Digital Commons Network^™

Home And Religion, Emma Alexandra Grimley, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This chapter explores how religious practices and identities intersect with the home as both a construct and physical locale and surveys the social science literature on religion in/and the home. We argue that the shifting space-times of religious practice reflect and influence the changeable and porous boundaries between public and private space, the home and beyond the home. This influence is shown by reference to three areas of focus: the home as a private space of and for religion; the use of religion to cross social and spatial boundaries of home; and the reconfiguration of the home in religious practice …

Ministry Through Agriculture : An Evaluation Of Community Farming Among Displaced People, Emmanuel Jatau

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Buddhist Critique Of Harmony, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

A Life Less Difficult, Jennifer L. Holberg

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Last week I had the opportunity to speak on a faculty panel to our university’s Board of Trustees. Our topic: shared governance. Perhaps your eyes are already glazing over. So, before you scroll away, I want to reassure you that that won’t be the focus of today’s contribution.

A Personal Devil: Another Legacy Of The Reformation, Isaias D'Oleo-Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

Although the topic of the Devil and the Powers was popular in 16th-century Europe, the Reformers briefly discussed the Devil and the origin of evil. Despite the limited discussion, I appreciate the Reformation’s emphasis in presenting the Devil and the Powers as personal beings, whom God initially created good but later got corrupted. I invite readers to remember on Reformation Day the role that the Reformers played in clarifying the figure of the Devil and the Powers, putting aside the popular myths and legends.

Aging By Design, Bruce Vermeer

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"While we may be tempted to see aging as a loss, let us receive it as a gift that refines our faith, strengthens our witness, and deepens our longing to dwell forever with the Lord."

Posting about a ­­­­­­­­healthy perspective on getting older from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Aging by Design

Staying Connected To The Vine As A Means Of Leading Worship In A Christ-Like Manner, Paul Edward Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With a society focused on performance-driven worship, most worship leaders today have difficulty maintaining a God-focused, Christ-centered, and Spirit-filled worship experience during worship services. Worship leaders are having difficulty leading worship because they do not follow Christ daily to produce fruit that will help the leader effectively lead worship that honors God. This qualitative research explores the Bible, explicitly using John 15:1-11, Galatians 5:22-23, and 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 as the foundation for the worship leader to remain in Christ to produce the fruit of the Spirit and lead with Godly wisdom and understanding. Worship and leadership textbooks and dissertations covering …

Generation Z And The Church: A Phenomenological Study Of Perceptions, Barriers, And Opportunities For Church Engagement, Hector Albert Soto

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions, barriers, and opportunities that shape the relationship between Generation Z and the Christian church, with particular attention to how these factors influence patterns of engagement. Recent trends indicated a significant decline in church engagement among Generation Z, contributing to the erosion of vital resources necessary for the sustained vitality of contemporary Christian congregations (Barna, 2020; Braddy, 2021; Earls, 2020). The study was guided by three research questions: 1) What Generation Z variables did the church need to focus on to attract and retain Gen Z (e.g., social concerns, leadership …

1-2-1 Reciprocal Discipleship: A Transformation Strategy For Effectively Growing Mature Disciples Of Jesus Christ, Scott M. Whitley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are called to be transformed into the image of Christ through the intimacy of knowing the Father (Eph. 4:13; 2 Cor. 3:18; John 17:3). This can be taught and experienced through one-on-one discipleship, thus fulfilling the Great Commission. Unfortunately, many different discipleship models have become the prevailing stratagem, leaving one-on-one discipleship less emphasized or wholly abandoned. This has resulted in significant transformation through intimacy being lost in many churches and leading to a departure from scriptural discipleship. Therefore, this action research project assumed that consistent participation in the 1-2-1 Reciprocal Discipleship: A Transformation Strategy …

Between Sound And Theology: Timbral Performativity In Brazilian Religious Musicking, Marcell Silva Steuernagel

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This article explores the performativity of timbre, summarizing key perspectives from the English-language scholarship on the topic and setting them in conversation with Latin American perspectives on timbre. In addition, it examines a performance of “500 Graus” (500 degrees), a song performed by Brazilian Pentecostal artists Cassiane and Shirley Carvalhaes, to demonstrate how the performativity of timbre unfolds within a particular expression of Latin American religious musicking. In doing so, it investigates the phenomenon of timbre between music and sound studies, and theology and church music studies, providing insights relevant to the study of timbre and the study of religious …

Timbre — A Transcendent Paradox?, Eugenia Siegel Conte

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Timbre, as ethnomusicologist Cornelia Fales writes, is “paradoxical” precisely because it is one of the most exacting processes in which the human body may sense and comprehend the source of a sound even as that comprehended sound is impossible to describe outside of metaphor or comparison. As one of the more recognizable qualities of sound but the most difficult to describe, timbre allows us to consider physical/emotional (affective) experiences of sound as a key aspect of faith and meditation. In this article, I examine physical-affective intersections of faith and meditation that often are key to praxes of worship, and show …

Live Wires: The Angelus Temple And The Timbre Of Power, Catherine Provenzano

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This article is a media history and contemporary case study of The Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923. My analysis of the Angelus insists upon the centrality of a hyperaudible paradigm of worship that uses media to maximize the legibility of a Christian message, and, more than this, imagines that media itself as a living soul in need of redemption. Many contemporary megachurches employ savvy applications of sound and sound transmission as instruments of belonging as well as action, and these rely on high-budget investments in church infrastructure, software and personnel. I argue that …

From The Heaviest, Dirtiest Depths To The Washy Ambient Clouds: Guitar Timbre In/As Schismogenesis In North American Christianity, Joshua K. Busman, Nathan Myrick

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This essay argues that within the socio-cultural context of North American Christianity, the timbral qualities of electric guitar, with its long lineage as a site of cultural values conflict and identity negotiation, serves a theological function in the emerging and cohering sonority of digital worship. Using as comparative case studies the timbral qualities of delay and ambience as promoted and sold by Worship Tutorials as representing normative sonic values for these Christians, on the one hand, and the dialectic and schismatic deployment of distortion by the band My Epic on the other, we suggest that these timbral qualities become important …

Sounds Like 'Saudade': Eschatological Echoes In Brazilian 'Gospel' Music, Fernando Berwig Silva

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This paper analyzes the song “Saudade” by the Brazilian gospel singer Stella Laura. In the song, I argue that Stella Laura uses Brazilian timbral markers from the Sertanejo and Gospel Brazilian music genres to articulate a unique perspective on eschatology, one that is based on the affective structure of the Lusophone word ‘saudade.’ Furthermore, I contend that the song, rooted in the Brazilian nostalgic sertanejo music tradition, leans on stylistic and timbral tools to communicate the idea of saudade from heaven. Beyond lyrics that feature theological notions of origin, identity, and nostalgia, Stella Laura’s song employs timbral, poetic, …

God’S Vow: A Note On C.S. Lewis’S Idea Of Human Freewill And Divine Omnipotence, Matthew Mckenna

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This note uses G.K. Chesterton’s understanding of vows as a hermeneutical key for a line from C.S. Lewis’ Miracles where Lewis says that God relinquishes part of his power by creating freewill. Chesterton’s idea of vows sees them as acts of power and freedom which paradoxically limit one’s freedom in the future by compelling one to keep one’s vow. The vow is an act of freedom which relinquishes one’s freedom by committing one to certain actions. Viewed through this lens, God’s creation of freewill is seen as an act of power and freedom.

Tolkien On Kennings And The River-(Woman’S) Daughter, Derek Simon

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

THIS IS A TWO-PART ARTICLE. IN ORDER TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE OTHER PART, FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS ABSTRACT.

While the River-daughter is a prevalent poetic name for Goldberry, Tom introduces her as the River-woman’s daughter when singing and skipping along the banks of the Withywindle. The River-woman variant occurs only once in Goldberry’s narrative but is not easily dismissed. The contrast between the two variant names raises several questions on how to read Goldberry’s enigma. Tolkien’s brief commentaries on the kenning as a poetic device serve as the starting-point for exploring the literary function of …

The Morality Of The Civil War: Just War Theory And Union Policy And Conduct, Michael Payne

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article shall argue that the Union army, which was composed primarily of Christian soldiers and officers, prosecuted the Civil War in as moral a fashion as possible. It shall examine the different ways in which one can judge the morality of war, concluding that the tenets of Just War Theory are the best standard by which to judge a belligerent’s actions. It shall then examine Union war policy to determine if it is consistent with Just War Theory. This shall be done through a side-by-side comparison of Just War Theory’s tenets and Union policy. It shall then explore whether …

Wired For Words: God's Design For Language And Learning, Gwen R. Marra

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Understanding the process of learning to read reminds me of the importance of attending to and truly engaging with the voices and stories of others."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the power of literacy from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Wired for Words

Religious, Spiritual, And Cultural Influences Of Dysphagia In The Usa, Emily J. Helder, Elizabeth Oommen, Natalie Bekmetjev, Abigail Mosher, Laura Schipper, Stacia Hoeksema, Katie Georges, Maddie Willemstein, Anna Bierma, Emily Cameron

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Dysphagia, difficulty with swallowing, affects approximately 16% of US adults and can result from conditions such as stroke, neurodegenerative conditions, and cancer. Despite growing emphasis on the intersection of religion/spirituality (R/S) and health, little research has examined these connections in dysphagia. This qualitative study explored the impact of dysphagia on engagement in R/S rituals and communities and access to cultural food traditions. It also examined ways that R/S beliefs shaped coping practices in persons with dysphagia and their caregivers. Data were gathered through focus group sessions as a part of an interprofessional support group. Participants’ dysphagia symptoms were caused by …

From A Shtetl House To An Urban Apartment: The Soviet Jewish Home Negotiated, Transformed, And Reimagined, Anna Kushkova

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

This essay argues that despite the powerful forces of assimilation, official campaigns against Jewish religion/languages, and grassroots/state antisemitism, the “Jewish home” did not disappear, as is sometimes assumed, but continued to present a site of Jewish ethnic production and transmission, creativity, and resistance during the Soviet regime. In the Soviet Union, especially in the postwar period, Jewish ethnic culture was forced to leave the public sphere, where it became unwelcome and even dangerous, and withdrew into the less visible space of domestic interiors. The degree of Jewish public presence varied geographically: the situation was generally better in the Baltic Republics, …

“Holy Trash” And The Tears Of The Deceased: The Emotional Role Of Genizot For The Jewish Communities Of Central Europe, Nathanael Riemer

Jewish Folklore and Ethnology

Since the 1980s, more than seventy genizot (Heb., repositories) have been rediscovered in former synagogues of Central Europe. A genizah is a room in or near a synagogue where damaged, discarded, or heretical texts and sacred relics are stored. This essay examines where, when, and why genizot developed in Central Europe. It also analyzes the emotional significance of the genizot for their respective communities. Historical and literary sources show that genizot were placed in the synagogue attics of Jewish metropolises from the seventeenth century at the latest and were usually not ritually buried. Smaller communities in rural regions adopted this …

Analysis Of Pilgrimage To The Evangelical Lutheran Church In Zimbabwe (Elcz) Mission Centres, Rabson Hove

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is usually a sacred journey undertaken by religious adherents to holy places associated with their own traditions. As religions grow, religious pilgrimage also expands as the members of the religious traditions continue to influence each other. These holy religious centres influence religious enrichment, enhancement, strength and growth. Members get in touch with their origins and the history of the expansion of their religion as they encounter their holy sites or centres. In the case of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ), their important holy sites are missionary centres which are commonly located in rural Zimbabwe. The majority …

Communities Of Practice: Aging, Emergency Management, And Churches In Rural Clackamas County, Oregon, Lukas Robert Aberle

Dissertations and Theses

As the population of the United States ages, questions arise of how to best care for older adults in daily life and emergency situations. This research looks at the daily activities of churches to see how they affect everyday and emergency care practices. As a collaboration with Clackamas County government, I researched the relationship between churches and care through participant observation and interviews during the summer of 2024 to understand congregations’ support for older members, the role of church congregations in emergency management, and the implications of the decline in religious participation alongside aging in the United States. I found …

Sinners, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Sinners (2025), directed by Ryan Coogler.

Transmodern Cinema And Decolonial Film Theory: A Study Of Youssef Chahine’S Al Maṣīr, Joshua Polanski

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Robert K. Beshara, Transmodern Cinema and Decolonial Film Theory: A Study of Youssef Chahine’s Al Maṣīr (Bloomsbury, 2024).

Iranian Culture In Bahram Beyzaie’S Cinema And Theatre: Paradigms Of Being And Belonging (1959-79), Hessam Abedini

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Saeed Talajooy, Iranian Culture in Bahram Beyzaie’s Cinema and Theatre: Paradigms of Being and Belonging (1959-79) (London: I.B. Tauris, 2023)

Subjectivity And Decolonisation In The Post-Independence Novel And Film, Heather Bigley

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Sarah Jilani, Subjectivity and Decolonisation in the Post-Independence Novel and Film (Edinburgh University Press, 2024).

Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy Through Buddhism, Teng-Kuan Ng

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Victor Fan, Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy through Buddhism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2022)

Lived Islam In Films: Faith-Based Resilient Responses Of Syrian Refugees, Jumana S. Al-Ahmad

Journal of Religion & Film

This article provides educators in fields such as Middle Eastern studies, refugee studies, cultural and Islamic studies with a framework from documentaries to challenge stereotypes about Muslim refugees and migrants. Using the framework of lived Islam, the article explores how Syrian Muslim migrants, as seen in documentaries, draw on their faith to build resilience that enables them to continue striving for better lives. Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome challenges and catastrophes, envision solutions, and lead a purposeful life. This article conceptualizes resilience not only as a personal trait but also as a collective tool for survival and …

100 Years Of Sergei Eisenstein: Iconographic Language And Revolution, Milja Radovic

Journal of Religion & Film

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece Броненосец Потёмкин / Battleship Potemkin (1925), it is essential to re-examine the film that has had enduring influence on film theory, history, and scholarship. Voted one of the greatest films of all time, Eisenstein’s cinematic genius has been crucial to understanding the power of film language. This paper focuses on the underexplored relationship between Eisenstein’s film language and iconography, examining the ways in which Orthodox Christian iconography shaped the story of revolution. The paper delves into the ways in which Eisenstein conveyed complex ideas, demonstrating the technical developments of film …