Arts and Humanities | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Leaving Home, Keeping The Faith, Damian J. Geminder

Capstones

This capstone explores how outreach to immigrant and non-English-speaking communities is vital to the health of the American Catholic Church.

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Stepsisters, Patrick Donachie

Capstones

This story details how parishioners in several New York City Catholic parishes responded to news that their churches would be shuttered by the New York Archdiocese. Parishioners appealed to the Vatican to overturn Cardinal Timothy Dolan's decisions, and the story details their struggle with church hierarchy and their own personal challenges.

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Imagery, Prayer, And Mind Wandering: Kataphatic Prayer, Martha M. O. Duah

Honors Theses

Mind wandering—reduced attention to external events—during prayer could pose a problem for Christians. However, different types of prayer make different cognitive demands. Kataphatic prayer, a common type of evangelical Christian prayer, makes use of mental imagery in hopes of experiencing God in a richer sense. Because both mind wandering and kataphatic prayer require imagery, tying up imagery resources in kataphatic prayer should block mind wandering thereby improving focus. Participants in this study prayed as they normally do, viewed a visual task, or engaged in kataphatic prayer while self-monitoring for mind wandering.

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The Production Of Sticky Notes And Bible Quotes: Godly Answers For Sticky Situations A Children’S Musical As Directed By Julie Brinkman, Julie Elizabeth Brinkman

Honors College

This thesis reflects upon a director’s experience while directing her first production: Sticky Notes and Bible Quotes: Godly Answers for Sticky Situations by Dennis and Nan Allen. This children’s musical was produced in cooperation with Wylie United Methodist Church of Abilene, TX. Over forty children, with the help of ten adult volunteers, shared the importance of memorizing scripture and looking to God’s Word in times of trouble through song, skits, and the recitation of scripture. While reflecting upon the production process after each rehearsal, the director makes connections between her experiences as director, the content of her music education undergraduate …

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Classical Pentecostal Interpretation Of The Gift Of Discernment From 1914 To 1941, Stephanie Ann Rose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From the beginning of the Pentecostal Movement in 1906, Pentecostal meetings were plagued by what they labeled “counterfeit manifestations.” These manifestations were creating negative consequences for the movement and Pentecostals needed a strategy that would identify and eradicate them from their meetings. Because Pentecostalism was in its infancy, it did not have a clear procedure to assist in identifying counterfeit manifestations, to determine how they operated, and/or who or what produced them. Over time they began to form assumptions regarding the operation of counterfeit manifestations and developed several strategies that they hoped would counteract their presence in meetings, one of …

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The Prophetic Hope Of Emerging Adulthood: Emerging Together Toward An Abundant Life, Adam David Pallay

Doctor of Ministry

I am studying hope within Emerging Adulthood in order to bring clarity to the cultural conversations surrounding Millennials and faith so that emerging adults can have the tools to move toward and experience an abundant life. The conversation around Emerging Adulthood is often limited to the Millennial generation. This is problematic because it paints Emerging Adulthood as a rebellious generation rather than a natural stage of human development. Within this generation framework, emerging adults are viewed as needing to be fixed and/or assimilated; therefore, their voices and contributions get minimized until they decide to fall in line with the status …

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The United Methodist Church And The Willingness To Embrace Change: Attracting Members Of The Emerging Generation And A Return To Vitality, Jody Glenn Ray

Doctor of Ministry

Christian culture within the United States has been experiencing phenomenal change related to shifts in the larger U.S. culture, as well as shifts taking place in the Church. As such, five sets of research questions were presented in this phenomenological study. These consisted of - What is the current state of the Church? Is the Church divided doctrinally, theologically, and in areas regarding polity? If so, what is causing this division? What are the primary causes of the decline in membership currently being experienced by the United Methodist Church? What are the greatest challenges facing the Church? What are the …

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“Inhumanly Beautiful”: The Aesthetics Of The Nineteenth-Century Deathbed Scene, Margo Masur

English Theses

Death today is hidden from our everyday lives so it cannot intermingle with the general public. So when a family member dies, their body becomes an object in need of disposal; no longer can they be recognized as the familiar person they once were. To witness death is to force individuals to confront the truths of human existence, and for most of us seeing such a sight would fill us with an emotion of disgust. Yet during the nineteenth century, the burden of care towards the sick or dying was shared by a community of family, neighbors, and friends; the …

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The Warrior Journey: A Hope Enhancement Intervention For Veterans With Combat-Related Ptsd, Wesley H. Fleming

Doctor of Ministry

Veterans with combat-related PTSD often report a loss of hope due to their traumatic experiences. Chaplains and mental health practitioners seek to improve functioning among veterans suffering from mental health disorders, but need common language and methods to work together toward clinically meaningful gains. Among all the theories of hope reviewed, Hope Theory most closely supports criteria established to provide a framework from which interventions can be developed to increase hope among veterans with combat-related PTSD. Further, Hope Theory principles align with biblical theology, providing opportunity for collaborative efforts between Christian chaplains and clinicians to develop and use interventions based …

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Deification, Friendship, And Self-Knowledge, Matthew Hale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How does human friendship contribute to the process of deification? In this thesis, I will argue that a kind of “spiritual friendship” contributes to the process of deification by placing the human agent in a better position for acquiring self-knowledge, and avoiding false beliefs or misunderstandings about the self. This acquisition of self-knowledge is an important part of the deification process, which involves not just a moral and ontological transformation, but an epistemological one as well.

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Breaking Barriers That Divide Christians And Muslims In Nigeria And Building A Redemptive Relationship, Frederick Chukwuma Obodoagha

Doctor of Ministry

Although Nigeria is a secular state, religion functions there as an expression of political identity and figures prominently in conflicts over resources, land, and political offices. Increasing clashes between religious groups, predominantly Muslim and Christian, have taken the nation from what used to be peaceful coexistence to violent disharmony. In this atmosphere of fear and hate, Christians are called to be peacemakers, building redemptive relationships with Muslims. This dissertation explores practical ways of forging peaceful Christian-Muslim relations. The introductory chapter describes the religious conflict in Nigeria, demonstrating how religious, communal, ethnic, and social divisions degenerated into violence as a result …

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Community Interventions In Kenya Providing Care And Support For Orphaned Girls In High School And College Aged 14-24, Joy Eunice Wambui Mindo

Doctor of Ministry

This is a project manual that looks into the growing problem of orphans in Africa. There is great need to establish community interventions that provide care and support for orphaned girls. Orphan female adolescents experience reduced education opportunities and adaptive coping strategies when they have no home in which to receive nurture and support. They are therefore very vulnerable to early marriages, teenage pregnancies, sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Such women between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four are usually in high school and college, making life long decisions that would affect their future. They go through physical body and …

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Models Of Conversion In American Evangelicalism: Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge And Old Princeton, And Charles Finney, Mark B. Chapman

Dissertations (1934 -)

The most commonly referenced definition of evangelicalism, David Bebbington’s ‘quadrilateral,’ includes conversionism as one of four key definitive features, and most other definitions also reference conversion as characteristic of evangelicalism. This dissertation examines the adequacy of the use of conversion in such a defining role through a careful consideration of a variety of dimensions of conversion among three key representatives of evangelicalism: Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, and Old Princeton Seminary (as represented by its first professor, Archibald Alexander, and especially by his protégé Charles Hodge). One cannot talk about conversion as a key to evangelicalism without understanding what is meant …

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A Theological Take On The Miracle Of Ministry In The Spu Student Ministry Coordinator Program, Jake A. Crammer

Honors Projects

The Student Ministry Coordinator program empowers leaders living on campus to serve their floors through discipleship, small groups, hall events, and coordinating on-campus residents with University Ministries. In this project, I attempt to articulate the work of the SMC Program in theological terms, hoping to clarify the mission the SMC Program for SPU’s campus.

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Facilitating A Pastoral Leadership Model For The Ulysses Church Of Christ, Warren Baldwin

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project intended to train leaders in principles of character-based leadership. I applied five principles drawn from Proverbs to the current situation of the Ulysses Church of Christ. The principles included community development, integrity, listening, ministering to the marginalized, and shepherding. I intentionally focused this character-based leadership training more on theological principles found in Proverbs than on skill development or leadership theories from the social sciences. I paid some attention to skill development and incorporated some principles from the social sciences, particularly psychology, but I placed greater emphasis on learning what …

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Gifting Freedom To The Samaritan: Considerations On Access To Both The Sacramental Event And Salvation For Those Who, For Whatever Reason, Find Themselves Outside The Church, And The Consequences Of Identity For The Church In Gifting Such Access, C. A. Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

This thesis gives consideration to issues surrounding the question of access to salvation, and to sacramental event, for contemporary ‘Samaritans’ – those persons who, for whatever reason, find themselves outside the Church. To chart such access, attention must be afforded, not only to the historical pronouncements of the Church, but also, most importantly, to the voiced laments and insights of these Samaritans themselves, enduring their dissonance and respecting their critique, both theological and ecclesiastical. Through such colloquy, a return to the Samaritan in Luke who offers hope to the exigencies of access, and leaves to linger an ecclesiastical question of …

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Lost Prophets: Tertullian, Eusebius, Epiphanius, And Early Montanism, Brice Andrew Larson

Seminary Masters Theses

ABSTRACT The dearth of reliable primary source material on the New Prophecy has led to a proliferation of interpretations of the character of the movement. However, a careful examination of the New Prophecy’s preserved sayings, the writings of Tertullian, and the movement’s earliest critics preserved by Eusebius and Epiphanius reveal a movement steeped in the Christian tradition that came into conflict with other Christians because of their willingness to pay ministers and their passive understanding of the charisma of prophecy.

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Effects Of An Electronically Guided Prayer Intervention, Brian Lee Goetsch

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract Hope has been identified as an important factor in a variety of positive outcomes in psychotherapy, medicine, academic success, and for general levels of functioning. However, until now most studies on hope have been correlational in nature, and researchers have rarely sought to understand how hope can be facilitated. The present study considered the effect of prayer on experiences of hope in a national sample of Christian college students. An intervention group completed a guided prayer exercise once a day for 2 weeks. Pre and post-test levels of hope were assessed and compared to a control group, and a …

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Fostering Healing Through Reconciliation In The Abernathy Church Of Christ, Randall K. Carr

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project is an exercise in addressing anxiety as a result of unresolved conflict in the Abernathy Church of Christ. In 2009 emotions escalated to a climactic point, leading a group of participants to separate from the Abernathy Church of Christ. The events surrounding this episode have played an influential role in shaping the narrative of the Abernathy Church of Christ. This project seeks to identify areas of residual pain in the existing narrative and move the congregation into a narrative of hope for the future of the Abernathy Church of Christ. The central theme is reconciliation and results from …

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Cultivating The Practice Of Missional Hospitality For Small Groups At West Houston Church Of Christ, Kevin Stewart

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which I led a team to develop a plan to cultivate the practice of missional hospitality for small groups at West Houston Church of Christ. I used missional theology as a framework to give shape to the practice of hospitality. The project team met for nine weeks in the fall of 2014. The team practiced lectio divina focused on Luke 10, participated in theological reflection on missional hospitality, and fulfilled assignments to practice missional hospitality. These activities helped form the group spiritually and informed the development of a …

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Evaluating An Oral Draft Of Luke 8:4-15 In Uduk, Jeremy N. Harrison

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the findings of a project in which I led a group of immigrants from South Sudan through the process of generating and evaluating an oral draft of Luke 8:4-15 in Uduk. The aim of this project was to provide a substantive field test of an oral translation methodology conducted among immigrants living in the United States who speak a language that lacks a translation of the entire Bible. The project involved facilitating basic translation training and conducting an oral drafting process with a team of three Uduk speakers. This project also involved evaluating the …

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Young Adults Leaving The Church: The Tie To Intentional Spiritual Mentoring Among Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Teens Through Youth And Confirmation Ministry, Serena Alexandria Pace

Doctor of Ministry

Previously churched Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS)1 young adults are leaving the worship community post confirmation and post high school. Is this truly what is taking place? If so, what structures within churches and youth ministries might contribute to this problem? In order to address this problem, it is proposed that the lack of youth mentorship ministry, especially of teen-agers in the church, contributes to the problem. Worship communities can help ensure that young adults stay connected by establishing mentor relationships during the confirmation and teen years.

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The Effects Of Laity Ministry Involvement On Transformational Discipleship, Emmanuel Reinbold

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study sought to determine the impacts of The Place Assessment process within four congregations that are a part of The Church of the Nazarene in central and Eastern Iowa. The Place Assessment process included structured teaching, completing a comprehensive assessment online, and structured coaching. The results of this process showed measurable increases in the areas of discipleship engagement and discipleship transformation.

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An Analysis Of Education And Experience In Pastoral Leadership Development, Justin L. Hayes

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study analyzed the relationships between education and servant leadership behaviors and between experience and servant leadership behaviors. The goal was to determine whether education or experience served as the stronger predictor of servant leadership behaviors among Nazarene pastors. Several linear regressions were calculated using data submitted by 37 Nazarene pastors serving in the United States and Canada from a demographic survey designed by the researcher and the Servant Leadership Questionnaire. This study showed participating Nazarene pastors rate strongly in servant leadership behaviors, but no predictive relationships between education and servant leadership, between total years (full time and part time) …

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The Dual Textual History Of The Song Of Hana In The Ethiopic Manuscript Traditions, Brian Christopher Jeanseau

Seminary Masters Theses

In Ethiopia, the Song of Hana has been transmitted in two types of manuscripts—biblical manuscripts and Psalters. This thesis compares the textual histories of this song within both manuscript types and shows that these are actually two separate traditions, not one tradition as previously assumed. Chapter one starts with descriptions of what these two manuscript types are and what the Song of Hana is. In chapter two, we briefly discuss some background issues—the scholarly efforts that have taken place in the Ethiopic Old Testament so far and the history of the Judeo-‐Christian religion in Ethiopia which has shaped these two …

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Sports Ministry As An Entryway Into North Korea As A Means Of Spreading The Gospel, Jessica L. Mcmahon

Selected Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

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They Shall Recover: Towards A Pneumatological And Eschatological Understanding Of The Atonement In Pentecostal Healing, Daniel J. Simmons

Selected Honors Theses

This thesis identifies the ideologies of the Christian church surrounding divine healing with an emphasis upon the Pentecostal outbreak of the Azusa Street Revival. This study explores the “Atonement model” of divine healing, and assesses its strength in adequately capturing Pentecostal thought regarding divine healing. From this understanding, the study examines pneumatology and eschatology within the purview of divine healing in order to criticize the validity of the Atonement model.

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Irenaeus Of Lyons: A Defense Of Recapitulation, Mathew Thomas Hollen

Seminary Masters Theses

Abstract This work sets out to explain the atonement theory of Irenaeus of Lyons. Irenaeus’ atonement theology is often described simply as “Christus Victor” but I argue that is simply a narrow sliver of the wider atonement theory of recapitulation. In this thesis I systematically try to expound what it is Irenaeus believed and why he believed it. In the first chapter I explain the problem at hand and a short biography of the bishop. In the second chapter I seek to summarize the Gnostic school of Valentinianism, which is the key opponent against Irenaeus writes in his best-known work …

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Quakers And Slavery: The Development Of An Anti-Slavery Society, Ryan P. Murray

Selected Honors Theses

Quaker protests against slavery started as early as 1682, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and continued on through their work with the Underground Railroad and numerous other anti-slavery movements. But in those days of Christianity supported slavery, why is this group known as being against slavery? History reveals that early Quakers were just as involved in slavery as others during that time. The questions then are: why are the Quakers remembered most for their contributions to abolition when they too had kept slaves? And, was their anti-slavery work so effective that it causes history to forget their early support of the practice? …

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America's Gospel, Colin R. Mackichan

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Leaving Home, Keeping The Faith, Damian J. Geminder

Capstones

Stepsisters, Patrick Donachie

Capstones

Imagery, Prayer, And Mind Wandering: Kataphatic Prayer, Martha M. O. Duah

Honors Theses

The Production Of Sticky Notes And Bible Quotes: Godly Answers For Sticky Situations A Children’S Musical As Directed By Julie Brinkman, Julie Elizabeth Brinkman

Honors College

Classical Pentecostal Interpretation Of The Gift Of Discernment From 1914 To 1941, Stephanie Ann Rose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Prophetic Hope Of Emerging Adulthood: Emerging Together Toward An Abundant Life, Adam David Pallay

Doctor of Ministry

The United Methodist Church And The Willingness To Embrace Change: Attracting Members Of The Emerging Generation And A Return To Vitality, Jody Glenn Ray

Doctor of Ministry

“Inhumanly Beautiful”: The Aesthetics Of The Nineteenth-Century Deathbed Scene, Margo Masur

English Theses

The Warrior Journey: A Hope Enhancement Intervention For Veterans With Combat-Related Ptsd, Wesley H. Fleming

Doctor of Ministry

Deification, Friendship, And Self-Knowledge, Matthew Hale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Breaking Barriers That Divide Christians And Muslims In Nigeria And Building A Redemptive Relationship, Frederick Chukwuma Obodoagha

Doctor of Ministry

Community Interventions In Kenya Providing Care And Support For Orphaned Girls In High School And College Aged 14-24, Joy Eunice Wambui Mindo

Doctor of Ministry

Models Of Conversion In American Evangelicalism: Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge And Old Princeton, And Charles Finney, Mark B. Chapman

Dissertations (1934 -)

A Theological Take On The Miracle Of Ministry In The Spu Student Ministry Coordinator Program, Jake A. Crammer

Honors Projects

Facilitating A Pastoral Leadership Model For The Ulysses Church Of Christ, Warren Baldwin

Doctor of Ministry Theses

Gifting Freedom To The Samaritan: Considerations On Access To Both The Sacramental Event And Salvation For Those Who, For Whatever Reason, Find Themselves Outside The Church, And The Consequences Of Identity For The Church In Gifting Such Access, C. A. Chase

School of Theology and Seminary Graduate Papers/Theses

Lost Prophets: Tertullian, Eusebius, Epiphanius, And Early Montanism, Brice Andrew Larson

Seminary Masters Theses

Effects Of An Electronically Guided Prayer Intervention, Brian Lee Goetsch

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Fostering Healing Through Reconciliation In The Abernathy Church Of Christ, Randall K. Carr

Doctor of Ministry Theses

Cultivating The Practice Of Missional Hospitality For Small Groups At West Houston Church Of Christ, Kevin Stewart

Doctor of Ministry Theses

Evaluating An Oral Draft Of Luke 8:4-15 In Uduk, Jeremy N. Harrison

Doctor of Ministry Theses

Young Adults Leaving The Church: The Tie To Intentional Spiritual Mentoring Among Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Teens Through Youth And Confirmation Ministry, Serena Alexandria Pace

Doctor of Ministry

The Effects Of Laity Ministry Involvement On Transformational Discipleship, Emmanuel Reinbold

Ed.D. Dissertations

An Analysis Of Education And Experience In Pastoral Leadership Development, Justin L. Hayes

Ed.D. Dissertations

The Dual Textual History Of The Song Of Hana In The Ethiopic Manuscript Traditions, Brian Christopher Jeanseau

Seminary Masters Theses

Sports Ministry As An Entryway Into North Korea As A Means Of Spreading The Gospel, Jessica L. Mcmahon

Selected Honors Theses

They Shall Recover: Towards A Pneumatological And Eschatological Understanding Of The Atonement In Pentecostal Healing, Daniel J. Simmons

Selected Honors Theses

Irenaeus Of Lyons: A Defense Of Recapitulation, Mathew Thomas Hollen

Seminary Masters Theses

Quakers And Slavery: The Development Of An Anti-Slavery Society, Ryan P. Murray

Selected Honors Theses

America's Gospel, Colin R. Mackichan

Senior Theses and Projects