Digital Commons Network^™

The Importance Of Self-Awareness For The Prevention Of Burnout And Compassion Fatigue For Clergy, Reginald Charlestin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Self-care is both necessary and vital to the efficiency and longevity of ministry professionals, pastors, and people in general. When a person neglects their physical, emotional, and mental state, quality of life decreases. To study the importance of self-awareness and how to prevent burnouts and compassion fatigue among clergy, this thesis used the Macedonia Worship Center leadership staff as a study subject. The researcher studied various peer-reviewed articles that have evaluated the relationship between those who work in ministry and their levels of burnout and compassion fatigue alongside their perception of self-care to understand the importance of self-awareness related to …

A Model For Ongoing Leadership Development In Evangelical Generation Z Ministry Leaders, Jillieta Diane Norwood

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the leadership preparedness and biblical worldview of Generation Z (Gen Z) Christian ministry leaders to inform the formation of a theoretical model for ongoing leadership development. Participants (N=7) were paid senior ministry leaders of Assembly of God churches in the Midwest region who were involved in the hiring process and ongoing development of paid Gen Z ministry leaders. Additional participants included ministry leaders who fell within the defined years of the Generation Z cohort (1995-2010) and who had been employed by the church for a minimum of six months (N=10). …

The Effects Of Mosaic Law Observance On Human Health, Emily Uhlmeyer

Senior Honors Theses

For the people of ancient Israel, life was guided and regulated by adherence to the law of Moses. Dietary restrictions, purification rituals, circumcision, and Sabbath observance were each critical components of this code and were meticulously detailed in the Old Testament, specifically in the Torah. Still today, dietary laws are observed and select rituals practiced by many Jews and Seventh Day Adventists. Although health protection was never the primary purpose of the law, noticeable effects on human health have been connected to its observance. Evaluation of the effects of the Levitical law on human health can be achieved by a …

Ghosts’ Stories: Addictive Behaviors And Complicated Grief In George Saunders’ Lincoln In The Bardo, Jc Leishman

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

When experiencing the natural motions of the grieving process, some individuals encounter an inability to pass this process by a phenomenon known as complicated grief. To deal with the cyclical trauma this causes, the human mind seeks to engage in addictive behaviors (both substantive and behavioral) that work to artificially and momentarily circumvent grief. This process, as it appears in George Saunders' experimental novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, reveals a depth of commentary on human attachments and grieving processes through the lives and narratives of ghosts found in the bardo.

Cuteness And Curanderismo, Mylan T. Nguyen

Art Theses and Dissertations

Abstract:

In this paper I analyze the trajectory of concepts and explorations in my art practice during my graduate studies from 2019-2022. I examine how an interest in magic, healing and interconnectedness has led me to create illustration, ceramic, and risograph art that interprets the stories and practices I have encountered around Curanderismo, and Nahuales. I examine how these stories are shaped and also celebrate the wealth of healing knowledge they can provide.

Hope For The Heartbroken: A Sacred Space For Grace, Patricia Mayes

Doctor of Ministry

This project addresses pathways for hope rising from heartbreaking behaviors of unresolved grief due to a loss from any source that prevents one from a life of peace, love, and future happiness. The audience is those persons and groups experiencing any life event that threatens a sense of well-being and loss of hope for a better future. Some of those events are death of a loved one, job loss, disruption of family dynamics, civic and cultural discord, workplace discord and dysfunctional relationships.

The key insight emerging early was while a local regional need existed, little support existed given current free …

Acceptance To Expedience: A Comparative Analysis Of Ellen G. White And Arthur G. Daniells Counsel For Race Relations, Jon-Philippe Ruhumuliza

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

This article offers a comparative analysis of Ellen G. White’s and Arthur G. Daniells’s positions concerning race relations. Through a careful survey of White’s writings—especially Testimonies to the Church, vol. 9, pp. 199–226 and The Southern Work—I argue that she never supported separationism. I hypothesize that Adventist separationism gained precedence through Daniells’s selective compilation of White’s counsels in his 1906 response to the People’s Church. My findings unpack White’s beliefs in spiritual leadership and ministry. She called for workers able to simultaneously accommodate culture and undermine prejudice internally through the gospel. Her vision necessitated the adjustment of methods on a …

The Satnav Series: Discipleship Journeys In Today's Culture, Tracy Cotterell

Doctor of Ministry

The Project was developed in response to the following NPO (specifically opportunity): In a disorientating culture, forming disciples in the way of Christ needs a relational, experiential model that enlarges their capacity to integrate Bible, Spirit, self and context. A key insight emerging from research was millennial Christians’ sense of being outmaneuvered by a rapidly changing culture. This left them feeling stranded with insufficient way-markers towards flourishing, fruitful lives as followers of Jesus in their context. Research also identified a yearning for a discipleship model that was relationally rich, holistic and experiential in its approach, and which responded directly to …

Serving God Across The Divide: A Lesson From Jeremiah, Oliver Glanz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Decline Of Youth At Ministry Under The Sky, Wanda Elaine Belvin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The decline of youth attending their services is no secret for many churches. The influences of the world, technology, wanting to fit in are just a few reasons youth find other things to do than attend their church services faithfully. Ministry Under The Sky is a small ministry with a big heart. At its birth in 2001, Ministry Under The Sky’s start was in the researcher’s home and her husband, the Overseer of the ministry. God blessed Ministry Under The Sky with its first building in 2007. The church outgrew the first two buildings less than two years each. The …

Youth Discipleship Framework For Church Revitalization, Temaris Loran Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In most recent years, the decline of youth in North American churches has become a general area of concern. Churches, para-ministries, and youth ministries alike have sought to combat the mass youth exodus. Despite the gains recognized in education, ministry to emerging generations in practical ways churches ar not fairing well in their ability to engage and maintain young believers. This project stems from the idea that a youth discipleship framework is essential to youth discipleship and church revitalization. This study uses dual quantitative and qualitative interviews with youth ministry leaders to understand their experiences and observations regarding the barriers …

Discipleship Mentoring Program For Emerging Adults That Have Abandoned Church, Acquenetta Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There has been and continues to be a mass exodus of emerging adults that have stopped attending church services after they graduate high school. Many emerging adults have abandoned church and other religious institutions, abandoned their affiliation with the title of Christianity or religion, their religious beliefs that they once held, or have participated in other worldview religions or atheism. The purpose of this research study focuses on the similarities and differences between the current generation of emerging adults and earlier generation of young adults, other reasons why emerging adults have abandoned church, and how effective discipleship mentoring can be …

Jesus’S Subversive Reading Of The Isaian Jubilee: Luke 4:16–30 In Theological-Historiographical Perspective, Jeff Scott Kennedy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A growing number of scholars have proposed that Luke, or his sources, fabricated the story of Jesus reading a text in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:14–30) in order to appeal to the literate sensibilities of Luke’s Greek audience. The thesis of this dissertation is that Luke’s portrayal of Jesus as a capable public reader and expositor of the Scripture is historically credible and Christologically significant. Rather than implying that Jesus was a scribal-literate reader, Luke’s synagogue narrative signals that Jesus was a capable and a welcomed lay-reader of the Prophets, and a capable yet unwelcomed expositor who appeared to have …

Concordia Seminary Magazine Spring 2022, Vicki Biggs

Concordia Seminary Magazine

Made through Him

Examining Discipleship Strategies In Christian And Missionary Alliance Churches, Osvaldo A. Alvarado

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

In this quantitative study, discipleship strategies of churches in the Christian and Missionary Alliance were surveyed, to determine if discipleship strategies were effective at fulfilling the mission of helping people connect with God and grow spiritually. Data were collected from 30 church attenders from Western Pennsylvania churches, 27 of which fully completed the research survey. The internal reliability level of participant responses was evaluated and considered excellent. Results showed that the study participant perceptions that they grew in their faith in Christ through the discipleship opportunities provided at their church was statistically significant with a very large magnitude of response …

Seeking Reconciliation: An Examination Of Churches' Response To A History Of Lgb Discrimination, Alexandra Kauffman

Senior Theses

The Church’s response to LGB people has evolved quickly in the past century. Gay visibility and understandings of sexuality as it is known today only began to emerge in the mid- to-late 20th century. Within that time, responses to constantly evolving science and shifting understanding of LGB people invoked a variety of religious and political responses to the issue of legal protections of gay people. Theological interpretations of the Biblical passages surrounding same-sex relations have evolved as the church’s response to gay people has shifted from ex-gay therapy, to calls for celibacy or affirming gay marriage. The issues surrounding LGB …

Single And Christian Masterclass And Community, Ryan Lui

Doctor of Ministry

As the number of people marrying later in life or not at all in the church and world continue to rise, singleness as a significant stage of life and ministry area must also rise. However, with the Western church’s traditional focus on evangelism, family, and church growth, among other things, singleness is not given the attention it needs and results in single Christians languishing.

As a pastor at an urban church who has worked primarily with single people in their 20s and 30s, the issues related to a person’s singleness have been a reoccurring source of challenge regarding pastoral care, …

Biblical Contradictions: Embracing The Errors Of Scripture As Our Spiritual Teachers, Henry Craig Hadley

Doctor of Ministry

In 2016, Barna Group reported that “Among practicing Protestants, nine out of 10 in every age group say either that the Bible is the actual word of God (should be taken literally, word for word) or that it’s the inspired word of God without error.” This belief system causes Protestant Christians to ignore, gloss over, and explain away all the contradictions they discover in the Bible, rather than participate with the contradictions wholeheartedly. There is an opportunity to help Protestant Christians take part in more dialogue about contradictions, engage in more study of the Bible because of the contradictions, and …

The Jewish Organizations Fighting Fascism In The United States, Maya Leibold

Honors Theses

Recent years have shown a rising trend in fascist and antisemitic actions and attitudes in the United States. In response to this trend, communities have organized into various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) committed to mobilizing people to combat fascism and antisemitism as they see it. An analysis of these organizations’ methods and varying degrees of success will offer a blueprint for future action against fascism. Due to their historical connection to this type of mobilization against fascism, this research will be focused on Jewish-led and organized NGOs. NGOs are often the first to call attention to actions by groups and states …

Towards A "Pedagogy Of Beauty": The New Evangelization, English Education, And Renewal Of The Catholic School, Elena Niese

Honors Theses

In the complex cultural landscape of the modern world, evangelization, or the proclamation of the Gospel, cannot look the same as it once did. In 1975, Pope Paul VI addressed this need for renewal, calling for a “new evangelization.” Subsequent popes, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, have continued to place this missionary impulse at the forefront of their initiatives. Yet, despite this emphasis, much remains elusive. What exactly is the new evangelization? This thesis will trace the evolution of the new evangelization from its conception to today, proposing how the English educator within the Catholic school can …

Finding Tov: A Workbook, Playbook Sketchbook & Coaching Framework, Henry John Graf V

Doctor of Ministry

Need, Problem, Opportunity (NPO)

In telling a more accurate story about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (TKGE), I want to guide creatives to find and live their tov.

Key Benefits

Two key benefits emerged in the process of this research. First, anchoring TKGE in tov has evangelistic impact. Nones and Dones are the fastest growing religious demographics in America. Releasing tov from morality and mediocrities addresses the theodicy and brings gospel back to TKGE. Second, people are invited and, more importantly, equipped to participate in living their miyn as tov.

Ministry / Vocational Context

This project has …

Agentic And Receptive Hope: Understanding Hope In The Context Of Religiousness And Spirituality Through The Narratives Of Salvadoran Youth, Jennifer Medina Vaughn, Pamela Ebstyne King, Susan Mangan, Sean Noe, Samuel Hay, Bridget O’Neil, Jonathan M. Tirrell, Elizabeth M. Dowling, Guillermo Alfredo Iraheta Majano, Alistair Thomas Rigg Sim

All Faculty Open Access Publications

Hope contributes to positive development in adolescents, and religious and spiritual contexts may be particularly important for developing and supporting hope. However, extant literature on hope, religion, and spirituality neglects their synergistic relation, leaving questions about how they work together to support development. In this study, we explore how religiousness and spirituality (R/S) inform hope by identifying unique synergies that might be particularly useful in difficult contexts. Multilevel qualitative content analyses of interviews conducted with 18 thriving Salvadoran adolescents (50% female, Mage = 16.39 years, SD = 1.83) involved in a faith-based program provided evidence that the ideological and relational …

Beacons Of Peace And Tolerance: The Politics Of Memory In Judeo-Moroccan Cultural And Historical Institutions, Audrey Ming An Hirsch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Bayt Dakira, a historical, religious, cultural, and academic institution located in the heart of Essaouira’s old medina, seeks to conserve Jewish-Moroccan memory and promote values of peace and tolerance as exemplified by the city’s history of Jewish-Muslim coexistence. As an institution dedicated to conserving the culture of a people that have all but virtually emigrated from Morocco, Bayt Dakira’s purpose is initially unclear. This study uncovers the ways in which Bayt Dakira is an example of a seemingly apolitical institution being wielded to advance national and international political agendas. As an officially apolitical place of cultural and academic exchange, Bayt …

Applying Biblical Teaching To Resolve Power Struggles Between The Pastor And Deacons In A Southern Baptist Church, Jason Oneal Sweeton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As the Body of Christ, each person within the church must know their role and responsibility, especially the leadership. The Bible teaches that there are pastors, elders, and bishops referring to one office who have been given the authority to shepherd, or lead as it were, the church. The Bible teaches that deacons are an integral part of the church. They are to be servants in the church and minister to the needs of the congregation. The purpose of this project lies in the misconceptions surrounding the roles and biblical responsibilities of both deacons and pastors. Many churches simply follow …

You Won't Be Alone, Sheila J. Nayar

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of You Won't Be Alone (2022), directed by Goran Stolevski.

Prayer, Leadership, And Church Planting Movements : Learning From The Prayer-Lives Of Western Renewal Movements And Their Leaders, Matthew Porter

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Aestheticized Temples, Rationalized Affects: Sacred Modernities And The Micro-Regulation Of Hinduism In Singapore, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper develops the idea of “sacred modernities” to explore how the state- led regulation of religion shapes religious communities and religious subjects therein. Sacred modernities define the ways in which sacredness is understood and engaged with under conditions of secular modernity, and in particular, how sacredness is experienced within a context of micro-regulated religious space. We illustrate these ideas through an empirical examination of how Singapore’s Hindu community engages with the idea of sacredness in and through the temple. By contrasting the experiences of Singaporean and non-Singaporean Hindus, we argue that Singapore’s temples offer an aestheticized experience of the …

The Religious Lexicon Embedded In Public American Curricula, Daniel R. Jones

Student Publications

What is the relationship between one's own religious beliefs and their everyday colloquial diction choices? Moreover, why is the subfield that encompasses the intersection of sociolinguistics, education, and religious studies one that has gained little scholarly interest in recent years, where one could argue the importance of religious belief, and other socio-political beliefs in education have come center stage in the heart of American political debate? This article will tackle this broad range of topics through a case study focusing on my primary research question: How does a teacher’s own religious identity affect the religious language utilized in their classroom …

After Yang, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of After Yang (2021), directed by Kogonada.

Nothing Compares, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Nothing Compares (2022), directed by Kathryn Ferguson.