Digital Commons Network^™

Focus On The Busy Intersections Of Culture And Cultural Change, Laura Elder

Journal of Global Catholicism

The dynamics of religious resurgence reveal the important ways that religious ritual and performance are meaning making spaces which are not self-contained or cut off from the rest of culture, but rather are a key locus of cultural change. A renewed emphasis on the busy intersections of meaning making – as rituals are connected, disconnected, and reconnected to other domains of social life – would improve the utility of the Catholics & Cultures website for understanding global cultural change. And a renewed emphasis on cultural change would also provide a better means for exploring reflexively by seeking to understand both …

A Widened Angle Of View: Teaching Theology And Racial Embodiment, Mara Brecht

Journal of Global Catholicism

Today’s undergraduate students are digital natives, shaped by constant access to information and countless experiences of encountering the world through the convenience of a screen. The ostensible comfort students have with difference gives way to a paradox, and one that’s made especially apparent in the theology classroom: Students are comfortable with seeing difference and particularity at a distance, but not adept at locating difference and particularity “at home.” I contend that Catholics & Cultures can help students from the dominant culture—namely, white students who comprise the vast majority of Catholic college students—destabilize their notion of the Catholic tradition as tightly …

Introducing Catholics & Cultures: Ethnography, Encyclopedia, Cyborg, Mathew N. Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

In introducing the Catholics & Cultures site and the articles in this special issue, this essay initially locates the overall Catholic & Cultures project within the traditions of ethnography and encyclopedia. Drawing extensively on the work of J. Z. Smith, this essay reflects upon the theoretical implications of emphasizing the diversity of Catholicism in and through a web-based platform that facilitates comparative study and pedagogy. This essay then more specifically considers the web-based aspects of Catholics & Cultures by identifying a nascent cyborgian aesthetic in the site and considering how the site might eventually engage post-modern themes and concerns.

Melding Critical Literacy And Christianity: A Three-Layered Response To The Murder Of George Floyd, Elena M. Venegas

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

In this critical autoethnography, I share my three-layered response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department in May of 2020. This three-layered response stems from my situated identities (Gee, 1999) as a mother, Christian, and academic. I was not only appalled by the dehumanization of George Floyd by public servants but also by the responses of self-professed Christians to his murder as well as the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests. Such responses, I argue, are rooted in Christian nationalism (Davis & Perry, 2020) and the White supremacy that has long plagued the American …

Gospel As Recipe Book: Nonlinear Reading And Practical Texts In Late Antiquity, Jeremiah Coogan

Jesuit School of Theology

Der Artikel widmet sich der Frage, wie Christen und Nichtchristen in der Spätantike mit dem »Evangelium« als Textartefakt umgegangen sind. Zunächst werden spätantike Praxistexte wie rituelle Formelsammlungen, medizinische Handbücher, landwirtschaftliche Leitfäden und astronomische Tabellen betrachtet, die in einer Vielzahl von Situationen abschnittsweise verwendet wurden, etwa beim lauten Lesen, beim Befolgen der Anweisungen für die Ausführung eines Rituals, die Zubereitung eines Medikaments oder den Entwurf eines Horoskops. Um dies zu erleichtern, waren solche Praxistexte für den nichtlinearen Zugriff angelegt. In spätantiken Evangelienkodizes spiegeln sich offenbar ähnliche Organisationsstrategien und Gebrauchsweisen wider. Mit verschiedenen Gliederungs- und Verweissystemen wurde die Möglichkeit (affordance) des nichtlinearen …

The Prosperity Ethic: Neoliberal Christianity And The Rise Of The New Prosperity Gospel In The Philippines, Erron Medina, Jayeel S. Cornelio

Development Studies Faculty Publications

A new prosperity gospel is emerging in the Philippines. We call it the prosperity ethic. Its dimensions set it apart from the previous incarnation of the prosperity gospel, which emphasized tithing and confessing. Specifically, the prosperity ethic values upward mobility and uses biblical principles for the acquisition of practical skills to become rich. We make our case by drawing on the writings of Bo Sanchez and Chinkee Tan, two of the most influential prosperity-oriented preachers in the country. The prosperity ethic has three dimensions: the morality of wealth (believing right), the prescribed mindset (thinking right), and the practical skills to …

Quarantine Chronicles, Sarah Moss

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Professional Experience, Sarah Moss

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Horizons Of Hope, Howard Schaap

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Advancing With Avid, Sarah Moss

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Making The Most Of Things, Sarah Moss

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Session Iii: Presentation 1 - Disrupting The System: How Harriet Beecher Stowe Used Uncle Tom's Cabin To Challenge Calvinistic Ideals Of Christianity, Michelle P. Lominac

Life of the Scholar Multidisciplinary Conference

Analyzing Harriet Beecher Stowe's methods of challenging traditional Calvinistic beliefs in her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

The Mass Is The Medium: Marshall Mcluhan And Roman Catholic Liturgical Change, Ashil D. Manohar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The liturgical changes of Vatican II sought to bring a period of renewal to the Catholic laity by encouraging active participation and making the Mass more simple to understand. However, the time after the Council was characterized by confusion and disengagement by the laity. I will be discussing three significant changes to the liturgy at this time, The change from Latin to the vernacular, the change in the orientation of the altar and priest, and the change in acoustics, sound, and music. I will be examining all of these changes through the media theory of Marshall McLuhan, famous for coining …

White Too Long: Christianity Or Nationalism?, Rachel E. Osborne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tension, racism, and violence being enacted in the name of Christianity have brought new attention to the work of many scholars of religion who have documented and analyzed the relationship between white Christianity and racism in the U.S. In his 2020 book White Too Long, Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) director and religious studies scholar Robert P. Jones states unequivocally that “[i]n survey after survey, white Christians stand out in their negative attitudes about racial, ethnic, and religious minorities (especially Muslims), the unequal treatment of African Americans by police and the criminal justice system, their anxieties about the changing face …

Christian Realism And The State As Idol: Feminist And Postcolonial Critique And Christian Realist Theology In An Interdependent World, Laura E. Alexander

Religion Faculty Publications

At a time of outspoken nationalism, Christian realism accurately diagnoses idolatry of the state as a political and theological problem. The power of sovereign states protects self-determination but can allow states to unjustly oppress members of minority groups. From a Christian realist perspective, states’ power relative to other institutions can encourage religious idolatry, with citizens devoting their ultimate loyalty to a state. To mitigate this problem, Christian realism argues for recognition of states’ limitations. However, Christian realism itself remains beholden to a notion of states’ sovereign agency rooted in an incomplete picture of human nature. Recent feminist and postcolonial scholarship …

Assistant Professor’S Research Focuses On Women’S Roles In China’S Modern Transformation, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

Zhang is also working to publish a book this year, titled “Materializing a Gendered Modernity: The Beijing Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) (1927-1937).”

الإلحاد في العالم العربي والرد عليه من خلال مواقع الإنترنت ووسائل التواصل الاجتماعي - دراسة تحليليةAtheism In The Arab World And The Refutation Of It Through Internet And Social Media (Analytical Study), Amjad Qourshah

Jordan Journal of Islamic Studies

ملخص

الإلحاد -باعتباره إنكارًا لوجود الله U- ليس ظاهرة جديدة بل قديمة، إلا أنها وعبر التاريخ كانت ظاهرة القلة المنبوذة، إلا أن الظاهرة الجديدة وهي ما يسمى بـ "الإلحاد الجديد" غير مسبوقة بسبب الآليات والوسائل المستخدمة لنصرة الفكرة، كالكذب وإخفاء الحقائق، ولتزامنها مع ضعف أصيب به المسلمون، وتضييق الخناق على كثير من الدعاة مع انتشار الجهل بالإسلام. وهذه الموجة الإلحادية الجديدة تكتسب أنصارًا وتشهد تمددًا في العالم. وتقوم أهمية هذا البحث على تجلية هذه الظاهرة في العالم العربي من خلال مواقع الإنترنت ووسائل التواصل الاجتماعي؛ فقد قام البحث بمتابعة عدة مواقع وقنوات على الإنترنت لنشر الفكر الإلحادي، وكذلك أخرى إسلامية …

The Expected Value Of Sports In The Christian School, Timothy Van Soelen

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Selections From Divinatio Diver, Sculptural Antipathia In Atonement Transcendo, And Mechanika Momento: Creatio Forecaster, Antonie Frankie Aquino

Far West Popular Culture Association Annual Conference

It is fated inspiration which penetrates the heart, satisfies the collective soul, and offers its spirit to the vastness of ceremonial vision. Vision becomes sound and sound forms a poetic voice displaced— this displacement radiates a mythologized poetic voice serving as a lyrical object, theogonic lyre, and the genealogical muse. Selected poems from Divinatio Diver, Sculptural Antipathia: In Atonement Transcendo and Mechanika Momento: Creatio Forerunner, the collected poems orchestrate a tryptic voice that dismantles the outward magnitude of the self by subverting the antithetical self through spiritual and organic sensualness.This mythopoeic tripartism simultaneously interconnects with religion, theology, and metaphysics which …

The Rhetoric Of Spirituality, Gender, And The Environment In The Wicker Man (1973) And Midsommar (2019), Emma Frances Bloomfield

Far West Popular Culture Association Annual Conference

The Wicker Man (1973) and Midsommar (2019) are horror films that address dominant ideologies including the patriarchy, anthropocentrism, and Christianity. Both films have a nature-connected cult that sacrifices for the community and performs rituals informed by pagan eco-spirituality. I perform an ecofeminist rhetorical criticism to analyze how, despite these shared themes, spiritual, gender, and environmental messages differ between the two films. In The Wicker Man, the audience is invited to sympathize with Neil’s character, his Christianity, and his individualistic masculinity as he is sacrificed in the cult’s harvest ritual. Alternatively, the main character in Midsommar, Dani, gets revenge …

The Voice In My Head Is Populist. And White., Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

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.

Archiving Catholic Faith On The Web During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kayla Harris, Stephanie Shreffler

Marian Library Faculty Publications

In the middle of March 2020, an undergraduate English class from the University of Dayton visited the Marian Library for hands-on learning with primary source materials related to miraculous cures at the Lourdes shrine in France. Students in the upper-level seminar course that focused on narrative, rhetoric, and medicine prepared for the visit by reading an article about the baths at Lourdes, where thousands of pilgrims have traveled annually since the 1870s for a chance to be cured by the holy water from a spring.1 As students examined photographs, copies of case files, and historical narrative accounts, several of them …

Adventist Church Leadership And Religious Liberty In India: Impact On Mission And Ministry, Santosh Kumar

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

India, consisting of several diverse communities, operates on various religious sentiments, norms, expectations, cultures, and worldviews. Each culture and worldview developed, nurtured, and was organized in a community that recognized the importance of religious tolerance—tolerances that keep India united and yet diverse. Religious tolerance in India respects and allows the various religions to exist and practice within the same community.1 However, if this norm is broken, the resulting actions can result in unexpected consequences. There are several cases where tolerance was breached due to religious standards, views, or beliefs, causing chaos in a community.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has become …

Individual Pastoral Counseling In Combination With Celebrate Recovery Group Experience, Stephen F. Curtis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered twelve-step program in which participants benefit from testimonies and mutual sharing of their struggles and victories. However, “cross-talk” and giving advice is not permitted in the group. Some participants may need or desire individual counseling. This thesis project focused on a Celebrate Recovery ministry in a rural setting where travel and economic obstacles create an impediment to access the services of a licensed therapist. Individual pastoral counseling was combined with the Celebrate Recovery group experience to ascertain whether the combination of these two approaches would yield enhanced and accelerated recovery as perceived by the participants. …

Becoming Fitly Joined Together: Unifying The Church Body For Vision Manifestation, Keisha Hodge

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This DMIN action research project fulfilled the purpose of increasing awareness within the four churches in the Greater Berea District concerning the value and function of having a vision. Preintervention and postintervention questionnaires, interviews, hypothetical case studies, and a class-styled intervention was employed. The one-day intervention educated participants concerning how a vision supports the work of the church, which enables it to be more fruitful. Furthermore, the class equipped attendees with a biblical foundation showing that God is a proponent and encourager of vision. The necessity of this study was determined when the researcher witnessed a church vision being cast …

A Mentoring Model: A Leadership Style For Seventh-Day Adventists In Southern Asia, J. L. Samir

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in India has been commissioned by God to be a witness to the 1.3 billion people in India of whom 80% are from a Hindu background. After a hundred years, the Southern Asian Division has a membership of 1.5 million people. There are many reasons to celebrate the success of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in India, particularly the success of the Adventist school system and the health care provided by the health institutions. However, the organization that is responsible for leading South Asians to Jesus Christ may not be able to celebrate the same success as …

The Deaf Catholic, Spring 2021

ICDA The Deaf Catholic

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in USA

ICDA The Deaf CatholicFinding Aid

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 …

Addressing The Issue Of Low Attendance In Emmanuel Church Among Young Adults, Ivett Beverley Mcdonald

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the study was to address the issue of low attendance in Emmanuel Church among young adults. This topic is based on the investigator's awareness that individuals who grow up in Emmanuel discontinue attendance between the ages of eighteen to twenty-nine years. The literature review revealed that many churches commonly experience this problem. Emmanuel Church is primarily made up of Jamaicans and their descendants, and no literature addressed the immediate context of Emmanuel Church. The investigator interviewed twenty young adults who were previous members of Emmanuel Church. The study revealed that young adults leave Emmanuel in record numbers. …