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Beyond Cultural Competence: Measuring And Developing Cultural Intelligence In Christian Organizations, Ronald Phillip Lugo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Cultural intelligence has emerged as a critical competency for cross-cultural ministry (Livermore, 2009). However, most churches and Christian organizations lack formal training to develop this capacity (Otaigbe, 2016). Tran (2009) notes that culture can be viewed as values, norms, institutions, and/or artifacts, all of which are difficult to define and understand. Churches today are increasingly intentionally designed to be multicultural (Berquist, 2018). Christian organizations face a challenge in communicating with individuals from diverse cultures. How do churches and Christian organizations prepare to reach and disciple effectively? This study addressed this strategic need by developing a cultural intelligence training specifically for …

Book Review: Oleksandr Geychenko, Roman Soloviy, And Yevgeny Ustinovich, Eds. Beatitudes And Terror: A Ukrainian Theological Response To Russian Aggression. Trans. From Ukrainian By Mykola Leliovskyi., Michael Blythe

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Oleksandr Geychenko, Roman Soloviy, and Yevgeny Ustinovich, eds. Beatitudes and Terror: A Ukrainian Theological Response to Russian Aggression. Trans. from Ukrainian by Mykola Leliovskyi. Carlisle, UK: Langham Global Library, 2025. Pp. 240. £17.99 (paperback). ISBN: 978-1-78641-191-4.

Walking In Promise, Living In Reality: Exploring The Mental Health Implications Of The Pentecostal Discourse Of Divine Calling, Robert D. Mcbain

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

Pentecostalism places a strong emphasis on the discourse of divine calling, where individuals believe they are purposefully created, guided, and empowered by God to fulfill a specific mission. This sense of calling profoundly shapes Pentecostals’ sense of identity and purpose. Using Grounded Theory, this study analyzes open, in-depth interviews with Pentecostals in the U.S. to explore the impact of the Pentecostal discourse of divine calling on their mental health. The metaphor of ‘walking in’ one’s calling emerges as the central theme used by participants to explain the interaction between their perception of divine calling, their lived realities, and their mental …

Hoping Forward, Haley R. French

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

No abstract provided.

Full Issue Salubritas, Editors Salubritas

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

No abstract provided.

A Raced Theology Of The Human Person: An Expanded Theological Anthropology, Cary W. Dabney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on race as a critical, yet largely unaddressed, topic in Catholic theological anthropology. In Catholic colleges and universities that are recognized as members of the Cardinal Newman Society, theological concerns about race are deemed irrelevant for theological education in the faith and are altogether absent from the theology of the human person. As a result, this collection of institutions treats race as a specialty within pastoral theology, one that is significant to groups, but not a part of the fundamental theology of the human person. This ‘un-raced’ theological anthropology results in the institution’s inability to respond effectively …

Records Of The American Society Of Missiology Arc2017-003 - Finding Aid, Ats Special Collections And Archives

Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Because He Lives: Exploring The Resurrection Of Jesus As The Root Belief In Theologically Conservative Christians' Resistance To Climate Policy, Roger E. Prather

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the ongoing and constantly evolving investigation into Christian attitudes about environmental issues generally and skepticism about climate change and climate policy specifically. This purpose is achieved primarily in two ways. First, it seeks to distinguish and disambiguate between skepticism about climate change among theologically conservative American Christians and skepticism about climate change policy. The study contributes to the academic literature by synthesizing two bodies of literature: that dealing with American Christians’ beliefs and climate change and that dealing with the nature of climate skepticism. Using the insights of Niklas Luhmann’s 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.

Protocols For Enhancing The Role And Value Of Spiritual Care Resources In The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Garrett Harper

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the assessment of innovative practices in police chaplaincy. The purpose of the project intervention is to develop protocols that can guide police chaplains through an assessment process. The intervention relies on practical theology as exemplified through the ministry of chaplaincy. This ministry comprises police chaplains offering spiritual comfort to persons encountering critical incidents involving violence, accident, or other trauma-intensive events and situations. Adoption of innovations can allow police chaplains to be more effective in fulfilling many outward-focused tasks such as delivery of death notifications. I conclude that: (1) police chaplaincy is amenable to use of protocols to …

The Soul Of Desire: Discovering The Neuroscience Of Beauty, Longing, And Community, Rebekah Bled

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

No abstract provided.

Pentecostal Hope In The Age Of Covid-19, Peter Althouse, Audrey E. Mccormick

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

This research sought to identify how Pentecostals and charismatics responded to the Coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, what role did eschatology play in provoking hope, and how did theologies on healing influence responses? Data revealed that Pentecostals were generally not casting their responses to the pandemic as a millennial expectation of a better future but were grieving their losses and seeking to provoke hope amidst suffering. While minimal miraculous healings were reported, healing was cast primarily as the ongoing presence of defiant hope amidst trauma, grief and suffering. We propose that grief and grieving is an eschatological response to loss and death.

Weaving A Tapestry, Haley R. French

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

No abstract provided.

Full Issue Salubritas 3 (2024), Editors Salubritas

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

No abstract provided.

Latina Mothering As Diaspora Mission : The Role Of Latina Immigrant Mothers In The Religious Identity Formation Of The Next Generation, Rebekah R.S. Clapp

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Symposium: From Coming Out To Coming In: Roundtable Conversation Among Southeast Asian Queer Theologians, Michael Sepidoza Campos, Jayeel Cornelio, Erich Von Marthin Elraphoma, Joseph N. Goh, Jerlo M. Jaropillo, Joshua Marasigan, Kristine C. Meneses, Irene Nainggolan, Kakay Pamarán, Lizette Tapia, Amadeo Devin Udampoh, Wan Wei-Hsien

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Through a roundtable conversation via Zoom, teachers, pastors, and graduate students discussed the place of gender, citizenship, and faith in their identity formation and social accountability to articulate a hermeneutical lens specific to Southeast Asian contexts that shape and critique queer identities. These participants—primarily ministers, theological students, and seminary formators—engaged in organic, fluid, and multifocal turns to capture experiences that undergird the realities of women and LGBTQIQ+ people of faith in the region.

Retired Missionaries And Faith In A Changing Society, Carmel Gallagher

Books/Book chapters

Retired Missionaries and Faith in a Changing Society offers a sociological study of the Irish missionary diaspora. It draws on a series of interviews with female and male Catholic missionaries, mainly nuns and priests, who have worked in Asia, Africa and Central and South America, and who have returned to live in Ireland. The chapters provide unique insight into their experiences, exploring how they have navigated life-course changes in the context of changing church and changing societies. Retired missionaries have several vantage points from which to communicate their understandings, having worked across cultures and encountered some of the most challenging …

African Ethnopolitical Rivalry In A Public Theological Lens: Building Bridges Between The Luo And Kikuyu, Dan Kidha Kidha

The Journal of Social Encounters

This research explores African ethnopolitical rivalry within a public theological framework, aiming to build bridges between the Luo and Kikuyu communities of Kenya. It argues that as a community enterprise, theology should engage with the public and be concerned about the wellbeing of God's people. Ethnopolitical conflict is a major impediment to human flourishing in sub- Saharan Africa, causing loss of life, displacement, and fractured identity. The paper draws on practical and public theologies to understand the lived contexts of human experience and argues that a robust interdisciplinary approach is necessary to uplift those affected by ethnic conflicts. As an …

Constructing A Theological Framework That Revitalizes The Missional Nature Of Churches Of Christ In South Australia, Mark Daniel Riessen

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the need for a theological framework that revitalizes the missional nature of Churches of Christ in South Australia. The problem identified within this ministry context was a lack of clear theological principles that informed a common understanding of identity for missional engagement. The purpose of the project was to create a study guide that informs common theological commitments and grounds congregations for missional vitality. A research and development team made up of seven Church of Christ ministers from different backgrounds was assembled to design a curriculum that addressed the problem. Through eight two-hour sessions over four months …

Trauma And Grief: Developing A Framework For Equipping The Hispanic/Latino Churches As A Healing Community In The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Of North Carolina, Santiago Reales

Doctor of Ministry Projects

This project aimed to equip Hispanic/Latino congregations of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC) as a healing community to help people in recovering from loss and trauma in a healthy way. Participants in five-workshop sessions over four weeks explored stories of grief and trauma from the Old and New Testament along with contemporary grief and trauma theories. Each workshop presented what the Scriptures and mental health best practices teach about how to deal with grief and trauma. Also, the project sought to determine whether the participant’s training experience impacted their stress level.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear: Exploring The Effectiveness Of A Person-Centered Disability Awareness Seminar In A Congregational Setting, Joshua H. Jones

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

People with disabilities and their families frequently experience barriers toward inclusion and belonging in multiple spheres of life. These barriers are also present in Christian congregations. However, many congregations express a godly desire to love people with disabilities and their families without these obstacles.

The Old and New Testaments provide examples of how God’s people sought to love people with disabilities in their midst creatively and intentionally in response to God’s gracious actions, invitation, and command. Recent research in disability studies routinely highlight the necessity of being attentive to the uniqueness of each person with disabilities and his or her …

[Review Of The Book Christianity, Empire, And The Spirit: (Re)Configuring Faith And Culture, By N. Medina], John Francis Burke

Political Science Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Sishuwa Sishuwa, Austin M. Cheyeka, Daniela Atanasova

Zambia Social Science Journal

No abstract provided.

Catholics & Cultures As An Act Of Improvisation: A Response, Thomas M. Landy

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay responds to seven articles published in the same issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism on the use of Catholics & Cultures, a multimedia website, as a pedagogical resource for college classrooms. The site is deliberately presented in a fashion that undermines notions of center and periphery and presents Catholicism from a lay, lived-religion perspective as the multicultural faith that it is, minimizing reference to religious typologies. Particular attention is given to how to navigate tensions around theorizing, categorizing and sorting information for cross-cultural comparison. Given scholars’ current state of knowledge, writing about and teaching about global Catholicism …

Contextual Leadership Within Chin Immigrant Churches In The United States, Bawi Bik Thawng

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This research explores the leadership practices of Chin immigrant congregations in the United States, focusing on how they can develop a more effective leadership practice in dealing with the new context of the new land. It attempts to answer the question: What kind of leadership practice will help Chin immigrant leaders apply adaptive leadership theory for implementing contextual oriented leadership theory for the church? The initial motivation for this research arose out of the researcher’s interest in the perception of Chin immigrant congregations on the issue of leadership. A qualitative case study research method was employed in this research.

The …

Reframing Hegemonic And Fragmented Identities Through Subjective In-Betweenness: A Postcolonial Political Theology Of Care And Praxis In Ethiopia’S Era Of Identity Politics, Rode Shewaye Molla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern Ethiopian imperial religious and political evangelization generated and imposed externally-defined hegemonic fictive identities on all Ethiopians. This fictive identity (based on Amhara) contributes to current identity politics that cause ethnic violence, political instability, war, identity fragmentation, and, most of all, the elimination of in-between spaces where boundaries of identity can be crossed for peaceful co-existence. This dissertation integrates the study of Ethiopian religion and politics to advocate the restoration of in-between spaces and in-between subjectivities of Ethiopians. In-between spaces include political, social, religious, and geographical spaces that enable Ethiopians to live as a diversified community with solidarity, equity, care, …

Christ’S Ethnonationalist Crucifixion: Sacralization Of Ethnonationalist Agendas Within Croatian Catholicism And Serbian Orthodoxy—Cases And Effects, Zoran Grozdanov, Branko Sekulić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this article, the authors look into the theological background of the support that nationstates in the Western Balkans received during their formation at the end of the 20th century. Although many articles were written on the causes of the wars for national independence, and on the relationship between religious narratives and ethnic exclusion, very few were written on the theological support of the ethnic exclusion. The authors show that the roots of making ethnos and affiliation with certain nations in Eastern Europe can be found in the writings of late Pope John Paul II and Serbian Orthodox Bishop Nikolaj …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 61 Number 2, Spring 2020 [Print Issue V.61:1], Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - THE UPSTART How Michael Mondavi ’66 helped get Napa on the wine map. By Ron Hansen.

18 - OF WOMEN AND MEN Emeritus professors dish on their research into wine and women. By Tracy Seipel.

22 - A SIGN OF LIGHT A Jesuit priest finds meaning on death row. By George Williams, S.J.

26 - FIRE AND WINE As the climate changes, what’s next for wine remains murky. By Tracy Seipel.

Church And State: The Impact Of Christianity On South African Politics During And Post-Apartheid, Calista Struby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Within the South African context, there exists an intimate relationship between religion and politics. South Africa by definition is a secular society however data indicates that the South African population that is overwhelmingly religious. According to a General Household Survey published in 2015, 86% of the South African population identifies with some form of the Christian faith (“General Household Survey,” 2015). Historically religious civil society has played a prominent role in shaping the political climate and the political involvement of South African citizens. During Apartheid, Christianity played an influential role in the ideological formation and justification of the Apartheid political …

Insider Movements Among Muslims: Reflections On Their History, Identity, And Theology, Richard Doss

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"The enormity of the task still facing Christian missions is almost incomprehensible. Nearly 4.1 billion people are still in need of the gospel (Johnstone 2014:65). In some ways, the task of reaching the unreached is most difficult among Muslims. With nearly 1.3 billion adherents, Islam represents a significant challenge to the spread of the gospel. Or does it? Given the complex nature of the relationship between Christianity and Islam, could it be that the inability of Christian missionaries to shed the social, cultural, and political trappings of the West and Christendom have limited the effectiveness of the gospel? Might the …