Religion Commons^™

The Invisible Language: Unintentional Patronage And Missions Practice In Contemporary Thailand, Samuel Burton Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Patronage-clientelism is a current and important topic of discussion among the anthropological and missiological community. The effects of unintended patronage by Western missionaries in the context of Thai culture, however, are underexplored in academic research. In this study, I analyzed the effects of unintentional patronage among Western missionaries in a Thai cross-cultural ministry context. To do this I utilized a multiple case study method in which I compared four cases and analyzed for examples of how unintentional patronage is generated. I discovered that unintentional patronage was likely a result of insufficient missionary education regarding patronage-clientelism, as well as a lack …

Book Review: Christian Practical Wisdom: What It Is, Why It Matters, Beth Ann Fisher

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Christian Practical Wisdom: What It Is, Why It Matters, by Dorothy C. Bass, Kathleen A. Cahalan, Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, James R. Nieman, and Christian B. Scharen. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016. 368 pages, $25.10.

Using The Labyrinth To Foster Community Prayer And Devotion, Denice F. Knight-Slater

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

While excellent resources are available to teach people how to use labyrinths in personal ways, there are fewer guides available for seeking Christian community awareness using that same tool. This essay seeks to explore the value of a labyrinth as a sacred space, and it offers several novel suggestions for incorporating the labyrinth into the rhythms of the church. Although very little is known about how medieval Christians utilized the labyrinth, today’s Christians can still experience God in those same spaces. People need physical spaces in which they can gather in unexpected ways—places where they can explore their spiritual creativity …

Text Mining Stewardship Sermons, Rosanna Anderson

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Preaching about stewardship is a perennial concern for pastors. The advice that many mainline books on stewardship offer is for pastors to become more comfortable with talking about money. Another recommendation is to follow secular fundraising practices and speak about giving in positive terms like opportunity rather than obligation. But are pastors following this advice? How are pastors actually asking for financial support during their stewardship sermons?

Having read and published reviews of numerous books with theories about what pastors and church leaders could do to increase financial giving, I set out to find empirical information about what preachers …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 4

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 4.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 3

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 3.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Exploring Missional Partnership Practices Between The Littleton Church Of Christ And Her Peruvian Missionary Partners Through Dwelling In The Word, Justin L. Thompson

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which twelve individuals from two churches on two continents (North and South America) came together via video conference to explore missional partnership practices. These two churches connected through a common missionary and utilized a spiritual discipline called Dwelling in the Word to cultivate relationships, thereby creating a pathway to shared discovery of partnership practices. The problem I identify at the beginning regards transactional partnership, which commonly propels churches toward relationships that treat the other as unequal partners through unilateral, top-down interactions. In response, I present a perichoresis-inspired …

Equipping God's People At The Campbell Street Church Of Christ, Danny Sorrell

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project was designed to meet a need to equip God’s people at the Campbell Street Church of Christ for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ. The intervention involved the formation of a team of people to design a strategic plan to address this need. The design team met for a series of one-hour sessions in the spring of 2020. Each session brought together different sources of theological reflection, such as lectio divina, prayer, theology of equipping from Ephesians 4, and theology of the body of Christ from 1 Corinthians 12. In addition, design …

Warrior Dialogue In Samuel: Honor, Shame, And Divine Proxy, Robert A. Kranz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discourse between warriors plays a role in several battle scenes within the books of Samuel. The repartee is a way for the narrator to add color and depth to the narrative and develop essential themes. Social-scientific criticism has often examined these interactions through the cultural lenses of honor and shame. Peristiany, Bourdieu, and Pitt-Rivers are just some scholars who developed cultural frameworks based upon the importance of honor and shame in the Mediterranean region. Malina, extrapolating from North African cultural studies by Bourdieu, developed a challenge and response model for the acquisition of honor as depicted in the Bible. However, …

Remembering Jacob: The Literary Representation Of Memory In The Jacob Narrative, Isaac Borbon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to describe the Jacob narrative through the lens of memory. Taking Gen 28:10-22 as a case study, the objective is to place Jacob’s visit to Bethel alongside other ancient referential claims, analyzing it for authentic memories. However, the complex nature of memory is susceptible to preservation and revision. That is to say, having no desire to comport to modern historical-critical sensibilities, memory’s epistemological underpinnings are concerned primarily with reconstructing a remembered past for subsequent generations of Israelite tradents. In order to understand the historical background to the Jacob narrative in its entirety, a formal analysis of Iron …

A Theology Built On Meritocracy: A Theological And Sociological Examination Of The Prosperity Gospel And The American Dream, T.E. Starman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In American megachurch Christianity there lies a paradox in the concept of wealth and blessings; many megachurch leaders take deliberate steps to distance themselves from the defamed and heretical label of prosperity gospel, while simultaneously using many of its theological tenets as foundational to their own theology of wealth, money, and success. This thesis examines the nature of this paradox from both a theological and sociological lens. Through content analysis and case study examples, this thesis assesses the theological tenets of American megachurch prosperity theology as well as the sociological reality of stratification and the ideology that buttresses it. This …

Book Review: Pilgrims And Priests: Christian Mission In A Post-Christian Society, Nathan Pickard

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Pilgrims and Priests: Christian Mission in a Post-Christian Society by Stefan Pass. London, UK: SCM Press, 2019. 257 pages, $31.57.

Oneness In Christ: A Qualitative Study Of Women’S Initial Experiences Leading In Public Worship At Broadway Church Of Christ, Shannon Clarkson Rains, Jennifer M. Dabbs, Kaley D. Ihfe

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Few Church of Christ women have had experience with taking an active leadership role in a worship service since these congregations have traditionally believed women leading worship is unscriptural. Recently more Churches of Christ have begun to change their understanding of scripture in ways that are more inclusive of women. In March 2019, after a six-month church wide bible study at the historic Broadway Church of Christ in Lubbock, TX, women took on public roles in a worship service in what was for most of them the first time to serve in front of a congregation.

To document their experiences, …

Grief And Spiritual Coping: The Practices Of Three Generations Of Faith, Ron Bruner, Dudley Chancey

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Among the more important tasks of ministry is assisting congregants dealing with the grief that permeates life. This project seeks to discover and describe spiritual coping practices, positive and negative, among three-generation families within Churches of Christ. This qualitative work reviews relevant literature, defines research questions for this research, details the methodology used to obtain data, describes the sample from which these data were obtained, and reports the results. Thematic analysis of narratives obtained in this qualitative study provides an enriched understanding of spiritual coping with life stressors that is useful for practitioners of clinical and pastoral counseling.

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 2

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 2.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 1

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 63, No. 1.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

George Dallas Smith Papers, 1895-1921, George Dallas Smith

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Formulating A Communal Covenant For The Elders And Ministers Of South Fork Church Of Christ, Drew Baker

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project addressed the lack of a communal covenant for the elders and ministers of South Fork Church of Christ. The purpose of the project was to formulate a covenant that would promote the spiritual discernment and leadership of the elders and ministers. For the theological framework, I relied upon Mark’s portrait of Jesus. I looked at Jesus’s lived example as well as his teachings to discern values and practices that defined his leadership and should therefore be normative for Christian leaders. These values and practices were analyzed according to three relational categories—relationship with God, with each other, and with …

Let Me Serve Your Majesty: Psalm 8, Matthew Fredrickson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The speaker in Ps 8 proclaims a desire to serve Yahweh’s heavenly power/victory by appealing to humanity’s status as God’s images (Gen 1:27) and accepting the role of Yahweh’s new servant (Isa 55:3), as a priest/minister of God (Isa 61:1-6; cf Isa 42:1). This thesis translates אשר תנה as one word in verse 2b (אשרתנה), rendered, “May I serve your heavenly power/victory!” This is illustrated (in part) by two participles in Ps 8, ינקם (v. 3) and עבר (v. 9), which refer to cosmic foes of Yahweh—“the ones who nurse” (the goodly gods in CAT 1.23) and the “one …

Book Review: Bridging Theory And Practice In Children's Spirituality, Shannon Rains

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Bridging Theory and Practice in Children’s Spirituality: New Directions of Education, Ministry, and Discipleship, edited by Mimi L. Larson and Robert J. Keeley. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective, 2020. 264 pages, $22.99.

A Reader's Guide To Youth Ministry, Jeremy D. Smith, Steve Bonner, Walter Surdacki

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Youth ministry scholarship over the past 20 years has offered an array of works impactful to scholars, parents, church leaders, and youth workers. Because of the growing number of robust writings, we have compiled an annotated bibliography intended to guide this wide range of readers in overview of the most impactful works for youth ministry scholarship and practice.

Vocation's Unbroken Chain: Biblical Call Stories And The Experience Of Vocation, Chris Keeton

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This essay reflects on the Biblical passages used to create a vocational curriculum produced by the author's doctoral project. The call stories of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Ruth are examined to illustrate the experience of vocation. The essay is divided into three strands of thought: vocation as a journey, vocation as it is related to personal ability, and vocation as it is related to certainty.

Creating Vocational Curriculums For Youth Ministries: Challenges And Opportunities, Chris Keeton

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This essay reflects on the creation of a vocational curriculum produced by the author's doctoral project. The goal is to explore the value in vocational reflection among teenagers in youth groups, and to offer an example of how youth ministries may implement extended and holistic teaching programs regarding the theology of vocation.

This essay begins with an assessment of the ministry context. Second, It reviews templates for vocational curricula used on some college campuses and how the author implemented those strategies into the project. Two key strategies were a common curriculum and a mentoring environment. Such templates were found in …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 62, No. 4

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 62, No. 4.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Original Free Will Baptist Clergy Role Stress: A Definition And Its Emotional Consequences, Dustin R. Bannister

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of a clergyperson is often understood as one that creates a connection between the human and the divine, faith and God. However, such a vast role is typically executed in specific ways, such as leading Bible studies, visiting the sick, leading worship, and the act of preaching. At times, such a role demands even more nuanced behaviors based upon the context, population, and time. As this study posited, the problem is that such a multiplicity of clergy expectations inevitably create role stress, as understood through the constructs of role ambiguity and role conflict. In particular, how one might …

Public Attitudes Toward Xenotransplantation: A Theological Perspective, Vic Mccracken

Bible, Missions and Ministry

Among the myriad factors contributing to public attitudes toward xenotransplantation, religious belief offers a complex picture. In April 2019, xenotransplantation researchers at the University of Alabama-Birmingham conducted a focus group conversation among 12 area religious leaders. This article offers a theological analysis of the transcript of this conversation. The details of the interactions among the focus group participants sheds light on the manner in which theological belief shapes attitudes toward xenotransplantation. While participants generally recognized and affirmed the potential benefits of xenotransplantation, their support was tempered by an array of concerns emerging from a theological narrative that shaped their moral …

Do Muslims And Christians Worship The Same God: A Philosophical Approach, Zachary W. Casey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I probe the question of whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God primarily through the discipline of philosophy of language. Though a multifaceted question at its core (e.g., theological, historical), the question directly ties into how language operates in relation to God. That is, the ways in which Muslims and Christians make predications of God have a significant role in delineating whether they worship the same God. By working from the perspective of predication, I argue that Muslims and Christians refer to but do not worship the same God. In this sense, Muslims and Christians refer …

The Economics Of Love, Débora Silva Viana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I argue that the obligation to love based on the Christian tradition requires Christians to disperse their resources in a way that significantly evens out wealth distribution and increases social justice. Christians disagree on the terminology and some tenets of the goal of the Christian life (e.g., deification, beatific vision, communion with God, salvation). However, the requirement to practice love is common to all of these concepts, thus making love normative for Christians. I argue that when love takes such a prominent role in one’s life, then it naturally influences how one manages one’s resources. If love …

Book Review: Sustainable Children's Ministry: From Last-Minute Scrambling To Long-Term Solutions, Ron Bruner

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Sustainable Children’s Ministry: From Last‐Minute Scrambling to Long‐Term Solutions, by Mark DeVries and Annette Safstrom. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2018. 234 pages, $16.99.

Book Review: Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation Into A Powerhouse For Mission, Brandon Pierce

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation into a Powerhouse for Mission, by Krin van Tatenhove and Rob Mueller. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2019. 146 pages, $20.00.