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The Worship Battle: Reaching Generations Z And Alpha In American-Based Nigerian Pentecostal Churches, Charles O. Folami

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite great strides by Nigerian Pentecostal pastors to bring worship values, concepts, practices, and behaviors to establish and lead churches in the United States, they have been unsuccessful in retaining or reaching the young adults, specifically Generations Z and Alpha. Nigerian Pentecostal pastors have produced many followers and churches, capturing Nigerian immigrants in their locality. Their congregations have heavily focused on adults with little or no succession plan. This study examines existing literature on African Pentecostal pastors' success in America and their operations in connecting with adult immigrants, which is unsuccessful in connecting and retaining Generations Z and Alpha. Guided …

Factors Leading To Student Ministry Retention In Mid And Large Sized Southern Baptist Churches: A Phenomenological Study, Baylor Clark Whitney Sr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Over the past 15 years, the exodus of students from the church after high school graduation has emerged as a pressing issue in Christian leadership and education. Much research has focused on the quantitative rate of students leaving church after graduation (Barna, 2011; Earls, 2019; “Reasons 18- to 22-Year-Olds Drop Out of Church,” 2007; Trueblood, 2019). Researchers have cited the need for qualitative research to better understand the student ministry retention phenomena (Shields, 2008). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover some factors which led to post-student ministry retention among young adults who participated in student ministry at …

An Assessment Of Dropout Rates Of Former Student Ministry Participants In Self-Identified Evangelical Churches With 500-2000 In Weekly Attendance, Derik Wade Idol

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Over the last quarter-century, there has been a consistent call to reconceptualization and at times reject the youth ministry task resulting from the universally accepted church dropout statistic post-high school graduation. In 2008, Brandon Shields presented a falsification study that disproved the theory that high school graduates are leaving the church at a rate of 70-90% at Southern Baptist Megachurches. The purpose of this study was to examine the claim that 70-90% of youth ministry graduates are leaving the church by researching 17 self-identified Evangelical churches of 500-2000 in average church attendance. The research design was a quantitative replication study …

An Assessment Of The Millennial Body And Its Place In The Local Church, Jonette L. Camp

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Millennial members’ waning attendance and involvement at Simon Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is a growing concern for the church universal. This project focuses on Simon Temple’s ability to attract and retain millennials and draw on their church programs and leadership gifts. This study’s purpose was to understand better why millennials do not become or remain active members at Simon Temple. If the church implemented a strategic evangelism and discipleship plan for millennials, could it help attract, retain, and involve millennials? This study evaluates the concerns of Simon Temple leadership and millennial members as they relate to millennial involvement …

An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study Of Phronetic Administrative Competencies In Experienced Student Ministry Practitioners, Tripp Atkinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While the impact of a healthy student ministry in the local church is culture-shaping and eternally significant, many churches are not experiencing success in this ministry area. Among the many challenges modern student ministry face, a high turnover rate and perceived lack of competence among student ministry professionals contribute to this lack of sustained fruitful ministry (Devries, 2008). In many cases, the lack of competence is a primary contributing factor to the turnover. While a number of studies have identified the necessity of student ministry professionals possessing sound administrative competencies in sustaining success, a significant gap in the literature exists, …

Connecting Youth To The Gospel: The Role Of Theology And Apologetics, John Wesley Sales Iv

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Connecting youth to the Gospel sounds like a basic undertaking. However, evidence shows students know very little about the Gospel. While they grow up in church and attend Sunday school, there is still a lack of desire from students to want to know who God is. There needs to be a path to teaching students the genuine and deep teachings of the Gospel. This topic is important because as students grow older, they may grow apart from what they learned in Sunday school. When they are challenged and distracted by the world, they need a strong anchor to keep them …

A Model For Identifying, Developing, And Installing Elders In The Church: The Path Family Church Has Taken, Stephen Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem is that Family Church does not identify, develop, and install their potential elders well. This intervention research project addressed this problem by establishing prerequisites for elder identification, a seven-week elder training workbook, and guidelines for installation after the research project. Current elders at Family Church completed a questionnaire, participated in case studies, and evaluated their intervention project in a focus group to establish an effective method of identifying, developing, and installing potential elders. This intervention research project produced a list of prerequisites for identifying potential elders, a seven-week elder training manual, and clear guidelines for ordaining elders at …

Developing An Intentional Disciple Making Strategy For Fathers To Lead Their Families In Spiritual Transformation, Michael Cauthorne

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Do current student ministries produce disciples that can stand the test of the current culture? Has creating a separate ministry worked against God’s plan for making disciples? Statistics from across the Church would suggest the American Church is in decline. Within the Southern Baptist Convention there has been a continual decline in baptisms over the past few years. This project will seek to determine if there is a correlation between how student ministries are led in the modern church to how effectively the church has been in making disciples. With research and data collected from current and former student ministries, …

A Study Of Support For The Bereaved In The Local Congregation, Ngoy Nadine Ilunga

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The bereaved often face the ongoing challenges of grief with little support from the Church. This study aimed to resource the Church with practical methodologies to help congregants cope with grief. The study examined the troubling issues the bereaved experience after the death of a loved one. Survey data was collected from ten United Methodist members and had lost an immediate family member within the past five years. The measure consisted of interviews and questionnaires. An email and a verbal announcement during church worship service built the sample. Findings reveal that approximately 90% of participants experienced grief and emotional effects …

Development Of An Observation Skill In Inductive Bible Study In Consideration Of Biblical Genres For Bible Students In The School Of Biblical Studies In Youth With A Mission, Kona, Hawaii, Yohan Shim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

SBS Kona has been helping Christians to employ the inductive Bible study method to study the Bible for many decades. Some Bible students in SBS Kona superficially observe the biblical text. The project aims to assist the Bible students in developing their observation skills by considering the biblical genres. For this purpose, the project covered eight genres of the Bible: Narrative, Law, Poetry, Wisdom, Prophet, Apocalyptic, Gospel, and Epistle. The project also supplied five essential observation labels for each genre to guide the participants observe the text in light of the biblical genres. The researcher facilitated the project for six …

Youth To Adult Continuance Of Faith: How To Achieve Young Adult Retention Through Pre-Adult Instruction, Michael Leslie Tyree Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project grows out of the late teen through the twenty-something absence of young adult believers as active Crawford Road Baptist Church (CRBC) members. This phenomenon, young adult absence, is experienced in many churches and therefore worthy of research to discover causal influences and possible mitigations. Project research included scholarly books and direct interviews with ministry experts. The project topic is youth to the young adult continuance of faith and how to achieve young adult retention through preadult instruction. Research in this effort has included discipleship, church growth, worship, culture, and relevant young adult statistical data review. This project will …

Implementing A Discipleship Strategy At Open Door Evangelical Church, Samuel Odney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project aims to address the lack of involvement of church members in leadership at Open Door Evangelical Church. With the implementation of a discipleship strategy that will coach those not involved, they will become true disciples of Christ and serve in the church with any ability they have received from the Lord. The researcher will use three different methods for data gathering, including surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Every Member of the church will participate in the survey phase of the project. Still, the bulk of the study consisting of focus groups and interviews will focus on members …

Creating Collaborative Missional Communities To Enhance Church Revitalization, Bradford William Reaves

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

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This project utilizes the revitalization efforts of Grace Community Church in Winchester, VA to examine the precedence of collaborative strategies for church revitalization. In this study contemporary literature, theological foundations, surveys of church leaders in the United States, and interviews with collaborative church and ministry leaders from around the United States are evaluated to determine the need for greater collaboration for the health and revitalization of church and ministries. The findings of this research argue that contemporary church growth strategies that emerged from the recent church growth movement may actually inhibit church revitalization efforts …

Church Leadership: Effectual Strategic Planning Towards The Congregational Growth And Maturation Of Go And Teach Christian Ministries, Christopher L. Kingdom

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis action research project is comprised of the effectual strategic planning toward the congregational growth and maturation of Go and Teach Christian Ministries. The project was embarked upon to address what had seemed to be a problem within the church’s leadership. The focus on church growth in membership numbers, rather than the membership, had seemed to creep into the leadership of GATCM. It seemed that the programs and events of the church were geared more toward attracting outsiders and adding new members to the church rather than creating an atmosphere of growth within the church attendees. From a foundational …

Young People And Full Time Pastoral Ministry In The Church Of Pentecost U.S.A., Inc, Frank Asirifi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The shortage of young pastors to replace the aging and retiring pastorate is an alarming reality confronting Christian churches regardless of location, size, and denomination. This research project's primary objective was to explore the factors discouraging young Christian adults born in the United States of America from responding obediently to God's call into full-time pastoral ministry and create corporate awareness of the holistic nature of the problem and seek a collaborative solution plan to motivate young Christian adults to obey God’s call into full-time pastoral ministry. The project focuses on young American-born adults in the ministry context of The Church …

The Relationship Between Contemporary Evangelical Church Leadership And Church Discipleship Formation, James Lawrence Marshall

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine if the church leadership paradigm contributes to the problem of a lack of disciple-making in Pennsylvania Evangelical churches. A disciple is defined as an unwavering commitment to the Lordship of Christ that is illustrated by Luke 9:23 in which disciples deny themselves and carry their cross daily. This research sought to identify the causes for the lack of discipleship in Pennsylvania Evangelical churches, and had the following findings from the quantitative survey. First, the vision that leadership provides for disciple-making is much higher than either the member involvement in discipleship …

Small Groups Evangelistic Growth At New Gainesville Seventh-Day Adventist Church, John Raymond Sconiers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christian denominations generally have low growth rates and stagnant evangelistic programs. While churches struggle to evangelize new believers, evangelistic models that utilize small group methodology have shown various degrees of success. The purpose of the author is to conduct a church growth study of the New Gainesville Seventh-Day Adventist Church by developing, implementing, and evaluating small groups over a thirteen-week period to analyze it’s effect on quarterly growth rate. The author will define and implement biblical principles of small groups and measure the outcome of numerical and personal growth among participants. As a result of implementing small group evangelism into …

A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of Perceived Self-Efficacy As It Relates To Persistence For First-Generation Black College Men In Texas, Cleveland Earl Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe perceived self-efficacy as it relates to the persistence of first-generation Black college men at two public and one private Christian institution of higher education in the state of Texas. The theory that guided this study was Bandura’s self-efficacy as it provided the theoretical framework. Tinto’s student integration model was used in this research to analyze Tinto’s concept of academic and social integration relevant to first-generation Black college men’s persistence. Four research questions were used in this study to describe the participants’ perceived self-efficacy, persistence, and family influences as well as …

The Leadership Challenges In The Interdependent Korean American Church, Brian J. Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Korean American churches have faced many challenges associated with cultural and generational gaps between the Korean and English-speaking congregations. Despite meaningful attempts to resolve the issues, the Korean American church leaders are still struggling to find the right system or a model that could unite Korean American churches. The purpose of this research thesis is to address the leadership challenges in a multi-congregational church by examining the vision of interdependence to bring strategic changes that promote greater unity between the two congregations. This research thesis will help the leaders at NCFC identify the core issues of leadership and reevaluate …

Disaster Preparedness Plan For Cascade Hills Church, Columbus, Georgia, Kenneth Durell Dawson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While churches, especially large churches, may consider themselves well-prepared for a disruption in normal activities, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated churches’ lack of preparedness on multiple levels. This disaster as well as other natural or manmade disasters could disrupt normal functions of a church and seriously impede a church’s outreach to the community. This project defines the problem and delineates a plan for Cascade Hills Church in Columbus, Georgia. This study designs and implements an intervention by interviewing church staff members and by seeking the input of an expert in the field of disaster recovery. Results are measured by a tabletop …

Utilizing Relevant Bible Centric Studies As A Means Of Retaining Young Adults In Active Church Membership And Ministry In An Older Puerto Rican American Baptist Church, Jessica Lugo-Melendez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project will explore how the integration of young adults’ everyday life issues and struggles into Bible Studies content can become more attractive for this demographic. With the intention of adding relevancy as a means of retention of young adults within a local American Baptist Church in Puerto Rico. Several recent studies provide a concrete picture of the lack of local church involvement among young adults’ lives, translating into attrition in many cases. In terms of church attendance, a study maintains that only 30.9% of young adults attend religious services "regularly," meaning at least twice a month, 35.4% report never …

Development Of Future Leaders In The Christian Church, Albert Lee Crout

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The thesis project, Development of Future Leaders in the Christian Church, was developed to address the decline in youth attendance, retention, and participation in The Mountain Christian Church in Nicholasville, Kentucky. There has been a consistent decline in the number of youths who attend and participate in the church after high school graduation. After a review of literature and case study, which included a survey, questionnaire, and roundtable discussions, this researcher determined that the cause of the problem was that the church lacked programs for youth that lead them to Christian maturity and an opportunity for leadership skills training. The …

A Study On The Small Groups For The Vitalization Of Young Adult: With A Focus On Dang-Il Church, Jongkil Park

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis is a study on the revitalization plan for youth ministry in the church. The purpose of this study is to study the effect of small group ministry on faith growth and youth revitalization as a way to promote youth ministry based on the understanding of youth. Today, while the growth of Korean churches is slowing and the number of members decreases, the youth group has also stopped growing, facing a crisis of spiritual growth and a crisis of existence itself. The decline of the young generation is not a problem only today, but at a time when the …

Migrating And Amplifying Ministry To Online Platforms To Pursue The Great Commission, Daniel Elnaam Bagaas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The COVID-19 crisis was unexpected by the universal church. The current pandemic revealed that the universal church and many local churches were not prepared for its’ accompanying challenges or to adapt in general. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, churches across America were required to temporarily cease in-person public gatherings and later to reduce the number of participants once in-person meetings were allowed again. This scenario caused many churches to have to adapt to the current circumstances to continue ministering. The purpose of this DMin research project is to amplify Sonrise Church’s online ministry presence and determine if it garners greater engagement …

Discipleship And Mentoring In Youth Retention At Crosspointe Church, Gregory Clement Bedner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Leaders at Crosspointe Church in Monroe Michigan have identified a need to develop a more effective discipleship program to keep emerging adults involved in church after high school. Research shows that there is a growing trend of emerging adults leaving the church and the leaders of Crosspointe Church in Monroe Michigan have noticed this trend of emerging adults leaving the church after high school. It is hypothesized that a more effective discipleship program along with more parental involvement will positively correlate with Crosspointe Churches youths making the decision to stay in church after high school. This research utilized a discipleship …

The Effectiveness Of Servanthood Training, Shirley Godard Peele

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project researched the leaders at Divine Praise Ministries to determine the effectiveness of servanthood training. The leaders at Divine Praise Ministries were interviewed, trained, and equipped to serve a local homeless shelter in Washington, North Carolina. The leaders were informed of the biblical reason to serve based on Matt. 25:35-40. They were also informed of the physical reason to serve based on the needs of the homeless population. In addition, the need for this thesis project was fueled by the desire of the pastor to find out why the leaders at Divine Praise Ministries lack a desire to …

A Plan To Unify Generational Worship Divisions Through The Development And Implementation Of A Biblical Philosophy Of Generational Worship, Leonard L. Tomlin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Westside Baptist Church is a multigenerational Southern Baptist Church with an established culture of dynamic musical worship. Throughout the last four decades, this congregation has flourished in its weekly engagement of musical worship. Westside's musical worship styles are generally comprised of traditional hymns, southern gospel, and praise and worship music. While the church has maintained a reputation of first-rate worship music, the last decade has revealed a growing division among the congregation's generational worship style preferences. One generation of the church longs to worship with the songs that they grew up with, while another generation prefers to grow up with …

Faith Development Study On Parents As Primary Faith Influencers, Caarne L. White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research study intends to address a problem parents face as the assumptive primary faith influencers in their children's discipleship and spiritual development. The goal is to discover the support parents receive as World Changers Church International members while growing in the Christian faith as a family. The problem manifests when youth pastors and workers struggle to help student ministries make real-life connections through discipleship and mission. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical church closure is considered in exploring the study and further augment parents' struggles. In the discovery process, the study will assess how guidance through the Christian …

The Necessity Of Small-Group Ministries, William Keith Dewease

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a consistent debate regarding the best structure for ministry within the context of the church. Churches established with a traditional mentality utilize the lecture method in small groups, while contemporary-driven churches utilize an open-ended discussion method in small groups. The following research seeks to determine which small-group model most effectively grows the believer spiritually and relationally. The participants have lived in a traditional small-group model all their lives. The belief is that introducing a small-group model that goes beyond the traditional lecture approach will deepen relationships and lead to maturity. The research methods include open-ended discussion questions, an …

Understanding Discipleship And How To Effectively Spread The Gospel, Christopher Earl Kornegay

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project will work to help Greater Purpose International formulate a plan that will better serve its congregants and aid them in gaining the confidence to share their faith with others. Although the overall health of the church may have been attributed to a lack of discipleship, it is evident that congregants can be comfortable sharing their faith even if expected results are not obtained. The fundamental purpose of this study is to focus specifically on the congregants of Greater Purpose International and their ability to share their faith with others. Using qualitative research, a collection of interviews, and group …