Digital Commons Network^™

Bringing Home Our Adventist Prodigals, Paul Tompkins

180 Symposium Publications

Studies agree that the church is losing a significant proportion of its young people. This trend is hurting families, congregations and the church as a whole but very little seems to be done about it. Now is the time to do so. Back in the 1990’s the church last looked at restructuring youth ministry — following a commission on youth, the autumn council of 1992 voted a six point plan including revival, recovery, evangelism and nurture. A strategic plan was also authorized but the aspect of recovery has only recently begun to gain significant attention. Now is the time to …

Ennui, Entertainment, Or Encounter? Cultivating The Climate For A Transformational Approach To Leadership, Keren Toms

180 Symposium Publications

After studying the various qualities that have made for effective leaders, both in Bible times and in more recent church history, it is apparent that some were empowered by a guardian/guide mentality, others an entertainer/enabler mindset, and others possessed a difficult to define but easily recognizable cluster of virtues that enabled them, through their passion for mission and love for people, to be creative and observable role models for what recent leadership experts have termed transformational leaders. Creating a climate for the selection and the empowerment of transformational leaders is key for a successful youth ministry in the new millennium.

The Development Of Adventist Youth Groups And Ellen White’S Empowerment Of Youth In Evangelism And Service, Cindy Tutsch

180 Symposium Publications

How did youth work begin in the Adventist church? Did it start with “professionals”? What was the point of Adventist youth groups originally? And what is the point today? This provocative paper may generate some discussion with your youth and leadership team –and maybe even re-focus your ministry!

2009 - 92nd Annual Summit, "On The Mountain With God: Exodus Expedition, Abilene Christian University

Lectureship and Summit Programs

No abstract provided.

A Report On The 180 Symposium, Roger Dudley, Allen Walshe

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Transformational Youth Ministry, Allen Walshe

Faculty Publications

This paper will point out how deeply ingrained post-modern thinking has become in Western culture. It will remind us that our youth and young adults, who are post-modern, are not the enemy (as some would categorize them), but that they are ‘the beloved of God.’ We have been called and commissioned to reach them by the grace of God. This paper will argue that the church’s response to our post-modern youth, if it is to be efficacious, will require a paradigm shift, from its predominantly information style toward a more relational model of ministry. This can be facilitated by restructuring …

Reflections, Roger Dudley

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Church Of Refuge: A Support Ministry For Youth And Young Adults, Ron Whitehead, Jeff Boyd

Faculty Publications

At least 40 to 50 percent of youth and young adults leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church. To reverse this trend by helping local congregations meet the spiritual, social, and community impact needs of youth and young adults, the Center for Youth Evangelism proposes to launch Church of Refuge (COR). This organization will support churches in incorporating nine principles in their master planning. After demonstrating the inclusion of these principles, local congregations will be certified as Churches of Refuge and will be promoted to youth and young adults through web and print materials.

Ministry Leaders Tackle Crisis Of Youth ‘Slipping Out The Back Door’ First Annual 180° Symposium Convenes At Andrews University, Keri Suarez

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Reformed Worship (Rw) 90 - Lent / Easter (December 2008), Reformed Worship Editors

Reformed Worship Magazine

Features

The Wild Olive Tree by Steve Caton....3

"Who Do You See?" by Valerie Van Kooten....6

Jesus' Last Words by Erica L. Schemper....8

Praying the Psalms in Lent by James Hart Brumm....10

From Despair to Praise by Carol Veldman Rudie....14

Signs of Hope and Joy by Alex Gondola and Alfred Schroeder....28

N.T. Wright on Word and Sacrament: Baptism (Part 2 of 3) by N.T. Wright....31

Symbols of the Atonement by Paul Ryan....36

Why Bev Called It Quits by Jeff Baker....40

Congregational Songs for Weddings by Norma de Waal Malefyt....42

Departments …

A Comprehensive Retreat Program For High School Youth Ministry Students, Julie Therese Krug

Pastoral Institute

My pastoral project will encompass five retreats that I will work on in collaboration with a team of young adult volunteers and approximately 20 high school juniors and seniors. The "retreat season" will begin with a leadership retreat in September 2007, two Confirmation retreats (December 2007 and March 2008), a freshmen lock-in retreat (January 2008), and a junior high retreat (March 2008). The team will meet weekly for 8 weeks prior to a retreat, at times working on retreats simultaneously, to plan and prepare. The team's tasks will include leading ice breakers, small discussion groups, large group activities, praise and …

The Historical Development Of The Modern Worship Song, Travis Doucette

Senior Honors Theses

For centuries, followers of Christ have used music as a channel of communicating their love and adoration towards their Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, the use of music with God’s people is encouraged throughout the pages of Scripture. In the Old Testament, the psalmist writes, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and shout for joy.” In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” Throughout Christian history, wherever there has been renewal, revival and restoration, fresh songs of praise and worship have followed and …

Stories From Thirty Years Of "Celebration Of Discipline", Howard R. Macy

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

A chapel talk given at George Fox University on the 30th anniversary of Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline.

The Next Generation: A Case Study Of Roman Catholic Youth In Suva, Michelle Johnson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Youth communities, as well as religious ones, are thriving in modern Fijian culture. The young people identify with a changing way of life, while those who are religious often cling to tradition and order. Despite this apparent contradiction of lifestyles, most young people in Fiji do consider themselves to be religious.

This paper is a study on the identity of young, Roman Catholic Fijians in Suva, Fiji. I joined the Sacred Heart Parish youth group and worked with the members to gain an understanding of their lives as young, Catholic individuals in modern Fiji. I have also looked at their …

Atonement In Hosea And The Prodigal Son: Relationality As Personhood And The Being Of God, Stephen Sherwood

Seminary Masters Theses

My project will provide a survey of traditional atonement metaphors, with a particular emphasis upon contrasting penal substitution with a covenantal relational understanding of the atonement, and will then posit that a covenantal relational approach is ideal for resonance with a postmodem audience.

I will seek to determine whether any single biblical metaphor or cluster of metaphors provides an interpretive matrix for all discussion of the atonement in a way that is both biblically faithful and conceptually accessible to a postmodem world. I contend that atonement discussions in typical evangelical contexts may be both biblically insufficient and culturally inadequate and …

Atonement In Hosea And The Prodigal Son: Relationality As Personhood And The Being Of God, Steve Sherwood

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt from Introduction: "My project will provide a survey of traditional atonement metaphors, with a particular emphasis upon contrasting penal substitution with a covenantal relational understanding of the atonement, and will then posit that a covenantal relational approach is ideal for resonance with a postmodern audience.

I will seek to determine whether any single biblical metaphor or cluster of metaphors provides an interpretive matrix for all discussion of the atonement in a way that is both biblically faithful and conceptually accessible to a postmodern world. I contend that atonement discussions in typical evangelical contexts may be both biblically insufficient and …

Where Are The Twenty-Year-Olds? Tools For The Church To Connect And Retain A Generation, Lars Rood

Doctor of Ministry

A generation of young people are losing their connection to the church today. Research by the Barna Group shows that "61 % of students who were active in church during their teenage years disengaged during their twenties."1 Many churches struggle to adequately connect with and retain the twenty-something generation. This inability to connect stems from changing culture, technology, new worldviews, and a lack of formal training in institutes of higher education. Raised with the Internet, instant messaging, cell phones, and hundreds of television channels, this generation is undoubtedly well informed. Yet many churches no longer speak their language. I believe …

Prostitutes, Prodigals And The Story Of God's Embrace, Steve Sherwood

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "This book has been stewing inside of me for a long time. When I was sixteen years old, I sat in a living room in Round Rock, Texas at a Young Life meeting and heard a college kid tell the story of Hosea and Gomer and then say, "God loves us like that." I'd never heard anything like that and I now know that Hosea was not a story regularly told in Young Life. I have no idea why my Young Life leader chose it. Regardless, that image has stuck in my head for almost thirty years.

Other experiences …

Inter-Generational Youth Ministry And The Solution To Volunteers, Steve R. Vandegriff

SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Factors Of Survivability Of Church Plants In The Tarrant, Collin, North Texas, And Denton Baptist Associations, Aaron James Meraz Sr.

Journal of the American Society for Church Growth

When I planted Bridgeway Baptist Church, McKinney, Texas, in October 2005, my association put me in contact with two recently deceased church plants to get some of their materials to use in our church. I talked with the two pastors and asked them why their churches died, hoping I could avoid their destiny. Though both churches made it past their fourth birthday, the pastors said that they needed more time to give to the church, a team member, and more financial support. I began looking into the survivability of church plants and, thanks to my church planting colloquium, was able …

South Carolina Conference Journal 2008, United Methodist Church. South Carolina Conference

South Carolina Conference Journal

No abstract provided.

Hark The Battlecry: The American Evangelical Alternative To Secular Youth Culture, Christine M. Jackson

Religious Studies Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Teacher Training Manual For The Christian Education Program Of Bethesda Church, Rick Allen Wolgamott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current teacher training in local churches often consists of asking a teacher to read pre-developed curriculum and follow the publishers’ instructions. Teachers are not being taught to critically evaluate the materials, and as a result they simply follow the directions provided. The purpose of this project is to train teachers in the local church in basic theology, hermeneutics, and preparing a Bible lesson. As a result, teachers will be trained to study Scripture and evaluate lessons based on Scriptural truth, and to prepare their own lesson plans. Recruiting and retaining teachers will become more effective as a result of providing …

Youthbuilders: 1974-2008 Building A Student Leadership Model, Denis Eldon Bell

Doctor of Ministry

The YouthBuilders is an itinerant group of students, ages 18-24 who volunteer for one year of community life and personal growth. They train and serve in what is now a co-operative opportunity sponsored by the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada and the Canadian Conference of the Brethren in Christ Church.

After thirty-three years the YouthBuilders' adventure is just completing its tenth season of tour, involving the 13th and 14th teams, having trained 58 students in this model of leadershop development.

The practical application of this Doctor of Ministry dissertation is to investigate · · the history of this movement and …

Movies As The Vernacular Of Adolescence, Jacob Youmans

Doctor of Ministry

Audience: The primary audience/user of my project will be Christian teenagers with a desire to share their faith in a missional way in the vernacular of their peers. I also hope the project will be a resource for those who minister to and work with teenagers and desire to connect with them as well as inspire them to go out and be the church to their friends that do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

I hope my users will have more confidence in sharing their faith and will learn skills to talk about the sacred in the …

Crusader, February, 29, 2008, College Of The Holy Cross

Student Newspapers

The student newspaper for the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Articles include coverage of campus events and issues, sports, editorials and special features.

Program - Calvin Symposium On Worship: Word, Music, Vision, Action

Symposium on Worship Archive

We hope that this symposium will be spiritually refreshing for all of you. One of the main goals of the Worship Symposium is to be encouraged together by what God is doing in congregations across North America and beyond, and to learn to ask helpful questions about our own worship practices that focus our attention on the deep meaning and purpose of worship. We expect that we will also learn something more about how to preach, pray, and sing with greater understanding for those in our own communities and around the world who suffer for the cause of Christ.

65th Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectureship -- The Upside-Down Kingdom: Living The Sermon On The Mount (2008), Jerry Rushford

Pepperdine Bible Lectures: Programs

Program booklet for the 65th Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures, held at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, April 29 - May 2, 2008. The Pepperdine Bible Lectures is an annual event hosted by Pepperdine University featuring a wide variety of lectures and classes on topics and themes in the Bible and Christianity.

Jerry Rushford, Lectureship Director

Rick Gibson, Tami Williamson, and Kym Dildine, Lectures Team

Pioneer Girls: Mid-Twentieth-Century American Evangelicalism's Girl Scouts, Timothy Larsen

The Asbury Journal

Founded in 1939, in the mid-twentieth century, Pioneer Girls was a vital Christian youth movement providing an explicitly evangelical alternative to Girl Scouts. Using David Bebbington's classic four-point definition, this article will explore the evangelical identity of the organization, including its continuities and discontinuities with fundamentalism as part of the new evangelicalism of the post-World War II era. While 1950s America is well known for the ways in which this time and place was oppressive for girls and women, and the evangelical movement in general is often criticized for suppressing girls and women, a study of Pioneer Girls does not …

An Epistemology Of Hope: A Modest Theory Of Knowledge For The (Post) Evangelical Church, Jeffrey Norman Tacklind

Doctor of Ministry

The problem that I will be addressing in this dissertation is the chasm that is growing between the evangelical church and the emerging church pertaining specifically to the epistemological differences between the two. My hope is to provide a theory of knowledge that will bridge the gap in such a way that it will preserve what I believe to be the virtues of both sides of the discussion. I will propose an epistemology that will hold to both the more evangelical commitment of an objective reality, while at the same time honestly facing the limitations to the modern quest for …