Digital Commons Network^™

Youth Engagement In Religious Practices Within Macedonian Society, Ruzica Cacanoska, Ivan Blazevski Phd

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Official statistical data and various research studies indicate that a significant portion of the Macedonian population identifies as religious. However, these studies also reveal that many of these individuals are nominal believers, adhering to traditional practices without deep engagement. This trend has sparked an interest in exploring the religiosity of the younger generation, which, though often superficial, has gained prominence in recent years. Existing research, albeit limited, has examined young people's religiosity, their perceptions of religion, and the influence of religious values on their daily lives and practices. To gain a comprehensive understanding of young people's attitudes towards religion in …

Educational And Charitable Activities Of Baptist Christians: On The Example Of The Religious Organization Of Evangelical Christians Baptists, Called 'Church Of The Nativity,' In Zhytomyr, Nataliia Kovtun, Iryna Vitiuk, Olena Polishchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Over the past three decades, and especially in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war (2014-2024), Ukrainian Evangelical Christian Baptists have been actively engaged in charitable and educational activities. The article examines this activity through content analysis and statistical analysis of the statutory documents, website, and YouTube channels of the Church of the Nativity of Evangelical Christians Baptists (ECB) in Zhytomyr (Ukraine).

The study found that the church's charitable activities are carried out in several areas: the ministry of parishioners and elders of the Nativity Church of the Baptist Church of Zhytomyr within the framework of the Christian Center for Social …

My Last Concussion, Shannon Valkr

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

MY LAST CONCUSSION is a thesis consisting of a critical introduction, a number of poetic influences, and a collection of poems. The introduction touches on the themes of the collection, my personal history with my subject, my changing approach to poetry, and a brief evaluation of the work as a whole. It details my approach to Catholicism, paganism, transgender identity, and oppression. My work grapples with both my current understanding of myself and my inability to enunciate my reality in the past. I aim to view divinity and personal history through a lens of queerness.

Advisor: Kwame Dawes

Civilians Under Siege In War-Torn Ukraine: Human Rights Ngo And Faith-Based Responses, Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A central tenet of international humanitarian law states that in armed conflict, “It is unlawful to target civilians.” Stressing this prohibition in the case of the Russian assault on vulnerable Ukrainian civilians is not only the United Nations but the European Union, the World Health Organization, the Office of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine, representing 75 Ukrainian and international NGOs assisting Ukraine in the present war. Zaher Sahloul, president and co-founder of MedGlobal, argues in favor of a recognition of Russia’s current efforts “to erase Ukrainian identity and culture” as a genocide. …

Effective Strategies For Building Traditional Church Membership, Carlos Blake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A dwindling number of congregational members poses a significant risk to the continuity of U.S. churches. Leaders in traditional congregations need effective tactics for membership expansion. Drawing upon Bolman and Deal’s four-frame theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore effective strategies leaders of traditional churches use to build membership. The participants were six leaders from traditional churches situated in the Southern and Eastern parts of the United States. Data were collected by conducting semistructured interviews and archival documents. Thematic analysis of the data revealed four prominent themes: influential leadership, community involvement, use of technology and social …

Towards A Mosim Christology: A Korean Response, Hwang Kyung-Hoon

Asia Pacific Mission Studies

This article will reflect on Jesus' understanding of God, and will then move on to discuss the Korean people's cultural understanding of Jesus. It will offer Mosim Christology (mosim means reverencing or serving humans and God in one's heart sincerely) as a meaningful Christology for Korean people. It will show the relationship between Jesus' experience of God as Abba and mosim, our main theme.

Understanding And Accessing North Korean Religion, Byun Jin Heung

Asia Pacific Mission Studies

Questions about North Korean religion always come with a question mark, and the general level of understanding about North Korean society is very low. This stems from doubts about North Korean communism. However, North Korea is a human society in which people live. As the society of North Korea has changed, so has the religion of North Korea. North Korea, especially after the collapse of the Cold War between East and West, has sought to change to survive and has used religion to gain recognition and acceptance from the international community. Religion has always been a tool to be used. …

Full Issue 2024 (Volume 2), Taylor University

Lux et Fides: A Journal for Undergraduate Christian Scholars

This open-access journal endeavors to showcase the excellent academic inquiry of Taylor University students. The content within this issue represents multiple academic disciplines within the humanities, natural and applied sciences, and social sciences, and demonstrates the “Light and Faith” mentality that is so central Taylor University’s educational philosophy. We are grateful to all who submitted articles, our faculty reviewers, and the editorial board.

For the first time, Lux et Fides contains both Research Briefs and articles. Research Briefs are abstract-length summaries of grant-funded faculty-mentored student research projects conducted during the summer of 2023 and allow students to articulate to our …

The Early Proclamation Of The Resurrection As A Compelling Evidence For The Historicity Of The Resurrection: A Historical Inquiry Of The Resurrection Miracle, Marina Gordo Lyle

Masters Theses

The resurrection's historicity has been mainly defended through Jesus's empty tomb and postmortem appearances, which testify more to the resurrection belief of the first Christians than to the resurrection as a historical fact. The early proclamation of the resurrection is a minimal fact often overlooked when defending the resurrection's historicity. Nevertheless, it forms a compelling case for the resurrection as a historical fact through a type of proclamation that emerged at Pentecost, with immediate effects best explained by Jesus's resurrection. Indeed, Pentecost's effects in time include the church's birth and rapid expansion through miracles that only took place once the …

Beings-In-Becoming: A Formative Critique Of Schellenberg's Problem Of Divine Hiddenness, Isaiah Parker

Masters Theses

This thesis aims to show that Schellenberg's problem of divine hiddenness fails as an argument for atheism because his assumptions about, and understanding of, what constitutes belief does not account for the nuanced and complex understanding of belief formation presented in contemporary psychology and recently developed dynamic liminal-belief frameworks. This paper argues that Schellenberg has been immodest in his robust claims regarding the existence of a cognitive state of nonresistant unbelief. In other words, he has misdiagnosed the human condition of doubt by unnecessarily holding to a narrow definition of belief. The complexity of belief formation necessitates a holistic credence …

A Lifestyle Who Is Christ: An Integrative Model Of Spiritual Formation, Katherine L. Pang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The field of spiritual formation is replete with models, ways, and processes, including many that propose the integration of psychology and Christianity and have further examined the psychology of Paul. Yet, none emphasize the impact of neuroscience, our brain function, neurochemistry, and neurobiology integrated with the tools and techniques of psychological science facilitated by the Holy Spirit and scripture-based truths derived primarily from Pauline theology in the Christ-follower for growth in spiritual maturity. A model formulated from Pauline theology, psychology, and neuroscience, as such, is novel within the field of spiritual formation. Therefore, the claim stems from the need for …

Redeeming Pastoral Evaluation: A Comprehensive Approach To Annual Pastoral Evaluation In A Congregation-Led Church, Drake Andrew Caudill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Surrendering to the biblical mandate and God's call to pastoral ministry produces profound joy. However, pastoral burnout intensifies, and pastors leave the ministry at a staggering rate. Adding to the pressure of pastoral ministry, many churches implement an annual pastoral performance review policy. Imitating secular employment performance reviews, many churches base successful pastoral ministry on numerical metrics, performance goals, and preaching effectiveness. The researcher evaluated various pastoral evaluation forms across different denominations. Additionally, the researcher investigated the biblical theology of pastoral leadership. The action research project aimed to design a comprehensive, intentional, and biblical pastoral evaluation strategy for a congregation-led …

Pastor's Cultural Intelligence And Personal Character Influence Within Youth Ministries, Linwood J. Sealey Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Within this study, the logic was to understand the natural development of cultural Christlike character traits among youth pastors who serve in the 6th-12th grade youth ministry loneliness environment. The sample population comprised between 22 church pastors within the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The sample included participants with different experience levels in pastoral and bi-vocational pastoral ministries. The guiding rationale was that the pastor's cultural Christlike character should be a positive factor in their ministry in the loneliness environment of the youth they serve. The sample covered the geographical settings within rural, suburban, and city environments. A purposive …

A Phenomenological Study Of Church Revitalization In Coastal North Carolina, Paolo Engle Santos

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastors and ministry leaders share the important responsibilities of church growth and revitalization. This research focused on overcoming decline and moving towards a season of strength and multiplication. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore church growth and revitalization within Southern Baptist churches in coastal North Carolina. The theory guiding this study was Rainer's (2020) central thesis about revived churches, which suggests that churches must adapt to cultural shifts and actively engage with the changing world. The study sought to gain insights into the perspectives and mindsets of full-time pastors and ministry leaders regarding numerical expansion, spiritual awakening, …

A Decade Of Earth-Centered Scholarship And Activism, Elizabeth Allison

CIIS Faculty Publications

Origin stories reveal the myriad causes that converge to birth a new initiative. On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, this essay looks back to document the context and intellectual lineage out of which the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion graduate program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) emerged in 2013, and suggests some possibilities for the future of transdisciplinary education and the fields of religion and ecology (e.g. Tucker and Grim 2001), religion and nature (e.g. B. Taylor 2010), and spiritual ecology (e.g. Sponsel 2012) more broadly.

An Orientation Towards Care In Occupational Therapy: A Theoretical Framework, Myah G. Beylotte

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

The purpose of this paper is to explore Ethic of Care (Gilligan, 1936; Noddings, 1984) in an occupational therapy (OT) setting and to determine if empathetic and relational care can provide greater patient outcomes. Ethic of Care (EoC), originally established by Gilligan (1936), is a moral orientation towards care that has been applied in the areas of education, nursing, sports coaching, and other popular professions (Fisher et al., 2017; Gano-Overway et al., 2009; Knust & Fisher, 2015; Lachman, 2012; Newton et al., 2007; Noddings, 2005; Schools, et al., 2020), but has not been widely researched in the field of OT. …

Identity Congruence Among Christian Coaches: A Grounded Theory Approach, Sean M. Strehlow

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

Despite the tight coupling between Christianity and American sport, empirical research has found a level of tension between the Christian identity and the moral culture of athletic competition (Bennet et al., 2005; Nite et al., 2013; Stevenson, 1991). Existing research has focused on the identity of the Christian athlete; however, there is scant empirical work on coaches who also claim a Christian faith and identity. The purpose of this grounded theory study is to better understand identity congruence as a process through which Christian coaches make sense of, and find coherence among, their Christian and professional identities. Qualitative data from …

Integration Of Faith And Learning In Online Programs: A Case Study Of Online Curriculum At A Christian University, Van Hnuai Kim

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education

Faith-learning integration (FLI), an oft-stated goal of Christian higher education, is neither easy to define nor practice. Existing literature is not clear on how the fusion of faith and learning is taking place in the classroom, either in person or online. This study examines the two online programs of a Christian university in the Midwest of the United States. The purpose of the study is to describe some of the ways FLI is implemented in the two selected online programs, to gain a better understanding of FLI, and to suggest ways to implement FLI throughout the whole program effectively. The …

Supporting Student Success In The Classroom: Creating A Socio-Emotional Healthy Environment For University Students, Amonda Matthewman-Isgrigg

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education

Through the use of Astin’s IEO Model, Socio-Emotional Intelligence (SEI), and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, this paper acknowledges college and university students’ academic and emotional needs and seeks to address the needs of current and future university students to have a supportive classroom environment as they earn their degrees. As the primary focus is on students, the well-being and training of instructors need to be addressed as well because they are the front line of the student support system. By analyzing the pre-existing inputs of the students, being the emotional and mental well-being of the student identified through Maslow’s Hierarchy …

Letter From The Managing Editor, Linda Gray

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Full Text

Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Christians in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Observing Cairene Narratives And Subjectivities Towards Covid-19: Reflections On The First Year Of The Pandemic, Sarra Moneir

Future Journal of Social Science

Theoretical and methodological toolkits already existing in the field of political science and social science in the grand sense have been challenged by the tremendous impacts of waves and movements of social change since 2010 in the Arab Region. While political and social scientists were, and still remain, engaged in unravelling questions of how to apprehend the forms of social movements (re-)born, not just in the Arab world but also through the Occupy movements in the US and Europe, they soon had to redirect their focus on issues of migration and refugees, only to find themselves once again confronted with …

Back To The Future? How The Global Powers And The Local Militias Hindered Un Multi-Dimensional Mediation In The Libyan And Syrian Civil Wars After 2011, Ahmed S. Mahdi, Melissia Shapib, Noura Gamie

Future Journal of Social Science

UN mediation efforts in the Libyan and Syrian civil wars, which followed the Arab Revolutions of 2011, were hampered by the great power intervention, and by the belligerents' insistence on solving the problem through military victory instead of negotiation. There is a shortage in the literature which examines an alternative, or how UN mediation can be improved. One of the few models to assess, and improve, UN mediation in civil wars is the so-called Kane Model (2022). Using the model presented by Kane to assess the procedures of a powerful UN mediation process in internationalized civil wars, this paper argues …

Approaches And Tools Of Peace And Conflict Management Between Two Perspectives, Yasmine Z. Radwan

Future Journal of Social Science

This study aims at pointing out the tools of peace and the approaches to conflict management and resolution presented in the Islamic and Western perspectives. It also searches for clarifying the convergent and divergent zones that could help in finding, analyzing and criticizing the basic concepts on which arguments and debates are constructed. This study concluded that the differences between the Islamic and the Western perspective are a human requirement for acquainting and integrating based on a crucial notion, which is identity. Identity is treated in details in many discourses and occupies a large place in the Western literature on …

Psychological And Physical Care Of The Child In The Sunnah And The Un Convention On The Rights Of The Child, Muntaser Asmar, Jamal Alkelany

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

The study addressed the topic of "Psychological and physical care of the child" through collecting evidence from Sunnah represented by the proven and authentic Hadiths (Traditions) of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child issued by the United Nations in 1989 AD. The study concluded that the Convention on the Rights of the Child had referred to this topic in a number of its articles, but these references were general, especially in the aspect of the psychological care of the child. However, a large number of hadiths, more than 38, had more detailed focus on …

Sterba's Horrendous Evils And Adams' Goodness Of God, Cody Snow

Liberty Theological Review

This article articulates and responds to James Sterba’s Problem of Horrendous Evils from his recent work Is A Good God Logically Possible. Specifically, this article argues that Sterba’s arguments against Marilyn McCord Adams' compensatory theodicy fails to undermine the effectiveness of the theodicy. Moreover, this article argues that Adams' theodicy is successful at removing the core tension at the heart of the Problem of Horrendous Evils and that this theodicy only strengthens appeals to Greater Goods theodicies.

Communal Lament In Jeremiah, Phoebe C. Chetsas

Theology Graduate Theses

No abstract provided.

A Quantitative Study Of The Influence Of Emotional Intelligence On The Ministerial Effectiveness Of Executive Pastors As Scored By Their Lead Pastors., Thomas P. Frisinger

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Over the past two decades, churches have expanded their pastoral staff to include executive pastors (XP) to support lead pastors (LP) by mitigating stress and enhancing effectiveness (Krenz-Muller, 2022; Tidwell, 2020) in finances, facilities, and governmental entities, and staff oversight and development. This study involved an examination of the relationship between the emotional intelligence (EI) levels of XPs, using the TEIQue-SF (Cooper & Petrides, 2010), and their perceived ministerial effectiveness (ME) as assessed by LPs on the Ministerial Effectiveness Survey (MES; Dobrotka & Frisinger, 2024). The aim of the study was to identify any significant correlation between XPs and ministerial …

The Blessed Assembly: Irreplaceable Physical Co-Presence In Worship And Healthy Hybridity Reimagined After The Pandemic In The Digital Age, Yvette, Ying Wai Lau

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Because of the unprecedented and unexpected force of the pandemic since 2020, most churches around the world have experienced some online worship during the lockdown of their cities or the mandated closure of the church buildings. For many people, online worship seems to be an equivalent, if not better, alternative for gathering together—a physical co-presence in worship—even after the pandemic has ended. As necessary and vital as online worship experiences have been for Christians during the pandemic, the witness of the church from Pentecost throughout Christian history indicates that gathered worship in physical spaces is irreplaceable for faith formation and …

Food Insecurity & Gendered Vulnerability – Sarai/Sarah And Rebekah In Genesis, Maricel S. Ibita

Theology Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.