Digital Commons Network^™

Multiply Alabama: Moving From Church Planting To Church Multiplication By Multiplying Leaders And Churches In The Alabama Ministry Network, David P. Strahan

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

The Alabama Ministry Network has had anemic success in planting over 150 churches since 1980. However, there has still been a ten percent decline in the total number of churches due to churches closing, churches withdrawing, or churches merging. This project studies how AMN can move from addition (church planting) to multiplication (church multiplication) to avoid further regression. The Biblical literature review examines the scriptural premise to multiply. It also discovers the church planting models of Jesus, the early church, and Paul The project used mixed research methods to develop a pathway towards church multiplication within AMN in four phases. …

Concordia Seminary Magazine Fall/Winter 2023, Vicki Biggs

Concordia Seminary Magazine

We Belong to Christ

"Planting A Church Without Losing Your Soul" [Review] / Morey, Tim., Michelet William

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This is a book review

For The Church, Sarah Moss

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Honoring God: Purity In A Promiscuous World, Tonnette Kellett

Doctor of Leadership

A significant number of Native American girls get pregnant in their teens, permanently affecting their future. This issue has been observed both within the Choctaw communities in Mississippi and among local churches surrounding the reservation of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The project, Teenage Consequences, was developed through stakeholder workshops and feedback and is a result of the independent research of a much larger project entitled Honoring God: Purity in a Promiscuous World. Five videos have been created and uploaded to YouTube and TikTok. Moreover, the content will be a curriculum in nearby churches catering to Native American communities …

81st Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectureship--Harbor: Running With Perserverance (2024), Mike Cope

Pepperdine Bible Lectures: Programs

Program booklet for the 81st Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures, held at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, April 30-May 6, 2024. 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.

Mike Cope, Lectureship Director

Evan Woods, Tami Williamson, and Rachel Higgins, Lectures Team

Story, Senses, Community And Fun: Teaching The Bible As Christ Centric Story For The Local Church, Adam Barton

Doctor of Ministry

NPO: The leadership at Harvest has observed that our people need improved methods to combat the trend of decreased understanding of the Christ centered Bible story.

My research identified numerous factors for this trend (too busy, too tired, the Bible is too difficult to understand and is no longer relevant, etc.) Perhaps more than all these, we have lost our Hebrew sensibilities of conveying the truth of the scriptures as a story to be experienced. A story told in community (not isolation), a story that draws in the senses (not a text to be analyzed), a story that is enjoyable …

Project Portfolio: From Here To Home: A Proven Pathway From Visitor To Member In Our Church Community, Leon Mckenzie

Doctor of Ministry

Through my role as a pastor in my local church and dean in my diocese, I’ve learned of a growing concern about the lack of hospitality within the local churches. Hospitality holds significant importance in the Bible and is a central aspect of the Church's mission. Thus, I have the opportunity to assist churches in evaluating their readiness to welcome strangers and provide them with a practical framework to apply this concept in their specific contexts.

Through my research, I have found that most perspectives on hospitality focus on its application in the business field or creating a comfortable environment …

A Discipleship Model For Oral Preference Learners: Specifically Related To The Turkana People Of Kenya, Theresa Lynn Pottenger

Doctor of Ministry

The Turkana people of Kenya are primarily oral learners, processing information in oral ways. Oral learners are completely reliant on what they hear, see, and experience because they cannot or choose not to read.¹ Missionaries from highly literate western cultures unwittingly burdened these oral learners with literacy dependent teaching methods and discipleship practices. This has particularly left Turkana Christian leaders with few options for deepening their own Christian spirituality or leading others in discipleship. Additionally, a cultural disconnect between western spiritual categories taught by the missionaries and Turkana spiritual categories have left several Turkana spiritual needs unmet. The Turkana …

A Vision For End Time Youth Ministries, Ricardo V. Bain

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

God has entrusted Seventh-day Adventists with a special task of encircling the world with relevant streams of light, from the Bible, to prepare all people, everywhere on this planet, for his return. This means all people are to be solicited with our end-time message. Present truth is always particularly pertinent at a given time and place. Including youth in extracting and expressing present truth is critical to propelling it. This paper is a plea to re-vision and envision what transformative ministry to and with youth could look like in the time of the end.

Book Review: Intergenerational Christian Formation, 2nd Edition: Bringing The Whole Church Together In Ministry, Community, And Worship, By Holly Catterton Allen, Christine Lawton, And Cory L. Seibel, Steve Case

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

No abstract provided.

A Resilient Faith: Lessons For The Church From Church Leavers, Carol Mclaughlin

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation began by seeking to understand why people leave church, particularly baby boomers that no longer attend church. Section One introduces the changing perceptions and dynamics of religious identification and church attendance practices. The question I ask and endeavor to respond to is how the church might live a resilient faith in the liminal space between a church-centric faith and faith apart from church affiliation. Section Two considers three responses to church leaving and perceptions of faith. The first considers the shift taking place in faith development when authority moves from the church to the individual. The second is …

Transformative Power Of Healing And Dreams: A Divine Encounter With Jesus, Jony Hajaj

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

Throughout history, countless individuals have reported experiencing miraculous healings and profound encounters with Jesus Christ in their dreams. These encounters have profoundly impacted their lives, instilling them with renewed faith, hope, and purpose. These encounters as spiritual experiences possess transformative power. In this article, I will examine the fascinating realm of healing through God-given dreams where Jesus Christ appears, brings solace, guidance, and restoration to those in need.

Journal In Entirety

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

The Processes, Events And Characteristics Associated With The Leadership Emergence Of New Believers In The Contemporary Movement Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In The United States, Cleveland Hobdy Iii

Dissertations

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is confronting an unsettling reality in the 21st century. A considerable body of literature has highlighted an escalating attrition rate, with the 'Ministry journal reporting in April 2019 that almost 50% of new converts eventually abandon their commitment (Thomas, 2019). Other data collected by the World Church through its Office of Research include statistics and archive information that confirm the losses (Knott, 2016; Trimm, 2023). After all the baptisms, membership transfers, professions of faith, and accessions, the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church is netting one new member per church per year. Since 1965, roughly 4 out …

The Missing Blue In Adventism: A Gap In Discipleship And Mission, Petr Cincala

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

This article comes from the perspective of a researcher, a practical theologian, and a missiologist. The title The Missing Blue refers to the idea that light consists of three colors (Green, Red, Blue), and because God is light, the analogy of light is relevant for those who believe in the Triune God. We are called to worship the Creator God (represented by the green color) as Ruler of all the universe, God the consuming fire (Deut 4:24; Heb 12:29). Jesus (represented by the red color) teaches us to come to God as our friend, our daddy (John 15:15; Mark 14:36; …

Incarnational Discipleship: Inquiry Into The Need For For Cross-Shaped Discipleship And Cruciform Spiritual Formation In Charismatic Churches In A Post-Christendom Culture, Wayland Henderson

Doctor of Ministry

A synopsis of the Project Portfolio begins with the NPO statement: This Doctoral Project includes a discipleship model to help the Gathering Kingdom Community be spiritually formed through Pentecostal and Orthodox traditions and shows the relationship between prophetic function and discipleship for members to flourish personally and function as witnesses of the Crucified Christ in a post-Christian culture. Key insights that emerged from the research are that the current discipleship models in many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are disconnected from how the Early Church viewed discipleship and what it means to be a witness to the culture. My ministry context …

Commonplace: Gathering Families Of Faith Around The Table In The Manner Of The Earliest Christian Communities For The Future Of The Church, Daniel Hues

Doctor of Ministry

It has become evident that American Christianity is declining at a staggering rate throughout the nation. In my own denomination, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, membership dwindled by 5% even before COVID impacted our churches even more significantly. Over the last decade the amount of non-religiously affiliated persons has increased exponentially as many people of faith are leaving behind their religion altogether. Research suggests that there are various reasons for this decline. This project aims to answer the problem of individuals leaving their churches and their beliefs behind by creating innovative spiritual communities designed to form, integrate, and re-engage …

Discipleship For Today's Filipino: Ang Calling Ng Christian Para Sa Bayan, Rico Villanueva, Jayeel Cornelio

Development Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

From The Editor, Robert A. Danielson

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

No Leaders But The Laity: Equipping, Educating, And Training Laypeople To Lead The Local Church, Christian Bass

Doctor of Ministry

The unfortunate story for many modern independent local churches is decline, disconnect, and irrelevance. This was only exacerbated by the 2020 global pandemic. Despite well- intentioned staff and many “church growth” tools, the independent local church saw many pastors and members leave and institutions close. The good news, however, is the church was never intended to be a cookie-cutter home, a franchise, or a satellite location. It was designed to be a contextualized incarnation of the unique Gospel expression of a local community by and for the people. More than ever, the church needs its laypeople to see themselves as …

History, Theology, And Implementation Of A Volunteer Lay Pastor Ministry In The Territory Of The North American Division Of Seventh-Day Adventists, José Cortés Jr.

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

This study examines the strategic necessity and implementation of a Divisionwide Volunteer Lay Pastor Ministry (VLPM) within the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA Church). The NAD oversees the church’s work in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Guam, and Micronesia, serving over 1.2 million members across 6,300 congregations. Despite its strong presence, the NAD faces challenges reaching a diverse population of approximately 370 million. With 69 percent of its congregations either plateauing or declining, the church is at a critical point that requires proactive measures to maintain its mission.

Method

Our study begins with an …

Ecclesiological Meaning In Jesus’ Sabbath Healings, Sven Östring

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

The earthly life and ministry of Jesus Christ was the full incarnation of his divine identity and mission. However, certain events and situations became windows that allowed his relationship with his Father and his divine mission to be revealed with clarity to those around him. In particular, Jesus saw in the Sabbath a unique and regular opportunity to reveal both his identity and his mission. Likewise, his opponents understood, with almost surprising accuracy and clarity, what he was communicating about himself from his religiously non-conforming actions on Sabbath. However, this was not just a minor ethical scuffle between a well-studied …

Implementing Timothy Keller’S Center Church Principles: Transforming Your Church Into A Center Of Influence, Danie Potgieter

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

In contemporary religious discourse, the concept of a church transcending its traditional role as a mere congregation to become a dynamic center of influence within its community has gained significant traction. This paradigm shift, often fueled by a desire to engage with societal issues and impact lives beyond the church walls, finds resonance in Timothy Keller’s Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Grounded in theological depth and practical wisdom, Keller presents a compelling framework for transforming churches into vibrant hubs of influence capable of effecting meaningful change in the world around them.

Leadership And Emergent Faith Communities In Canada: A Phenomenological Study, Anne Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study is to explore how participants within emergent faith communities in Canada experience leadership. Through a phenomenological approach, members from five emergent faith communities across Canada have been interviewed in a semi-structured format. Emerging themes of transformational leadership, community along with belonging, and possible future areas of research will be discussed.

Latina Mothering As Diaspora Mission : The Role Of Latina Immigrant Mothers In The Religious Identity Formation Of The Next Generation, Rebekah R.S. Clapp

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Church Planting As Evangelism : How People Are Influenced And Worldview Assumptions Impacting Church Plants And Church Multiplication, W. Bud (Walter Bud) Simon

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Sharing The Rules Of Life : Forming Intentional Communities That Create Mature Disciples Of Christ, James Andrew Mcwilliam Barnett

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Church Planting In The East Of Germany : The Importance Of Missions, Discipleship, And Community Formation, Maria Boschker

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

New Church, New Leaders? : How Do We Select The People Who Plant New Churches In The Future?, David Richards

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.