Religion Commons^™

Guest Editorial, Wonsuk Ma, Daniel D. Isgrigg

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Editorial for Spiritus 10, nos. 1-2

Front Matter Spiritus 10, Nos. 1-2 (2025), Spiritus Oru Journal Of Theology

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Full Issue Spiritus 10, Nos. 1-2 (2025), Spiritus Oru Journal Of Theology

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Full issue of Spiritus 10, nos. 1-2 (2025) guest edited by Wonsuk Ma and Daniel D. Isgrigg.

Authentic Relationships Among The Body Of Christ: Naming The Obstacles That Hinder Authentic Relationships And Expressing A Gospel-Centered Path Toward Overcoming Them, Luke J. Anderson

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Anderson, Luke J. “Authentic Relationships among the Body of Christ: Naming the Obstacles that Hinder Authentic Relationships and Expressing a Gospel-centered Path toward Overcoming Them.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2025. 157 pp.

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grafton, Wisconsin, recently underwent a vision process in which they proposed five values to define their congregational living. One of these values is authentic relationships. Those who crafted this vision, as well as the entire body who adopted it, recognized this value as primarily aspirational in nature. While some relational connectedness existed, all sought to better define this value …

Kingdom Classrooms: A Redemptive Framework For Revitalizing Christian Schools, Chad A. Kellogg

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Rural Christian schools across the United States face critical threats to their long-term sustainability, particularly in remote communities such as Salmon, Idaho. These institutions frequently operate without public funding, endure persistent staffing shortages, and struggle within aging facilities while lacking robust community advocacy. This Dissertation-in-Praxis (DiP) addresses these systemic inequities by developing a replicable, biblically grounded framework designed to strengthen the financial viability, educational quality, and missional integrity of rural Christian schools. Calvary Chapel Heritage Center (CCHC) in Salmon, Idaho, serves as the central case study. Utilizing a mixed-methods action research approach, the study incorporates qualitative interviews with church and …

Designing A Grief Intervention To Address The Religious Problem Of Evil, Charles Lee Burris Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christian fellowships should have grief ministries. The problem is the Greater Morning Star Baptist Church lacks a clear and practical intervention to support adult congregants coping with grief. The purpose of this DMIN action research project was to equip adult congregants of the Greater Morning Star Baptist Church through a biblically designed grief curriculum that provided training and encouragement to improve quality of life. This DMIN action research project applied qualitative and quantitative methods that included a pre-grief curriculum interview, a pre-grief curriculum survey, a post-grief curriculum focus group, and test assessments (pre-grief curriculum, mid-grief curriculum, and post-grief curriculum) for …

The Great Hawaiian Revival: A Historical Survey Of The Totality Of Events Of The Great Hawaiian Revival From 1836-1842, Nicholas A. Freeman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While much has been written on the Great Hawaiian Revival, most has provided a general historical overview in which the primary focus has been on the great missionary Titus Coan and the immense revival that took place at the church in Hilo, Hawai’i. However, this paper argues that, when digging a little deeper, one soon discovers that there was so much more to the story. Beginning with prior, smaller revivals reported in Honolulu, Lahaina, Waimea, and Kaua’i before 1837, along with the revival noted among the missionaries themselves in 1836 during their annual mission meeting on Oahu, the great revival’s …

'That All May Be One’: Incarnation, Solidarity, And Anti-Racism In Jesuit Education, Yancy Hughes Dominick

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Jesuit colleges and universities in the US have been striving to become anti-racist. This work is often tied to mission and to a shared commitment to Jesuit and Catholic values like a faith that does justice and the dignity of all persons. At the same time, however, many Jesuit institutions frame their commitment to anti-racism in language that does not appeal to specific aspects of Jesuit tradition; likewise, mission and Jesuit identity is often described in ways that make no overt reference to anti-racism. A robust anti-racism, I argue, arises necessarily out of Jesuit Catholic thought, and fully realized Jesuit …

2025 Advent Hymn Devtionals, Joshua Fields, Michael Hendrickson, Mark Squire, Nicholas Totenhagen, Matthew Shipman, Trevor Flanick, Nathan Tritch, Harvey Peters, Stephenie Hovland, Ethan Baumbach, Isaac Conrad, Cory Willweber, Stephen Christian, Caleb Zeckzer, Isaiah Mudge, Jonathan Pietrowski, Karl Jacobson, Ross George, Harrison Hulse, Matthew Sauer, Nathaniel Pekari, James Gramzow, Wil Welch, Derek Carey, David Johnson

Other Student Publications

The 2025 Advent Hymn Devotionals presents a collection of Advent hymn devotionals, offering meditations, prayers, and scriptural references tied to specific stanzas of several traditional Christian hymns. The overall structure is organized around a daily reading schedule from late November through Christmas Eve, assigning a specific hymn stanza to a different seminary student, indicated by their name and institution. The included hymns, such as "Savior of the Nations, Come," "Comfort, Comfort Ye My People," and "O Come, All Ye Faithful," focus on the themes of Christ's incarnation, humility, victory over sin and death, and the call for repentance during the …

Determining The Efficacy Of A Digital Small-Group Formatted Spiritual Care Program In Increasing Ministry Volunteer Resiliency And Retention At Groundwire, Andrew J. Ondo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project examined the efficacy of biblically informed, trauma-aware, peer-to-peer spiritual care systems within the solely digital ministry context of Groundwire. The study addressed the growing need for effective pastoral care in digitally mediated environments, where formation and fragmentation occur simultaneously and traditional leadership structures are often absent. The purpose was to design, implement, and evaluate a protocol that could cultivate the core concepts of resilience, intentionality, and wisdom among participants, reinforcing both practical resilience and retention. An action-oriented, primarily qualitative methodology was utilized. The final sample population consisted of eleven Groundwire participants engaged in peer-to-peer care on Discord, with …

The Unashamed Plan: Expository Methods For Reconciling Unchurched Young Adults At The Friendship Baptist Church Of West End, James Daniel Spencer Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Young adults are absent from the pews of churches within the urban African American community. Churches within the community face dissolution because a generation no longer seeks to solve its problems by connecting with the household of faith due to shame-based alienation. There is a need to reconcile young adults into the citadel of invincible grace, God’s church, to fulfill the Great Commission and ensure a generation is not lost. Therefore, this action research project teaches church members through expository preaching and teaching The Unashamed Plan to educate them to reach youth for Christ. The Unashamed Plan is a theological …

The Role Of Religion In Ensuring National Security In Kazakhstan, Nurzhan Arystanbekuly Tursin Nur, Mukhan Issakhan, Shamshadin Kerim, Kovalev Dmitriy, Kalimash Begalinova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article explores the foundations of state policy aimed at ensuring religious stability in Kazakhstan. It analyzes the scientific basis of religious studies, principles of tolerance toward the country’s traditional religions, and the role of religion in maintaining national security. The methodology, goals, and objectives of the study are shaped by the interdisciplinary nature of the subject. The research examines state and interfaith relations, the development of freedom of religion, its integration into domestic and international law, and ways of resolving legal contradictions, traditions, and stereotypes. The theoretical framework relies on the works of domestic and foreign scholars devoted to …

(Nuevo) 10 Liderazgo En El Nuevo Testamento, Gerardo Kempff

Liderazgo

10 Liderazgo en el Nuevo Testamento

A Roadmap For Equipping Saints For The Work Of Ministry At Sugar Land Church Of Christ, Lewis Anthony Parker Iv

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to create a roadmap for a process that invites and equips saints at Sugar Land Church of Christ to work in ministry. As part of the research process, a design team was empaneled and met for eight sessions, during which participants offered valuable insight into Sugar Land’s ministry context. This data informed the final roadmap. Ephesians 4, which discusses the importance of every member getting involved in ministry, serves as the foundation of this project. The work of every member is for the edification of the entire group, and the calling and gift of …

A Faith-Based Approach To Mental Health Challenges, Patrick Leblanc

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This project sheds light on mental health issues within the Black community and the need for faith communities to intentionally address mental health issues in communities of color. Black men are oppressed by an interplay of cultural, historical, societal, and economic factors that impact their well-being. Racial discrimination and oppression are non-medical drivers exacerbating mental health disorders among Black men. The influences of culture and faith fabricate barriers to help-seeking behavior, and mistaken perceptions of masculinity cause many men to suffer in silence. To begin erasing derogatory perceptions of mental health disorders, faith communities need to increase mental health …

The Spiritual Care Of Hospice Patients With Cognitive Deficits, Shane Sullivan

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT How can a hospice chaplain know whether their presence and ministry make a meaningful difference when visiting patients with dementia or other serious cognitive impairments? This project thesis seeks to answer that question conclusively. The theological foundation of this project centers on the doctrine of the imago Dei—the image of God—as it relates to individuals who are dying with cognitive deficits. Specifically, it explores how a person who is helpless and near death continues to reflect the image of God. The project intervention described here is the creation of a specialized training guide for hospice chaplains at Bridge Hospice …

Experiments In Church-Based Research, David Dunaetz

Witness

No abstract provided.

2025 Joint Journal Between Witness And The Great Commission Research Journal, Thomas Seckler, David Dunaetz

Witness

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Reading James Missiologically: The Missionary Motive, Message, And Methods Of James Edited By Abeneazer G. Urga, Jessica A. Udall, And Edward L. Smither, Kenneth Nehrbass

Witness

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Evangelism Renewed: The Theological Revisioning Of Evangelism By Henry H. Knight Iii, Mark Teasdale

Witness

No abstract provided.

Life In The Kingdom: Reimagining Theological Education For A Post-Secular Global Age, Jose Philip

Witness

No abstract provided.

Book Review: A New And Ancient Evangelism: Rediscovering The Ways God Calls And Sends By Judith Paulsen, Christina D. Gonet

Witness

No abstract provided.

The Receptivity Principle For Effective Evangelism: Its Biblical Basis, Mike Morris

Witness

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Evangelism In An Age Of Despair: Hope Beyond The Failed Promise Of Happiness By Andrew Root, Mark Teasdale

Witness

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Joint Issue, Thomas Seckler

Witness

No abstract provided.

Untethered Spiritual Care: Fortifying Warfighter Fitness In The Era Of Great Power Competition, Charles R. Bruner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As the operational paradigm shifts from the large counter-insurgency missions of the Global War on Terror to agile combat employment characterized by untethered operations in potential locations such as the Pacific Theater, robust spiritual fitness will become increasingly more vital. Those most at risk for spiritual wounding and moral injury due to their experiences will be Airmen assigned to small, forward-deployed Mission Ready Airman (MRA) teams who must generate combat aircraft in austere locations with minimal supplies and far from support, including religious and spiritual support. This research project examines the problem of providing effective, robust point-of-care spiritual support without …

Book Review: Canoeing The Mountains: Christian Leadership In Uncharted Territory By Tod Bolsinger, Jason Ballard

Witness

No abstract provided.

The Church As Witness: The Relationship Between Identity, Action, And Metrics Of Success, John Husted

Witness

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Hybrid Church: Rethinking The Church For A Post-Christian Digital Age By James Emery White, Glenn Campbell

Witness

No abstract provided.

From Transactional To Transformational: Cultivating A Theologically Robust Learning Experience For Upper School Senior Bible Classes, Linus Nguyen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem at Holy Ground Christian Academy is that its approach to senior-level Bible classes is transactional rather than transformational for life and godliness. With parents feeling pressured to find effective educational options for their children and teachers facing growing demands from administrative duties, education urgently needs a new vision. Parents want their children to succeed and leave a lasting impact on society, while educators seek purpose in their careers. Modern educational trends push schools toward a utilitarian, transactional approach to learning, and private Christian college-preparatory schools are no exception. Within the Christian college-preparatory setting, Bible classes often struggle with …