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Perceived Strengths And Weaknesses Of American Churches: A Quadrant Analysis Of Church-Based Ministries, David R. Dunaetz, Joshua Mcgowan

Great Commission Research Journal

The needs and expectations of both Christians and non-Christians concerning churches vary according to the cultural context. Similarly, a church’s ability to respond to these needs depends on its ability to fine-tune ministries so that they are appropriate to the cultural context. This study uncovers various elements of American church ministries (especially those that can be supported by technology) which church members consider important but which are poorly executed. A sample of 325 members of American churches indicated which ministries they considered most important and to what degree they believed that they were carried out well in their church. A …

Reach, Assimilate And Develop: Essential Keys For The Resurgence Of The Church In America, Gordon E. Penfold

Great Commission Research Journal

This article presents a way to understand church growth from the perspective of reaching, assimilating, and developing people in the church. In Re:Vision: The Key to Transforming Your Church, Aubrey Malphurs and Penfold researched the characteristics discovered in re-envisioning (turnaround) pastors. The two researchers gathered a great deal of information about the ministry and practices of effective pastors including statistics on worship attendance, conversions, and baptisms. The statistics on conversion and baptism did not find their way into the book. This article examines worship attendance, conversion, baptism, and assimilation rates of reporting pastors. These rates reveal a great deal about …

Resolving Intergenerational Conflict Within The Rural Black Churches Of Central Virginia, Patrick Ward Bland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to assist church leaders and their congregations in the rural black churches in Central Virginia to become more aware of the intergenerational conflict that has governed and, in some instances, legitimated the church. Qualitative and quantitative analysis and academic research revealed a majority of rural black churches in central Virginia are challenged with limited increase in membership because of the frequency of blatant disregard shown among the various generations. This thesis proposes a biblical model for Christian pastors and church leaders to provide resourceful methods of leading their congregations into more productive growth.

Building Long-Term Cross-Cultural Partnerships Through Short-Term Missions : From The Case Of Dangsandong Church In Korea And Sarmaya Fellowship In Sri Lanka, Hyeon Gu Lee

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum: Winter 2019, Amanda W. Benckhuysen, Matthew Cooke, Mariano Avila, Margaret Mwenda

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

3 - God's Plan by Jul Medenblik

4 - Making Immigration Our Problem by Amanda W. Benckhuysen

8 - Trauma, Forced Migration, and the Role of the Church by Matthew Cooke

12 - Latino/ A Evangelical Immigrants in West Michigan by Mariano Avila

16 - Informing, Equipping, and Connecting African Immigrants in Grand Rapids, Michigan

19 - Loving Your Neighbor

22 - Faculty News

22 - New Faces

23 - Other News

24 - Year in Review

The Global Missionary: The Emerging Roles Of North American Missionaries In The Twenty-First Century, Blayne C. Waltrip

Great Commission Research Journal

This article explores the emerging roles of the North American missionary in light of the changing face of global missions. Missionary sending has become a phenomenon of reciprocity. Because the Global South has become a missionary sending force, missionaries are going from everywhere to everywhere. This shift has created a need for North American missionaries to reevaluate their roles in missions. They are increasingly becoming “Global Missionaries” that serve in more than one context. The author defines and describes a Global Missionary, evaluates the factors for the shift, and advocates a greater global partnership to fulfill the Great Commission.

2018 Denominational Survey Results, Calvin University

CRCNA Denominational Survey Results

As part of the denominational ministry plan, Our Journey 2020, the CRCNA has contracted with Calvin College’s Social Research Center to administer a denominational survey every year. The results from the 2018 survey have now been compiled.

All CRC-affiliated adults and older youth are welcome to respond to this survey every year as they are led. In order to ensure a healthy number of responses to the survey every year, however, CRC leaders have randomly assigned every CRC church to one of five “cohorts”. Each cohort includes about 20 per cent of all active congregations, and each congregation will …

Snc Opens Doors To Class Of ’22

St. Norbert Times

• News
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  • The Art of Creation
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• Opinion
  • Remembering John McCain
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  • Burnout: A Forgotten Affliction
  • The Morality of Hard Work
• Features
  • Campus Spotlight: What is PAW?
  • Burke: The Singles Life,
• Entertainment
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  • The Big Question: How to Make a Living in Music?
  • Oscars Adds ‘Popular Film’ Category
  • Book Review: Six Moon Summer
  • Junk Drawer: Summer Catch-Up
• Sports
  • SNC Football Preview
  • Cross Country Dominates at Tom Barry
  • New Look Knights Serve for Thirteen Straight
  • Usain Bolt: Trading …

Saving The Sheep, Preserving The Fruit: A Plan Of Christian Education For The Millennials And Beyond In The Midwest Wesleyan Church, Keith Studebaker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis involved a ministry plan for adequately preparing preteen youth in the Midwestern Wesleyan Church denomination. The goal was to ground those youth in their relationship with God until their relationship with Him and His Church will persist through their teenage years and beyond. The topic is crucial in view of the marked exodus of youth from the evangelical church by their late teenage years, often never to return. Data were collected to show what is actually being provided currently to preteen youth in Midwestern Wesleyan local churches through a mixed-methods survey of pastors or Christian education leaders in …

Case Studies Of The Participation And Results Of Professional Visitation To Schools By Youth Ministries Of Local Churches In Korea, Young Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study is to get results from youth ministry participation in local churches through a school visitation ministry. Youth ministry faces a crisis in Korea because the number of church attendees is decreasing. In fact, the number of church members in Korea is decreasing, but the numbers of people in the youth group are much smaller than other age groups. Thus, the study shows the failure of education from church and home. The researcher experienced this issue in his own church and tried to find alternative methods. Upon closer study, he found hope for a youth …

Book Review: Growing God’S Church: How People Are Actually Coming To Faith Today By Gary L. Mcintosh, Garrett R. Eaglin

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Race And Theology By Elaine A. Robinson, Aaron Perry

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

The Aging Process And How That Affects Judgement And Choices In Youth Ministry, Ricky Harris

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis will explore the correlation between developmental life stages and how these stages affect student ministers’ approaches to ministry in southern Baptist churches. The rationale for this thesis is to help student ministers realize that longevity in their vein of ministry is achievable and also to provide a guide for how they may process aging in ministry. Search committees will be able to use this information while seeking to fill this staff position, considering the needs of their congregation and students. Books and journals will be reviewed for content on developmental life stage characteristics. Student ministers will be surveyed …

A Church Planting Church In South Korea: A Case Study On Missional Outreach, Deokjong Bang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Gallup Korea, in 2015, reported that 30% of people under 30 years old had stopped attending churches in South Korea during last ten years. The primary reasons that young people leave a church is secularization of growth-oriented churches represented by huge buildings, power-oriented pastors and lack of morality of Christians. Therefore, a new church model that will engage young people is required for Korean Christianity. The missional church movement can be an alternative model for churches in South Korea. That is because the movement pursues a small church, a non-power-oriented pastor, and real life as a disciple of Jesus. Based …

Missional Leadership : A Case Study Of The Representative Congregations Of Methodist, Presbyterian, And Other Churches In Tahan-Kalaymyo, Sagaing Region, Lal Thla Muana

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Stewardship In The Church : The Theology And Practice Of Tithing, Offerings, And Stewardship In Evangelical Churches Of Russia, Sergey Chervonenko

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Faith Formation In A Secular Age, Andrew Root

Faculty Publications

Many theologians have focused on faith formation as a means of countering the trend toward disengagement from Christian belief among people today, especially among young adults. Using the insights of Charles Taylor, Andrew Root argues that many such programs are inadequate to the task, because they do not go to the heart of the matter.

Toward A New Church In A New Africa : A Biographical Study Of Bishop Ralph Edward Dodge 1907-2008, Samuel Dzobo

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study On The Principles And Methods Of A Retreat Program For The Spiritual Growth Of Youth With A Focus On The United Retreat Ministry In South Korea, Eunho Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to help Korean churches create more effective retreats for the spiritual growth of their youth. Most of the youth in Korean churches participate in spiritual retreats during their summer and winter vacations. In the past, many of the youth converted or recovered their faith through retreats. Nowadays, the Korean youth are exposed to all sorts of secularized culture and media, which result in the deterioration of their spirituality. Therefore, it is a major challenge for youth ministry in Korean churches to have their youth experience personal spiritual growth at retreats. The writer has organized …

Silliness And Stillness: A History Of Covenant Point Bible Camp In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

"Silliness and Stillness" tells the history of Covenant Point Bible Camp, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Founded in 1926, it has primarily served the congregations of the Swedish Mission Covenant (now Evangelical Covenant Church), and represents the broader revival movements that produced that denomination in the nineteenth century. The story of this camp is also part of the history of the Christian camping movement that developed throughout the twentieth century in the United States and Canada. In addition to being an anniversary book for the particular community that calls the camp "home," it also presents the theological background …

Shared Leadership: Bringing The Local Church Back To Its Biblical Roots Of Leadership, John A. Harrison

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The North American culture is experiencing seismic shifts in its leadership structures. One of these shifts is the growing momentum from traditional, hierarchical leadership models to flatter, team-driven, shared leadership structures. The first section of this project aims to understand the biblical and theological reasons for shared leadership. The relationship within the Triune God and other examples of shared leadership from Scripture are used to build the foundation and rationale for this type of structure in the local church. This section also identifies factors that caused the drift from shared leadership through a plurality of elders in the New Testament …

The Church Is Familial And Is Built On Spiritually Strong Families, Yat Lau

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christ’s headship of the church has strong parallels to the husband’s headship of the family unit. As postmodernism, socio-economic factors, egalitarianism, globalization and shifts in the communicational processes drive inter-generational issues to greater heights, insidiously tear families apart—relationally, intellectually and spiritually. On the other hand, the church models the world through its discipleship programs, organization structures and has asserted itself as the spiritual head of the home. This paper will survey Christian young adults to identify key influences on their spiritual formation and family ministries the church provide to support families. The paper will provide a critique on family-equipping ministries …

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 51 No 2 - November 2016), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

Articles: The Usefulness of Divine Majesty According to Calvin on Genesis by Rebekah Earnshaw - 181 / Sola Scriptura: An Inadequate Slogan for the Authority of Scripture by Henk van den Belt - 204 / Nuptial Reading: Hippolytus, Origen, and Ambrose on the Bridal Couple of the Song of Songs by Hans Boersma - 227 / Just What Do You Mean—Kingdom of God? Lessons from a Century (and More) of Christian Social Thought by John Bolt - 259 / Bound to the Altar: The Isaac of Genesis 22:1–19 by Arie C. Leder - 283 / Calvin Bibliography 2016 - …

Grief In Community: The Establishment Of Bereavement Ministry Teams From The Congregation At Sandy Run Baptist Church In Mooresboro, North Carolina, Andrew S. Rawls

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The Church is to be the expression of hope through the various contours of the human story. Too often congregations have difficulty expressing this hope during the time of death and extending that hope to ministry with the bereaved. In this project I studied the increase in self-efficacy in bereavement ministry with the congregation of Sandy Run Baptist Church in Mooresboro, North Carolina. The research focuses on the teaching of a curriculum that explores the biblical, theological, and clinical aspects of grief. The results of my research show this was an effective means of increasing self-efficacy.

Pastoral Counseling: The Pastor's Guide To Helping Korean Youth In Crisis, Jeong Kook

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many Korean teenagers are suffering from physical and psychological abuse, anxiety, and depression due to dysfunctional family life. Korean Christian pastors and counselors need to be educated and trained in order to guide these families through such crisis. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, the author surveyed over fifty troubled families. The findings were alarming and led the author to build a pastoral counseling model based on the biblical definition of the role of pastoral counseling using adept research of key scriptural principles. This pastoral counseling model provides a well-balanced biblical strategy to guide the troubled teenager through such crisis.

Engaging Leadership At Marshfield Christian Church, Nicholas Alexander Ruth

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the dwindling number of people active in leadership roles at Marshfield Christian Church. Research focused on four aspects of church leadership: barriers and incentives to assuming a leadership role, characteristics of leaders, models for structuring leadership, and equipping the congregation to participate in leadership. The researcher conducts a biblical and theological research on leadership in the New Testament, membership in the New Testament and the implications of relational theology on church leadership. A literature review on collaborative leadership, employee engagement, and changes in volunteering adds to the research. The field research for this project comprises surveys and …

Cooperative Catechesis: A Model For Equipping Lutheran Parents And Pastors To Catechize Children In The Christian Faith, Phillip E. Booe

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parents have a God-given duty to bring up their children in the faith. God calls pastors to shepherd flocks, point them to the Gospel, proclaim sound doctrine, and teach the people about the will and ways of God. The problem this project addressed was the decline of parental involvement in and responsibility for the Christian catechesis of their children in the context of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Parents have all but abdicated their responsibility to catechize their children to the church, and pastors have been complicit in allowing it. The purpose of this research was to identify the attitudes pastors …

The Use Of Oral Training In Uganda To Develop Biblically Trained Leaders, Kevin J. Olson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The researcher spent a year in rural Tanzania and found that the volunteer lay leaders had little training. These lay leaders had a love for Jesus and for his people, but the obstacles these men faced in order to get further training were overwhelming. Attending seminary meant paying tuition, leaving families, leaving farms, taking classes in English, and following a Western style of education. There were economic, emotional, and educational barriers these lay leaders faced. This caused this researcher to seek a new method to train people in God’s Word. This search led to the oral training method that was …

Church Growth And Outreach Lessons From The Oil Boom In North Dakota, Mark R. Teasdale, Steve Trefz

Great Commission Research Journal

Using primary data collected from four churches situated in the North Dakota towns of Williston and Watford City, this study considers how the outreach ministries of these churches have been affected by the massive population growth brought about by the oil boom in the Bakken region. Drawing from the survey responses provided by the leaders of these congregations, the study concludes that people engaged in new outreach ministries can apply several lessons, including the definition of evangelism, the importance of relationship building, the need for multifaceted teams and resources, and issues with denominational support.

Facilitating A Change Of Mind About Father God Through Mentoring Of The Fatherless, Stephen Madosky

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The consensus of published research has proven beyond question that fatherlessness is a crisis in America. Textbooks and autobiographies have covered and reported the statistical effects of fatherlessness; nonetheless, there is far less literature dealing with the solution of fatherlessness and even less literature from Church scholars on how the Church may participate in its correction. This thesis presents an understanding of fatherlessness and proposes a resolution to act on behalf of fatherless children. The resolution will be comprised in preparing Church leaders to equip Church laity to understand and to minister to the fatherless in their affliction effectively.