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Profile: The Student Experience, Communications And Marketing

Profile (1996-)

In this issue: Memorial Fund Enables Students to Showcase Their Work; "Eco" Giving Can Have Lasting Environmental Impact; Giving to the "Max" to Benefit Students; Spotlight: Impacts and History off Native American Boarding Schools; MCSA President Testifies Before Minnesota House Higher Ed Committee; Accessibility, Maintenance Top UMN Morris Legislative Funding Request; UMN Morris Achieves a Million Pounds of Compost; First-Year Class Bucks National Trends; Intro Class Gets Wikified; Nell's Students Gain Skills Beyond the Classroom with Water Quality Research; Terry Finds Inspiration in Summer Internship; Randy Koopman '78, UMMAA President; Look Who's Back!; Remembering Doc

Loneliness And The Church: Creating Effective Discipleship Systems For The Next Generation, Sarah Brits

Selected Honors Theses

Loneliness is the most common shared experience. With Generation Alpha already predicted to be the loneliest and most anxious generation of all time, it is more important than ever for next-generation ministry leaders to step ahead of the trend of loneliness and establish effective discipleship systems within their ministry. This study explores to what level people are experiencing loneliness on a daily basis and how their church involvement impacts said loneliness. The church is good at offering large group and small group connections for individuals, but most participants said their church does not offer mentorship opportunities, neglecting the vital intimate …

An Unfinished Melody: Mental Illness, Worship Music, And The Tension Of The Pentecostal “Now” And “Not Yet, Brianna Turbeville

Masters of Theological Studies

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, it is estimated that nearly 20% of adults within the United States suffer from some form of mental illness.1 With roughly one-fifth, if not more, of the entire U.S. population facing a daily internal battle of some sort, this is an issue that is certainly elemental to the overarching purpose of the Church as an agent of reconciliation of creation with Creator. A prevalent problem requires prevalent solutions. What is something even more pervasive in every culture than mental health? Music. Melodies and lyrics are native to virtually every individual on earth. …

Bridging The Gap Between Orthodoxy And Orthopathy In The Life Of The Reformed Pastor, Daniel Mckinney

Doctor of Ministry

What if Reformed pastors cared about every aspect of their humanity with the same passion they care about their doctrine? When we think about the health of the reformed pastor, we tend to think mainly in terms of our orthodoxy. From 2018-2022 I have witnessed the most orthodox of pastors fall into marital unfaithfulness, resign due to relational conflict, and suffer from burnout. All of this within the state of Utah, where there are only 7 PCA churches. Therefore, there is a need to bridge the gap between Reformed Theology and the emotional, spiritual, and relational health in pastors of …

The Bridge Spring 2022 Vol. 62 No. 2, Harding School Of Theology

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Effective Hospice Chaplain Ministry, Dawn M. Linder

Doctor of Ministry

This project is a book which examines how Christian hospice chaplains can maintain and utilize their Christian identity and minister effectively to non-Christian/non-religious patients and their families without evangelizing them. It was determined that narrative, or story, is an essential part of each person's life, especially as a person looks back on their life while approaching death. A person's life goals change as death becomes imminent, and with change comes grief. Hospice chaplains can companion the patient as they navigate this unfamiliar territory and help them recognize new goals. Chaplains can help patients look back on their lives to see …

Biblical Pastoral Counseling: An Integrative Approach To Healing, Sonya Cook

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Biblical Pastoral Counseling: An Integrative Approach to Healing, seeks to address the gap in the current biblical counseling service offered at Calvary Baptist Church. The problem with the current biblical counseling service is the lack of a holistic approach to the congregates presenting problem. This current approach takes a strictly biblical approach excluding the mental/behavioral health component from the therapeutic process. The purpose of this study is to provide justification and support of an integrative approach in bridging the gap between biblical counseling and pastoral counseling. This integrative approach would serve to broaden the scope of the current counseling service, …

The Importance Of Self-Awareness For The Prevention Of Burnout And Compassion Fatigue For Clergy, Reginald Charlestin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Self-care is both necessary and vital to the efficiency and longevity of ministry professionals, pastors, and people in general. When a person neglects their physical, emotional, and mental state, quality of life decreases. To study the importance of self-awareness and how to prevent burnouts and compassion fatigue among clergy, this thesis used the Macedonia Worship Center leadership staff as a study subject. The researcher studied various peer-reviewed articles that have evaluated the relationship between those who work in ministry and their levels of burnout and compassion fatigue alongside their perception of self-care to understand the importance of self-awareness related to …

Compassion Fatigue: The Effects Of Secondary Traumatic Stress And Vicarious Traumatization Among Baltimore Police Department Community Chaplains, Angela Teresa Jones-Ramirez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Baltimore is plagued with a history of high crime, violence, and murder resulting in trauma. The purpose of the Doctor of Ministry action research project was to educate Baltimore Police Department (BPD) Community Chaplains concerning compassion fatigue while maintaining effective quality care. A two-day workshop was developed as an intervention to address the problem. Pretest and posttest surveys were administered using the Professional Quality of Life Scale, Version 5, and the Skovholt Professional Practitioner Resiliency and Self-Care Inventory. Data in the form of surveys, group notes, field notes, recorded testimonials, and stories were collected and analyzed. Results of the data …

Pastoral Leadership: The Importance Of Succession Planning Development And Transition In Our Local Churches, Michelle Renee Jenkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A pastoral succession plan will address the issues of who will be responsible for leading the respective congregation if something happens to the current Pastor. Without clear direction, leaders leave their flocks in precarious positions. The problem is that churches may not have a concise succession plan to identify a qualified leader to take up the leadership mantle. The study will lay the foundation from a biblical perspective on the importance of identifying a leader’s successor and the advantages of providing a smooth transition for the assembly. The research will stress the importance of pastors not only identifying their successors …

To Stay Or Step Down: Assessing The Pastoral Qualifications Of Pastors With Prodigal Children, P. Kevin Garber

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The pastor’s home life is a reflection of his ability to effectively lead Christ’s church. Two seminal New Testament passages (I Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9) address, among other qualifications, the behavior and testimony of the pastor’s children. This vital aspect of a pastor’s leadership within the home must be given important emphasis and due consideration. With an examination of the nuances of these two seminal passages, exploration of published literature relevant to this topic, and an in-depth investigation of three pastoral case studies, the writer will offer a resource for pastors and parishioners who are facing the dilemma of whether …

Newsletter Catholic Deaf Of Detroit, April 2022

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Detroit, MI

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit Finding Aid

Seeking Reconciliation: An Examination Of Churches' Response To A History Of Lgb Discrimination, Alexandra Kauffman

Senior Theses

The Church’s response to LGB people has evolved quickly in the past century. Gay visibility and understandings of sexuality as it is known today only began to emerge in the mid- to-late 20th century. Within that time, responses to constantly evolving science and shifting understanding of LGB people invoked a variety of religious and political responses to the issue of legal protections of gay people. Theological interpretations of the Biblical passages surrounding same-sex relations have evolved as the church’s response to gay people has shifted from ex-gay therapy, to calls for celibacy or affirming gay marriage. The issues surrounding LGB …

Single And Christian Masterclass And Community, Ryan Lui

Doctor of Ministry

As the number of people marrying later in life or not at all in the church and world continue to rise, singleness as a significant stage of life and ministry area must also rise. However, with the Western church’s traditional focus on evangelism, family, and church growth, among other things, singleness is not given the attention it needs and results in single Christians languishing.

As a pastor at an urban church who has worked primarily with single people in their 20s and 30s, the issues related to a person’s singleness have been a reoccurring source of challenge regarding pastoral care, …

Towards A "Pedagogy Of Beauty": The New Evangelization, English Education, And Renewal Of The Catholic School, Elena Niese

Honors Theses

In the complex cultural landscape of the modern world, evangelization, or the proclamation of the Gospel, cannot look the same as it once did. In 1975, Pope Paul VI addressed this need for renewal, calling for a “new evangelization.” Subsequent popes, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, have continued to place this missionary impulse at the forefront of their initiatives. Yet, despite this emphasis, much remains elusive. What exactly is the new evangelization? This thesis will trace the evolution of the new evangelization from its conception to today, proposing how the English educator within the Catholic school can …

The Prevalence Of Unaddressed Trauma In The Lives Of Ministerial Leaders And Pastoral Care-Oriented Steps To Greater Spiritual And Emotional Health, Deanna D. Shrodes

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Ministerial leaders carry an abundance of responsibility in innumerable areas while simultaneously managing life-threatening crises at the same time. They provide pastoral care for those they serve in addition to overseeing a plethora of areas such as discipleship, program development, fundraising, and conflict management. Pastoral leaders often keep unhealthy and unsustainable schedules and receive inadequate compensation particularly in comparison to their professional counterparts. The weight of the ministry alone lends itself to stress and burnout if the leader is not careful to maintain adequate self-care. If unaddressed trauma is present along with all of the stressors commonly found in the …

A Pneumatological Theology And Christological Philosophy Of Church Conflict For The Post-Pandemic Western Church To Outlive, Outlast, And Outlove, Scott Bowman

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Church conflict is increasingly at the forefront of denominations as they suffer internal and external conflict. The need to develop a better perspective and manage relationships in church conflict may depend on the church’s theology. The research of this project seeks to establish a pneumatological theology in dialogue with family systems theory and Christological philosophy of church conflict. The theology of church conflict is divided into four sections: reason, experience, history, and scripture. The Christological philosophy centers on Jesus’ conflicts as every passage in the book of Luke is examined through the lens of conflict. A contextually transferrable Spirit-empowered theology …

Pastoral Care And The Alleviation Of Compassion Fatigue In Staff At St. Mary's Hospice, Ellen Chloe Gardner-Cook

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research project studied compassion fatigue in hospice staff and the ways that Christian prayer practices can mitigate compassion fatigue symptoms and contribute to resiliency. The sample population included forty employees and the sample size was N=6. The participants answered four anonymous, self-report assessments to measure six areas, compassion satisfaction, self-compassion, secondary traumatic stress, burnout, perceived stress, and spirituality at the first of eight weekly sessions. These assessments included the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), the Perceived Stress Scale, the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory, and the Self-Compassion Scale. Six weeks of prayer interventions followed the initial assessments then …

Protestant Prison Chaplaincy: Teaching Common Theology To Mature Inmates, John J. Caudle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Recent literature and studies concerning prison ministry focus more on relationships, the overarching work, and the day-to-day mission. Even then, this study acknowledges that the impact of prison chaplaincy still needs further studying. Few studies focus on Protestant chaplains' theological boundaries, maintaining diverse denominations. While attempting to understand the value of chaplaincy in the prison setting, the predominant group involved in prison ministry are Protestant prison chaplains. Protestant prison chaplains come from a diverse background of core theological beliefs and denominationally tied doctrine. This thesis looks at the theological views of 15 Protestant prison chaplains who previously or currently serve …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Teachers In Addressing The Social And Emotional Learning Needs Of Students, Justin Allen Whittenbarger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of teachers related to social and emotional learning (SEL) in a rural public school district in Tennessee. This study examined individual, explicit experiences of educators related to addressing the SEL needs of students. Bandura’s social cognitive theory primarily guided this study as it relates closely to the behavioral, personal, and environmental factors that all play a role in the way a teacher responds to professional learning. The data collection involved a qualifying survey, a questionnaire, interviews with participants (novice teachers and veteran teachers), and a focus group. Data …

Compassion Fatigue And Burnout: When Caring Becomes Too Much, Ruth Elisabeth Cole

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this DMIN thesis is to provide resources and education for clinical staff to recognize and reduce compassion fatigue and burnout. Compassion fatigue and burnout in hospice clinical staff is a sizeable issue. Clinical staff was defined as doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and aides due to their direct and constant contact with dying patients. By providing resources and education on what compassion fatigue and burnout look like and the primary causes, the study aimed to help clinical staff in the hospice care setting to reduce the damage caused by compassion fatigue and burnout. Resources including counseling sessions, …

The Pandemic's Impact On The Efficacy Of Chaplaincy At The Baldwin State Prison, John Gomez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Chaplains usually provide pastoral care for inmates, staff members, and counseling for offenders and offenders’ families. Because of the pandemic, they have not provided adequate pastoral care and counseling in their respective facilities. The restrictions imposed by the pandemic have negatively impacted the chaplain’s ability to adequately provide pastoral care and counseling in most federal and state correctional institutions. The Department of Georgia Correctional facilities, particularly at the Baldwin State prison, has also experienced this decrease in pastoral care and counseling due to the pandemic. In the Georgia Department of Corrections, all visitations, including lawyers and clergy, have been suspended …

A Biblical Model Of Emotional Intelligence, Brittany Littrell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Within the last 25 years, the concept and application of emotional intelligence (EI) has experienced exponential growth within academic, organizational, and practitioner circles. While the benefits of EI development appear universal, EI application remains primarily absent from ministry settings and religious research. Prior to ministry implementation, the scriptural sustenance of key EI factors (EQ-I; self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal relationships, decision making, and stress management; MHS, 2011) was explored from the perspective of pastoral leaders to determine biblical alignment or discord. Implying a qualitative case study, interviews with eleven pastoral subjects revealed majority support for all five EI factors alongside the introduction …

Nourishing The Extra-Ordinary Minister, Amante Pulido

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The lay minister of the Eucharist often is a generous volunteer of his or her time, and who is gladly accepted and commissioned by the parish. But the call to ministry comes from two main sources: a “call” from an interior desire to serve sometimes in any capacity but mostly to serve specifically in a particular ministry like the Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist; another is a “call” from the pulpit when ministries launch appeals for membership among the laity for the different ministries that are wanting of membership, mainly for volunteers. After signing up there would then be the …

The Utilization Of Healthcare Chaplains By Genetic Counselors, Elizabeth G. Hollingsworth

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare chaplains prioritize the spiritual and religious care a patient and their family may need during their healthcare experience. This study investigated the current utilization of healthcare chaplains by genetic counselors, as well as the ability, in time and skill, of the healthcare chaplains to see genetic counseling patients. Lastly, the study investigated if genetic counseling patients would accept a referral to meet with a healthcare chaplain. We hypothesized that genetic counselors are not utilizing healthcare chaplains, healthcare chaplains have the ability to see genetic counseling patients, and genetic counseling patients would consider meeting with a healthcare chaplain.

This study …

Descriptive, Comparative, And Correlational Study Related To End-Of-Life Care Prior To The Covid-19 Pandemic Outbreak (Time 1) And 12 Months Following Lockdown (Time2), Elizabeth Infante

Theses & Dissertations

Background

Palliative care has grown in its acceptance nationally and formed the base of a growing number of programs to provide care in a way that recognizes the importance of supporting people with chronic, debilitating, and life-limiting illnesses by focusing on “care” rather than “cure.” This special care warrants an understanding by all nurses and requires education across specialties and disciplines. Despite the increase of palliative care services in hospitals and other settings, long-term care and home care agencies continue to struggle with the education of staff and delivery of care to clients that incorporate the central tenets of what …

Evangelical Mental Health During A Pandemic: A Three-Way Interaction Analysis, Michael Sean Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

COVID-19 quickly became a global pandemic and a biological disaster. Mental health deteriorated due to fear, stress, isolation, and loneliness. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress, and disturbed sleep have been associated with COVID-19. There is limited research on mental health and well-being among evangelical Christians. A primary concern is that church congregants and leaders are tired and struggle with mental health issues. Thus, care for the congregation and community is limited. The rate of distress and depression among the religious is on the rise. The purpose of this quantitative research is to evaluate the interaction of perceived stress and emotional …

Applying Biblical Teaching To Resolve Power Struggles Between The Pastor And Deacons In A Southern Baptist Church, Jason Oneal Sweeton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As the Body of Christ, each person within the church must know their role and responsibility, especially the leadership. The Bible teaches that there are pastors, elders, and bishops referring to one office who have been given the authority to shepherd, or lead as it were, the church. The Bible teaches that deacons are an integral part of the church. They are to be servants in the church and minister to the needs of the congregation. The purpose of this project lies in the misconceptions surrounding the roles and biblical responsibilities of both deacons and pastors. Many churches simply follow …

Discovering Perceptions Of Adequacy For Domestic Violence Ministry Among Seminary Educated Evangelical Pastors In Southwestern Pennsylvania, Paula King Millsaps

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of adequacy experienced when ministering to domestic violence impacted congregants for evangelical pastors in southwestern Pennsylvania. Perceptions of adequacy when ministering to congregants experiencing domestic violence have been generally defined as a perception of adequate preparedness through education for ministering to the intricate needs of the family crisis of domestic violence. The theory that guided this study was van Manen’s (1997, 2014) interpretive phenomenological method of qualitative study as it was the method used by Zuet et al (2017) in a study of the feelings of adequacy for …

Spiritual Fortitude, Spiritual Struggles, Attachment To God And Faith Maturity: An Exploratory Study, Jacob Kranendonk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spiritual fortitude is a relatively new construct in psychological research with promising insights for helping individuals navigate challenges throughout life. This study aims to explore spiritual fortitude and its relationship to other religious variables, namely religious/spiritual struggles, attachment to God, and faith maturity. Additionally, I explored spiritual fortitude as a moderator of attachment to God and religious/spiritual struggles. Results indicated a positive correlation between spiritual fortitude and faith maturity, as well as spiritual fortitude moderating the relationship between attachment to God and religious/spiritual struggles. I discuss implications of the findings as well as future directions for research.