Digital Commons Network^™

House Churches (Full Issue)

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Bruce L. Bauer

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Need-Oriented Evangelism: Encountering, Embracing, And Experiencing God, Petr Cincala, Allison Sauceda

Faculty Publications

This article provides a fresh perspective on evangelism by reflecting a belief in the Triune God--the source of saving truth and loving community. Mission is part of God’s nature; he is the ultimate Missionary. Mission happens naturally whenever children of God intentionally invite and facilitate God’s presence. Over time, the word “evangelism" has become contaminated by myths, a false understanding of God, and unpleasant religious experiences and practices. Genuine evangelism addresses the most burning issues of people’s lives and should be treated as such. True evangelism involves caring about, praying for, and sharing with people. The practical part of this …

180° Symposium 2022 Focus Group—Administrators, Tracy Wood

Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Participants: Brad Forbes (President, AdventSource), Vandeon Griffin (Assoc Youth Director, NAD), Lyle Notice (Youth Director, Alberta Conf), Andrew Nugent (Assoc Youth Director, Florida Conf), David Salazar (Youth Director, Washington Conf), Ron Whitehead Youth Director, Lake Union).

Christ In The City, Skip Bell

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Foot Washing, Zacchaeus, And What I Learned About Contextualization, Amy Whitsett

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Salvation In Hinduism, J. L. Samir

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

The teachings of Hinduism have existed for thousands of years and continue to influence many cultures, especially those of South Asia. The philosophical teachings of Hinduism are complex and attractive to its adherents; however, the Hindu faith is easily misunderstood by many Westerners. Christianity as a religious institution was mostly developed in the context of a Western worldview. In contrast, Hinduism and its teachings are solely built on an Eastern philosophical and religious system dating back to the eighth century BCE. This article seeks to understand the teachings of salvation as found in the Bhagavad Gita and to contrast those …

Reviving A Dying Church: The Role Of Leadership, Jane Thayer

Faculty Publications

A pastor known for his church planting skills was brought into a declining/dying church in Maryland, USA, and with his leadership team, turned the church around in three-and-a-half years. A case study method was used to explore this pastor and congregation’s willingness to “pay the cost” to bring new people into the church. They focused on children’s ministry, evangelism, discipleship, prayer, small groups, meals, and vision—knowing why they engaged in each ministry.

The Effectiveness Of Theological Education To Grow Disciples In The Unorganized Territory, Chung Yin Mak

Dissertations DIS

Problem

In the past three decades, China has imposed serious restrictions on theological education in the Unorganized Territory (UT). The Adventist Church has endeavored to address this challenge by seeking various means of equipping its leaders through both formal and informal theological education. This study is needed because these attempts have never been reviewed in light of advancing the church’s mission especially in the area of discipleship.

Methods

Duce and Cameron (2013, 16-143) proposed the use of questionnaires, participant observation, interviews, focus groups, and documentary analysis in order to conduct theological research. Multiple research methods were utilized (Creswell 2014, 16; …

An Analysis Of The Current State Of Seventh-Day Adventist Mission In Bihar With Missiological Implications, Santosh Kumar

Dissertations DIS

This study investigates and evaluates the current state of Seventh-day Adventist mission in Bihar to discover the hinderances that are affecting the mission work. When Bihar was divided in 2000, a new state, Jharkhand, was created, and church membership and the number of mission workers dropped dramatically, raising concerns about what may have caused the present condition of the SDA mission.

Although the Adventist mission has tried various strategies to spread the Gospel throughout Bihar since 2000, these appear to have been ineffective in terms of membership growth. The failure to evangelize Bihar led to dissatisfaction among church leaders, and …

Finding A Voice: A Preaching Model To Address The Postmodern And Post-Soviet Young Adults At The Compass Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Tallinn, Estonia, Mervi Cederstrom

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

In Northern and Eastern Europe, probably more than in any other part of the world, the gap between the inner culture of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and that of the surrounding culture has grown large, hindering the church’s ability to share the Gospel to young adults (ages 16-29) in a meaningful and clear way. It is especially true about people who have grown up in the Postmodern and Post-Soviet context of Estonia and have very little biblical knowledge. This present study concentrates on homiletics and how this culture gap can be bridged via preaching.

Method

A five-part preaching series …

A Lay Preachers' Training Program At Reading West Adventist Church Focusing On Preaching That Connects With Second Generation Seventh-Day Adventist Young Adults, Trevor A. Thomas

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The pastoral team and church members observed that most teenagers at Reading West up to the age of 18 attended church with their parents. However, from 18 to 25 years, the pastoral team and church members saw a drop in their attendance. Many attended universities in other cities. However, Reading, being a university town, should have attracted more Adventist young adults from other churches, and the young adults of Reading West should have returned during university term breaks. Sadly, most did not. Instead, they either visited other churches following popular youth preachers, attended other churches with a contemporary style …

The Theological And Biblical Significance Of Financial Resources In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Mihai Stoicescu

Master's Theses

The Topic

The research will present the evolution of the system of tithes and offerings, starting from biblical times to the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as well as the theology behind it.

The Purpose

The purpose of the study is not only to discover the history and theology underlying the system of tithes and offerings, but also to emphasize the universal nature of this system.

The Source

The research involved both the consultation of specialized literature, as well as the study of primary written sources, in this case the available documents and archives regarding financial resources throughout the …

Andrews University Receives $5 Million Grant, Andrews University

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

P-07 Covid-19 Pandemic Impact On Church Cash Inflows In Ghana As Moderated By, Williams Kwasi Peprah

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively and positively impacted all sectors of world economies since its inception in the early 2020s. Profit and not-for-profit institutions have had their levels of effects as a result of the worldwide crises. Lockdown measures imposed by governments around the world to curb the spread of the virus had various repercussions on various activities, including churches. Effects of the pandemic on businesses, education, agriculture, and tourism, among others, have received massive highlights in literature. Given this phenomenon, this study sought to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on church cash inflows. The study used a quantitative …

Covid-19 Impact On Church Cash Inflows In Ghana As Moderated By Location Profile, Francis Osei-Kuffour, Williams Kwasi Peprah, Dickson Marfo Sarfo, Bright Osei Yeboah

Faculty Publications

The corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic brought both negative and positive impacts on all sectors of world economies since its inception in the early 2020s. Profit and not-for-profit institutions have had their levels of effects as a result of the world-wide crises. Lockdown measures imposed by governments around the world to curb the spread of the virus had various repercussions on various activities, including churches. Effects of the pandemic on businesses, education, agriculture and tourism, among others, have received massive highlights in literature. Given this phenomenon, this study sought to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on church cash inflows. The study …

The Emotionally Competent Pastor, Kevin Spratt

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

A pastor with high emotional intelligence is more likely to be successful in the skills required to lead a church, which will likely produce a healthier church. Stated another way, a lack of emotional intelligence is a potential predictor of pastoral leadership failure, which could lead to an unhealthy church. Current church authors and researchers miss emotional intelligence as a key leadership competency. This article raises the importance of emotional intelligence and suggests that an emotionally intelligent pastor who is both self-aware and socially aware can relationally lead a church well.

Viewpoint: Supporting Ministries, Self-Supporting Ministries, Or Independent Ministries, Bruce L. Bauer

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Towards A Post-Pandemic Mission, Boubakar Sanou, Josh Dietrich, Tyler Kern

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Story Of Digital Church Development And Its Implications, Petr A. Činčala, Foye Michael Belyea, Mabio Cohelo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Leading Our Children To Christ: Christian Education And Discipleship, Scott R. Ward

Faculty Publications

Some pastors are already involved in supporting the schools run by their church, but my prayer is that every pastor will feel energized and equipped to get on campus, partner with our educators and parents, participate in leading outreach with our children, and help make our schools centers of influence in their communities, places where people can come together to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe that when our children become involved in such vibrant, gospel-oriented schools, they will be inspired to become and remain active followers of Jesus.

Can Christians Be Possessed By Evil Spirits?, Kelvin Onongha

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

In the African ministry context, accusations of demon possession are commonplace. It would appear that every strange, bizarre, or abnormal form of behavior is attributed to demon possession. Unfortunately, in many cases there is a very thin line between occurrences of mental disorder and demonization. This is because the symptoms in several instances are quite similar, and the precursors may be quite complex. For these reasons, another article in this issue sought to address the issue of discerning whether certain conditions were caused by mental disorders or demonization.

In addition, the predisposition to regard every unexplained behavior as having a …

Complete Spring Issue

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

Cultivating A Friendship With God, Petr Cincala, Craig Carr

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

Review Of Accept How You Feel: How To Find Balance And Enjoy Freedom From Stress, Robin J. Lewis

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

No abstract provided.

Wholistic Stewardship Revitalization Strategy At Pueblo First Seventh-Day Adventist Church Rocky Mountain Conference, Anton Kapusi

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

During the last decade, I observed, in my role as pastor and director, that many churches were overcome with a low level of members-involvement throughout the Conferences I served, especially in the current local churches I pastor, reflected in spiritual discouragement, indifference, and apathy. Upon closer observation of the Pueblo First local church members' relationship and collaboration, I found that only the worship service and two Bible study groups were functioning, with about a dozen individuals in total attending. Some other ministries were also functioning, like the ACS and ACS Disaster Relief, in addition to the church building and …

Missional Leaders' Multiplication Through Holistic Discipleship: The Fishermen Project As A Model For German Millennials In The Central Rhenish Conference, Christian Badorrek

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

If not through the influx of Seventh-day Adventists from diverse countries and their missionary efforts, the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany would be stagnant. Most growing churches consist of people with migrant background and a large number of them conserve their native languages in their activities. Consequently, new approaches to reach the extremely secular indigenous population are rare, since the number of people who naturally have the potential to connect with them is rapidly declining. This downward spiral leads to an overaged Seventh-day Adventist church in Germany and seems to accelerate. Only very few millennials are …

The Pilot Project For A Conference-Wide Church Multiplication Project In The Ontario Conference Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Jakov Bibulović

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

An assessment of the vitality of the Seventh-day Adventist churches in the Ontario Conference revealed a lack of multiplying congregations. This finding raised serious concerns. At the same time, the Ontario population net growth continued to increase at a higher rate than the Conference average net growth. There is a need for an intentional approach in identifying barriers for church growth, developing a strategy to remove these barriers, and initiating a congregational culture change that would unleash a God-given multiplication potential in congregations. In order to facilitate the congregational culture-change process, coaching in ministry would increase the chances for …

Leadership Strategy For Sustaining Mission-Focused Vision In Years Seven To Ten Of Crosswalk Fellowship, Boyan Levterov

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

In January 2007, my wife and I led a core team of passionate Christian believers to start Crosswalk Fellowship as a parachute church plant. The plant was a part of the local Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventist church planting initiative. The project had a successful start and reached the high standards to qualify for church status in the Texas Conference in less than one and a half years. Crosswalk continued to experience steady growth during the first five years of existence; However, in year five, people escaping crises happening simultaneously in the other two existing English Seventh-day Adventist churches …

Intentional Discipleship: Using A Personal Growth Plan With Microgroup Support As A First Step In Creating A Culture Of Discipleship At The University City Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Ryan Lee Ashlock

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

There is a general lack of understanding and practice of discipleship within Western Christianity. This lack of discipleship can be observed within the University City Seventh-day Adventist Church. Many Christians view their relationship with Jesus as something that affects the afterlife but has little effect on the present. There is a grave need for the church to have a culture of discipleship in which people are encouraged to have a daily and lifelong connection with Jesus.

Method

Building on conclusions drawn from theological reflection and a review of relevant literature, an intervention was developed that sought to draw church …