based the project´s findings. Over a seven-month …

Faith-Based Programming And Community Transformation, Larry Bollinger

Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the correlation between holistic programs administered by local Nazarene congregations and any impact on self-efficacy in order to assess the programs’ impact on community transformation. The goal was to determine if faith has a positive impact on poverty alleviation outcomes and if local congregations can be at least as effective as secular agencies in helping communities make progress out of poverty. The researcher used the New General Self-Efficacy (NGSE) scale to evaluate self-efficacy (Chen, Gully, & Eden, 2001) and found the beneficiaries of the holistic programs of Bangladesh Nazarene Mission had statistically …

Strategic Study Abroad: A Program Proposal For Continued Faith Development Of Chi Alpha Students Studying Abroad, Erin Leonard

Capstone Collection

With around 28,000 individual participants, Chi Alpha is a diverse network of Christian students on U.S. college campuses. By regularly meeting in groups and collectively reaching out to the community, students develop their faith and build lasting relationships.

Faith development is an integral part of Chi Alpha students’ lives. Yet, because community is an important aspect in faith development, studying abroad can cause challenges. Students expressed missing accessible Christian peer support and mentorship while abroad. They further expressed disconnection from their faith and felt their spirituality had declined while studying abroad.

As study abroad participation has been increasing over the …

The Effects Of Laity Ministry Involvement On Transformational Discipleship, Emmanuel Reinbold

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study sought to determine the impacts of The Place Assessment process within four congregations that are a part of The Church of the Nazarene in central and Eastern Iowa. The Place Assessment process included structured teaching, completing a comprehensive assessment online, and structured coaching. The results of this process showed measurable increases in the areas of discipleship engagement and discipleship transformation.

Learning From Experience: A Critical, Collective Process Following International Short-Term Mission Travel, Nancy Vigander Winfrey

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation seeks to explore the impact of short-term mission (STM) travel on American Christian volunteers, leveraging the small group structure already present in many churches. Using a participatory action research approach, small groups from two different Protestant churches engaged in cycles of dialogue, reflection and action. The group process was framed by Habermas’ concept of communicative space with emphasis on emotional knowing, cognitive reasoning, and creative expression. Data were collected from session recordings, written documents and process field notes. Content and process analyses were guided by transformative and situated learning theories. Findings were unique to each congregational group, …

Malumghat A Little Joy, Joy Kelly

Honors Theses

Upon my return from studying abroad, people asked, "How was Bangladesh?" as if they were asking about a relative I visited in Florida. "How was Uncle Fred?" Smiling, I replied "Good, I loved it." The conversation typically turned to other matters. Others asked, "What is the biggest thing you learned while you were gone?" While Judging how long the asker wished to listen, I narrowed my extensive response to one or two key points.

Living in the tiny, yet populous village of Malumghat, Bangladesh, as I participated in Hands-On during the spring of 2011, I learned a myriad of new …

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 …

The Development And Validation Of The Missionary Language Performance Test, Blair E. Bateman

Theses and Dissertations

Performance tests are an effective way of assessing examinees' ability to perform specific job-related tasks. This thesis details the development and validation of a performance test designed to measure LDS missionaries' ability to perform missionary tasks in a foreign language, the Missionary Language Performance Test (MLPT).

The development of the test involved identifying a set of relevant missionary tasks, specifying the criteria to be evaluated, designing test items, devising a procedure for sampling tasks and for administering and rating the test, and training raters to administer the test. Three separate studies were conducted to validate the test: (a) both the …

A Descriptive Study Of The Personality, Attitudes, And Overseas Experience Of Seventh-Day Adventist College Students Who Served As Short-Term Volunteer Missionaries, Donna Habenicht

Dissertations

Problem. During the last ten years there has been a surge of Interest among college students in short-term volunteer missionary service. It was the purpose of the present study to describe the personality, attitudes, and overseas experience of a group of 150 Seventh-day Adventist college students who served as short-term volunteer missionaries (student missionaries) during the 1975-76 school year. Method The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (Form A), a series of semantic differential rating scales for selected religious, mission, cultural, and personal concepts, and a two-part questlonnaire were used to describe the personality, attitudes, and overseas experience of the student missionaries. …

Selected Factors Which Influence Church-Related Education In Developing Countries, Stuart Paul Berkeley

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The general problem of this study was to investigate and analyze selected social, political, and economic factors in Ethiopia that affect the continuation and development of education by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. The specific purpose of this research was to develop from this analysis of Ethiopia those alternatives and recommendations which would aid Seventh-Day Adventist leaders in the development of plans for educational work in that country.

The basic question was: Can the Seventh-Day Adventists system of education plan for the social, political, and economic changes taking place in Ethiopia?

A History Of The Foreign Mission Program Of The North American Baptist Association From 1950 To 1963, James Alvin Henry

OBU Graduate Theses

This thesis is a historical report of the facts which led to the organization of the North American Baptist Association, from the meeting of the American Baptist Association in Lakeland, Florida, in 1950, through the year 1963. It also is a review of the foundational principles up which the Association was founded and stood, noting particularly the position held on Church equality and Church cooperation in promoting a world-wide mission program.

Special attention is given to the active development of the missionary efforts of this Association in the area of selecting, supporting, and governing those individuals serving the Association as …

Baptist Mission Efforts In The South Before 1845, Frank Shell

OBU Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine records, reports, and historical accounts of the work which the Baptists in the South contributed to our mission heritage prior to 1845. The data for this study has been gathered from publications from the religious press in the South Atlantic states from 1802 to 1845.

Since the Baptists first came to America they have enjoyed phenomenal growth, and the growth has been steady and sustained. The mission work of Baptists of the South grew out of the lives of people who dared to disagree with the dogmas of the Established Church and …

A Follow-Up Study Of Four Selected Seminaries To Determine The Effect The Seminary Program Has Had In Helping To Prepare Their Graduates To Be More Effective Missionaries Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, James Gordon Vaughan

Theses and Dissertations

In view of the aforementioned emphasis on the missionary program of the Church there was a felt need by the author, with encouragement from Ernest Eberhard Jr., of the Department of Education, to do a follow-up study to determine what effect the seminary program has had and is now having upon the lives of its graduates now in the mission field. Only the missionaries who arenow in the mission field and who are seminary graduates of four selected seminaries are used in this study.
There are three major areas of seminary influence and effectiveness that this study attempts to determine. …

Problems And Progress In The Development Of Girls' Education In India, Rozaline Jean Cleaveland

Graduate Thesis Collection

In a country where only 2.53 per cent of the female population is literate, the importance of education for girls cannot be overestimated. India, being freed from British Rule in 1947, is now an independent self-governing nation. In its draft constitution it has accepted the democratic way of life. Democracy postulates an equality of opportunity for every individual to develop his abilities to the fullest extent and to be able to play his proper role in society. Therefore, in Indian today women have equal opportunity with men guaranteed by the constitution; and, in order to exercise this libety with an …