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Spiritual Direction As Preventative Clergy Care: Presented In A Wesleyan Quadrilateral Paradigm, Terry L. Clees

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

Spiritual Direction And Evangelicals : Exploring Its Growth, Margie Van Duzer

Doctor of Ministry

During the last thirty years interest in the ministry of spiritual direction has grown rapidly within evangelical circles. This paper explores the conditions that have nurtured this change. Specifically, this dissertation defines and describes spiritual direction, sets forth its biblical and historical context, and then explores a variety of factors that help explain its increase in popularity among evangelicals. In the final chapter, the dissertation turns to a consideration of how best to prepare the growing number of evangelical spiritual directors and proposes an outline of a curriculum for a spiritual direction equipping program.

The paper is divided into three …

Avoiding The Debilitating Effects Of Compassion Fatigue, James S. Caruso

Doctor of Ministry

Many clergy experience a debilitating stress condition called compassion fatigue (CF). Church leaders leave ministry for many reasons such as moral failure, financial stresses, marital problems, burnout, and CF. CF is not easily recognized, but its effects on ministry leaders are very visible. Preventive measures include observing the Sabbath observance, reliance on the Holy Spirit and other self-care techniques. This projects thesis is that CF can be avoided through Sabbath observance reliance on the Holy Spirit and proper self-care practices. Church leaders are vulnerable to CF in their care-giving role. They should understand the signs and symptoms of CF and …

Spiritual Abuse : When The System Becomes The Persecutor, Gary R. Veenhuizen

Doctor of Ministry

Spiritual abuse is an extremely subtle issue in its early stages. Often one doesn’t recognize when they are a subject of abuse, or how they have been influenced in ways that are controlling and involve manipulation of behavior and thought. It should be understood that all institutional systems are vulnerable to manipulation by leadership, tradition or culture of the system or organization. I am proposing that it is possible that a system itself can be an abuser, inflicting spiritual control and manipulation on the organization, the leadership and members for future generations. I want to examine the earmarks of unhealthy …

Reframing Transition, Jim Regehir

Doctor of Ministry

In the life of any organization, when a significant upheaval or crisis occurs, the participants are thrown into confusion and a sense of direction can be lost. In the church the crisis is more intense simply because, not only is the church an organization, it is also a group of people who have joined together as a representation of the family of God. Thus significant upheaval and crisis can result in not only confusion and a loss of direction, but also a loss of trust in one another and the questioning of God's purpose for them as a community of …

Faith At Work: How Churches Can Better Enable Believers To Integrate Their Personal Faith In The Workplace, Stuart D. Dugan

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

That They May Be One: Spiritual Formation And Its Locus In Community, Phillip G. Carnes

Doctor of Ministry

American Christians, as a whole, lack a spiritual maturity that infuses the whole of their lives with Christlikeness. Additionally, Americans suffer from an epidemic of loneliness. These two problems are related. We will demonstrate that American Christians lack spiritual maturity, in part, because they have privatized their faith and made spiritual formation an individual endeavor. Furthermore, we will show that spiritual formation is best located and grounded within a community context. Humans are social creatures. It is becoming ever more widely recognized that social isolation and loneliness are root causes of much psychosocial dysfunction. Humans do not function well if …

Sustaining Spiritual Leadership For The Long Haul: The Center For Spiritual Renewal At Barclay College, David O. Williams

Doctor of Ministry

There is no higher calling in the Christian life than the call to serve as a spiritual leader within the body of Christ (pastor, music minister, missionary, etc.). While many of these leaders are functioning quite well in their respective ministries today, many others are leaving vocational ministry at an alarming rate. In section one of this document, an attempt will be made to identify some of the key factors that contribute to this current clergy crisis. A significant number of support services have emerged in recent years in an attempt to address the problem of clergy burnout. Section two …

A Project To Foster Spiritual Formation In Online Classrooms, Robert Vaughan

Doctor of Ministry

Online programs are a growing phenomenon in adult education. Many Christian colleges and universities use this method to meet the educational needs of non-traditional students. A drawback of online education is the challenge to address the spiritual needs of students in a virtual environment. This project will propose an approach for fostering spiritual formation in asynchronous, adult online educational programs.

Section 2 will demonstrate the problem of fostering spiritual formation in online environments including the following issues: the demographics of the project, an organizational analysis of the project, and historical timelines of online adult education.

Section 3 will explore how …

Recovering Spiritual Direction In The Protestant Tradition, Morris Dirks

Doctor of Ministry

The purpose of this dissertation is to foster a commitment to the development of spiritual direction in the ongoing care of pastors within the Protestant tradition. The need to recover this practice, once well established in the church, is made obvious by the increasing challenges faced in ministry and the spiritual and emotional impact now experienced by pastors. More and more leaders are losing their way as a result of the unchecked stress fostered by the overwhelming expectations, whether real or perceived, which are placed on them. Pastoral responsibilities have been significantly compounded by the increasing programmatic and executive functions …

Unspoken Prayer In Spiritual Formation: Tool Or Trouble, Wayne Lewis

Doctor of Ministry

The questions addressed in this document are: Can unspoken prayer be used in Christian spiritual formation? If so, how? And are there dangers that come with its use? For the purpose of simplicity and utility, the term "unspoken prayer" will refer to prayer that is not verbalized with voice or mind and is prayer offered to God as listening, focused waiting, or thought focused meditation. Unspoken prayer is utilized by Christians in forming a more intimate relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord. Many terms are used for this type of prayer including contemplative prayer, silent prayer, listening prayer, and …

Exploring A New Paradigm For Evangelism In The Emerging Culture, Michael Mcnichols

Doctor of Ministry

It is my claim that evangelism has become focused on the proclamation of a message that is presumed to be an accurate expression of the biblical concept of gospel. Evangelism within the evangelical community, perceived primarily as proclamation, has become a specialized function of the church. It is too often separated not only from the normative experience of the average Christian but also from the idea of discipleship, or spiritual formation. There are possible solutions to this problem, such as more training, increased efforts at city-wide crusades, more seeker-oriented services, continuation of church planting, a stronger focus on those "gifted" …

Intentional Discipleship: Spiritual Formation As Trinitarian Immersion For The 21st Century, Craig W. Henningfield

Doctor of Ministry

The local Christian congregation is remarkably active. Pastors serve the congregation in a variety of roles. Church leaders meet to plan so that tasks, funds and activities are properly ordered. Church members participate in the various ministries and opportunities offered. Citizens of the local community take advantage of programs designed for them. Christian congregations, sometimes called "religious malls," are busy.

Yet, with all the activity, church members still come and go, complain about the decisions being made, resist changes in their "religious tradition," struggle with various addictions, expect more than is being provided, and wonder how Christianity relates to their …

Baptist Student Ministry: Object Lessons In The New Reality For Denominational Ministries, Nick Howard

Doctor of Ministry

The world in which we live is a world filled with opportunity. It is an exciting time to be alive and involved in ministry. This is especially true for those who minister to the more than 14 million university students on campuses across America today. To work on a university campus is to experience the quickening of the Spirit. There is a very real sense that one is ministering on the cusp of the postmodem world. In contrast with earlier generations of students, the beginning years of the 21st century are times in which students are characterized by an optimism …

Via Media : The Necessity Of Deeper Theological Refection For The Genuine Renewal Of Church In The Emerging Culture And Context / By Jason Clark., Jason Clark

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

Baptist Student Ministry: Object Lessons In The New Reality For Denominational Ministries, Nick Howard

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

A Covenant Epistemology, Larry Taylor

Doctor of Ministry

The problem addressed in this paper concerns how large, charismatic-type churches practice their ecclesial epistemology. It is the position of this paper that the typical hierarchical approach to leadership has hindered the epistemological process by placing too much responsibility on one person, the senior leader, and too little responsibility on the congregation as a whole. Covenant Epistemology is a response to this problem, by calling on the whole church to function in unity in the discernment process. Its core feature is the covenant that bonds members of a faith community together to a unique commitment to seek collectively knowledge and …

A Multicultural Learning Community: Facilitating Faculty Relationships With East Asian Students On An American Christian College Campus, Larry K. Asplund

Doctor of Ministry

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the cross-cultural challenges faced by teachers and East Asian students on an American Christian college campus, and to seek effective ways of facilitating relationships between them. How could I effectively facilitate meaningful cross-cultural relationships between members of the faculty and East Asian students? How is it possible for a Christian college campus to become a multicultural learning community?

My claim is that it is possible to facilitate faculty relationships with East Asian students if a high priority is placed on the Christian value of relationships in community and cultural learning, i.e. learning …

Inner Sharing: Spiritual Direction And Pastoral Care, Richard E. Lamontagne

Doctor of Ministry

Spiritual direction is a way of assisting people in their growth toward spiritual maturity. Yet, spiritual direction remains a relatively unknown and undervalued link to the life of the spirit despite people's need for guidance. Often, ministers who are normally expected to offer spiritual direction are reluctant to engage in it. This dissertation proposes to reassure clergy and encourage them to risk engagement in spiritual direction. The first section seeks to clarify spiritual direction by providing definitions and distinguishing it from similar disciplines. The second section situates spiritual direction in the history, tradition, and present conversation of the Church. The …

A Protocol For Assessing And Developing Spiritual Formation Among Council For Christian Colleges And Universities Schools In North America, Keith R. Anderson

Doctor of Ministry

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a protocol for assessing and developing spiritual formation among schools affiliated with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities in North America.

Problem: A paradigm that is deeply rooted in scripture, practical theology, and an understanding of spiritual formation is needed to assess programs for spiritual formation of traditional college students.

1. What is the need within its context? Articulates why a need exists among schools of Council for Christian Colleges and Universities? I will describe the historical context and provide original research from forty-two CCCV schools.

2: What is the approach …

A Wesleyan Understanding Of Grace As Responsible And Therapeutic: A Path To Transformational Spirituality, Katherine Simmons Conolly

Doctor of Ministry

The ministry problem addressed in this dissertation is the need for spiritual transformation. Christians are called to transformation into the image of Christ. John Wesley's understanding of grace as both responsible and therapeutic is one pathway to this transformation. He believed that grace was the interaction of God and humanity, where God reaches out to us and we are to respond. The more we respond, the more we are able to respond. This is responsible grace. And as we grow in grace, the result is a growth in holiness, or into the likeness of Christ. This growth is not just …

Spiritual Empowerment Of Special Needs Families, Andrew Leon Meeko

Doctor of Ministry

Families with children possessing disability face crushing challenges physically, economically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. Sadly, most succumb to this onslaught and disintegrate. The tragedy of these families is only amplified in that they have the potential to influence lives, churches, and nations as perhaps no other entity can.

Chapter One focuses on understanding the tragedy of special needs families. The dehumanizing attitudes and denials of basic rights that handicap those with disability are examined. Chapter Two takes a closer look at the stresses and emotional whirlpools these families endure. Stress hardiness and cohesion/control mechanisms of families are also considered in …