Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Defining Revitalization As The Initial Step In The Revitalization Process, Bradley Kent Childres

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The revitalization of churches that are either plateaued or declining is a daunting task for any pastor. The idea for this thesis project arose when this researcher engaged in his first revitalization program as a Senior Pastor. This researcher noticed that many people in the church were confused about what revitalization meant which led to confusion and mistrust in the revitalization process. This is when this researcher observed the need to define what revitalization means. As challenging as church revitalization is, pastors can make this process easier by knowing the first step to take in a revitalization program. This thesis …

Morality And The Personhood Of God: A Moral Argument For The Existence Of A Personal God, Stephen Scott Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The concept that God is personal is an important part of religious belief. If God were not personal, it would be odd to think of him as moral or loving; it would also seem counterintuitive to speak of him as One with whom humans can have a personal relationship, One who can be trusted, cares for the people he created, listens to their prayers, acts on their behalf, has their best interests at heart, and so on. In short, to talk of such matters in a sensible manner and to experience them in everyday life seemingly requires that God is …

Reformed Worship (Rw) 139 - Ascension / Pentecost (March 2021), Reformed Worship Editors

Reformed Worship Magazine

Features

Worship Series: Echoes of the Holy Spirit by Diane Ritzema, Michael Kooy, and Matt Mulder....3

Children's Pages for the Christian Year by Lindsey Goetz....16

Home by Sam Gutierrez....18

Locating Your Place in God's Story by Leon Johnston....34

Articles

Editorial: Finding Home by Joyce Borger....2

The Rest of Worship by Ron Man....28

For Pastors: Bolder? by Scott Hoezee....30

Liturgical Appropriateness by Adán Alejandro Fernández....38

Q&A: Shifting Preference Talk and Rule Talk to Wisdom Talk by John D. Witvliet....40

Lifting Our North American Asian Voice in Worship by Josh Lee....42

Resources …

Is Our World Less Religious Than Ever?, Justin Bailey

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Calvin, The Bible, And History (Book Review), Keith C. Sewell

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Calvin, the Bible, and History by Barbara Pitkin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. 250 pp. ISBN: 9780190093273.

Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre And Its Shifting Legacy In The American West (Book Review), James C. Schaap

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and its Shifting Legacy in the American West by Cassandra Tate. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 2020. 280 pp. ISBN: 9781632172501.

The Inevitability Of Tragedy: Henry Kissinger And His World (Book Review), Jack R. Van Der Slik

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: The Inevitability of Tragedy: Henry Kissinger and His World by Barry Gewen. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2020. 452 pp. ISBN: 9781324004059.

Preparing The Next Generation For A Pluralistic World: The Need To Teach Systematic Theology To Christian Youth, Terrance Jermayne O'Neil

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The continuation of Christianity is rooted in the historical practice of the preceding generation theologically educating the next generation. This process has led to the spreading of the gospel throughout the world. However, in recent years, the Christian church has watched an entire generation walk away from the faith. Many youths who affirmed their faith in Christ are abandoning their confessions and practice. The challenges and skepticism of a pluralistic and relativistic culture have questioned historic Christianity. Regretfully, Christian youth are unable to respond theologically and accurately with confidence. The church has failed to prepare them. This study sought to …

A Study Of A Systematic Evangelistic Discipleship Process At The Lighthouse Free Methodist Church, Thomas Michael Doherty

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Lighthouse Free Methodist Church in Barryton, Michigan, lacks a systematic discipleship program that produces disciple-makers. This Doctor of Ministry project purposes to integrate a systematic discipleship program into the Lighthouse Free Methodist Church. The research methodology includes pre-and post-surveys and interviews. Pre- and post-survey data were collected to compare the number of disciplers, salvations, worship attenders, and the number of new systematic evangelistic discipleship groups. Six People participated in the training provided. The Lighthouse FMC is located near a small community of three-hundred people and is in the middle of a ten-mile circumference with thirty thousand. Thirteen people started …

Purging The New Age: A Theological Analysis Of The Use Of New Age Practices By The Church, Christopher Michael Berg

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation sets out to demonstrate that Yoga and the Enneagram are not compatible with orthodox Christianity. Additionally, this dissertation will show that all possible attempts at Christianizing these practices ultimately fail due to incompatible underlying philosophies and theologies. In order to accomplish this task, assessment criteria will be developed through a comparison of a subset of evangelical Christian theological topics with their New Age counterparts. These criteria will be used to assess the level of syncretization in each practice as presented by the most popular and prolific Christian practitioners. After assessment, a recommendation will be given concerning each practice’s …

The Role Of Ministry Structure And Student Ministry Leadership In Retaining Students In Church Following High School Graduation, Brandon Scott Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The thesis of this project is to validate the correlations between the staff's role, leadership development, ministry structure, staff tenure and student development as they relate to retention of students in the local church after high school. Aspects considered include staff role, leadership development, and student development. Staff role covers the tenure of the pastoral staff, unified vision, resources, and congregational support. Leadership development includes enlisting, equipping, encouraging, and evaluating workers. Student development includes evangelism, education, encouragement, and evaluation. Many churches lack a clear plan for students. Untrained volunteers often lead students, or an untrained and inexperienced person is hired …

Educating Church Leaders: Providing End-Of-Life Spiritual Care To Life Changers Church Ministry, Jermaine Joshua Ruffin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Life Changers Community Fellowship Church, of Jackson, Mississippi, struggles to provide end-of-life spiritual care to its members. Its church leadership has placed the responsibility of providing end-of-life spiritual care on institutions such as hospice and palliative care companies. These organizations do their best to provide end-of-life spiritual care, but struggle due to cultural and ethnical boundaries, and a lack of resources to provide such care. This study seeks to examine whether end-of-life spiritual care is a biblical concern and/or mandate within church leadership. In addition, this study will explore how hospice chaplains understand end-of-life spiritual care provided to patients and …

Individual Pastoral Counseling In Combination With Celebrate Recovery Group Experience, Stephen F. Curtis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered twelve-step program in which participants benefit from testimonies and mutual sharing of their struggles and victories. However, “cross-talk” and giving advice is not permitted in the group. Some participants may need or desire individual counseling. This thesis project focused on a Celebrate Recovery ministry in a rural setting where travel and economic obstacles create an impediment to access the services of a licensed therapist. Individual pastoral counseling was combined with the Celebrate Recovery group experience to ascertain whether the combination of these two approaches would yield enhanced and accelerated recovery as perceived by the participants. …

Becoming Fitly Joined Together: Unifying The Church Body For Vision Manifestation, Keisha Hodge

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This DMIN action research project fulfilled the purpose of increasing awareness within the four churches in the Greater Berea District concerning the value and function of having a vision. Preintervention and postintervention questionnaires, interviews, hypothetical case studies, and a class-styled intervention was employed. The one-day intervention educated participants concerning how a vision supports the work of the church, which enables it to be more fruitful. Furthermore, the class equipped attendees with a biblical foundation showing that God is a proponent and encourager of vision. The necessity of this study was determined when the researcher witnessed a church vision being cast …

Exploring The Cultural Intelligence (Cq) Experiences Of Ethiopian Immigrant Church Leaders And Church Families: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Worku Tegegn Wolderufael

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological research was to explore the cultural intelligence (CQ) of the Ethiopian Evangelical immigrant church leaders’ and families’ experiences in the Washington metropolitan area, including the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. In this study, nineteen participants were sampled to gather data. The data was collected through questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. Following this, the data was analyzed through the transcendental phenomenological analysis. Through these analyses, the investigation presented the lived experiences of immigrant church leaders and church families. It described how the immigrant church leaders dealt with cultural conflicts through cultural intelligence to lead …

Forms And Roots Of Contemporary Religiosity In Estonia, Kaido Soom, Tõnu Lehtsaar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Republic of Estonia is a country on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. It borders Russia and Latvia on land and Latvia, Sweden, Finland and Russia on sea. As of 31 Dec 2011, Estonia had a permanent population of 1,294,455 (data from the Population and Housing Census). Estonia is a member of the European Union (2004) and of the Eurozone (2011).

Estonia has often been exemplified as a secularized nation having little regard for religion. Even so, religion is an important topic of conversation in Estonian society. For instance, Ave Tampere asked, in an article in one of …

Life Under Ban: Jehovah's Witnesses In Russia Since 2017, Emily B. Baran

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Since 2017, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been barred from legal practice of their faith in Russia. This marks the first criminalization of a major religious faith in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. For Witnesses, it has been a disturbing return to life under ban, a reality they experienced for decades under Soviet rule. Moreover, all indications suggest that this situation is unlikely to improve in the short term. Russian officials have shown consistent willingness to enforce a broad interpretation of the ban, including through the arrest and imprisonment of individual Witnesses. This article offers an overview of recent …

Looking For “Deep Rest”: Confronting The Idolatry Of Personal Success, Justin Bailey

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Despite our best efforts to build platforms and manage our personal 'brands', God is the one who gives ultimate meaning to our lives.

Posting about finding rest in God 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.

https://inallthings.org/looking-for-deep-rest-confronting-the-idolatry-of-personal-success/

On Insiders And Outsiders, Justin Bailey

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

C.S. Lewis Collection Finding Aid, Taylor University

Finding Aids

The C. S. Lewis Collection features a variety of books and articles by and about Lewis. It also includes letters and manuscripts written by Lewis, as well as rare and first editions of his books.
Last Updated: August 29, 2022

John Eliot: A Successful Application Of Missiological Methodology, Brent Meyers

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

For many seventeenth-century explorers and settlers arriving in the “New World,” new and exciting opportunities arose not only for building new lives for themselves, but also to spread their Christian faith. John Eliot, a Puritan missionary from Widford, Hertfordshire, England, engaged in conversion efforts among the Amerindians of New England, employing "missiological methodology," or proselytizing the natives while simultaneously subjugating them to European cultural norms. His work, while mixed in its effects, anticipated many aspects of modern missionary movements.

Review Of Imitating Christ In Magwi: An Anthropological Theology, David A. Hoekema

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Catholic Social Activism: Progressive Movements In The United States, James Cavendish

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Mercy In Action: The Social Teachings Of Pope Francis, Tom Cordaro

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Let Us Dream: The Path To A Better Future, Bill Droel

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Battle For The Bible, Battle For The Soul Of Humanity, Patricia M. Mische

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Benedictinism, Non-Violence, And The Rule, Rene Mcgraw, Osb

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

The Peace Dimension Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Caesar A. Montevecchio

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Fratelli Tutti: An Interpretation Of Dialogue And Friendship In Society: An Islamic Perspective, Mustafa Genc

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, The Death Penalty, And War, John Sniegocki

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.