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Getting To Know The God We Believe In: Some Lessons From Religious Life, William Reiser S.J.

Holy Cross Bookshelf

A collection of reflections and articles by a member of the Society of Jesus, with particular emphasis on the spirituality underlying religious life. Some chapters are commentaries or reflections on the annual messages from Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations in the spring.

Book Reviews And Books Received

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Designing A Program To Help Urban Pastors Cope With Compassion Stress, Valerie Andrews

Full-Text Theses & Dissertations

Clergy are in a unique position as emotional and spiritual first responders to individuals and families during times of crisis including the current global pandemic due to COVID-19. While the most rewarding part of ministry is helping people by offering spiritual direction, these services can also be the very things that threaten and inflict harm on their personal, physical and spiritual lives (Ferguson, 2007). The purpose of this dissertation is to help clergy effectively cope with and manage the stressors of ministry that can lead to compassion stress, fatigue or vicarious trauma and other distress responses. To this end, I …

Qualitative Exploration Of Catholic Church Leaders’ Perspectives Regarding Counseling Parishioners With Anxiety, Amy Lynn Polster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is little research addressing the mental health literacy of Roman Catholic clergy in their job as spiritual counselors for parishioners with anxiety. Devout individuals struggling with fear- or worry-driven anxiety often call on divine assistance for help as a frontline defense. Anxiety is a leading mental health problem, disturbing about 40 million U.S. adults aged 18 to 54 years. This study explored the mental health literacy perceptions of six Catholic clergy leaders and their awareness of fear- or worry-based anxiety, drawing upon the concept of the triune brain and using evolutionary threat assessment systems theory as a theoretical foundation. …

Vision, Winter 2020

Vision

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in USA

VisionFinding Aid

Book Review: Bridging Theory And Practice In Children's Spirituality, Shannon Rains

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Bridging Theory and Practice in Children’s Spirituality: New Directions of Education, Ministry, and Discipleship, edited by Mimi L. Larson and Robert J. Keeley. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective, 2020. 264 pages, $22.99.

Francis Libermann: A Spiritual Guide For The Twenty-First Century, William Cleary C.S.Sp.

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

Libermann, Abnegation, And Liturgical Theology, David W. Fagerberg

Spiritan Horizons

No abstract provided.

The Public Reading Of Scripture As Integral For Biblical Development, Raymond David Campbell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this Doctor of Ministry project is to show the impact the public reading of Scripture in worship has on spiritually developing the people of God, and by further showing whether public Scripture reading will enhance biblical literacy, spiritual development and a change of perception relating to Scripture’s role in worship. Despite the surge of worship practices in the contemporary evangelical church designed to attract people to the worship service, and practices which seek to develop spiritual growth, the actual biblical mandated practice of the public reading of Scripture as one method for developing individuals is negligible in …

Spiritual Disciplines For Men In A Medium-Sized Church, Scott Lowry Willis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem is that the men of Freedom Fellowship Church in Canyon, Texas, do not have adequate training in the spiritual disciplines. Training in the spiritual disciplines would offer to the men in the church the proper leadership instruction that would give them the tools necessary to accomplish this goal. If the men of the church receive instruction in the spiritual disciplines, they will be able to utilize them in their daily lives. The men will, in turn, be able to use the spiritual disciplines in leadership positions in the church with confidence in being able to increase the spiritual …

Dynamics Of Youth Engagement In The Local Church, Jacqueline C. Hanna

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to many biblical accounts, children were included in worship experiences. Despite the efforts of many churches to engage, attract, and retain youth, there is still a lack of youth participation, involvement, and interest in the local church. This not only affects youth, but also the church. Unengaged youth do not have the opportunity to become future leaders of the church. In turn, churches will experience a void in future leadership and will be prohibited from flourishing. This qualitative historical study examined reasons for youth disengagement in an effort to find strategies for effective retention and engagement to benefit youth …

Deaf Catholic Newsletter, Fall 2020

Deaf Catholic Newsletter

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Philapelphia, PA

Deaf Catholic Newsletter Finding Aid

Women In Ministry Leadership: A Spirit-Empowered Framework, Rhonda Davis

Doctor of Ministry

Emerging female leaders in the Pentecostal tradition have an opportunity to strengthen their spiritual formation and leadership development as they engage an everchanging ministry environment. Research indicates significant challenges for the female ministry leader as well as diminished access to programs designed to develop the necessary integration of leadership competency and spiritual wholeness. This research addresses the unique opportunity Pentecostal spirituality offers for spiritual and leadership growth. Building on existing research regarding female leadership, it asks: What do the components of Pentecostal formation and leadership development look like in the life of a female ministry leader?

Based on academic and …

Don Quixote And Catholicism: Rereading Cervantine Spirituality, Michael J. Mcgrath

Purdue University Press Book Previews

Four hundred years since its publication, Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote continues to inspire and to challenge its readers. The universal and timeless appeal of the novel, however, has distanced its hero from its author and its author from his own life and the time in which he lived. The discussion of the novel’s Catholic identity, therefore, is based on a reading that returns Cervantes’s hero to Cervantes’s text and Cervantes to the events that most shaped his life. The authors and texts McGrath cites, as well as his arguments and interpretations, are mediated by his religious sensibility. Consequently, he …

A Review Of Spiritual Development And Transformation Among College Students From Jesuit Higher Education, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The college experience can be a critically important and enriching time for personal as well as academic growth and development. For many students, college is their first foray into a more independent world and lifestyle no longer under the careful, and sometimes critical, eyes of their parents, families, and schoolteachers. When students go far away from home to attend college, they need to find ways to live independently, manage their many needs, and attend to the rigors of academic life in higher education. Additionally, the college years offer a unique and important period for spiritual growth, development, and transformation. The …

Contributor Bios, Obsculta Editors

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

History Of Contextualization, Youssry Guirguis

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

4d'S Of Spiritual Growth : The Local Church's Role In Spiritual Growth And Discipleship, Christopher M. Johnson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Discipleship As Understood And Practiced By Worship Leaders, Pastors, And Congregations Of Selected Southern Baptist Churches, Bridgette Lashawn Yancy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the growing interest in Christian faith development through Bible study, prayer groups, literature, and other media, there has been little to no research completed in the area of discipleship of worship leaders. This study will be an examination of discipleship activities that are offered within the Southern Baptist churches and the average duration of engagement of these activities by worship leaders. How the discipleship of the worship leader affects the ministry of the worship leader, participation in leadership-focused activities, and the personal and professional growth of the worship leader will be examined through questionnaires for both pastors and worship …

Developmental Networks : Influencing The Early Career Choices Of Emerging Adults Serving In Campus Ministry, Jessica A. Avery

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming The Dynamics Of Ignatian Spiritual Conversation: Towards Constructing A Spiritual Conversation Paradigm For Ongoing Apostolic Discernment In Bihar, India, Perianayagam Seluvannan

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis attempts to reclaim and re-imagine the privileged and time-tested tool of Ignatian spiritual conversation in order to discern the apostolic ministries in the diverse socio-cultural, religious and ecclesiastical context of present-day Bihar, India, as a response to the Society’s and the Church’s call to discern the actions of the Spirit in the lives of the people. My research further explores the way of proceeding in spiritual conversation among the people, through which the founding Jesuit fathers of the Bihar mission began their apostolic ministries, in order to construct a paradigm for an effective ongoing discernment and rejuvenation of …

St. Ignatius As Psychotherapist? How Jesuit Spirituality And Wisdom Can Enhance Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The great wisdom traditions associated with various religious and spiritual practices and institutions have offered a variety of helpful strategies for more effective living and coping with life’s many challenges. In most recent times, efforts to secularize these strategies have been made in order to appeal to the general population as well as to secular mental health professionals as tools for their clinical practices. Although mindfulness meditation and yoga are perhaps the most notable examples, many other intervention strategies have been and can be borrowed from various religious and spiritual traditions to use in a secular manner if so desired. …

Catholic Deaf Community Newsletter, February 2, 2020

Catholic Deaf Community Newsletter

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Portland, OR

Catholic Deaf Community Newsletter Finding Aid

The Others (2001) By Alejandro Amenábar In The Light Of Valentinian Thought, Fryderyk Kwiatkowski

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

The article offers a Valentinian interpretation of the Hollywood film The Others (2001). A particular attention is paid to the ways in which cinematic motifs and narrative elements of the film draw on myths, ideas and symbolic imagery present in Valentinian works, especially in the Gospel of Truth (NHC I, 3) and the Gospel of Philip (NHC II, 3). In the course of the heuristic analysis, the paper argues that although the film employs Valentinian ideas, it depicts different understanding of the world. This issue is addressed in the last part of the article by situating the film within broader …

Discernment Practices For Second Chair Leaders, Linda Sommerville

Doctor of Ministry

Second Chair Leaders (SCLs) face unique challenges in leading ministry organizations from the second chair. Research indicates that those who lead from the middle of an organization (i.e. from the second chair) are at greater risk of experiencing depression and burn-out than those who lead from the top of an organization, yet most leadership resources are written by and for those in first chair, or top-tier roles . While there may be helpful information from these leadership sources, they do not often adequately address the specific leadership concerns facing SCLs.

This study addresses the unique needs of Second Chair Leaders …

The Avoidance Of Burnout Among Open Bible Pastors: Creating Healthy And Vibrant Leaders In Ministry, Isaac Hebden

Doctor of Ministry

Pastors in the Open Bible Churches denomination struggle with spiritual health, even as they lead local congregations. The perils of vocational ministry can often contribute to emotional fatigue, disillusionment, and exhaustion, commonly referred to as “burnout.” Pastors serve sacrificially in their churches, giving all that they have for the lives of the others. However, the life many pastors live actually negatively impacts themselves as well as others around them, thus negating the purpose for which they strive.

This Doctor of Ministry project sought to discover how ministers can remain spiritually healthy while actively leading the local church. Much of the …

Thriving Holistically As A Woman Married To A Minister: A Spiritual Formation Model To Support Women In The United States In The Role Of Pastor's Wife, Elisa Renae Ashley

Doctor of Ministry

While women married to ministers are blessed by God in many ways through their role as pastor’s wife, the role also presents many particular stressors. These stressors impact the systems of self, family, and church. A majority of clergy wives struggle to some degree with interpersonal loneliness, with finding confidants, and creating spiritual community wherein they can be authentically vulnerable. These struggles negatively impact the spiritual, physical, and psycho-emotional health of the women in this role. In order for them to deepen their spirituality and thrive holistically as they navigate the challenges of this role, a tailored spiritual formation model …

Pastoral Counseling: The Pastor’S Guide To Ministering Chronic And Terminally Ill Children And Their Families, Barbara F. Holston-Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Millions of children will die this year due to chronic and terminal illnesses. The medical and psychological communities have attempted for decades to find a methodology that will help parents and the child find hope for the future. The psychological and medical communities’ meta-analysis studies have shown that the goal of hope has been elusive for children and families in all current modalities. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true assurance for parents and children experiencing chronic and terminal childhood illness. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans that believing in the gospel brings life all joy, …

Magic, Alchemy, And The Spiritual But Not Religious, John C. Marshell Jr.

The Hilltop Review

In this paper, I identify a problem within the growing phenomenon of the "spiritual but not religious" community based on the particular experiences of German pilgrims attending a retreat at a Chinese Daoist monastery. Despite interests and affirmations in Daoism, the German pilgrims reacted negatively to Daoist supernatural attitudes and practices. Their SBNR beliefs clashed with Daoist orthodoxy. My research is largely based on a historical examination that contextualizes the problems the German pilgrims experienced and offers a possible remedy to their trans-cultural spiritual dilemma in alchemy and Jungian psychology.

2020 Ncod Pastoral Week Program

National Catholic Office for the Deaf (NCOD) Conferences

Documents from the 2020 NCOD Pastoral Week held in Kansas City, KS in 2020

• Conference program

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