Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Project To Foster Spiritual Formation In Online Classrooms, Robert Vaughan

Doctor of Ministry

Online programs are a growing phenomenon in adult education. Many Christian colleges and universities use this method to meet the educational needs of non-traditional students. A drawback of online education is the challenge to address the spiritual needs of students in a virtual environment. This project will propose an approach for fostering spiritual formation in asynchronous, adult online educational programs.

Section 2 will demonstrate the problem of fostering spiritual formation in online environments including the following issues: the demographics of the project, an organizational analysis of the project, and historical timelines of online adult education.

Section 3 will explore how …

Atonement In Hosea And The Prodigal Son: Relationality As Personhood And The Being Of God, Stephen Sherwood

Seminary Masters Theses

My project will provide a survey of traditional atonement metaphors, with a particular emphasis upon contrasting penal substitution with a covenantal relational understanding of the atonement, and will then posit that a covenantal relational approach is ideal for resonance with a postmodem audience.

I will seek to determine whether any single biblical metaphor or cluster of metaphors provides an interpretive matrix for all discussion of the atonement in a way that is both biblically faithful and conceptually accessible to a postmodem world. I contend that atonement discussions in typical evangelical contexts may be both biblically insufficient and culturally inadequate and …

Atonement In Hosea And The Prodigal Son: Relationality As Personhood And The Being Of God, Steve Sherwood

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt from Introduction: "My project will provide a survey of traditional atonement metaphors, with a particular emphasis upon contrasting penal substitution with a covenantal relational understanding of the atonement, and will then posit that a covenantal relational approach is ideal for resonance with a postmodern audience.

I will seek to determine whether any single biblical metaphor or cluster of metaphors provides an interpretive matrix for all discussion of the atonement in a way that is both biblically faithful and conceptually accessible to a postmodern world. I contend that atonement discussions in typical evangelical contexts may be both biblically insufficient and …

Where Are The Twenty-Year-Olds? Tools For The Church To Connect And Retain A Generation, Lars Rood

Doctor of Ministry

A generation of young people are losing their connection to the church today. Research by the Barna Group shows that "61 % of students who were active in church during their teenage years disengaged during their twenties."1 Many churches struggle to adequately connect with and retain the twenty-something generation. This inability to connect stems from changing culture, technology, new worldviews, and a lack of formal training in institutes of higher education. Raised with the Internet, instant messaging, cell phones, and hundreds of television channels, this generation is undoubtedly well informed. Yet many churches no longer speak their language. I believe …

Prostitutes, Prodigals And The Story Of God's Embrace, Steve Sherwood

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Excerpt: "This book has been stewing inside of me for a long time. When I was sixteen years old, I sat in a living room in Round Rock, Texas at a Young Life meeting and heard a college kid tell the story of Hosea and Gomer and then say, "God loves us like that." I'd never heard anything like that and I now know that Hosea was not a story regularly told in Young Life. I have no idea why my Young Life leader chose it. Regardless, that image has stuck in my head for almost thirty years.

Other experiences …

Bremer's "Kreuz Und Kreml: Kleine Geschichte Der Orthodoxen Kirche In Russland" - Book Review, William R. Russell

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Russian Children At Risk, Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Postmodern Trinitarian Philosophy: A Multiperspectival Approach, John Barry King Jr

Doctor of Ministry

To fulfill its missional imperative, the 21st Century, Western Church must engage a postmodem culture. To facilitate such engagement the following manuscript will relate Trinitarian theology to postmodem philosophy by using a Trinitarian grammar known as multiperspectivalism. In particular, multiperspectivalism will be used to integrate Trinitarian theology with the three loci of postmodem philosophy: non-foundational epistemology, socially constructive linguistics, and holistic relational ontology. As these various loci imply, postmodemism is characterized by a movement toward relationality in epistemology, linguistics, and ontology. It is precisely this emphasis on relationality that produces the resonance between postmodem philosophy and Trinitarian theology.

After outlining …

Worldview: The Missing Dimension Of Evangelism In Post-Communist Society, Sergei Golovin

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

For a while Christians considered the Soviet Union to be a great potential mission field; nevertheless when the door for missions opened wide, it happened unexpectedly. Despite thousands of missionaries and millions of dollars invested immediately in spreading the gospel in the post-communist world, after a short-term tide, church growth declined back to pre-perestroika level. The research made during that period demonstrated that the so-called awakening had nothing to do with the biblical concept of repentance (i.e. a radical change of a person’s worldview). An explanatory model of the worldview transformation dynamics in post-communist society is developed as an attempt …

Baptist Union Council Meets In Moscow, William Yoder

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam Archpriest Vitaly Borovoy (1916-2008), Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Shade Of The Oak Tree: The Recent Growth Of Johannine Studies, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

The recent growth within Johannine studies has developed as a result of several factors. First, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls led to an appreciation of the Jewishness of John’s origin. Second, new approaches to John’s composition have emerged, followed by a larger set of inquiries as to the Johannine tradition’s relation to parallel traditions. This has been accompanied by a fourth interest: the history of the Johannine situation. Fifth, new literary studies have posed new horizons for interpretation, and sixth, theories continue to abound on the identity of the Beloved Disciple. A seventh development involves new ways of …

Orthodox Religiosity Among Elite University Students In Russia And Its Relationship To Their Political Views, Irina Papkova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Religious Education Initiatives In Russia: Update And Commentary, Dr. Joseph A. Loya O.S.A.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Response Of The New Testament Church To Material Needs And Materialism, Pavel Hanes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The New Testament church responded to materialism both in philosophical and ethical ways, stressing the spiritual side of poverty or wealth. The answer she was giving to this problem was based on the Old Testament approach to the poor who were not only poor in property but were also poor before the Lord (i.e. humble, godly and obedient). In modern times it is important to reiterate this message because the modern church tends to be preoccupied with the material side of the problem while the core of the problem is spiritual.

“Has not God chosen those who are poor in …

The Beginning Of Bulgarian Printing (On The Occasion Of Its 500th Anniversary), Archimandrite Pavel Stefanov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Book Notes (Short Book Reviews From Glaube In Der 2.Welt [Faith In The 2 World]), Walter Sawatsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Slovak Churches And Education After The Fall Of Communism, Dana Hanesova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The author of the study focuses on the complexity of the education provided by churches in Slovakia. At first, she analyses the most important factors that have been influencing the present situation in this area (the historical, legal and educational background as well as the religious structure of the population). Then she presents the main residuals from the past that need to be sorted out with the help of the churches, including the progressive education of the younger generation. Some statistical information about church schools in Slovakia is provided. Special attention is paid to the evangelical churches and their Department …

Jesus And The Breath Of Life: An Exegesis Of John 20:22 In Historical And Modern Interpretation An Obscure And Mysterious Text, Douglas W. Balzer

Seminary Masters Theses

John 20:22 is an obscure and mysterious text where Jesus is represented as breathing upon his disciples in a manner that appears to resemble the insufflation of humanity by God, or the breathing of the "breath of life" in Adam's nostrils in Genesis 2:7. Through an exegetical study of Johannine text and the Greek term έμφυσάω in relationship with the LXX, Apocrypha and Qumran Scrolls, a direct correlation is established between the theology of John and the theology in the LXX. The relevant historical, Nicene and post-Nicene Fathers, and modem interpretations are examined in order to discover what crucial issues …

Doing More With Life: Connecting Christian Higher Education To A Call To Service (Book Review), David M. Johnstone

Publications from Student Life & Spiritual Life

No abstract provided.

Spiritual Conversations, Randall D. Groves

Doctor of Ministry

How can the Keesler Air Force Base Chapel provide spiritual care for airmen who are spiritual but who are not religious? The Department of Defense challenges the chapel to promote the spiritual health of all airmen while the chapel mostly provides religion-based services. The chapel's efforts, therefore, ignore airmen who do not fit into a particular religion. The problem will be addressed by suggesting that the chapel incorporate a spiritual conversations gathering into the existing religion-based services. The chapel needs to embrace spiritual-but-not-religious airmen by offering a spiritual conversations gathering and conducting an annual spirituality survey. The purpose of this …

Offering Hope: Ministry With The Chronically Ill, Marti Gates Lundy

Doctor of Ministry

One of every two individuals in the United States suffers from chronic illness. While these numbers are staggering, studies indicate that they will continue to rise. The problem exists that the local church is not fully equipped to address the desire and need for wholeness and community felt by the millions of individuals living with chronic conditions. These individuals suffer alone and the contemporary church has failed to minister effectively with them. With proper grounding in a biblical understanding of God's role in illness and suffering, a foundation in the role of pastoral care throughout Church history, and by looking …

"Following Jesus To Burning Man" Recovering The Church's Vocation, Kerry D. Mcroberts

Doctor of Ministry

My Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Emerging Culture at George Fox Evangelical Seminary has been E-P-I-C! I have been personally transformed by the unique [E]xperience of this DMIN. My transformation has centered on my exchange of the center for the margins in my ministry focus. Vicki's (my wife) law enforcement career has daily situated her on culture's extreme margins and through her I have connected with people whom I was not [P]articipating in life with as a pastor. Vicki has been my inspiration for my life-transforming experience. God placed a desire in my heart to make "Burning Man" my …

"Helping People Find Freedom In Christ" A Journey Toward Fulfilling Christian Ministry In Community, Clifford E. Watt

Doctor of Ministry

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore a biblically based set of principles that will empower believers to have freedom in their Christian lives. There is an underlying belief contained in the Bible that it is natural for a believer to do ministry. Jesus said: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last."3 He also reminded us: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going …

A Strategy For Evangelism With Samoans, Tauileata Moli

Doctor of Ministry

This paper will provide an evangelism plan designed to carry out this mandate among traditional Samoans in Samoa. The plan supports and utilizes the Samoan communal patriarchal family system. The thesis of this paper is that a Christian evangelistic model can be designed that is compatible with the Samoan communal, patriarchal family system. Chapter 1 of this dissertation describes conflicts caused by using individual evangelism style in the Samoan community, which is community oriented. Chapter 2 will provide historical information about the country of Samoa and its cultural background. Change and especially change that destroys the cultural system is very …

Youthbuilders: 1974-2008 Building A Student Leadership Model, Denis Eldon Bell

Doctor of Ministry

The YouthBuilders is an itinerant group of students, ages 18-24 who volunteer for one year of community life and personal growth. They train and serve in what is now a co-operative opportunity sponsored by the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada and the Canadian Conference of the Brethren in Christ Church.

After thirty-three years the YouthBuilders' adventure is just completing its tenth season of tour, involving the 13th and 14th teams, having trained 58 students in this model of leadershop development.

The practical application of this Doctor of Ministry dissertation is to investigate · · the history of this movement and …

Movies As The Vernacular Of Adolescence, Jacob Youmans

Doctor of Ministry

Audience: The primary audience/user of my project will be Christian teenagers with a desire to share their faith in a missional way in the vernacular of their peers. I also hope the project will be a resource for those who minister to and work with teenagers and desire to connect with them as well as inspire them to go out and be the church to their friends that do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

I hope my users will have more confidence in sharing their faith and will learn skills to talk about the sacred in the …

Review Of Schutt's "Peoples Of The River Valleys: The Odyssey Of The Delaware India", Paul Otto

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

No abstract provided.

Resurrecting A Witch: An Intimate Look At The Roles Faith And Politics Played During The Salem Witchcraft Trials Of 1692, Teresa M. Marbut

Doctor of Ministry

This work deals with the roles faith and politics played in the hearts and minds of those people who were caught up in the mass hysteria of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. It examines the trials through the colored lenses of several of Salem's accused, their accusers, and the men who served as their judges. It focuses on the mishandling of the accused witches at both their hearings and trials, and how the purported "visions" seen by their accusers were often used as the sole evidence to indict, try, sentence, and hang many of the accused. Resurrecting a Witch …

A Suffering Messiah? Messianic Expectations In Light Of The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Case Of 1qisa 52:14, Jenifer A. Manginelli

Doctor of Ministry

This paper considers the possibility of an intended messianic reading at Isaiah 52: 14 in the Great Isaiah Scroll (lQisaa) in light of the New Testament's presentation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. Such a reading may evince a connection on the part of the scribe between the vicarious suffering of the servant of the LORD and a messianic figure. The plausibility of a messianic reading is considered through analysis of the text, followed by an exploration of the likelihood that such a connection would have been made on the basis of what we can discern of the Qumran community's …