Religion Commons^™

Mary, The Holy Mother Of God - 1 January 2024, Gerard Moore

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Australia Day - 26 January 2024, Angela Mccarthy, Vincent Glynn

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Sixth Sunday In Ordinary Time - 11 February 2024, Gerard Moore

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Second Sunday In Ordinary Time - 14 January 2024, Anthony Doran

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Epiphany - 7 January 2024, Joe Tedesco

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Saint Brigit And Her Habits: Exploring Queerness In Early Medieval Ireland, Jacqueline K. Stephenson

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Saint Brigit's behavior and reception by society highlight an avenue by which women in the early medieval period could escape societal strictures, exercising agency over their bodies and their romantic choices, and carve out a distinct and unexpected place for themselves in a Christian patriarchal society. In Saint Brigit’s case, this is especially demonstrated by the breadth of her portrayed power as not just a nun but a saint, her extreme resistance to marriage, and her frequent comparisons to men. Indeed, her hagiography, written by Cogitosus in the seventh century, positioned her as one of the three principal and earliest …

The Use Of Personal Disruption Strategies By Female Executive Ministry Leaders For Career Advancement, Neko Green

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods research study was to identify and describe the perceived impact of Johnson and Mohr’s (2019) five disruptive career skills on females in church executive leadership.

Methodology: This mixed methods study highlighted eight women in executive ministry positions in the United States and the impact that disruptive behaviors had on their advancement to executive leadership positions.

Findings: Analysis of the mixed methods data from the eight female ministry executives revealed that females found it difficult to challenge authority in ministry. They understood preparing and the benefit of improvisation. They were humble in self-promotion …

Reconstructing Hope And Resilience Among Kenyan Adolescent Immigrants, Julius Mwangi

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

The study "Reconstructing Hope and Resilience Among Kenyan Adolescent Immigrants" explores Kenyan immigrant families' challenges in the United States and their impact on their adolescent children. It proposes a community-led mentoring program incorporating emotional intelligence competencies and faith to support adolescents' success. Additionally, the study advocates for a new immigrant parent-mentoring program to help them navigate the complex legal process to accelerate their immigration and successful acculturalization. The research contains selected Bible narratives that identify parental responsibilities towards their children and discourses on their successful utility or lack thereof. The study argues that parents and the community have a responsibility …

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Gangism: An 'Elementary Form Of Religious Life', Robert Northman

Student Research Symposium

This study is intended to examine the question: could gangs be a form of religion? The study will examine Steven Cureton's ethnographic case study of a street gang as found in his work titled Hoover Crips (2008), where I will then analyze the findings within the sociological framework of Emile Durkheim’s theory of religion as set forth in his classic book titled Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912).

This exploration faces challenges as the terms “gang” and “religion” are both hotly contested, and discussions on each have largely occurred independently, leaving a significant gap for this research to address. This …

Mussar And Esotericism In Revolutionary Russia, Martin Zwick

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is an introductory comparative look at teachings of two spiritual figures in pre-revolutionary and revolutionary Russia: Rav Yoseph Yozel (Horowitz) and George Gurdjieff. Yozel founded the Novarodok school of Mussar; Gurdjieff founded the spiritual tradition known as “the Work” or “Fourth Way.” There are of course great differences between the Jewish tradition of Mussar, whose literature dates back to the Mishnah but which as a social movement was launched by Rabbi Israel Salantar in the late 19^th century, and the Work, with its affinities to Eastern Christianity, Buddhism, and Sufism but with no apparent connection to Judaism. …

"Fearfully And Wonderfully Made": The Reconciliation Of The Lgbtqia+ Community To American Christianity, Madalyn Sailors '24

Senior Research Symposium

I explore in this paper the ways in which churches in the United States treat LGBTQIA+ issues and members in their congregations. To do so, I will focus on several case studies, including the Metropolitan Community Church, the Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the United Methodist Church. These examples range from socially affirming to conservative and from traditional to contemporary worship styles. I plan to research the social landscapes of these churches and propose possible solutions for how other faith spaces can create more inclusive membership. I also address my …

What Is This Place: Encountering The Body Of Christ In Prison And Church Through Sacrament And Ritual Musicking, Bryan Black

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Churches in the United States have faced institutional decline due in part to an unprecedented half-century of intense cultural shift and digital acceleration. Many leaders responded to this disorientation with technical fixes that have exacerbated divisiveness rather than addressing the underlying crisis of alienation and loneliness. Driven by fear of decline, communities of faith have forsaken their alterity of purpose and become lost in the marketplace as a “purveyor of religious goods and services” (George Hunsberger). This thesis considers the imagery of Huub Oosterhuis’s hymn “What Is This Place?” in theological dialogue with the Voices of Hope—a choir of female …

Transcendence In Kierkegaard And Barth, Andrew Myrick

Honors Theses

This paper examines the theological intersections and divergences between Karl Barth and Søren Kierkegaard, focusing on their conceptualizations of God's transcendence. Barth, influential in the twentieth century, viewed divine knowledge as accessible only through Jesus Christ's revelation, critiquing any historical or metaphysical bases for such knowledge. He was significantly influenced by Kierkegaard, who emphasized paradox and the "infinite qualitative distinction." This study traces Barth's evolving thoughts on transcendence across his works, including his critiques of Kierkegaard in his later years. While some scholars suggest a shared theological trajectory based on transcendence, this paper argues for nuanced differences, engaging with the …

The Controlled Narrative Of “Jane Roe:” Norma Mccorvey’S Life Beyond The 1973 Trial, Eleanor G. Strickland

Honors College Theses

Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, 1973, wrote two memoirs twenty years after the Supreme Court trial that surrounded her third pregnancy. These memoirs (I Am Roe, 1994, and Won by Love, 1997), along with the recent documentary AKA Jane Roe (2020), provide an insight into McCorvey’s life and how she was used by politicians and civilians during and after the influential trial. McCorvey lived a complicated life and was constantly being pulled in different directions spiritually, politically, and personally. This thesis shows how McCorvey attempted to re-write the narrative of her life using …

“They Can’T Just Stamp Out This Faith”: Cold War Anti-Communism And International Evangelism At The Appalachian Preaching Mission, Braden Lay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Appalachian Preaching Missions (1955-1981) occurred annually in Northeast Tennessee, with their predecessor, the Bristol Preaching Mission, dating back to at least 1949. Local churches, primarily Protestant, organized and convened these annual ecumenical gatherings. Nationally known clergy and laypeople from various denominations spoke, with up to several thousand congregants attending each mission. These individuals provided sermons and speeches on spiritual, domestic, and international issues. Among the most consistently repeated sermon themes was Christianity’s spiritual conflict with atheistic communism. This work addresses the missions’ origins and how the speakers spoke on international Christian missions in decolonized or developing nations as threatened …

Visit The Imprisoned: A Heuristic Inquiry Into The Experiences Of Catholic Detention Ministry Volunteers, Christopher Tran

Education (PhD) Dissertations

There exists a wide breadth of literature in regards to the harmful and dehumanizing impact of incarceration on human development and dignity. Through my years as a volunteer in detention ministry, I have witnessed firsthand these effects particularly on youths who have been incarcerated. My experiences have led me to wonder then, “Why does the prison system still exist to harm people despite the array of research condemning its practices?” Through this pondering, I critiqued the larger systems at play: the prison-industrial complex, the sociopolitical rhetoric of “tough on crime,” and the overall demonization of this population. As a response …

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Geraldo The Fearless: The Unsung Hero Of Portugal, Jacob Badal

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

It is well known that Western Europe has enjoyed a longstanding fascination among scholars and students. So much so that calls to move beyond the region towards a global focus in academia are increasing daily. Yet, much of Western Europe's history beyond England, France, and Germany remains unexplored. Spain, as of late, has enjoyed a resurgence of interest, but Portugal has largely been ignored. Indeed, many do not even consider the two Iberian nations and their entangled histories with Islam and North Africa as part of Europe proper, despite the many advancements contributed by both nations to science, cartography, navigation, …

Binding Interdependence: The Necessity Of Marriage In The Stonor Letters, Sarah Emmett

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Upon her Mattiage to William Stonor in 1475, Elizabeth Stonor, nee Croke, was no wedding amateur. Twice before, she had stood on the steps of the church, as was the custom, and promised to share her wealth and her body with her husband. Twice before, her husband had promised to provide for her and leave her a dower portion upon his death. Both grooms had offered Elizabeth gold and silver coins and a ring to seal their union, and both times, Elizabeth and her husband had prostrated themselves before the altar of the church and heard mass among their family, …