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God's Story, Our Story: Telling, Re-Telling, Re-Storying, Kara Carter

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Shifting trends within and beyond the walls of the church are reshaping Christianity in our present context. Many Christian denominations are in the midst of a paradigm shift as great as or greater than the 16th century Reformation. Because the way forward looks nothing like the path the church has journeyed, church leaders, theologians, and scholars recognize the need for innovative and adaptive leadership expertise to meet the opportunities and challenges of the present time. For more than two decades, Mennonite Church Canada congregations have been on a journey of development, learning, and growth, transitioning theologically and experientially to a …

Obeying The Commission: A Model For Equipping Christians To Make Disciples, David Kofi Bempong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Jesus was explicit when He gave His disciples specific instructions before His ascension. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commissions his followers to be disciple-makers. Christians today are beneficiaries of the previous generations’ efforts to fulfill this commission. The purpose of this project is to evaluate how discipleship is accomplished at Riverdale Baptist Church and to propose a strategy demonstrating practical ways people can begin making disciples. The traditional church model is losing relevance amid a society that is increasingly dissociating itself from formal religion. The body of Christ must be in touch with their communities and find effective ways of making …

The Holy Spirit The Ultimate Counselor And Transformer For Healing And Wholeness: A Nepalese Perspective, Karuna Sharma

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Nepal is a country with cultural and religious diversity. This country has gone through much turmoil and many crises. Since the time of the Maoist insurgency up to the recent pandemic situation, people have faced various emotions, feelings, and thoughts. These sudden devastating moments have not only affected their physical wellbeing, but has in turn affected the whole being of a person. These experiences of accusation, suffering, violence, and pain have led many to sadness, worry, anger, and fear resulting in various mental disorders. Therefore, the ministry of counseling is very important in order to help people get connected to …

Expanding God's Redemptive Fractal: Spirit-Centered Counseling And The Transformative Wisdom Of Jesus, Bill Buker

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Using the image of a fractal, a Spirit-centered approach to counseling is proposed that conceptualizes the Spirit’s activity as seeking to replicate the patterns of God’s redemptive story throughout creation by facilitating deep second-order change. Involving an epistemological shift from ways of knowing shaped by the conventional wisdom of culture to a renewed mind grounded in the transformative wisdom of Jesus, this deep change is explored from the perspectives of science and Scripture. Integrating findings from systems theory with the ministry and message of Jesus, this approach to counseling emphasizes relational premises and values believed to be characteristic of the …

Systematizing Mission: Focusing On Counting Down Rather Than Counting Up, Jeff Scoggins

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Drs. Bertha And Arthur Selmon: Case Study In The Formation Of Early Adventist Mission Identity In China, Michael W. Campbell

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Strategies For Dealing With Folk Practices In Christian Churches In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ray Rukarata Bidahunga

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Biblical Social Justice And Ethical Leadership: A Pastoral Perspective, Boubakar Sanou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Call For Adventists To Reassess The Charismatic Movement, Jon L. Dybdahl

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Dualistic Worldviews: Implications For Discipleship, Temesgen B. Besha

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Abortion/Feticide In Islam, Youssry Guirguis

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

The Engagement Of Digital Technology And Social Media At Promise Land Church Following Covid-19, Rowevina G. Herring

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research project aims to explore the full integration of digital technology and social media at a local church following the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic formed a global perspective, consisting of so-called "new rules" of churchgoing resulting from different social engagement expectations, cleanliness, and protecting vulnerable populations. During and following the pandemic, the world awaited sheltering-in-place and social distancing to return to some semblance of normalcy. Considering these changes, most churches struggled to understand how to maintain and proliferate the gospel. The focus of this study is based on a local non-denominational church that failed to predict expository preaching and …

Editorial, Andrew Tompkins

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Learning From The Wisdom Of The Creator To Restore Communities And Churches, Petr Činčala

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Identifying Current Gaps In Church Planting Movements Research: Integrating First- And Second-Order Perspectives, Warrick Farah

Great Commission Research Journal

The proliferation of church planting movements in least-reached peoples today provides an opportunity ripe for missiological research. Using the online application form for the Movements Research Symposium 2020 of the Motus Dei Network, this article identifies six gaps of understanding in the missiological discourse on movements: 1) Deepening Theological and Missiological Descriptions of Movements, 2) Identifying Best Practices and Effective Movement Strategies, 3) Clarifying Issues of Ecclesiology – Practical, Theological, and Spiritual, 4) Training Movement Catalysts and Practitioners, 5) Highlighting Contextual, Sociological, and Holistic Features of Movements, and 6) Documenting Movements with Respect to Verification, Metrics, and Administration. However, issues …

Sharing Jesus With Muslims: A Survey Of Church Leaders In Africa, Akimana Canisius, Gordon S. Bonham

Great Commission Research Journal

A web survey of 34 pastors and other church leaders in 2020 who had met during graduate studies at Africa International University (AIU) was conducted to understand what is being done in Muslim evangelism in their home churches, primarily in East Africa. They generally characterized Muslims positively, as being made in the image of God, and as needing salvation through Jesus. They identified what they considered to be key differences between Muslims and Christians. Half of their churches made general evangelistic efforts, but most of these made no specific attempt to share the gospel with Muslims. Sharing the gospel with …

Young People And Full Time Pastoral Ministry In The Church Of Pentecost U.S.A., Inc, Frank Asirifi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The shortage of young pastors to replace the aging and retiring pastorate is an alarming reality confronting Christian churches regardless of location, size, and denomination. This research project's primary objective was to explore the factors discouraging young Christian adults born in the United States of America from responding obediently to God's call into full-time pastoral ministry and create corporate awareness of the holistic nature of the problem and seek a collaborative solution plan to motivate young Christian adults to obey God’s call into full-time pastoral ministry. The project focuses on young American-born adults in the ministry context of The Church …

The Erosion Of Theological Understanding, Thomas Glenn Sleeth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many Christian churches have been experiencing declines in attendance at Sunday services, Bible studies, and prayer meetings, and have experienced the affects of an apathetic attitude toward Christian community engagement. The lack of teaching scripturally accurate Biblical doctrine and applying scripture to daily life has led to a sharp decrease in discipleship. By examining the attitudes and reasons contributing to this lack of Christian participation and scriptural understanding, pastors and other church leadership can address the specific rationales for not living the scripture in daily life. Through the advent of a discipleship program an increase for the desire of congregants …

Singing And Sensing The Unknown: An Embodied History Of Hindu Practice In Ghana, Shobana Shankar

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Hinduism fits well into the “sound-filled” West African religious soundscape, which is a scene of competition and conflict. This article explores the soundscape of devotional singing, mantras, and prayers as a central part of the embodiment and embedment of Hinduism among Africans in Ghana, where the Indian diaspora has been relatively small and the indigenous movement of Hinduism entirely through African initiative. Using ethnographic and written sources to examine the Hindu Monastery of Africa, founded by the Ghanaian monk Swami Ghanananda in 1975, I examine how the oral and aural popular devotions crafted by the swami have shifted attention away …

The Effectiveness Of Servanthood Training, Shirley Godard Peele

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project researched the leaders at Divine Praise Ministries to determine the effectiveness of servanthood training. The leaders at Divine Praise Ministries were interviewed, trained, and equipped to serve a local homeless shelter in Washington, North Carolina. The leaders were informed of the biblical reason to serve based on Matt. 25:35-40. They were also informed of the physical reason to serve based on the needs of the homeless population. In addition, the need for this thesis project was fueled by the desire of the pastor to find out why the leaders at Divine Praise Ministries lack a desire to …

Exploring Missional Partnership Practices Between The Littleton Church Of Christ And Her Peruvian Missionary Partners Through Dwelling In The Word, Justin L. Thompson

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which twelve individuals from two churches on two continents (North and South America) came together via video conference to explore missional partnership practices. These two churches connected through a common missionary and utilized a spiritual discipline called Dwelling in the Word to cultivate relationships, thereby creating a pathway to shared discovery of partnership practices. The problem I identify at the beginning regards transactional partnership, which commonly propels churches toward relationships that treat the other as unequal partners through unilateral, top-down interactions. In response, I present a perichoresis-inspired …

Worship Contextualization In Seventh-Day Adventist Ethnic Congregations In São Paulo, Christian C. L. Britis, Marcelo E. C. Dias

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

This article offers an example of Adventist ethnic churches in São Paulo. Next, it analyzes the contextualization of worship among those groups. Finally, it explores contextualization possibilities in the face of the growing missionary challenges in these urban contexts of cultural plurality. The data was collected in three ways: (1) exchange of e-mails with current pastors of nine contextual projects; (2) ethnographic observations in two of the contextual projects (the Korean church and the Chinese Adventist community of São Paulo) at the time of an internship in 2020; and (3) bibliographic review.

The analysis and evaluation of the projects was …

Cultivating Ethnically Diverse Leaders: An Exploration Of The Need For Ethnic Diversity In Leadership Positions And Its Potential Impact On The Mission Work Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Guatemala, Benjamin M. Bonilla López

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

This article explores the issue of ethnic diversity in leadership, especially in the context of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guatemala. Different conceptualizations regarding the contributions that ethnic diversity in leadership positions can bring into an organization will be analyzed. The analysis will be combined with my personal observations made from a fieldwork visit to Guatemala during the months of October and November in 2017. Moreover, it will be argued that based on observations made during that fieldwork, the Adventist Church in Guatemala has an issue with a lack of diversity among its leadership since its membership in some locations …

Adventist Church Leadership And Religious Liberty In India: Impact On Mission And Ministry, Santosh Kumar

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

India, consisting of several diverse communities, operates on various religious sentiments, norms, expectations, cultures, and worldviews. Each culture and worldview developed, nurtured, and was organized in a community that recognized the importance of religious tolerance—tolerances that keep India united and yet diverse. Religious tolerance in India respects and allows the various religions to exist and practice within the same community.1 However, if this norm is broken, the resulting actions can result in unexpected consequences. There are several cases where tolerance was breached due to religious standards, views, or beliefs, causing chaos in a community.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has become …

A Mentoring Model: A Leadership Style For Seventh-Day Adventists In Southern Asia, J. L. Samir

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in India has been commissioned by God to be a witness to the 1.3 billion people in India of whom 80% are from a Hindu background. After a hundred years, the Southern Asian Division has a membership of 1.5 million people. There are many reasons to celebrate the success of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in India, particularly the success of the Adventist school system and the health care provided by the health institutions. However, the organization that is responsible for leading South Asians to Jesus Christ may not be able to celebrate the same success as …

Adventist Use Of The Qur’An: An Old Debate, Andrew Tompkins

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

In recent decades, Seventh-day Adventists have had several interactions discussing the use of the Qur’an for mission. Some Adventist ministers and workers have used the Qur’an as a tool to draw people into a discussion of faith and to guide people into an understanding of God that fits with the biblical portrayal. This has not been without controversy, and debate has taken place in formal and informal ways. This issue is often described as though it was a new form of mission Adventists are utilizing on the cutting edge of mission (Diop 2005; Maberly 2006). What this article demonstrates is …

Complete Spring Issue

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

New Perspectives On Church Planting, W. Jay Moon, Richard Doss

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

The Decline And Recovery Of Apostolic Leadership In Adventist Ministry, Anthony Wagenersmith

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

There are broad patterns of growth: plateau, decline, and ultimately renewal or death among Christian denominations and networks. One of the factors that catalyze movement dynamics early on—as well as their potential renewal—is the degree to which a church’s founding leaders embody and transfer the apostolic function for future generations (cf. Saarinen 1994; Morgan 2017). This article traces the initial function and decline of apostolicity among Seventh-day Adventist ministers as a case study with implications for contemporary Adventism and beyond.

After providing an analysis of leadership in the New Testament—with particular emphasis on apostles, apostolicity, and their relationship with elders—an …