Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

The Initiation Of Growth-Focused Relationships Involving Healthy Accountability At The Carbondale Church Of Christ, Stephen Shaffer

Doctor of Ministry Theses

After several years of transition, the Carbondale Church of Christ is in the early stages of becoming a spiritual growth-focused community. However, the emerging growth community appears to reflect the prevailing cultural assumptions that growth is a personal, private, and an individual task. To shape this emergent growth culture, this project initiated a group of congregational opinion leaders, organized in pairs, into the practice of growth-focused relationships involving healthy accountability. The initiation involved a theological orientation followed by a four-week healthy accountability praxis.

The theological framework of the project involved three main aspects. First, the project used the body image …

Implementing A Discernment Phase For Those Nominated In The Shepherd Selection Process At The Cinco Ranch Church Of Christ, Aaron Walling

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project that implemented a discernment phase for those nominated in the shepherd selection process at the Cinco Ranch Church of Christ. Occurring in the fall of 2010, this project involved nominees in a series of six one-hour, thirty-minute sessions designed to establish the theological foundations for shepherding and to explore its practical expression at Cinco Ranch. For the theological component, this project primarily utilized Ephesians 4:11-16, and for the practical side, it incorporated group interactions with those serving as shepherds along with the review of guiding leadership documents. The project‟s …

Discerning A Vocational Theology Of Marriage For The Smyrna Church Of Christ, Daniel F. Camp

Doctor of Ministry Theses

The goal of this project was to discern a vocational theology of marriage for the Smyrna Church of Christ in Smyrna, Tennessee. Through a group discernment process, the participants studied Genesis 1-3 and 2 Corinthians 5 as a basis for understanding God’s design for marriage at creation, the effects of sin on the vocational aspect of the marriage relationship, and the call of Christ for husbands and wives to participate in the resurrection life through the ministry of reconciliation. At the end of the discernment process, the participants articulated a theology statement for the church that examined our current context …

Crafting A Congregational Narrative For The College Church Of Christ In Fresno, California, Jason W. Locke

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis describes a ministry project in the College Church of Christ in Fresno, California. In this project I led the congregation through a narrative crafting process in order to clarify the church’s identity and increase its capacity for mission. In recent decades, the College Church moved away from some of its founding characteristics yet failed to clarify a new sense of identity. It subsequently had difficulty acting with a unified sense of purpose and instead moved increasingly toward fragmentation.

Data for crafting the new narrative came from three weeks of group interviews. My research team conducted these interviews in …

Communally Discerning A Covenant Of Hospitality For The Care Of Children At Westview Boys' Home, Ron Bruner

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project addressed the lack of a covenant defining the practice of hospitality towards children for team members of Westview Boys’ Home. The purpose of the project was to facilitate the creation of such a covenant. The Westview ministry team already claimed hospitality as a strength; the hope was that reframing the ministry around this strength would improve the quality of care for children and the quality of life for the community. Invited into a communal discernment process (the methodology), the ministry team invested weeks in the examination of biblical texts, theological tradition, personal and communal narratives, cultural trends, psychological …

Totally Devoted: Developing A Holistic Spiritual Formation Course For Western Christian College, Stanley N. Helton

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis reports research results from a learning community composed of faculty, support staff, ministry leaders, and students who collaborated in a professor’s development of a new course proposal in Christian spiritual formation at Western Christian College in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The professor used qualitative research methods in the analysis and evaluation of the data produced by the group. The outcome of the project was ethnographic data that informed the creation of the course proposal that included new course application, course syllabus with course schedule, planned activities, bibliography, initial classroom assignments, and initial assessment tools.

Developing A Model For An Incarnational Ministry At The Webb Chapel Church Of Christ, L. Bert Alexander

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project to promote the development of an incarnational ministry at the Webb Chapel Church of Christ. This intervention employed a team of Webb Chapel opinion leaders representative of various subgroups of the congregation. In the fall of 2008, this group met for eight sessions to discuss the self-emptying practices of Jesus and the need for his followers to emulate those self-emptying practices in their individual lives. Through interaction in the eight sessions, the group developed a model by which self-emptying practices could be implemented at Webb Chapel. Evaluation of the …

Blessing And Sending The Church Into The World For The Sake Of The World, Using Congregational Blessings As A Missional Enterprise, Michael Harbour

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis project equipped the elders to function as a community of men called and authorized by God to bless and send his people into the world for the sake of the world. They were equipped through seven sessions of theological reflection on Scripture and reflection on narratives of those who have offered pastoral blessings. The sessions also included an examination of templates and the opportunity to practice writing and speaking blessings. The elders have been speaking a shepherd’s blessing as the last liturgical act of the Sunday assembly. In this project, missional and textual focus was given to the …

Living Waters: An Invitation To Contemplative Spirituality For The Quail Springs Church Of Christ, Wyatt E. Fenno

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project addressed an acknowledged need for ministry action to promote and facilitate communal spiritual formation in the present and future life of the Quail Springs Church of Christ. The focus of the project was to present a model of contemplative spirituality determined to be accessible to the ministry context at Quail Springs. In addressing the problem of community fragmentation at Quail Springs, this model was offered as a means of grace to deepen faith and strengthen relationships in church life at Quail Springs. A pilot group of six women and six men served as the working group for this …

Leadership Development In The Christian Church And Churches Of Christ In Northeast Nebraska, Wayne Dykstra

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project/thesis focuses on the leadership needs of the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in northeast Nebraska in general and of Wakefield Christian Church in particular. The leadership context of Wakefield Christian Church was analyzed utilizing a congregational profile inventory, the presentation of a leadership development course, an evaluation instrument, and conversations and interviews of the church leadership. The success or failure of organizations will depend upon the quality of the leadership. The objective of this project was to provide a leadership course which would produce better leaders who could make a difference in the kingdom of God and …

President Mrs. Kimball: A Rhetoric Of Words And Works, Janelle M. Higbee

Theses and Dissertations

Scholars of rhetoric and speech communications have suggested that the study of a women's rhetoric should focus on the "distinctly female modes of leadership" that may be found among women in "out-groups" that challenge established political authority. Such leaders must be especially inventive to be effective, and are thus likely to be talented rhetoricians. In looking for such leaders, the religious and political rhetoric of early Latter-day Saint women provides a noteworthy, unique study. Nineteenth-century Mormon women not only battled discriminatory political norms—arguing fervently for both universal woman's suffrage and for the freedom to practice polygamy—they did so from their …

The Nature And Authority Of Scripture : Historical Sources And Theological Engagement For Congregational Awareness And Reflection, Carson Reed

Doctor of Ministry Theses

For many Christians, biblical authority is rooted in the concept of inerrancy or in the historical veracity. But within a increasingly post-modern culture, the church faces a crisis in both of these foundations. The modern presuppositions that undergird the inerrancy doctrine and the historical-critical method are showing distinct cracks in the once seamless confidence placed in both approaches. Additionally, for Churches of Christ, understandings about the nature and authority of Scripture area just below the surface of a number of issues confronting congregations. This project/thesis seeks to address this growing dilemma within the context of the Westlake Church of Christ …

I.A. Richards' Triangle Of Meaning Compared And Contrasted With The Rhetoric Of The Holy Bible, Gregory L. Swango

Masters Theses

It is the Bible's claim to be the inspired word of God. The message from the Scriptures has persuaded millions: from the shepherd of the first century to the business person of our present age. The words chosen, the genres used, and the forms of verbal support employed are prodigious in every way. The rhetorician and linguist, I. A. Richards, has written and spoken on how words come to have meaning, how they are used in context, and how they are used metaphorically. He has developed his ideas through a model called the triangle of meaning. There is justification for …

Assessing Patterns Of Disengagement And Re-Entry In Two Local Congregations Of Churches Of Christ, David Mitchell Malone

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This study investigates two congregations among Churches of Christ with a prototype instrument adapted from questions used in a national survey (The Unchurched American, The Princeton Religion Research Center, 1978). The ministry objective for this project thesis is to generate an assessment instrument to be used as a tool for ministry between active and inactive church members.

Specific questions addressed are: what are the patterns of disengagement and re-entry in two local congregations connected with Churches of Christ? Is the disengagement of teenagers and young adults (age 13-24) in each local congregation measurably greater than other recognized age categories over …

A Biblical Program For Building New Self-Love In African American Males And Fathers, Anthony Roach Sr.

Doctor of Ministry Theses

A training program for building new self-love in African American males and fathers was developed, taught, and implemented. The author made a conscious effort to employ an integrative approach to the curriculum, using both the resources of theology and psychology in its framework.

Leadership In Churches Of Christ In Argentina: Expectations Of National Christians For The Use Of Power By Church Leaders, William Alan Richardson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

From the earliest arrival of Spaniards in Argentina, strong authoritarian leaders have provided the predominant model for leadership in all arenas. This project/thesis sets out to discover the effects of this history upon the expectations of Argentine Christians for leaders and leadership styles in the churches of Christ, investigating three key questions: Do Argentine Christians prefer authoritative or participa- tive systems of organization in the church? What system of organization is actually employed in the churches of Christ? Is change required?

In order to answer these questions, the study was initiated with an overview of the history of Argentina and …

Inspiring A Church To Dream, Jerry Austin Jenkins

Doctor of Ministry Theses

No abstract provided.

Belle S. Spafford: Leader Of Women, Gayle Morby Chandler

Theses and Dissertations

This historical/descriptive study analyzes the speaking career of Belle S. Spafford and attempts to document the relationship between her speaking and her influence with her peers. For over fifty years, the dedicated woman served as a spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the National Council of Women, briding the gap between the secular and religious world of women. A rhetorical analysis of four speeches indicates the following findings: Mrs. Spafford appealed to her audiences through a focus on shared values; she had credibility because of her positions of authority and used it wisely; she effectively …

Homiletics Courses In Five Major Protestant Denominations: A Rhetorical Analysis, Ricky W. Manwaring

Masters Theses

I. The Nature and Purpose of the Study. The hypothesis of this study was that the nature of the rhetorical training currently offered by major Protestant denominations could be discovered by analyzing the homiletic texts used by those denominations in their respective homiletics courses. It was the purpose of this study, through analyzing the homilectics textbooks used, to answer two questions: (1) What rhetorical canons are being included, or excluded from, the basic homiletics courses of the Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians? and (2) What differences and similarities, if any, exist in the homiletics courses of the Baptists, Methodists, …

An Analysis Of The Immediate And Long-Range Implications Of Three Speeches Delivered By J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David Earl Buchanan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide an analysis of the immediate and long-range implications of three speeches: (1) August 8,1938, (2) September 19, 1952, and (3) September 19, 1956, which J. Reuben Clark, Jr. delivered during the annual Pre-School Faculty Conference at Brigham Young University. The speeches were analyzed and compared to determine the goals and charges given and to determine whether there was carry-over from speech to speech.

The significant findings included: (1) The LDS Church school system is to be manned only by those individuals who have strong, undeviating testimonies of a living Savior, of the …

A Study Of The Speech Philosophy Of Alexander Campbell And The Application Of That Philosophy, Rudy L. Morrow

Dissertations and Theses

A great religious Awakening was taking place in 1805 until the end of the Civil War. Religious debates became the order of the day, and were at least equal in importance to the political debates. Alexander Campbell was one of the leading debators of the period. He was born September 12, 1787, in Ireland, but moved to America in 1809, settling in western Virginia. In 1812, Alexander and his father, Thomas Campbell, launched what they called "The Restoration Movement", in which they were seeking for the unity of all Christians on the basis of the Bible.

An Analysis Of The Speaking Style Of Charles W. Penrose, Kent Shelley Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to determine the public speaking style of Charles W. Penrose. The problem was investigated by using the elements of a speaking situation, the speaker, the speech, the audience, and the occasion. Three speeches were used; namely, "Remarks on Union" given on January 19, 1879, "Women Suffrage" given on June 3, 1889, and "Graphic Glimpses of Pioneer Life" given on February 4, 1924. Seven selected criteria were used as guidelines for the evaluation of the speeches; namely, accuracy, clarity, propriety, economy, force, striking quality, and liveliness.

The following conclusions resulted from the evaluation of the …

A Review Of Statements Made By Certain Leaders Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints Which Refer To Various Objectives, Activities, And Desirable Experiences Inherent In Well Organized And Properly Conducted Physical Education And Recreation Programs, G. Newton Deshazo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to locate and examine statements within the writings and recorded speeches of certain leaders of the L.D.S. Church which refer to various objectives, activities, and desirable experiences inherent in well organized and properly conducted physical education and recreation programs.
Data dating from 1830 through 1969 were gathered from the resources and through the services provided by the historical libraries of the L.D.S. Church and Brigham Young University. Available biographical and historical information was presented to denote circumstances possibly influencing the statement itself, the significance of the statement, or the intent of the statement.
Without …

Dr. Paul Arthur Washburn's Speaking On The Union Of The Evangelical United Brethren And Methodist Churches: A Rhetorical Analysis, Robert D. Rosebraugh

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Quantitative Analysis Of Matthew Cowley's Use Of The Illustrative Method Of Oral Support, Kenneth Lloyd Young

Theses and Dissertations

The chief purpose of this analysis is to determine how much Matthew Cowley used the illustrative method of oral support in his public speaking. A minor purpose is to determine the dominant motivating appeals used in his speaking. Such an examination should provide valuable insight for those desiring effective techniques in public speaking situations.

A Critical Approach To Homiletic Literature, Winthrop H. Richardson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

A critical study of the literary values contained in homiletic writing demands at the outset a careful consideration of what differentiates literature from mere language. Following a line of distinction made by Professor Albert Guerard of Stanford, literature may be defined from two points of view: technique and intention.

A more exalted concept is furnished by the philosophy of James Russell Lowell, as it has been paraphrased by Norman Foerster: “Literature is the ideal representation of human nature…”

Recognizing the fact that literature involves “overtones of the soul” (Guerard), or “spiritual imagination” (Foerster), we are forced to depart from the …

An Analysis Of Twelve Speeches Of Parley Parker Pratt, Mormon Orator, Morris M. Clinger

Theses and Dissertations

The chief purpose of this investigation is to determine the elements of speech style, the motive appeals, and the use of the elements of interest which play the most characteristic roles in twelve of Parley P. Pratt's sermons. While all the speeches that Pratt delivered have not been studied, since there are likely hundreds of them of which we have no record, it is thought that this study is sufficiently broad to warrant the conclusions that the writer has drawn.

A brief biography is included as a part of this study that a better understanding of the man might be …