Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

The Fall And Rise Of Bengali Muslim Conciousness: Conceptualising The Identity Of The Bangla Universal, Habib Khan

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of modern-nation states saw the end of the empirical era of exploitation and exercise of inherent racist tendencies towards the 'other'. However, the effect of that colonial system is still ever-present in the creation and governance of these newly independent states. While every new state aims to be 'modern', they adopt the international legal framework of the West as their own - a system they had initially wanted to escape. The concept of Muslim universality in the form of the ummah should have freed Pakistan from the shackles of its former colonial masters. Instead, this phenomenon was replaced …

Interpretatio Islamica And The Unraveling Of The Ancient Sabian Mysteries, Maurice Hines

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis makes some bold claims about the identity of the Qur’anic Sabians (Ṣābi’ūn) and their symbiotic relationship with various Near Eastern religions including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Thrice mentioned in the Qur’an, they clung to an ancient religion - or perhaps the most ancient – that spanned the entire Eastern hemisphere and provided not only the structural foundations of human civilizations, but also their religious, philosophical, and intellectual foundations. However, their creed had undergone a variety of changes over time including a shift in the conception of God from a personal to a transcendent deity, the worship …

There Is A Place For You And Your Little Ones: Homiletics And Liturgy In View Of Pregnancy Loss, Joseph Michael Baumgarten

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Baumgarten, Joseph M. There is a Place for You and Your Little Ones: Homiletics and Liturgy in View of Pregnancy Loss. Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2022. 81 pp.

Pregnancy loss and the grief that follows is more common than most people think. However, there is a gap in resources, discussion, and care for those who have experienced such losses. This is true in wider culture as well as in the church. While there are a few resources available, they are limited. This project addresses the church’s ability to provide proper recognition of pregnancy loss, the validation …

Hospitality: Areas That Are Effective In Creating A Desire For A Visitor To Connect To Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Brent M. Hartwig

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

This major applied project explores hospitality offered by the local congregation. Biblical hospitality is implicitly and explicitly commanded in scripture. Balancing the Missio Dei and two kinds of righteousness will keep us on the straight and narrow theologically when pursuing hospitality.

When churches offer hospitality, we are feeding, clothing, visiting, providing, and welcoming our neighbor. Our Redeemer wants to continue serving the community as a family-oriented, mission focused, hospitable congregation. We are doing the feeding, clothing, and providing through many efforts in the community. We are active with the local homeless shelter and crisis center. For the MAP, we wanted …

Missional Renewal In A Large And Established Suburban Western Church, Michael Stevens

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis addresses the topic of missional renewal at Clovercrest Baptist Church (CBC), specifically focusing on participating in the mission of God through simple, memorable, and reproducible missional practices. The identified problem is a lack of process or framework for enhancing participation in God’s mission and churchwide missional renewal at CBC, a large suburban Western church. The purpose of this project intervention is to develop a resource guide of missional practices that facilitate participation in the mission of God at CBC towards missional renewal. This intervention is guided by the theological foundation that God is a God of mission. He …

Executing Vision: Operationalizing The Vision Statement Of Logos Preparatory Academy In Sugar Land, Texas, Jason Henderson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis addresses the problem of finding a way to operationalize the vision statement of Logos Preparatory Academy. Logos Preparatory Academy (Logos Prep) is a school of around six hundred students located in Sugar Land, Texas. After interviewing some of the school founders and student leadership and examining documents from the founding of the school, it became evident Logos Prep is a school in need of a more efficient and effective way to execute the vision statement of “Families and students making an impact for Christ” through the goals set forth in their Portrait of a Graduate. Using the works …

Social Media As Second Creation: Cyber-Space As A Denial Of Cosmic Community, Carter Ford

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Social media aims to move the communal sphere into the digital world. It is often quipped that the current generation is the most “connected” yet “disconnected” generation in history. If social media truly succeeds in moving the social community into a digital sphere, what is the source of the widely experienced disconnect from one another? I will argue that evaluating social media in light of Bonhoeffer’s cosmic community reveals that social media insufficiently invades the space of human relationship, not capable of supporting either connection between individuals or creation. Thus, rather than affirming real relationship online, social media replaces community …

Silent Music And Sacred Sounds Of The Hoysaḷas: Visual And Aural Sensory Experiences In Jain And Hindu Temples, Vani Vignesh

Jain Studies

This project examines affective responses to temple spaces and investigates how visual and aural sensory stimulations can amplify people’s experiences in Jain and Hindu temples through ethnographic research and qualitative interviews. It involves the study of the traditional Indian methods of designing and planning temples to understand their place in contemporary South Indian devotion. This project focuses on two twelfth century temples built by the Hoysaḷa dynasty in the South Indian state of Karnāṭaka—the Jain Pārśvanātha basadi (temple) at Haḷēbīḍu and the Hindu Vaiṣṇava Chennakēśava temple at Bēlūru—to show that their location, design, and structure were planned to cater to …

Intergenerational Discipleship At St. Paul's Smoke Church, Elle Rulavage

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Intergenerational ministry through discipleship is found in the archetype of Christ and His disciples. St. Paul’s Smoke Church in Windsor Township, Pennsylvania, has impacted and influenced the area through many centuries in the generational call to follow Christ. The church has seen its ebbs and flows. In the past decade, membership has tremendously decreased, but the heart of love for God and its community is lasting. The pandemic of COVID-19 had limited ministry in the traditional sense. Still, the unorthodox ways of ministry were sought out and employed to continue St. Paul’s Smoke Church in its operation and functionality while …

A Multiphase Iterative Mixed-Method Study Of Lay-Equipping Competencies Of Midwestern Adventist Pastors, Gary Sean Collins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this Multiphase iterative mixed-method study is to determine if the lay equipping competency courses of a School of Divinity's MDiv program influences the church discipleship programs of graduate lead pastors to develop partnership with their parishioners in ministry and commitment for their church's mission. Burggraff (2015) attests that most evangelical churches in North America are in decline (p. 22). He and many other scholars believe that this general membership decline is due to a lack of emphasis on discipleship, by clergy (Burggraff, 2015). At this stage in the research, lay equipping competencies (LEC) will be generally defined …

The Purpose Of Ephesians 3:2-13, Once More, Mark D. Owens

Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Top Ten Challenges Facing Churches In 2023, Edward E. Moody Jr.

Great Commission Research Journal

This article summarizes the results of a study conducted by the Great Commission Research Network seeking to identify the top challenges facing churches in 2023. The results are similar to other recently conducted studies, emphasizing challenges related to evangelism and young adults.

Growing And Declining Churches Face Different Challenges: A Statistical Analysis Of The Top Ten Challenges Facing Churches Study, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

The data behind the study The Top Ten Challenges Facing Churches (Moody, 2023) is presented and analyzed with a focus on differences between growing churches and non-growing churches. Church leaders (N = 129) indicated how difficult they believed it would be for North American churches to overcome 50 potential challenges. For most challenges, no significant difference between the church leaders from growing and non-growing churches was detected. However, church leaders from non-growing churches viewed 1) attractiveness of programs, 2) retaining young adults, 3) youth programs, 4) small group participation, and 5) effective strategy as more difficult challenges to overcome than …

Trust, Scripture, And The Spirit As Core Values Of Evangelism In A Chinantec Village In Oaxaca, Mexico, Eliseo Arce Hernandez, Ashley Stamper

Great Commission Research Journal

The paper provides both a rationale for an approach to evangelism and a practical, replicable ministry model focusing on three core values (trust, Scripture, and the Spirit) in order for churches and individuals to effectively fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), particularly in cross-cultural contexts. A case study using this model in an indigenous Chinantec community in Oaxaca, Mexico, is presented. In contrast to modern evangelistic strategies that emphasize speed and numbers, this model and field example offer an alternative approach to church planting, an approach with a

A Bibliometric Analysis Of The Great Commission Research Journal 2009-2019, Glenn R. Wittig

Great Commission Research Journal

The Great Commission Research Journal, the subject of this investigation, is a relatively new journal with roots in the past. It is a successor to two previous publications from the American Society for Church Growth. A bibliometric analysis of the journal’s first ten volumes is presented on two levels. The first is a content analysis of the surface features of the publication such as the authors’ education, academic credentials, and employment, the number of full-length articles published, the subjects covered in each article, and other features such as the average length of articles, number of footnote references, and number of …

Finding Them, Keeping Them – Strategies For Evangelism And Assimilation: A Review Of The Books Written By Gary L. Mcintosh, Gordon E. Penfold

Great Commission Research Journal

A short review of each of the twenty-seven books by Gary L. McIntosh traces the development of the author’s thought up to his latest release in January 2023. This review demonstrates that McIntosh’s passion is to see churches and Christian leaders apply classical biblical church growth principles in their ministry contexts. His passion for reaching and assimilating new people, and for developing Christian leaders to carry out Christ’s Great Commission with a Great Commandment passion permeates each book. The breadth and depth of his knowledge are demonstrated in his many volumes with little overlap in their subject matter. His works …

Book Review: Revitalizing The Declining Church: From Death’S Door To Community. Growth By Desmond Barrett, Terry Neumayer

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Faith In The Wilderness: Words Of Exhortation From The Chinese Church Edited By Hannah Nation And Simon Liu, Ryan Jensen

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Christian Barriers To Jesus: Conversations And Questions From The Indian Context By J. Paul Pennington, Harshit Gudka

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: God At Work In The World: Theology And Mission In The Global Church By Lalsangkima Pachuau, Kenneth Nehrbass

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.