Digital Commons Network^™

Block Adoption: Evaluating The Impacts Of Neighborhood Care On Church Attendance At House Of Joy, Victor King

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

When a church plateaus, it is a major indication that the church is no longer adding new members. This is a dangerous stage for any church to be. If nothing is done to turn the situation around, the church will likely head down toward decline and death. This Thesis project addresses the problem of stagnation in church attendance. The Thesis project examines how block adoption can be used as an evangelism strategy to reach the people who live in the same community where a local church is located. The thesis project shows how block adoption can be planned and implemented. …

A Strategy For A Successful Church Plant In An Un-Churched, Yet Spiritual Culture, Ernest Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Planting a church is difficult, especially when the church is planted in a post-Christian culture. Denver, Colorado is this type of culture and has commonly been called “A Church Planter’s Graveyard” by various church planters, church planting network leaders and senior pastors in Denver. According to the North American Mission Board and other reports, Denver is 88-95% un-churched. This writer moved to Denver in the summer of 2013 to plant a church. The goal is to create a different strategy to reach a community of people who are not Christ-followers. This strategy will research former and current Denver church planters. …

Mission In The Diaspora: The Role Of Migrants (Refugees) As Principal Bearers Of The Christian Faith, Emmanuel Anim

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Th is paper explores migration and displacement as both a crisis and opportunity. It maintains that throughout biblical history—and even in the history of modern mission—migrants and refugees have often become the principal bearers of the Christian faith. In our own generation, Africans who have migrated to other parts of the world for various reasons have traveled with their faith. Many African churches such as Kingsway International Christian Centre, Th e Church of Pentecost, Winners Chapel International, International Central Gospel Church, and Victory Bible Church International have all established branches of their churches in the diaspora through the efforts of …

The Diamond, March 22, 2019, Dordt College

Dordt Diamond

• Front Page: White-Out Blows Through Spring Music Tour; How Dordt Heats Up in Winter; Faith, Family, and Football
• News: Stress in College Students; Bernie Sanders: From Dark Horse to Revolutionary Lion; Christian Diversity at Dordt; Colorado Springs: Good Work
• Arts & Entertainment: Laura Andersen Directed Northanger Abbey; Harriet Tubman Musical; Are the Jonas Brothers Finally Back?; Captain Marvel Shoots for the Stars
• PLIA: Panama City Beach - Reaching Out to the Spring Breakers; Diary of a First-Time PLIA Leader; PLIA at New Orleans
• Feature: Christina Edmonson Speaks at First Mondays; Opinion: New Weight Room Could Use Some Work; Changes …

Social Entrepreneurship And The Direct Selling Channel: A Case Study On Trades Of Hope, Christine Mollenkopf-Pigsley

Applied Organizational Studies Publications

Two homeschooled Florida teenagers meet in a homeschool group arranged by their moms, start community college at 14 years of age and discover a shared passion for social entrepreneurship. The result of that passion was the global jewelry and accessories start-up called Trades of Hope, founded in 2010. The company utilizes the direct selling distribution channel to create a supply chain of fair trade artisans in developing countries and a U.S. salesforce of more than 7,000 compassionate entrepreneurs who build businesses of their own. This case reveals the journey from passion to profit is not unique from other successful entrepreneurs …

Forgotten Women In Adventism, Caitlin Jankiewicz

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

The Banner - V. 154, No. 3 - (March 2019), Christian Reformed Church In North America

The Banner

No abstract provided.

Maximizing Discipleship Via An Adult Small Group Ministry, Wendell Jeff Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since its inception in 1996, First Redeemer Church has been firmly committed to Jesus’ commission to make disciples. While all of the church’s ministries aim to do this, First Redeemer Church relies heavily on its adult small group ministry to facilitate discipleship. One indication of this ministry’s strategic importance is the considerable financial investment the church has made, and plans to make, to provide on-campus spaces for adult education. Such investments have been considered worthy in light of the expected spiritual growth of the ministry’s participants and their involvement in and financial support of the church. This study will evaluate …

Black-Led Multiethnic Churches : Understanding The Unique Challenges And Opportunities, Brian L. Taylor

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of The Discipleship Process In The Methodist Church In Kenya : A Study On Discipleship In Context Using The Kenyan Experience, Susan Nkatha Barriu Murithi

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Footnotes: Churches Of Christ In Decline, Bob Turner

Footnotes: Curated Resources for Ministers

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of State Religious Policies On Christian Women’S Leadership Status In Vietnam: The Case Of The Evangelical Church Of Vietnam Since 1975, Le Ngoc Bich Ly

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper contributes to a feminist critique of multiculturalism by presenting the complexity of the relationship among the state, religion and women in the context of Vietnam. By taking the Evangelical Church of Vietnam—South as a case study, and based on both primary and secondary data obtained from in-depth interviews with 38 Vietnamese female and male church leaders in 2014–2016, and four months of fieldwork in southern Vietnam between February and May 2016, the paper argues that the assumption of equal rights and citizenship status for all women in the wider society according to the liberal model of multiculturalism cannot …

Women In Church Leadership: Raising The Awareness Of Women's Contributions To The Kingdom Of God In The Christian Reformed Church, Mary Walker

Doctor of Ministry

The official position of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) is that all congregations in the CRCNA may allow women to serve in the offices of minister, elder, deacon, or commissioned pastor. The problem is that 70 percent of the congregations remain convicted complementarians and do not call women into office. The debate over the biblical, historical, theological, philosophical, and ethical arguments for allowing women into leadership positions has so far failed to convince those 70 percent who are opposed to the idea.

In the Reformed tradition, the Word is principally taught with expository preaching. Doctrine is paramount. …

A Story, Metaphor, And A Matrix For The Truly Rural Church That Grows Christ Followers In An Uncertain Future, Lon Hider

Doctor of Ministry

The Church is always one generation away from extinction. There are larger trends that jeopardize the future of rural churches in my area. Evidence suggests there will not be enough Millennials to keep these rural churches viable. The rural churches built themselves on the “world-as-it-used-to-be.” But this world is fading with younger generations. Current approaches are unlikely to keep the ship afloat.

The “world-as-it-used-to-be” distorted the biblical narrative culminating in Christ. This story does not have weight with younger generations. If followers of Jesus in a rural context can embrace the correct biblical narrative, they can grow in their humanity …

The Melody Of Mutuality: Integrating Theological And Psychological Principles For Egalitarian Churches To Better Support Marriages, Jennifer J. Dean-Hill

Doctor of Ministry

The dynamic combination of the unique characteristics of man and woman have been described by author Carolyn Custis James as The Blessed Alliance. Yet power struggles, misunderstandings, and unmet expectations often plague the particular struggles of modern marriages therefore creating a demand for marriage therapists and psychological modalities that seek to rectify the conflictive divide among the genders. Marriage therapy has provided tools and methods for marriages to resolve their differences, strive for a relationship of equity, and develop a culture of mutuality. These new and improved marriages attend egalitarian churches, only to discover the gender wars are still being …

Traitors In The Service Of The Lord: The Role Of Church And Clergy In Appalachia's Civil War, Sheilah Elwardani

Masters Theses

Studies of the guerrilla war in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains reveal repeated instances of violence and threats directed at the pastors of mountain churches. Instances of churches being burned, pastors and laymen beaten and at times murdered are sprinkled throughout the primary source materials. The question raised here is why were pastors and specific churches being targeted for violence? The church was the center of the life for secluded Appalachian communities, church leadership carried tremendous weight in influencing loyalties. Research focused solely on the Dunkard Church in Floyd County, Virginia revealed that amidst a particularly violent guerrilla war, …

Adam Reinhold Schiewe---A Cross-Border Man Of Faith: A Baptist Trailblazer In Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, And Russia, Üllas Linder

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This study aimed at compiling a biography of the preacher Adam Reinhold Schiewe (1843–1930). Schiewe ministered in the territories of present-day Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, and Estonia. His historical significance lies primarily in the formal founding of the first Baptist congregation in Estonia. Schiewe wrote memoirs of his life and is featured in a large number of fragmentary, at times even contradictory, sources. The author pointed out the inaccuracies found therein and reconstructed a plausible biography. The study was originally written in Estonian and was supported by a single scholarship from the ESF programme DoRa activity 8.

Rethinking Evangelism As Discipleship: Equipping Followers To Live Incarnational Lives Outside The Walls, Lisa A. Willey

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation explores how local churches can help lay people live incarnational lives of reaching out and connecting or building relationships in their communities with the potential to share the gospel. To live an incarnational life means to allow Jesus to live through you in a way that changes your life and allows you to do what you otherwise could not do on your own. To live the life of a disciple or follower fosters a missional mindset and the desire to build relationships. To spring off of Len Sweet’s concept of MRI (Missional, Relational and Incarnational)1 I will explore …

Rethinking Foreign Missions: How Churches Can Engage In Global Missionary Work Without Leaving Their Communities, Stuart Alan Cocanougher

Doctor of Ministry

For three hundred years, the modern missions movement has established a paradigm in which evangelical churches, denominations, and parachurch agencies have recruited, trained, funded, and sent missionaries around the world. Taking seriously Christ’s command to reach the nations with the gospel, U.S. churches spend millions of dollars each year to send a few select missionaries to faraway nations, while most Christians are not engaged in cross-cultural ministry. But the world has changed. Now there are millions of foreigners living in the United States. I propose that evangelical church leaders consider a new strategy that involves training American Christians to minister …

The Use Of Spiritual Classics As A Resource For The Ongoing Formation Of Congregational Leaders With Special Reference To The Middle East, Hank Voss

Essays

No abstract provided.

Exodus/New Jersey Records, (1964-1971), Exodus/New Jersey

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Finding Aid For Exodus/New Jersey Records, (1964-1971), Abilene Christian University Special Collections And Archives

Exodus/New Jersey Records

Finding aid for the Exodus/New Jersey Records, (1964-1971).

Christian Scholars' Conference Records, 1981-2009, Christian Scholars' Conference

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Finding Aid For Christian Scholars Conference Records, (1981-2009), Abilene Christian University Special Collections And Archives

Christian Scholars Conference Records

Finding aid for the Christian Scholars Conference Records, (1981-2009).

Book Notices, Danielle M. Barnard, Dominic Bornand, Matthew L. Tinkham

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Risen With Healing In Her Wings: An Ecclesiological Ethnography Of Three Young Congregations In St. Paul, Minnesota, Catrina Louise Ciccone

Doctor of Philosophy Theses

This dissertation assumes that death and resurrection is the rhythm of life for all disciples of Jesus Christ, and that this baptismal pattern of dying in Christ and being raised to new life in Christ plays itself out in many penultimate iterations across our lives until our ultimate Death and Resurrection. As such, living in a cultural climate in which the white North American Christendom Church is captive to an ecclesiology of death, fixated upon and anxious about its imminent demise, this dissertation seeks to provide a counter-narrative: an ecclesiology of the resurrection occurring in this new missional era, a …

Handbook Of Christian Denominations In Zambia, A Personal Perspective, Chester Woodhall

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Preaching Christ In Zambia And Congo, Chester Woodhall

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

Creating Communities Of Belonging For Authentic Youth Evangelism, Daniel M. Duffis

180 Symposium Publications

No abstract provided.

I Am Jesus: 50 Daily Devotions, Elmer L. Towns

Books

No abstract provided.