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Prodigal Daughters: The Crisis Facing Generation Z Women, Kristin Brouwer

Doctor of Ministry

Why are Generation Z women (born approximately between 1997 and 2012), increasingly leaving organized Christian religion in the United States? This question became personal in my office at a Christian liberal arts college, where national statistics took on the faces and stories of students I teach and mentor. For the first time in American history, young men are now more religious than young women, and nearly four in ten Gen Z women identify as religiously unaffiliated. Yet their departure is not primarily a rejection of God; it is a rejection of distorted representations of God, faith, and church.

Drawing on …

Unchanging Gospel Message, Changing Context: Contextualization Strategies In The Lukan Paul, Irenaeus, And Athanasius, Joy Axelsson

MA in Religion Theses

This thesis examines how early Christian leaders strategically contextualized the gospel within the diverse sociohistorical contexts of the Roman Empire while maintaining theological consistency. Using a comparative synchronic methodology adapted from Michael Gorman, it analyzes five primary texts spanning the first through fourth centuries: the Lukan Paul’s missionary speeches in Acts (Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, and Athens), Irenaeus’s On the Apostolic Preaching, and Athanasius’s On the Incarnation. Each text is analyzed within its literary, historical, and cultural context to identify patterns of strategic constants and variables in gospel presentation. The analysis shows that central gospel elements, such as Christology, monotheism, …

Sancocho Leadership: Nurturing Leadership And Vocation Of Latinas, Miriam Méndez

Doctor of Leadership

Latinas are vital to the future of the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey (ABCNJ), but the church has failed to properly nurture and develop their pastoral leadership gifts. They contribute significantly to congregational life, pastoral care, community outreach, and theological imagination. However, their presence in formal pastoral leadership roles remains limited. This dissertation examines the structural, cultural, and theological factors that influence Latina pastoral development. The solution for developing Latina women into pastoral leadership positions in the ABCNJ is the introduction of a contextual, culturally rooted model called Sancocho Leadership. Drawing on practical theology, Latina feminist theology, and leadership …

Exploring The Role Of Transformational Leadership In The Health And Growth Of Nazarene Churches In The Africa East Field, Warren W. Rogers Iii

PhD in Organizational Leadership

The transformational leadership model is associated with positive outcomes in the follower experience, as well as in educational, healthcare, and business sectors. There is limited research on the impact of transformational leadership on church health and growth (George & Sreedharan, 2023; Kouni et al., 2018; Rahmatulloh et al., 2023; Tian & Guo, 2024). The purpose of this general qualitative study was to explore how transformational leadership contributes to the health and growth of Nazarene churches in the Africa East Field (comprising Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda). Eight pastoral leaders were interviewed to share their thoughts, perspectives, …

Forgive As We Are Forgiven: Reframing A Trinitarian Model Of Forgiveness In A Post-Genocide Rwanda, Deogratias Mbonyumugenzi

Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to develop a theological model of forgiveness rooted in a relational conception of the Trinity. The central argument of this dissertation is that the model of forgiveness practiced in post-genocide Rwanda and the forgiveness modeled by Jesus, and testified to in the New Testament and developed in the Christian tradition, are good, but not sufficient to address the kind of trauma and human disrepair, as well as the devastation of communities, inflicted by genocide. Rather, a theology of forgiveness modeled on a relational conception of the Trinity and its practical implications for a Trinitarian ecclesiology and anthropology …

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 …

Towards A Missiological Model For Reaching East Indian Muslims For Christ In Kwatta Of Suriname, Kenneth Rigobert

Dissertations DIS

The presence of Seventh-day Adventists in Suriname dates to 1894, but there is no evidence, either in literature or field research, of any specific plan or missional thinking focused on the Adventist mission among East Indian Muslims in Suriname. The field research highlights some significant missiological challenges faced by the Seventh-day Adventist mission in Suriname that account for its slow numerical growth. These missiological challenges include: (1) a lack of committed and dedicated indigenous leaders; (2) inappropriate training given to the indigenous people for the mission in Suriname's multicultural and multilingual dynamics; (3) unsuitable missional methods for Suriname’s multicultural and …

Assessment Of The Level Of Relevancy Of Theological Education In The Chinese Context, Jacky Yeung

Dissertations

Problem

The contextualization of theological education has been a topic of academic discussion for many years with scholars exploring various angles related to this subject. Despite the ongoing need for contextualized theological education, an assessment of its relevancy in the Chinese setting has not been extensively studied. This dissertation aims to fill this research gap by assessing the relevancy of Adventist theological education in China and providing recommendations for improvement.

Method

The study employs a mixed-method approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issue. The quantitative stage involves a survey administered to …

The Meaning Of Life’S Broken Fragments: A Constructive Theology Of Fragmentation Grounded In Dietrich Bonhoeffer’S Theological Ethics, Meghan Toomey

Dissertations

Understood comprehensively, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s legacy offers contemporary American Catholicism a contextual approach to theological ethics that can meaningfully inform the development of an ethics of resistance to totalitarian and pseudo-religious forces that dominate U.S. politics today. Unfortunately, Catholic scholarship on Bonhoeffer overall has failed to grasp the full scope of his work and to incorporate his biography and the historical and theological context in which he lived. This dissertation brings Bonhoeffer into dialogue with modern and postmodern American Catholic theological contexts, specifically engaging Bonhoeffer’s concept of analogia relationis, his incarnational Christocentrism, and his embrace of contextual ambiguity. This dissertation is …

Made In The Divine Image: The Interface Of Boki Concepts And Pontifical Biblical Commission's Reading Of Genesis 1-2, Luther Raymond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Certain images facilitate tailoring our perception of ourselves and the rest of creation in positively practical ways, but others lead us astray and disfigure our relationships. Christians acknowledge that humans are made in the divine image, yet we allow the domineering presence of destructive frames and perceptions to counter our being divine image-bearers. This dissertation explores the intersection of the Boki Beri-be/Keredede motif and the language of the presentation of Genesis 1-2 in the 2019 Pontifical Biblical Commission Document What Is Man? calling for a recognition that humans are the embodiment of the divine presence in creation with a calling …

Christotechtonics: Dildonic Prostheticity In Theological Formulation, Evan Taylor Marsolek

Dissertations

This dissertation asserts the following claim: Christ is a dildo. This project brings Paul B. Preciado into conversations with contemporary philosophies of religion and interrogates a hegemonic Christian theological political matrix. This project articulates a hermeneutic of christotechtonics, which studies appearance, formation, and utilization of Christ. This project is twofold. It begins with a transdisciplinary exploration that entangles queer and trans theories, religious studies, secular studies, and philosophy of religion to position reading queer and trans theories as forms of counter political theologies. The work then transitions into dildonic prostheticity in theological formulation. The 2019 Vatican document “Male and Female …

How Does A Mystic Listen? Reimagining Listening Through Karl Rahner’S Notion Of A Mystic In Pope Francis’ Synod On Synodality, Theodbriel Repizo Villariza Jr

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Karl Rahner envisions that devout Christians of the future must be mystics, having a genuine experience of God’s presence in their particular context. This thesis aims to recover the role of mystics in the life of the Church, specifically in Pope Francis' challenge for the Catholic Church to embrace an identity of being a synodal Church. To be a synodal Church necessitates being a listening Church. Rahner promotes a form of mysticism where the pathway to be in union with God is one’s engagement in the world. For him, mystics witness how it is to be receptive to grace, that …

Let All The People Worship: Applying Inculturation In A Multicultural Community, Darrell St. Romain

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

The United States of America is growing more diverse, and its houses of worship are embracing this diversity to engage congregants and build membership. There is a tool to help worshiping communities to espouse diversity of cultures, namely Liturgical Inculturation. Liturgical inculturation, as defined by Anscar Chupungco, is the process whereby the texts and rites used in worship by the local church are so inserted in the framework of culture, that they absorb its thought, language, and ritual patterns. Incorporating the goals and functions of liturgical inculturation, worshiping communities can begin to re-evangelize themselves and celebrate unity through diversity.

This …

Ejagham Mysticism In The Funeral Practices Of The Mgbe (Ekpe) And Moninkim Institutions: Insights For Research Methodology And Theological Epistemology., Besem Etchi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The knowledge of the divine broadens and deepens as each location contributes the history, elements, and practices related to its divine revelation. This dissertation contributes from the Ejagham locations of Cameroon and Nigeria. The Ejagham precolonial institutions of Moninkim and Mgbe (Ekpe) were tuition-paid training schools for personal development and prophetic leadership. Their structured curriculum to train one’s personal and social ejong (personality), towards the Ejagham organizing principles of beauty and excellence, is replete with Ejagham mysticism and indigenous epistemology. Unfortunately, Moninkim has been misrepresented in years of scholarly research as a girl’s seclusion and coming-of-age-for-marriage rite and Mgbe (Ekpe) …

The Ecclesiology Of Catalino G. Arévalo: Inculturation, Mission, And Liberation In The Philippine Context, Zachary Ryan Dehm

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catalino G. Arévalo, S.J., was an eminent Filipino ecclesiologist of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Through his work for the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in particular, he played a significant role in the reception of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) in Asia and in the development of inculturation as a theological norm. Yet, Arévalo offered no systematic articulation of his theology of the church. By examining his work spanning seven decades, this dissertation traces the development of Arévalo’s ecclesiology and offers five foundational principles necessary for gaining a systematic understanding of his thought: (1) ecclesiology must be situated within …

Reimagining Constitutional Democracy For Human Flourishing: A Re-Reading Of Augustine’S Social Love, Ubuntu Ethics, And Cst For The Zambian, Boyd Kapyung Nyirenda

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Comparable to the person battered and left for dead and lying by the roadside, the poor in Zambia epitomized by the story of Regina Mukuka Nyirenda, a former civil servant, attest to the socioeconomic, political, and gender injustice ordinary suffer despite Zambia being a constitutional democracy and a Christian nation since 1991. Although, in theory, it ascribes to the dignity and rights of everyone without discriminating, the liberalist human rights regime (framework) underlying Zambia’s constitutional laws since colonialism promotes the flourishing of the elite neoliberalist class while perpetuating socioeconomic, political, and gender injustice. Conversely, it undermines the thriving of the …

Identity And Contextual Theology In Late Twentieth Century Taiwan: A Study Of Huang Po-Ho’S Chhut-Thau-Thin Theology And Chow Lien-Hwa’S Chinese Indigenous Theology, Yu-Huei Huang

Yale Divinity School Theses

The historical context of twentieth-century East Asia led to divergent national identities among Taiwanese people, shaping the contextual and indigenous theologies developed by Taiwan-based theologians during the latter half of the century. These theologies were grounded in distinct historical narratives, inherited diverse theological visions, and employed varied motivations, goals, and methodologies. This thesis examines the theological contributions of Dr. Huang Po-ho (b. 1952) and Rev. Dr. Chow Lien-hwa (1920–2016), two key figures from Taiwan’s two major Protestant communities, to illuminate the theological landscape of late twentieth-century Taiwan. Huang’s Chhut-Thau-Thiⁿtheology reflects Shoki Coe’s emphasis on theological decolonization and C. …

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 …

Augustine On The Religious Foundation Of Citizenship, Jesús E. Muñoz

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

In Gaudium et spes, the Second Vatican Council declared, “Let the citizens cultivate with magnanimity and loyalty the love of the country, but without a narrow mind, so that they always look also for the good of the whole human family, united by all kinds of links between the races, and the nations.”¹ This declaration responded to one of the most pressing issues of the time, the problem of defining the limits of the state’s social agency. Twenty years prior to Vatican II, the Church witnessed one of the most explosive wars in recorded history, a conflict that had …

Mission As Life Awakening In Africa And Beyond: Revisiting The Theology Of Life Of Engelbert Mveng (1930-1995), Mondohong Mouzou

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

The study aims to reimagine the Christian mission in sub-Saharan Africa through the lens of Engelbert Mveng's theology of life. Faced with deplorable conditions and threats to life in sub-Saharan Africa, the study navigates between critical analysis, comparative theology, constructive theology, and interpretive analyses of Mveng's artistic works to develop a new way of doing mission. lt shapes what could be labeled Mission as Life Awakening, which seeks to break with life-diminishing narratives, structures, and mortal spaces and reconstruct new arenas where life can be nurtured and affirmed spiritually and actively in all dimensions.

The critical analysis begins by examining …

Visio Divina With The Art Of Fra Angelico As Mental Pilgrimage: A Way Of Beauty And Perfection, John Paul (Frank) Puschautz

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Throughout Church history, artists have created beautiful works of sacred art that attracted Christians to contemplate the Supreme Beauty who is God himself. Scripture has inspired visual artists to translate these revealed words of God into images that help to enter prayer. This study explores how the steps of lectio divina, a divine reading of scripture, can be applied to visio divina, a divine gazing on sacred art. To my knowledge, this study is the first attempt at an academic and systematic presentation of visio divina based on the traditional steps of lectio divina.

Although this visio divina can be …

Re-Examining What I Have Been Taught About Ruth And Naomi As An Asian And Asian American Woman: A Re-Reading Of Ruth Through A Postcolonial Womanist Lens That Calls Asian And Asian American Christians To The Ministry Of Reconciliation And Biblical Justice, Eunice Lin-Sawyer

Seattle Pacific Seminary Theses

As a Singaporean Chinese woman who only moved to America in middle adulthood, I discovered that one’s context(s) and the particularities of place and positionality significantly shape one’s reading and interpretation of Scripture. This thesis engages in a transnational reading of portions of the Ruth Narrative (RN) and exposes the hidden normativity of Whiteness and Eurocentric theology that has shaped how Ruth is interpreted within the Asian and Asian American Evangelical Church. It also explores the implications of taking seriously one’s social-religious contexts and developing a lived theology that accounts for one’s personal narratives, life experiences and embodied particularity. To …

A Discipleship Model For Oral Preference Learners: Specifically Related To The Turkana People Of Kenya, Theresa Lynn Pottenger

Doctor of Ministry

The Turkana people of Kenya are primarily oral learners, processing information in oral ways. Oral learners are completely reliant on what they hear, see, and experience because they cannot or choose not to read.¹ Missionaries from highly literate western cultures unwittingly burdened these oral learners with literacy dependent teaching methods and discipleship practices. This has particularly left Turkana Christian leaders with few options for deepening their own Christian spirituality or leading others in discipleship. Additionally, a cultural disconnect between western spiritual categories taught by the missionaries and Turkana spiritual categories have left several Turkana spiritual needs unmet. The Turkana …

The Nigerian Tiv Concept Of Ya Na Angbian As A Corrective To The Misinterpretation Of Subdue And Have Dominion In Genesis 1:26, Christopher Terhemen Bologo

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

The Tiv people of Nigeria have a social-political philosophy, Ya na angbian, which they have been practicing since the pre-colonial period. The social-political philosophy promotes justice, fairness, harmony, and peace through a fair and equitable distribution of what belongs to the Tiv people. This thesis argues that the Ya na angbian concept of the Tiv people can be applied to the relationship between human and non-human beings. This work maintains that it can lead to human beings’ care for non-human nature.

The first outstanding conclusion of this research is that the Ya na angbian social-political philosophy can correct misunderstanding …

Life And The Renewal Of The Christian Community: Infant Baptism And Inculturation In The Context Of The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Héritier Ofabwe Kinzamba

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis is part of the liturgical inculturation process that has been taking place in the local Church of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the 1960s, one of whose treasured expressions is the Roman Missal for the Dioceses of Zaïre, an inculturated ritual of Mass. In this work, I aim to contribute to extending the special rite for the Dioceses of Zaïre to include the celebration of infant Baptism. I use a hermeneutical method and an anthropological model of contextual theology to interpret and analyze the foundations of the Roman Rite for the Dioceses of Zaire, the Church’s …

Towards A Holistic Reconciliation In Africa, N’Guessan Kouacou Augustin Koffi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Reconciliation is a relevant topic in the world and especially in Africa, which has a thirst for peace and justice, yet is plagued by ongoing crises. Many African countries have tried to build social trust for a living together. On the Church's side, Catholic Social Teaching, through Africae Munus, clearly articulates Africa's thirst for reconciliation, justice, and peace. Various African church leaders and laypeople have been engaged in the reconciliation and conflict transformation in Africa. Even though some progress has been made, people are still disappointed at the ongoing violence and social injustice in many parts of the continent. This …

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.

The Role Of Women Religious (1882-1974) In The Work Of Evangelization Among The Fijian People, John Pickering

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This research has undertaken the study of the role of religious women in the work of evangelization among the Fijian people between 1882 and 1974. Using the methods of historical research and an interdisciplinary approach, which includes disciplines of history, theology, spirituality, missiology, and cultural anthropology, this work evaluates the work of religious women and the immense contribution they have made to the Fijian Catholic Church and society, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare despite not receiving recognition for their work. The study revealed that women religious who helped to build the Catholic Church in Fiji and lay …

Can Anyone Withhold The Water...?, Brandon Keith Lacey Sr

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Abstract

Thesis

Contextualization and indigenization have always been necessary and expected components of establishing Christian communities of faith and practice. Failed or obsolete attempts at contextualization and indigenization in evangelism and missions continue to harm the development of the African American Church. This results in the development of spiritually marginalized communities alienated from the very relationship with God that such communities need. Preventing such spiritual marginalization in communities requires a training curriculum that combines a working theology on appropriate contextualization and indigenization with a framework for practical implementation. The outcome would decrease the tendency to replicate non-contextual religious practice and …