Digital Commons Network^™

Bridging The Cultural Gap Between First And Second Generation Of Korean Americans In The Church, Weon Deok Seo, Chul Chang

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Textual or Investigative

The Impact Of Writings By Grace Abounds Association Of Pastors That Provocatively Concatenate Biblical Events And Current News Topics To Ignite Christian Bible Reading, Patryse J. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As Christians are becoming increasingly secularized by the teachings within their communities, it is critical to address how to creatively ignite, encourage, and inspire daily Bible readership among Christians. Teachers of God’s word must creatively ignite Christians to read their Bibles, daily. This will arm Christians with God’s word so Christians can effectively counter pervasive secular teachings and the consequential impacts of secular teachings that have infiltrated the Christian lifestyle. The researcher utilized a qualitative phenomenological research design and selected five participants by purposive sampling. Participants represented Christian-centric and goal-centric communities. By telephone, the researcher provided participants with pre and …

The Impact Of People Of The Dream Applied To Kingdom Authority Christian Center Lay Workers Church Plant: A Mixed Methods Approach, Kenneth Kief Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Kingdom Authority Christian Center (KACC) is growing more attentive to the changing demographics in the world. It seeks to understand that as other countries and nations continue to diversify by race and ethnicity, change is needed. The problem is that KACC has no training curriculum designed to impact and employ change. A mixed-method approach will be applied to fix KACC’s problem and the proposal of correspondence from People of the Dream. This thesis project will provide research from individual interviews, a population group, and an inside viewpoint from one of the people in the dream. This project will also add …

The Importance Of Hypotheses In Church-Based Research, David R. Dunaetz Editor

Great Commission Research Journal

The role of hypotheses is central both in church-related research and in Christian ministry. Hypotheses guide the collection of data to determine what is true in research and provide tentative guidelines for action in ministry, even when they are not yet confirmed. Well-constructed hypotheses are based on previous research and provide clear potential solutions to research problems. They succinctly posit a testable relationship between two or more variables. Such hypotheses can be tested through appropriately designed research. Statistical techniques can indicate to what degree the evidence collected supports the hypotheses. In church-based research, hypotheses to be examined can come from …

How Research On Young Adults Informs Evangelism, Gary Comer

Great Commission Research Journal

In a time when the church is missing members of the younger generations, it is important to look to generational research and listen to compelling voices regarding currents in the culture, with the aim of informing evangelism among these generations. This treatise provides an analysis of two missiological-relevant aspects of these generations: profile and receptivity. Based on this analysis, the author proposes correctives to increase the effectiveness of evangelistic efforts.

Complete Issue, David R. Dunaetz Editor

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Undivided Witness: Followers Of Jesus, Community Development, And Least Reached Communities Edited By David Greenlee, Mark Galpin, And Paul Bendor-Samuel, David Bahena

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

My Pilgrimage In Church Growth, Charles Arn

Great Commission Research Journal

As a key leader in the church growth movement, Chip Arn was invited by the journal to share his story.

Book Review: A Testimony To All Peoples: Kingdom Movements Around The World Edited By Dave Coles And Stan Parks, Gene Wilson

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

China’S Belt And Road Initiative: Mission Opportunities And Challenges, Paul Lee

Great Commission Research Journal

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an infrastructure project proposed by China to improve transportation in Eurasia. This will bring both mission opportunities and challenges in the regions affected. God is perhaps giving Christians a unique opportunity for evangelism through this project which facilitates the movement of not just humans and products, but also the gospel.

Re-Imagining Ecclesiology: A New Missional Paradigm For Community Transformation, Michael J. Berry

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation claims that the church is siloed, disconnected, and disengaged from the communities they are called to serve. The destructive mentalities of a disengaged church may even be complicit in creating and enabling some of these community health problems instead of being a part of the solutions. This research is focused on how ecclesiology, ethnography, and epidemiology is a missional paradigm to improve the gospel’s contextualization and work in community transformation. Chapter 1 demonstrates how increasing public health issues (such as pandemics, chronic diseases, poverty, homelessness, food deserts, addiction, inadequate health care, gun violence, mass incarceration, racism, and social …

Pastoral Leadership Strategies For A Multisite Church In A Small Church Setting In The African American Community, Lionel Reynard Catchings

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There are many mega churches that are moving to multisite facilities. This project focuses on the small church that wishes to establish multisite facilities to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The project will provide a guide for small churches who may desire to embrace multi worship sites for their congregations. It will identify strengths of small churches and the challenges they face when they seek to found multisite churches, and ultimately demonstrate that small church multisite facilities are possible and feasible. This project will also validate the importance of teamwork in recruiting, enlisting and training volunteers for multisite responsibilities. …

Church Revitalization Resources And Connections For The Northside Of Indianapolis, William James Marshall

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to provide a connection point and resources for pastors on the Northside of Indianapolis, IN to revitalize their churches. This project addresses the problem that many pastors on Indianapolis’ Northside may lack a connection point and resources to revitalize their churches. The research, resources, and connection points in this study focus on the biblical and practical leadership traits of a pastor, which are necessary to lead a church’s revitalization. This study offers a biblical-theological groundwork for a pastor/shepherd, emphasizing that a pastor should be of good moral character, affirming, aware of mutual need, caring, …

Biblical Parenting, Mehret Kahsai

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The goal of this Doctor of Ministry thesis project, Biblical Parenting, is to equip parents with tools that will enable them to conduct Bible study and family worship in an age-appropriate manner, so that their children will grow up understanding the Word of God and have a biblical worldview that will direct their daily decisions. Some of the parents at Calvary Baptist Church and Covenant Christian Academy appear not to be accomplishing their God given task of evangelizing and discipling their children at home. Instead they have relegated that responsibility to the church. However, according to the Bible, parents are …

Potential Ministry Approaches For Reaching Hispanic Millennials In El Paso, Texas America’S Largest Ethnic Demographic In The Borderland, William Howard Lavender Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

How can evangelical churches be more effective when conducting Christ’s missional mandate to make disciples of all nations among one of the United States’ largest ethnic people group? A recent demographic study reveals that 60% of Hispanic Millennials form one of the nation’s largest ethnic demographics. The El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is home to the largest concentration of Hispanic Millennials living in the United States. This Doctor of Ministry project discovers ministry approaches that will equip ministry leaders in El Paso, Texas to be more effective at conducting Christ’s missional mandate within their ministry context.

Defining, Assessing, And Progressing Discipleship: Helping Church Leaders And Laity Become Confident And Equipped Disciple-Makers, Matthew R. Ulrich

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Many pastors, lay leaders, and followers of Jesus have a desire to make disciples, but there seems to be a general lack of understanding at the local church level about what it means to make disciples and equip disciple-makers. The Chartis discipleship assessment (www.chartisassessment.com) was created as a discipleship assessment to assist disciple-makers in pragmatically defining, assessing, and progressing the spiritual growth of their disciples. Discipleship definitions, supplemental teaching resources, and a biblical theology of discipleship were also created to produce a robust discipleship toolkit for any potential disciple-maker to utilize. These tools were given to eleven disciple-makers to be …

Proven Biblical Discipleship: Make It According To The Pattern, Anthony Ray Mckee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The first-century church’s spiritual growth methodology functioned to achieve the goal of Christlikeness through discipleship. God crafted a design for his church to advance followers of Jesus toward Christian maturity. God’s instruction for Israel to “see that you make it according to the pattern” came from God’s perfect mind and is practical guidance for today’s spiritual growth practices. According to the countless number of discipleship methods available, some churches communicate that Christian maturation can be achieved through any discipleship perspective. This project aims to study local churches that offer a discipleship program, process, or pedagogy and compare them with twelve …

The Way We See Matters: Developing A New Theological Vision For Effective Cross-Generational Evangelism, Michelle Naomi Jeremie

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Today, North American churches have great opportunities and face unique challenges in fulfilling their mandate to make disciples. This DMIN thesis discusses the issue of how to more effectively evangelize the Millennial generation and Generation Z in a postmodern context. The purpose of this thesis is to address the need for church leaders to utilize a specialized evangelism training program to equip Christians to evangelize to non-believers across generational lines. The focus of this project is to implement the Cross-generational Evangelism Training (C-GET) Program at a ministry that has a low representation of Millennials and Generation Z. This Program will …

Understanding Discipleship And How To Effectively Spread The Gospel, Christopher Earl Kornegay

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project will work to help Greater Purpose International formulate a plan that will better serve its congregants and aid them in gaining the confidence to share their faith with others. Although the overall health of the church may have been attributed to a lack of discipleship, it is evident that congregants can be comfortable sharing their faith even if expected results are not obtained. The fundamental purpose of this study is to focus specifically on the congregants of Greater Purpose International and their ability to share their faith with others. Using qualitative research, a collection of interviews, and group …

Shared Oversight: Equipping Elders To Shepherd The Flock, Eric Michael Hartman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Leadership structures vary greatly across various faith traditions, but how much flexibility is biblically warranted? Far from being silent, the Bible is descriptive and prescriptive with regard to a plurality of leadership within a congregation. These elders, also called overseers, are to shepherd the flock (Acts 20:17, 28). The problem is that there is often lack training to that end. This study constructed a process for training elders and/or potential elders within a congregation to better understand the nature of plurality and parity of those tasked with caring for God’s people. The four training sessions covered the following: (1) The …

Facets Of Christian Leadership, Petr Cincala

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

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.

Review Of The Legacy Of A Hero Maker, By Dave Ferguson & Todd Wilson, Sergio Ochaeta

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 …

Prolegomena To A Theology Of Eschatological Leadership: 13 Leadership Principles For The End Time Gleaned From The Book Of Revelation, Gregory Pierce Whitsett

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

Jesus entrusted his disciples with leadership. That leadership was to be exercised on behalf of his mission to seek and save the lost in all the world before his return. This mission work will reach a climax during the time of the end before Christ’s promised return. This article explores the book of Revelation for clues concerning leadership qualities required for this task. The article will support the discussion of these leadership qualities with contributions from contemporary authors on the topic.

Developing a theology of eschatological leadership is a daunting task and will require a broader discussion than what one …

Mission Leadership Development In The Chinese Adventist Church: Reflections In The Light Of Traditional Chinese Philosophies Of Leadership, E P

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

Different schools of thought have emphasized multiples aspects of leadership, preeminently in the western hemisphere for the last decades (Bennis 1959; Greenleaf 1977; Malphus 2003). As China more decisively steps into the global arena through internationalization of its economy and political influence, scholars are only scratching the surface in exploring the pluralistic styles of Chinese indigenous leadership in both national and international organizations where the Chinese play significant leadership roles (Chen and Lee 2008: xv; Zhang, Chen, and Chen, and Ang 2014).

Contextual leadership is essential for the healthy development of any organization and that is equally true when it …

Leadership Development And Succession: A Review Of Best Practices With Insights For Mission Leadership, Boubakar Sanou

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Leadership development and succession planning are of critical importance to any organization’s performance and long-term sustenance. Unfortunately, the need to plan for leadership succession remains a challenge to most organizations, both secular and faith-based. This article explores the risks of not having a succession plan in organizations, the inhibitors of successful leadership transition management, and best practices for leadership development and transition. The last section explores ways to prepare the next generations for missions. The emphasis is on how intentional mentoring can help address the challenge of leadership development and succession at all levels of an organization.

A Study Of A Systematic Evangelistic Discipleship Process At The Lighthouse Free Methodist Church, Thomas Michael Doherty

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Lighthouse Free Methodist Church in Barryton, Michigan, lacks a systematic discipleship program that produces disciple-makers. This Doctor of Ministry project purposes to integrate a systematic discipleship program into the Lighthouse Free Methodist Church. The research methodology includes pre-and post-surveys and interviews. Pre- and post-survey data were collected to compare the number of disciplers, salvations, worship attenders, and the number of new systematic evangelistic discipleship groups. Six People participated in the training provided. The Lighthouse FMC is located near a small community of three-hundred people and is in the middle of a ten-mile circumference with thirty thousand. Thirteen people started …

The Role Of Ministry Structure And Student Ministry Leadership In Retaining Students In Church Following High School Graduation, Brandon Scott Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The thesis of this project is to validate the correlations between the staff's role, leadership development, ministry structure, staff tenure and student development as they relate to retention of students in the local church after high school. Aspects considered include staff role, leadership development, and student development. Staff role covers the tenure of the pastoral staff, unified vision, resources, and congregational support. Leadership development includes enlisting, equipping, encouraging, and evaluating workers. Student development includes evangelism, education, encouragement, and evaluation. Many churches lack a clear plan for students. Untrained volunteers often lead students, or an untrained and inexperienced person is hired …