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Enhancing Corporate Prayer Of The Clearwater Church Of Christ, Lyle Hinsdale

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was designed to enhance corporate prayer in the Clearwater Church of Christ. The dissertation explores the formative role of corporate prayer in congregational life and how intentional engagement with the Psalms can deepen the theological and spiritual practice of prayer within a local church. Corporate prayer can slip into habitual practice with limited theological range or emotional depth. This project investigates whether structured use of the Psalms as a model for prayer can expand the language, theological imagination, and engagement in the prayers of a worshiping community. The study used participatory action research methodology and was conducted within …

A New Testament Theology Of Evangelistic Prayer, Preston Gagnon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Evangelistic prayer is widely assumed to be appropriate, but the biblical basis for the practice has been insufficiently argued. Some evangelistic resources assume evangelistic prayer is necessary. Others overlook the practice, and many discuss evangelistic prayer by making minimal arguments for the practice. Due to the lack of comprehensive arguments for evangelistic prayer, some authors have been able to claim that prayers for the lost are unbiblical. This dissertation enters the conversation by arguing that the New Testament presents evangelistic prayer as a biblically mandated, exemplified, and theologically supported practice. This argument is made by expositing twelve key New Testament …

Divergent Paths: The Spiritual Friendship Of C. S. Lewis And Dom Bede Griffiths, Martha Abele Mac Iver

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

This essay argues that despite their parallel conversion journeys at Oxford and their lifelong friendship, C. S. Lewis and Dom Bede Griffiths ultimately came to different understandings about the relationship between humans and God and what it means to commune with God in what we commonly call prayer. Despite the frequent mention of prayer in their letters, their views of the way in which God was present within them and what communion with God entailed diverged in significant ways as Griffiths sought to integrate Christian and Hindu conceptions of God. Their own spiritual friendship may have survived this rift, but …

Supporting Christian Gen Z Undergraduates Through Life Setbacks By Equipping Spiritual Directors, Brandon Taylor

Doctor of Ministry

The project within this portfolio seeks to help Christian Gen Z undergraduates at Biola University navigate setbacks in a way that fortifies their faith. Both anecdotal evidence at Biola and survey data demonstrate that Gen Z required increased support and intervention when they reached college campuses in the mid 2010’s. The American College Health Association has surveyed hundreds of thousands of Gen Z college students over the past seven years and found as far back as 2016 that 87.1 percent of the 27,787 undergraduate respondents to their Fall 2016 survey said they felt “overwhelmed by all they had to do'' …

Using The Examen, A Jesuit Prayer, In Spiritually Integrated And Secular Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The Examen is a 500-year-old end of day prayer developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits). Like many other religious or spiritual practices, such as mindfulness and yoga, the Examen is suitable as either a spiritually focused or secular intervention strategy to assist people within clinical psychotherapy practice and elsewhere. Adapting the Examen as a cognitive behavioral psychotherapy intervention is easy to do and may add another important tool to the toolbox of practicing clinicians interested in thoughtfully integrating spiritually based approaches in their clinical work with religiously as well …

Getting To Know The God We Believe In: Some Lessons From Religious Life, William Reiser S.J.

Holy Cross Bookshelf

A collection of reflections and articles by a member of the Society of Jesus, with particular emphasis on the spirituality underlying religious life. Some chapters are commentaries or reflections on the annual messages from Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations in the spring.

Acts Of The Holy Spirit In Leadership: A Case For Holy Leadership In The Church, Jeffrey James Boone Sr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the research is to remove worldly leadership from, Abundant Life Community Christian Church (ALCCC), and to replace it with a biblical leadership model. Biblical leadership is spiritual and holy. Biblical leadership is predicated upon Jesus Christ's leadership example and teachings. The first-century Apostles’ leadership modeled the words and works of Jesus Christ. The problem of secular leadership at ALCCC is the cause of stagnation and declination of the church. Worldly leadership at ALCCC is the root cause of inefficiency, ineffectiveness, in-house fighting, strife, division, rivalry, preeminence, predominance, lack of humility, outreach neglect, evangelism neglect, and unproductivity. The …

Neurophysiological Benefits Of Worship, Michael Liedke D.N.P.

The Journal of Biblical Foundations of Faith and Learning

Believers are called to worship, first Thessalonians 5: 16-17 (King James) instructs believers “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.” Believers understand the positive ramifications of worship, although few could elucidate the exact mechanisms at work in the brain. It is only in the recent decades that advances in imaging technology as well as an overall increase in neuroscience knowledge, have allowed us to peer into the workings of the real-time brain. The ever-expanding concept of neuroplasticity has opened and expanded knowledge related to the neurophysiological benefits of worship. Understanding the physical and mental health implications of these benefits validate Paul in …

Practicing Sabbath To Reduce Stress Among Ministers In The Tyger River Baptist Association, Spartanburg, South Carolina, James Hailstock

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The Sabbath is the zenith of God’s creation and the climax of living. The key to reducing stress among ministers is the Sabbath lifestyle which includes practicing the disciplines of prayer, silence, feasting and fellowshipping in addition to identifying the signs and symptoms of stress. The Sabbath lifestyle empowers ministers with coping skills that can be personalized and implemented consistently as they progress and deal with the daunting demands and responsibilities of ministry. This project tested and compared the stress levels of the research and control groups before and after teaching four courses (disciplines) in the context of a Sabbath …

Searching For The Divine: An Autoethnographic Account Of Religious/Spiritual And Academic Influences On The Journey To Professor, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

This autoethnographic account chronicles my academic and religious/spiritual path to becoming a professor of Communication. Spiritual influences and significant life events related to prayer, education, teaching, and research serve as sign posts marking the way. The journey begins with a child scientist experimenting with life—and an adolescent discovering the joy of reading through an illness. The journey continues with a crisis in undergraduate years followed by indoctrination stories of graduate school. Securing and retaining an academic position in Communication reveals the complexities of negotiating research and teaching in higher education. After tenure and promotion, a concurrent spiritual awakening begins a …

Praying With Images: Encountering God Through Creative Expression, Mary L. Coffey

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

The Absent God: Do Implicit Biases Influence Current Prayer Research?, Chase O'Gwin, Dr. Brent Slife

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In a recent article Dr. Slife and Reber (2009) make an argument that there is a pervasive bias against theism in psychological research. They state that in the effort to remain neutral towards religious thinking, including Christian theism, the science of psychology has become implicitly biased. This bias is masked by an attempt at neutrality; psychologists assume that God is not required in science, but if a theist wishes to insert a God, nothing is changed. The implicit bias against theism is made manifest because for the theist God is required in all things, and when science informs the theist …

Saint Vincent’S Daily Prayers, And The Development Of Common Daily Prayers In The Congregation Of The Mission, John E. Rybolt C.M., Ph.D.

Vincentian Studies

After the general assembly of 1963, the Congregation “mov[ed] from the daily recitation of vocal prayers in a formulary of prayers to the recitation of the liturgical offices of Lauds in the morning and Vespers or Compline in Latin in the evening.” John Rybolt traces the sources, development, and content of the traditional vocal prayers as far as the evidence at the time of this article would allow. These sources are the Primitive Common Rules, the Common Rules of 1658, Vincent de Paul’s writings (particularly a letter to Jane Frances de Chantal), two of the Congregation’s catechisms from …

What Would Ozanam Do?, David L. Gregory

Vincentian Studies

For Frédéric Ozanam, prayer and action were deeply intertwined. David Gregory speculates about what Ozanam would do to address the plight of impoverished workers. Ozanam’s influence can be seen in the first great encyclical on labor, Rerum Novarum, and his idea of the natural salary was a forerunner of the concept of the living wage. If he were alive in our time, he would be working toward that goal and toward universal health care without funding for abortion. Most of all, he would be praying.

Toward A Vincentian Culture In Higher Education, Margaret J. Kelly D.C.

Vincentian Studies

According to Margaret Kelly, culture is “the way a group of individuals, a corporate body, or an institution values and behaves.” Universities must ask whether their actions follow Vincent de Paul’s example and must pass on their Vincentian culture to their faculty, staff, and students. Kelly summarizes the elements of this culture as the leaders of different Vincentian schools see them. She writes, “At the core of Vincentian culture are beliefs about God, the dignity of the human person, the humanizing effect of education, the advancement of the common good, the value of direct experience with poor people, the creation …

Exploring Prayer Contexts And Health Outcomes: From The Chair To The Pew, E. James Baesler, Kevin Ladd

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

Prayer in personal, interpersonal, small, and large group contexts is described in relationship to physical, psychological, and spiritual health. A sample of college and middle-aged adults (N = 189) completed cross-sectional surveys. Quantitative analyses revealed that prayer in all contexts predicted higher levels of spiritual health, and that the strongest prayer predictors of health were: large group prayer for mental health, and private and large group prayer for spiritual health. Qualitative results revealed that prayers for physical health in close personal relationships, and table blessing prayers among family members, were two of the most common types of prayer. Suggestions for …

Vincent De Paul And Jean-Jacques Olier: Unlikely Friends, Robert P. Maloney C.M.

Vincentian Studies

Robert Maloney traces the friendship of Vincent de Paul and Jean-Jacques Olier and summarizes some essential similarities and differences between them. Vincent was briefly Olier’s spiritual director and helped him persevere in his vocation. They highly regarded one another and collaborated. However, Olier was “one of the purest examples” of the French school of spirituality; Vincent was not of that school, although it influenced him. Both were Christocentric, but Vincent saw Christ in poor persons where Olier focused on the Holy Spirit. Both were concerned with following providence, but for Olier “providence” was interchangeable with “the Spirit” and it was …

Exploring Interdisciplinary Prayer Research In A Health Context, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

Communication, Psychology, and Sociology are three leading academic disciplines engaged in the social scientific study of prayer, the spiritual communication between a believer(s) and God, but rarely do these disciplines collaborate in interdisciplinary prayer scholarship. Possibilities for interdisciplinary prayer research in a health context are explored through a review of the literature and academic interviews. Interdisciplinary linkages in the prayer-health context are organized in an integral "all-quadrant" theoretical model, and an assessment of the viability of interdisciplinary prayer-health research is considered.

The Role Of Prayer In The Process Of Providing Spiritual Direction, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Building An Altar Prayer Ministry In A Local United Methodist Church, Bob M. Moon

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Preaching The Doctrine Of Covenant And Its Impact Upon The Spiritual Discipline Of Prayer, John Keith Franklin

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® And Preferences For Prayer , David Michel Oliver

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Spirituality Of Louise De Marillac: Formed By The Spirit For Charity, Louise Sullivan D.C.

Vincentian Studies

This article presents “a spiritual portrait” of Louise de Marillac as reconstructed from Vincent’s letters to her and explores her prayer life using her writings. After 1623, Louise went on a complex and difficult journey of faith that was shaped by her temperament, her experience, and her time. She was extremely intelligent and capable, but also needed frequent spiritual reassurance, which Vincent de Paul provided throughout their relationship. However, she was well educated in the Bible and in spiritual practices before she met him. Her beginning was ascetic, with a demanding prayer schedule. Such discipline was related to her self-doubt. …

The Seventeenth-Century School Of French Spirituality, Raymond Deville S.S.

Vincentian Studies

The French school of spirituality, a controversial term, can include all the leaders of the Church’s renewal in seventeenth-century France or can be limited to Pierre de Berulle and his first followers. This article describes some of the school’s main figures (Berulle, Charles de Condren, Jean-Jacques Olier, and John Eudes), its characteristics, and representative texts. The school’s leaders were mystics who underwent profound spiritual evolutions. They adored God, focused on forming a relationship with Jesus, and were devoted to the Spirit and Mary. They saw the Church and moral actions as the continuation of Jesus’s work. Their missionary commitment was …

Nurturing The Pastor's Spiritual Discipline Of Prayer Through The Dynamic Of Spiritual Direction, Derek John Morris

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Current research demonstrates that we cannot assume that seminarians have received sufficient guidance in spiritual formation prior to the completion of their Seminary training. Therefore, there is a great need to explore ways of nurturing spiritual formation for those involved in pastoral ministry. It was the purpose of this present study to explore the potential of spiritual direction as a dynamic for nurturing the pastor's spiritual discipline of prayer.

Method

A spiritual friend, who had received training in spiritual direction, was selected with guidance from Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. A twelve-month case study was established with the author …