Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Transformation Of Asian Fathers: From Distant, Income Provider And Disciplinarian To Forgiven, Discipler & Benefactor, Victor Quon

Doctor of Ministry

Asian fathers have a tough road to travel upon. The proper image of the father is one of the least successful cover-ups in today’s Asian church. On the surface, there is the attempt to portray him as being successful in his career, confident in his identity and respected as a spiritual leader in his home. Yet when his children are asked to discuss family relationships in the youth group, a different picture comes into focus. It is one of emptiness, distance and sometimes resentment. The typical stereotype of the stern father who shows more care for his personal success and …

Wrestling For The Souls Of The Survivors: Helping Partners Who Are Married To Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, John N. Raymond

Doctor of Ministry

For some who partake in the wonders of marriage, the experiences of pleasant memories and successful challenges mark their dreams in their twilight years. For couples where one or both experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA), marital challenges have far greater negative effect on each of the marital partners—their twilight dreams may not be so pleasant. Although many couples experience setbacks and hardships, for the couple affected by CSA, the setbacks are experienced with greater intensity and duration. This dissertation will highlight research quantifying the negative long-term consequences of CSA. I also will give examples of qualitative research that describes the …

Pastoral Well-Being & Beyond: Three Streams Of Pastoral Health And Personal Development, Brandon J. Morrow

Doctor of Ministry

Every year, the North American church experiences an overwhelming percentage of pastors who leave the ministry, citing internal and external pressures for their decisions to abandon what they once perceived as their divine calling. Many pastors are forced into a personal development strategy that is neither helpful, nor holistic, pursuing scads of resources outside of Christian and theological disciplines, many of which are misapplied. These drastically affect the long-term health of pastors and their overall health and effectiveness in ministry. How can pastors develop a personal development strategy that adequately accounts for the major areas of health in the life …

Never Alone: Discovering The Path To Burnout Avoidance, Rick Millikin

Doctor of Ministry

Pastoral burnout, in the past century, has become an issue that captures the attention of researchers and ministry professionals alike. Experts claim that burnout is avoidable when ministers submit to an obedient, faithful pursuit of life with God rather than working at a frenzied pace to impress people and gain the approval of God. Defined as the status of an individual that has become fatigued with his or her vocation or major life activity, burnout is preceded by a long-term avoidance of the signs of weakness and an intense focus on simply working harder. Some scholars believe the primary problem …

Engaging Millennials Through The Tradition Of The Holy Spirit And Mission Of The Assemblies Of God, Jason D. Kennedy

Doctor of Ministry

The American evangelical church is in crisis. All statistical data points to decline. Church growth is flat. It does not seem that the church will correct itself, especially in light of the Millennial generation. Millennials are fleeing the church quickly. The church must find a solution to this crisis. This research proposes that a refocus of the charismatic gifts (from an Assemblies of God perspective) to mission has the potential to re-engage Millennials, and because of its missions history the Assemblies of God sits in a prime position to engage this generation caught in an exodus. This research is divided …

A Cost-Sensitive Model For Revitalizing United Methodist Churches, Kory Knott

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation addresses the topic of church revitalization in United Methodist churches that are experiencing prolonged seasons of stagnation and decline. In particular, it examines various revitalization models so as to determine how well they address the issues related to cost and sustainability. Section 1 describes the state of decline in mainline church attendance over the past 60 years and in particular during the last 15 years in the United Methodist Church. In addition to providing sobering statistics, this section includes a fictional story of a dying church, outlining the costs associated with the root problems that are responsible for …

Food And Faith: Making Food And Eating Choices Based On Evidence And Faith, James David Ahasay

Doctor of Ministry

Many leaders within the US-American Christian community are unaware of cultural influences driven by money that impact food sanctity, what we eat and the land from which our sustenance is derived. The question is asked, “What is food?” Intentional identity formation with the food we eat and its relationship to the land is important to create a physically and spiritually healthy environment for both men and women leaders, not only within the Christian community, but also throughout society at large. A large part of the problem is in thinking of food as a commodity rather than as a sacred part …

A Discussion Starter On The Possibilities And Implications Of Cultural Intelligence For Worship, Garfield O. Harvey

Doctor of Ministry

Globalization influences the development of international interactions among leaders serving in cross-cultural settings and creates challenges for those who are unprepared to lead cross-culturally. For this project, cultural intelligence is the phenomenon investigated as a recommendation for cross-cultural worship. Cultural intelligence (CQ) refers to a person’s capability to adapt to the cultural environments they engage. This research examines how CQ may influence the strategic design of a church congregation’s worship practices, while honoring their cultural and biblical behaviors. Leading worship with CQ is of paramount importance if churches desire to engage people inside and outside their congregations effectively. One observation …

Forming Resilient Rostered Ministers: A Proposed Model For First Call Ministry Formation For The North/West Lower Michigan Synod-Elca, Christian A. Timm

Doctor of Ministry

According to the Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth selected twelve men to be his disciples. Three years later, one of the twelve had betrayed Jesus and ended his own liferepresenting an apostolic attrition rate of eight percent. One challenge to Christian denominations today is the attrition rate of trained pastors and deacons serving in congregational settings. Research suggests that up to 50 percent of pastors leave congregational ministry within ten years of their ordination. Other sources dispute these figures. Although up to 20% may leave congregational ministry in favor of specialized ministries, further study, or retirement, a significant number report leaving …

Discipleship For The Next Generation: Engaging The Emerging Generation, Kevin Norwood

Doctor of Ministry

Go into all the world and make disciples: the great commission given by Christ to his disciples. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus invited them to drop everything and follow him. By his example, he taught them how to fulfill this commission. Discipleship is the key element of faith that determines the future of the church. It is imperative that the great commission continue to be carried out to the next generation. Discipleship for the emerging generation has consistently happened since Jesus first gave his commission. The principles of discipleship stay the same, but the methods must be relevant …

Fostering Equanimity Through Spiritual Disciplines To Increase Undergraduate Retention At Greenville University, Patrick Monroe Miller

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation responds to the problem of unstable freshman-to-sophomore retention rates at Greenville University between 2005 and 2015. Greenville University retention rates have oscillated between a high of 75.5% in 2009 and a low of 62.5% in 2011. This differs from the performance of the other members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities over the same time period. For CCCU schools, retention has remained between 72.7% and 74%. While both CCCU schools and Greenville University invested significant time and resources into retention programs, Greenville’s efforts did not produce stable retention rates. Section one details the fluctuating retention rates …

Special Issue: Protestantism In The Balkans (Macedonia, Serbia, And Albania), Ruzhica Cacanoska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This issue of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe is published as part of the celebration of the 500-years of the Protestant Reformation. In fact, this issue contains the works presented by its authors at the scientific gathering organized within the anniversary by the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research, a branch of “St. Cyril and Methodius University” in Skopje, Macedonia). The program, Scientific Wednesday, was held on November 1 , 2017. The scholarly gathering was titled Protestantism in the Balkans. Prof. Ruzica Cacanoska, as a member of the advisory editorial board of this journal, and also as …

Leading Through Awareness And Healing: A Servant Leadership Model, Jiying Song

Faculty Publications - George Fox Digital

Excerpt: "Servant-leadership was not a leadership theory developed through empirical studies, but more a philosophy of life first articulated by Robert Greenleaf (1904-1990) (Beazley, 2003). Scholars and writers have been criticizing servant-leadership as soft (Ebener, 2011; Nayab, 2011) and lacking a coherent conceptual framework (Eicher-Catt, 2005), an integrated theoretical development (van Dierendonck, 2011), and empirical support (Northouse, 2016). In response to these critiques and public interest, some scholars and writers have organized servant-leadership into a variety of elements: characteristics (Liden, Panaccio, Meuser, Hu, & Wayne, 2014; Spears, 2002), behaviors (Liden et al., 2014), pillars (Sipe & Frick, 2009), dimensions (van …

For The Beauty Of The Earth: Serving Others Through Being Fully Present, Jiying Song

Faculty Publications - George Fox Digital

Excerpt: "Have you ever tried to describe a quiet summer afternoon in the garden? You are sitting in the shade, feeling the breeze, smelling the barbeque aroma from the neighborhood, drinking iced tea, listening to birds chirping, and watching the sunlight embracing leaves, flowers, and grass. We are made out of dust; that is how attached to the earth we are. We may be looking at a garden, but are we present to the beauty of the earth?"

What Is A Christian Teacher To Do With Louise Rosenblatt’S Transactional Theory Of Reading?, Andrew P. Huddleston, Dawan Coombs, Katlin Sehres, Ashley Miller

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

In this theoretical analysis, the authors explore the question, What is a Christian teacher educator to do with Louise Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of reading? They begin by outlining the primary components of Rosenblatt’s transactional theory, focusing on reading as a transaction and the efferent and aesthetic stances. Next, they discuss who they are as teacher educators and former students, how their faith backgrounds intersect with Rosenblatt’s work, and the approach they took to address areas of tension that they and other Christian educators have experienced with Rosenblatt’s theory. Finally, they conclude by discussing implications of Rosenblatt’s work for reading scripture, …

Protestantism In Macedonia Today, Ruzhica Cacanoska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Protestantism arrived in Macedonia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Since then, a number of Protestant communities were established and their current membership is relatively small. The United Methodist Church in the Republic of Macedonia is considered to be traditional and is listed as such in the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. The contemporary Protestant structure is composed of 12 Evangelical-Protestant churches. The subject matter of this paper is a sociological research on the Protestant communities in Macedonia and it will focus on key issues related to the structure and functioning of their communities, their mutual cooperation, …

Congretional/Methodist Church In Macedonia, Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Prior to the end of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 and during portions of World War I, the territory of Macedonia was served by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (hereafter ABCFM) with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. The form of Protestantism promoted by ABCFM was Congregationalism but in the Balkans, they called their churches Evangelical, which is often used as a synonym for Protestants. After the end of World War I, the ABCFM was unable to continue to financially support and staff this mission field outside of Bulgaria as proper and turned their work in Macedonia (which had …

Protestantization Of The Roma From Southeastern Serbia, Dragan Todorović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Protestantization of the Roma refers to the recent process of mass involvement of Serbian Roma in small religious communities of Protestant provenance.

The research was conducted using the deep interview method on the basis of a structured questionnaire with baptized believers of Roma nationality belonging to the Christian Baptist Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Adventist Church, and Evangelical Pentecostal Church in the territory of Southeastern Serbia. The sample included both Roma and non-Roma high clergy of the abovementioned religious communities, as well as religious leaders of major religions of the region (Serbian Orthodox Church and Islamic Community).

This paper describes …

The Independent Churches And Proselytism In The Balkans, Kostake Milkov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The emergence of the new churches in the Balkans is a relatively recent phenomenon, and it is mainly connected with the Evangelical wing of Protestantism. Apart from the Congregationalist missions within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-nineteenth century including the Methodists and to a much smaller extent, the Baptists and the Pentecostals., and their spinoffs, mainly resulting from geopolitical shifts post-World War I, most of the Evangelical missionary endeavors on the territory of Former Yugoslavia began after the fall of Communism, These aspects are the focus of my essay, although some of the conclusions are also applicable to the Protestant …

Faith Integration: What Does It Really Look Like?, Paul Shotsberger

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Beginning with the excellent treatment of faith integration by Patrick Allen and Kenneth Badley (2012), based on the seminal work of Boyer (1997), this article delves into the issue of faith-learning integration on a discipline and classroom level. There are two major categories of integration that are considered: the single application, intended primarily for that day’s lesson, and focused on technical terminology or concepts; and the series that deals with larger issues beyond just those of the particular class being taught. Examples are provided for each, as well as the thought processes behind their generation. Resources are included at the …

Letter From The Editor, Scot Headley

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

I am very pleased and quite excited to introduce this issue of the ICCTE Journal to you this spring. The ICCTE-J is completing its twelfth year of publication and this issue marks the beginning of a new era for us. During the fall of 2017, the editorial team investigated the migration of our journal site from a self-managed WordPress site to a new site, hosted on the Digital Commons, powered by bepress (https://www.bepress.com/products/digital-commons/). With the endorsement of the ICCTE Board, we have migrated the journal to this new Digital Commons site. This platform offers several advantages. It brings more stability …

The Power, Structure, And Practice Of Gratitude In Education: A Demonstration Of Epistemology And Empirical Research Working Together, Jane Wilson, Rob Foster

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

A growing body of philosophical, psychological, and educational research shows that gratitude has positive effects on mood, relationships, and learning. This paper explores the power of gratitude, investigates how the ontological (inward), teleological (forward), and metaphysical (upward) structure of gratitude can enhance learning, and then highlights a research study revealing teachers’ perspectives on the impact of practicing gratitude in the classroom environment. Four themes emerged from the empirical study that support the gratitude structure: two themes relate to the impact on teachers (enhanced well-being and calm amidst stress), and two themes relate to the impact on students (enhanced classroom environment …

Medieval Heresis And Protestantism, Maja Angelovska-Panova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In addition to the current social and political circumstances, the appearance of heresies and reform movements during the Middle Ages. was largely determined by the educational tendencies and movement of humanism, which concentrated on the matter of the human being. Thisarticle offers a digressive analysis that examines the appearance, essence, and significance of Bogomilism, Catharism, Waldensians and their implications for later reform movements—more specifically Protestantism. It should be emphasized that in this context, such ideas, characteristic of medieval heresies, impacted Protestantism, as seen in the works of John Wycliffe (1328-1384) and Jan Hus (1369-1415). In fact, they were qualified to …

Latina/O Conversion And Miracle-Seeking At A Buddhist Temple, Stephen M. Cherry, Kemal Budak, Aida I. Ramos

Faculty Publications - Department of Sociology

The growing diversification of the US Latino religious’ experiences calls for scholarly attention beyond Protestant or Catholic categories. This study begins to answer this call. Using interview data with 26 Latinos collected over 2 years of observation at the True Lama Meditation Center (TLMC) in Houston, Texas, we describe how Latinos who convert to Buddhism or actively attend the temple while also continuing to attend Christian services (both Catholic and Protestant) see themselves and understand their religious identities and practices. We then explore the reasons for their conversion or changes in religious identities and practices through various theoretical lens. Although …

Kitchen-Sink Enlightenment: A Review Of “Grace For Amateurs”, Melanie Springer Mock

Faculty Publications - Department of English

Excerpt: "Here’s an honest admission: Several times while reading Lily Burana’s new book Grace for Amateurs: Field Notes on a Journey Back to Faith, I consulted the copyright page, confirming again that Grace for Amateurs was really published by Thomas Nelson, the notoriously evangelical (and, in my mind, notoriously traditional) press. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Thomas Nelson asked another writer to remove the word “vagina” from her book, well aware that Christian readers would balk at language so closely associated with women and S-E-X. Would this same publisher be willing to support a memoir as edgy …

Interview With Rick And Laurie Comfort, Cherice Bock, Ralph Beebe

War & Conscientious Objection in Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1940-1975

Rick Comfort discusses being a high schooler during the Vietnam War and being on the Air Force after the war, during the war in Grenada, and how he never held a gun. He also talks about his childhood in Bolivia and how it influenced his actions in the Air Force.

Interview With Gordon Crisman, Cherice Bock, Ralph Beebe

War & Conscientious Objection in Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1940-1975

Gordon Crisman talks about he originally registered for the draft as a 1-A before he became a Christian, but after he attended George Fox he made to decision to do alternative service instead.

Interview With Sam Farmer, Cherice Bock, Ralph Beebe

War & Conscientious Objection in Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1940-1975

An interview with Sam Farmer about his attitude toward military service as a young man during the Korean War, and about his religious upbringing in Greenleaf, Idaho.

Interview With Steve And Glenda Gilroy, Cherice Bock, Ralph Beebe

War & Conscientious Objection in Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1940-1975

Steve and Glenda Gilroy reflect on their life during the Vietnam War. Specifically, Steve talks about being drafted as a conscientious objector and how being stationed as an orderly in a hospital helped him realize what he wanted as a future career. Glenda reflects on conversations she had with her father and brother during the war and how her upbringing influenced what she thought about conscientious objectors.

Interview With Ron Stansell, Cherice Bock, Ralph Beebe

War & Conscientious Objection in Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1940-1975

Ron Stansell discusses how he registered as a conscientious objector for the draft. He talks about how his childhood and his faith influenced his decision. Furthermore, he talks about his life as a missionary in Bolivia and how he met his wife, Carolyn, through this whole process.