Practical Theology Commons^™

Pastoral Attitudes That Predict Numerical Church Growth, David R. Dunaetz, Kenneth E. Priddy

Selected Faculty Publications

The attitudes of 92 head pastors were measured concerning 20 ministry-relevant ideas and practices, as well as information about their church’s present numerical growth. A statistical analysis found four pastoral attitudes that predict positive or negative numerical church growth. Positive predictors of numerical church growth were strong beliefs that 1) personal and corporate prayer are important and 2) transfer growth is an indicator of congregational health. Negative predictors of numerical church growth were strong beliefs in 1) the importance of preaching and 2) the importance of outreach to the community. The practical implications of these findings are discussed in light …

"Not A Hand Bound; Not A Voice Hushed": Ordination And Foundational Adventist Understandings Of Women In Ministry, Ginger Hanks Harwood, Beverly Beem

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

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Thrones In The Book Of Revelation Part 4: Thrones Of God's Adversaries, Laszlo Gallusz

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

The Theological And Practical Significance Of Health Reform In The Writings Of Ellen G. White, Angel Manuel Rodriguez

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

Church Launch: Start Small, Stay Small—Launch Large, Grow Larger!, Dave Page

Great Commission Research Journal

Launching churches is the new paradigm for church planting in America for the twenty-first century. The old school paradigm was to plant a church and watch it grow slowly, like a tree. The new church planting metaphor is launching a church, like launching a rocket ship into space. This article argues that launching large churches is the most effective means of evangelism in the short and long run. Start small, and the church will stay small, as most do. Launch large, and the church has an opportunity to keep on growing. By launching large, churches can break church growth barriers …

Creating Exciting Family Worship, S. Joseph Kidder

Faculty Publications

Family Worship is the regular, intentional gathering as a family unit to worship God by reading scripture, praying, singing praise, and finding ways to be involved in ministry and evangelism together. There are four major components to every family worship: “Read – Pray – Sing – Mission.” Every Christian family should have such time daily.

The Impact Of Media On The Morality Of Young Adventist Church People In The Nairobi Central Church, Alex Ambuchi

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Young people in urban areas are especially affected by the liberal trends of the media industry.The media advertises and broadcasts programs that promote immoral behaviors among young people. The Nairobi Central Seventh-day Adventist Church is located in the capital city of Kenya and the negative effects of the media have impacted the youth of this church.

Method

The strategy involved sensitizing Adventist youth concerning the negative impact of the media on morality. A theology of morality and purity was developed and a description of the context for the project conducted. I then used the logical framework and the Gantt …

A Biblical And Theological Strategy For Dealing With Spiritualism In The Zambian Context, Peter Chulu

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Rusangu Secondary School has experienced many incidents in recent years where dorm students were harassed by evil spiritual forces, causing fear and uncertainty among the students.

Method

A systematic study of the Bible, commentaries, books, journals, and articles concerning spiritualism was undertaken. Once theological and historical data on spiritualism was identified, it was utilized for training, equipping, and empowering prayer band members on how to deal with demonic harassment at the school.

Results

The school and church experienced revitalization. Members learned how to utilize a prayer band ministry to pray for the students who were being harassed by evil …

A Discipleship Model For The Hill Portuguese Seventh-Day Adventist Church Of Johannesburg, Dioi Cruz

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Hill Portuguese Seventh-day Adventist Church is a community composed of immigrants from Portugal, who were well established in Angola and Mozambique and who moved to South Africa after escaping the independence wars in the 1970s. Despite their professional success, they have not been successful in personal ministry outreach during the past years, resulting in a clear decrease of membership.

Method

This project sought to create, implement, and evaluate a strategy to help bring about inner healing and discipleship in order to increase the number of members witnessing creatively and reaching out to the Portuguese neighborhood of immigrants in …

A Forgiveness And Reconciliation Strategy To Bring Ethnic Harmony In The Nairobi East Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Timothy O. Guto

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Conflicts have affected the church of God in recent times. The Seventh-day Church in Kenya and especially after the 2007 and 2008 post-election violence was very negatively affected. Some members still cannot co-exist or enjoy Christian fellowship in the same congregation because of lack of forgiveness and reconciliation. Co-existence became difficult because church members fought each other and even destroyed homesteads belonging to rival tribal groups. Tarimo admits that "those churches that happen to be multiethnic with a national outlook are plagued with internal inter-ethnic conflicts" (2008, para. 4). Although conflict management has been done by the government including …

A Strategy To Increase The Number Of Young People In The Jericho District Marrying Members Of The Adventist Faith, Alfred G. Marundu

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The negative impact and loss of members due to many Adventist young people marrying non-Seventh-day Adventists is tremendous. Church services are not attended regularly by those who marry outside the faith community because families are split on the day of worship due to doctrinal differences. There is pressure to do things with the family on Sabbath and even children are confused as to which parent to follow. Two churches were selected to study the extent of this problem. Principles from the Bible, the writings of Ellen G. White, other Adventist and non-Adventist authors were explored to come up with …

A Strategy To Integrate New Members Into The Life Of The Local Church In Nyamira Conference, Samuel Makori

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Although there are good efforts in the local churches in the Nyamira Conference to baptize new believers, about 50% of them stop attending church soon after baptism.

Method

A seven-step mission strategy called the Spiritual Guardianship Plan (SGP) was launched in two local churches in the Nyamira Conference. This is a plan to involve local church members to care for fellow members, to help integrate new members into the life of the local church, and to nurture new members into spiritual maturity. Mature members of the church are assigned to new members to help them to be integrated into …

Biblical Principles To Guide Adventists On Political Involvement In Zimbabwe, Obert N. Mudzengi

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

There is no harmony in the understanding of the momentous "middle-of-the-road" approach when it comes to political involvement. Some people are politically headstrong, while others are laid back. This standoff has left the church in a quandary about what to do concerning civic matters. The scarcity of a farsighted stratagem to help guide church members on citizenship issues might be the cause of the deadlock.

Method

To provide some framework, biblical principles and guidelines from the writings of Ellen G. White on political involvement were established. In addition to reviewing Adventist and other Christian authors on responsible citizenship, this …

A Biblical Strategy To Equip Students To Deal With Spiritual Powers In Nyanchwa Adventist College, Ernest Nyakina Motaroki

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Fear of evil spiritual powers has been a major problem among students and staff members at Nyanchwa College. In Kisii, fear of witchcraft has also had major consequences among the community, and hence is a serious problem. People have reacted in various ways in dealing with those suspected of being in possession of these powers. There has been a common belief that some students and members have inherited witchcraft practices and powers which they continue to practice at college. Fear of evil powers among students and members of the college has immensely affected spiritual fellowship and worship services, and …

A Pilot Christian-Based Restorative Justice Program Designed For A Correctional Institution, Leo James Campbell

Doctor of Ministry Projects

No abstract provided.

Leadership Strategies In Visioning And Strategic Planning For Members In Ministry In The Hamilton Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Kenneth Manders

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Hamilton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bermuda has over 800 church members and 170 church officers, yet only one ministry has been actively engaged in interfacing with the community. The gospel commission calls us to return to the united ministry given to our first parents, to populate the earth with children of God. It requires ministry to be conducted by all believers without distinction, from the entire world, to the entire world. Pastoral leaders are called to cast this vision and strategically plan how to develop and how to deploy church members into the community, according to their spiritual …

Overcoming The Five Primary Negative Thoughts: A Twenty- One Day Mind Renewal Plan For Men, Paul Chipman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Bible commands Christians to be transformed by renewing their minds with the Word of God. This project proposes a biblical mind transformation plan targeting men specifically, as well as the broader body of Christ. The plan equips Christians with the skills to learn how to identify, control, and eliminate the five primary negative thoughts. Once identified, these unhealthy thoughts will be replaced with a plethora of healthy self empowering thoughts resulting in a renewed Christ centered mindset. The research for this plan will be based on the Holy Scriptures, neuroscience (brain research), and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Pre and …

The Relationship Of Family, Church, School, Peers, Media, And Adventist Culture To The Religiosity Of Adventist Youth In Puerto Rico, Edwin P. Alicea Santiago

Dissertations

Problem. No formal study that considers the influence of the family, church, school, peers, media, and Adventist culture on the denominational loyalty, Christian commitment, and religious behavior of Adventist young people of Puerto Rico has previously been conducted. Therefore, pastors, parents, teachers, church leaders, and administrators have no data on which to base their assessment of the religiosity of Adventist young people.

Method. This study used youth ages 14 to 21 from the youth sample of the Avance PR study conducted in 1995 in Adventist schools and churches in Puerto Rico. For the analysis, the sample was divided. When studying …

The Pastor As Vital Link : A Study In How Seminary-Educated Pastors Engender Engagement With Scripture In Select Congregations, Jewel Gingerich Longenecker

Dissertations

Problem. The problem this study sought to address was the tendency of “ordinary readers” of Scripture to misuse the Bible on the one hand, or to give up reading it entirely, on the other hand. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory that describes how seminary-educated pastors are successfully leading ordinary readers to informed, enthusiastic engagement with the Bible. The conceptual lenses through which research data were compared to literature in the field included teaching methodologies proposed by Wink, Blair, and Borsch.

Method. The study used a qualitative research design. It was field focused, utilized …

Seeking A Comprehensive Worldview: The Religious Seeker In The Modern World, Michael Gregory

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Anecdotally, the casual observer of anthropological phenomenon may be led to believe that every human is basically the same. Indeed, many may assume that groups of people possess identical beliefs, religions, and expressions that hardly vary across different cultures and generations. Throughout the plethora of different cultures and the countless varieties of religious expression and experience it may seem that all of humanity is merely following the same lifestyles and worldviews as their parents and ancestors with very little change save for the gradual evolution in society. A religious studies scholar, or any scholar of the humanities, however, may notice …