Digital Commons Network^™

Restoring Relational Connection At South Side Christian Church: Group Spiritual Direction For Burnout Prevention Among Lay Leaders, Brooks Wilson

DMin Project Theses

Relationships form the bedrock of authentic church community. According to Jesus, the greatest commandment entails a holistic love for both God and neighbor.1 Anything less than relational connection ceases to accomplish the new creation goals of Christ’s mission. Thus, building, maintaining, and repairing relational connection remains central to the church’s aim.

"Let The Little Children Come To Me:" Examining The Importance Of At-Home Discipleship And Spiritual Formation For Children Ages Zero To Three Years Old, Kamilah Kay Edwards

Doctor of Ministry

The narratives of children in the Bible links the Old and New Testaments, continually shaping our understanding from past to present. Likewise, children hold a significant place in Christian churches and homes as the legacy of the lived Christian experience. Considering 21st century research findings highlighting the perceptions of children in the American Christian church, American Christianity is seeing a departure of youth. This departure is more than an exodus, it is an identity crisis that calls into question contemporary discipleship and spiritual formation practices at home and in the faith community. The importance of discipling children from the earliest …

Cling To The Saints : Facilitating Spiritual Growth Through Community Spiritual Direction, Laura L. Descalzo

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Post-Graduates Of A Spiritual Direction Training Program Rooted In Ignatian Spirituality: A Phenomenological Study, Traci Arends

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand and explain the lived experiences of the graduates of the Spiritual Direction Training Program at the Ignatian Ways Center for Spirituality (IWCS). The theory guiding this study was Mezirow’s theory on transformative learning as it informs the transformative journey for the graduates. With this in mind, the central research question was, “What are the transformative learning experiences of graduates of the Spiritual Direction Training Program at the IWCS?” This qualitative design was appropriate because it considered the nature of the problem. The study utilized purposeful sampling of the lived experience …

Spiritual Direction For Teacher Wellbeing, Identity And Resilience, Bernadette Miles, Marlene Marburg

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

Amid growing teacher dissatisfaction and attrition, this 2022 research project explored the potential benefits of spiritual direction in enhancing teacher well-being, identity, and resilience. The study involved 11 trained spiritual directors providing eight sessions of spiritual direction to 38 teachers from Australian Christian schools. Findings highlight the positive impact of spiritual direction on teachers' vocational clarity, self-awareness, and ability to manage workplace challenges. Participants reported a renewed commitment to their profession, improved emotional resilience, and a deeper connection between their spiritual and professional identities. Many educators also noted that spiritual direction provided a confidential and reflective space to process professional …

A Spiritual Direction Approach Aimed At Creating Belonging On Campus, Michael Dante

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Abstract:

Creating a campus culture of belonging is mission critical for Jesuit institutions. This is even more heightened with the recent Supreme Court decision eliminating Affirmative Action and numerous states banning the teaching of history especially around race. To overcome these setbacks and the larger negative effects of racism and white privilege, many of our schools offer trainings, book discussions, and dialogues. These have been very helpful.

Yet, another untapped dimension to racism and white privilege occurs at a spiritual level. Mission Officers, DEI Officers, Rectors of Jesuit communities, and spiritual directors can collaborate to engage this level of the …

The Prayer Tongue And The Jesus Prayer: The Witness Of Abbot David Geraets, Clyde Glandon

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

To my knowledge Abbot David Geraets (1935–2012) of the Pecos Benedictine Monastery has been the only Christian witness and writer, past or present, to join the practice of the ancient Jesus Prayer and the prayer tongue. He simply says that “repeating the name of Jesus can become a masterful art of glossolalia prayer.” Abbot David’s statement is not found as such in the centuries of Eastern Orthodox literature about the Jesus Prayer. Nor is such a joining found among classical Pentecostal Christians who, while fully familiar with the prayer tongue and with life and power in Jesus’ name, commonly have …

Befriending Doubt: Finding Freedom And Belonging In The Face Of Uncertainty, Jana Koh

Doctor of Ministry

The NPO for this project is as follows: American Millennials (adults aged 25-45) experience a lack of safety and welcome in their communities of faith during a season of spiritual doubt, causing them to disengage from their communities of faith and falling into risk of negative outcomes.

Throughout history, from Galileo to the American Colonies to present day, the church has not handled those who experience doubt in their faith with care, leaving the doubter feeling unsafe or unwelcome in their community of faith. However, a close reading of Scripture reveals that God is not intimidated or deterred by doubt; …

Transformational Healing Within An Incarcerated Exile Community, David W. Phipps Jr.

DMin Project Theses

This August 2023 Doctor of Ministry project thesis at Lipscomb University is the beginning foundation of a dream that I first started dreaming of while I was in prison. The dream is the development of a community in exile with the understanding that those living in exile have something to offer within the prison walls. Furthermore, those in exile have something to offer when they are released from exile. God, through Jeremiah, tells those living in exile in Babylon that they are to build communities while in exile. Through the building of communities God informs that they are to offer …

The Rooted Experience : As A Discipleship Strategy For Alpha Course Graduates, Kimberley D. Holman

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Transformational Discipleship : Creating A Model For Effective Discipleship At The Church Of The Cross, Nathan L. Weaver

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Grasping Love : How Relationships Help Us Know God, Dennis Gregory Mcelyea

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Lusting After God : Sexual Struggle As A Catalyst For Spiritual Intimacy And Healing, David L. Janvier

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Developing A Posture Of Worship : Spiritual Direction For Church Community, Caroline Raines Franks

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Formation In Christ Through Conflict : Discerning God's Gifts In Group Spiritual Direction, Luke B. Richards

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Nothing New In Spiritual Direction?, Albrecht Nyce O.S.B.

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

From Frustration To Contentment, Ashley Huizinga

Student Work

"Strive to bring—to be—contentment personified, as you surrender your circumstances to the Lord’s judgment."

Posting about trusting in God's purposes from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

http://inallthings.org/from-frustration-to-contentment/

Learning To Be Quaker: Spiritual Formation And Religious Education Among Early Friends, Martha Paxson Grundy

Quaker Studies

The theology and lifestyle that grew from Friends' transforming experience of'primitive Christianity revived' differed from the dominant culture, exacting a high cost. Relying on early Friends' writing, this article examines how this new paradigm was transmitted. Friends summarized the basis of their faith with the phrase 'Christ is come to teach his people himself' (Benson 1968: 36; 1976: 3; Cooper 1990: 2; Freiday 1984: 4; Grundy 2002b: 11-13, 15, 17). In the 1650s and 1660s most people who became Friends were first worked on internally by the Holy Spirit. When they heard a Quaker preach, the words reached to the …

What's God Up To?, Diane G.H. Kilmer

Leaven

No abstract provided.

Spiritual Direction With Women Who Have Autoimmune Diseases: A Model Of Psychospiritual Care, Kelly Renee Arora

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) are incurable autoimmune diseases affecting a growing number of people in the U.S. Women typically receive medical care for the physical effects of these diseases, but psychospiritual dimensions of illness experiences are often neglected. Common autoimmune illness experiences include delayed diagnosis; chronic pain, fatigue, depression; and liminality (being neither healthy nor sick). Women with RA, MS, and lupus also experience ongoing losses (which may be disenfranchised), such as losses of identity, relationships, self-agency, and spiritual beliefs and practices. As a result of ongoing experiences of suffering and loss, women …