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Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

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Resetting Foundations. Congregational Training For The Small Group Ministry: An Action Research To Correct Intent, Cultivate Community, And Grow Spiritually, Jarrett Gallardo Jul 2023

Resetting Foundations. Congregational Training For The Small Group Ministry: An Action Research To Correct Intent, Cultivate Community, And Grow Spiritually, Jarrett Gallardo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Small group ministry is crucial for the health and well-being of the church. The problem this DMIN action research sought to address was that Valley Gate Church did not grasp the purpose of small group ministry due to not implementing small groups with well-defined intent. Valley Gate Church is a church plant that launched in 2016. This DMIN action research aimed to create and implement a six-week congregational training to develop small group leaders and members at Valley Gate Church. Twenty-two participants were involved in the entire six-week training. All participants took a pre- and post-training assessment consisting of surveys, …


The Decalogue Of Justice: A Covenantal Application Of Biblical Justice, Andrew Mark Adil Jul 2023

The Decalogue Of Justice: A Covenantal Application Of Biblical Justice, Andrew Mark Adil

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation aims to establish a biblical theology of justice (מִשְׁפָּט), ascertaining the commands and references to justice in Scripture are comprehensively and exclusively rooted in the Moral Law of the Torah, summarized in the Ten Commandments, and embedded in the Covenant of Grace (Old and New), making it binding on New Covenant believers and inextricably attached to the church’s Great Commission mandate. To this end, the study examines the concept of justice in the OT and the Moral Law, contrasting Reformed evangelical hermeneutics with the modern iteration of Liberation Theology in connection with the application of biblical justice. Additionally, …


Counseling By Default: A Study Of Pastoral Burnout Among Liberian Pastors, Helen Gibson-Newman Jul 2023

Counseling By Default: A Study Of Pastoral Burnout Among Liberian Pastors, Helen Gibson-Newman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many Liberians turn to their pastors for help before considering going to a professional counselor. Pastoral counseling in Africa, especially in Liberia, is framed within African life and thought based on appropriate backgrounds that are evident in cultural assumptions and practices. Hence, pastoral counseling in Liberia assumes a cultural background central to the holistic Christian life that connects all dimensions of one’s social and spiritual life. Thus, the Liberian view of pastoral counseling is distinctly African, with a unique blend of noticeable Liberian values, traditions, and cultural practices based on a combination of its American and indigenous African heritage. The …


Evangelistic Mentorship To Address Youth Decline At Dawn Baptist Church, Rickey Wesley Dover Jul 2023

Evangelistic Mentorship To Address Youth Decline At Dawn Baptist Church, Rickey Wesley Dover

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This paper presents an intervention addressing young adults’ tendency to leave the church after adolescence. This thesis project proposes that false conversion in a person’s formative years drives young adult church departure. For those who have a relationship with Christ, the most probable cause for departure is the lack of sanctification and growth due to an absence of biblical training. Therefore, this project designed and implemented an evangelical mentorship program specifically designed for youth in the church. While the research approach focuses more on quantitative methods, it also has qualitative elements. This research is qualitative in many of the self-reflections …


The Warning Passages In Hebrews: Exhortations Written Using Deliberative Rhetoric To A Community Of Faith, Edgardo Rafael Báez Jul 2023

The Warning Passages In Hebrews: Exhortations Written Using Deliberative Rhetoric To A Community Of Faith, Edgardo Rafael Báez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Different interpretative approaches (historical-cultural, social-scientific, intertextual, oral-critical, rhetorical) and methodologies are applied when the so-called warning passages in the book of Hebrews get interpreted. Inevitably, these different interpretative methodologies have created different perspectives or views that the original author may not have intended and that the audience may not have gathered. The author of Hebrews was seeking to help the audience of his writings understand a new position through his extensive use of the Greek word κρείττων (kreittōn). Similarly, a Greek background is also evident because of the tremendous use of classical rhetoric within the Epistle. In addition, it is …


The “New Normal” Of Post-Covid Worship In A Renewed Atmosphere Of Spiritual Cooperation, Donna Marie Cain Jul 2023

The “New Normal” Of Post-Covid Worship In A Renewed Atmosphere Of Spiritual Cooperation, Donna Marie Cain

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 was a clarion call to the church in America. The crisis illuminated existing challenges and introduced new ones while offering unprecedented opportunities. Almost overnight, church doors were closed, and services had to be either canceled or creatively reinvented to be shared across digital platforms. In a Christ-like display of unity, a wide array of church leaders who were more adept at technology offered their wisdom to help others struggling to keep their worshiping communities connected online. Information on the widespread effects of this Pandemic on the church and its worship is still unfolding. To this …


Intercultural, Intergenerational, Hybrid Discipleship At Kingdom Life Community Church, John H. Littlejohn Jul 2023

Intercultural, Intergenerational, Hybrid Discipleship At Kingdom Life Community Church, John H. Littlejohn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research project aimed to facilitate the development of a discipleship curriculum through which the diverse members of Kingdom Life Community Church (KLCC) would spiritually mature. The proposed curriculum was developed considering the church’s intercultural, intergenerational, and hybrid realities. During a ten-week trial period, a curriculum was designed and implemented in KLCC’s weekly small groups, called Kingdom Life Communities (KLCs), using a diverse sample group of 18 participants. Data was collected from the sample group and analyzed using statistical tests for quantitative data, and the unitizing, coding, and categorizing of qualitative data. The intervention yielded positive results, with each …


The Second Temple Period Jewish Diaspora; Preparing The Nations For The Coming Of Christ In Accordance With Isaiah 43, Jeffrey Albert Colburn Jul 2023

The Second Temple Period Jewish Diaspora; Preparing The Nations For The Coming Of Christ In Accordance With Isaiah 43, Jeffrey Albert Colburn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Scholars debate the purpose of Israel after the Babylonian exile. Many argue that God’s promise made to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3) was conditional on Israel’s obedience. Their disobedience caused them to be removed from the Promised Land and marked the end of the Abrahamic covenant. There is sufficient biblical evidence to demonstrate that the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles were the result of Israel’s disobedience. God warned the Israelites that the punishment for disobedience was exile (Deut 28), and He continued to warn them through the prophets. However, God used exile for a greater purpose. The thesis of this dissertation is that …


Spiritual Abuse In Augusta, Georgia: Reconciling The Spiritually Abused To The Local Church, James A. Getts Jul 2023

Spiritual Abuse In Augusta, Georgia: Reconciling The Spiritually Abused To The Local Church, James A. Getts

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this action-based research project was to address the absence of a therapeutic process wherein pastoral counselors at Life Management Group (LMG) can responsibly attempt to reconcile spiritually abused Christians to a local church in Augusta, Georgia. One hundred percent of clients citing spiritual abuse in LMG’s pastoral counseling department were abstaining from any religious activity within a community of faith at the outset of this project. Data was researched at the international, national, state, and local levels. The researcher concluded that published research related to the topic of spiritual abuse is theoretical in nature only and not …


Exploring The Impacts Of Funding Models On Business As Mission Organizations In Asia: A Multiple-Case Study, Jeremiah Joel Finch Jul 2023

Exploring The Impacts Of Funding Models On Business As Mission Organizations In Asia: A Multiple-Case Study, Jeremiah Joel Finch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In a 2014 research study, Dr. Steve Rundle examined the impacts of business-funded versus donor-funded business as mission (BAM) organizations. The research study answers Dr. Rundle’s call for further research on funding models, and the findings from the study help to fill in gaps in the social-entrepreneurship (SE) and BAM literature. BAM organizations, like other SE-oriented organizations, seek to achieve success in multiple bottom lines. The qualitative, multiple-case study utilized a theoretical replication design to explore differences between donor-funded and business-funded BAM organizations in Asia. Specifically, the research study explored principles related to BAM funding methodology’s impact on economic outcomes …


Marital Quality And Marital Satisfaction In Protestant Haitian Americans Vs. Non-Christian Haitian Americans, Frantz Lamour Jul 2023

Marital Quality And Marital Satisfaction In Protestant Haitian Americans Vs. Non-Christian Haitian Americans, Frantz Lamour

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The current study examined perceptions regarding marital satisfaction as described by Protestants Haitians Americans and non-Christian Haitian Americans. Participants were selected from married Christian and non-Christian couples that have been married for over five years within the age range of 25-53. The study used the Religion-Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy theory (R-CBT) framework. R-CBT is a well-known theoretical framework that integrates religious interventions in the therapeutic relationship to educate clients about the triangular relationship between thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and cognitive restructuring (de Abreu Costa & Moreira-Almeida, 2022). Religion-Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (R-CBT) incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy methods from the perspective of …


Cosmic Hamartiology: Using An Apocalyptic Paul Hermeneutic To Exposit Chaos Monster Passages, Peter Terrell Bingham Jr. Jul 2023

Cosmic Hamartiology: Using An Apocalyptic Paul Hermeneutic To Exposit Chaos Monster Passages, Peter Terrell Bingham Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Ancient mythology, precisely that of the Ancient Near East, includes the treacherous characters of chaos monsters who cause disorder due to their destructive supernatural influence in the natural world. Scripture includes chaos monsters of various sorts that cause the same destruction in the wake of their cosmic work. While an array of methodologies has been developed to study chaos monsters in the Ancient Near East considering their sources—i.e., Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Akkadian, etc.—there is a lack of a Biblical hermeneutic to adequately exposit chaos monster passages in Scripture. In the Apocalyptic Perspective on Paul, scholars have sought to develop a way …


A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Exploring Leadership Efficacy: Understanding The Impact Of Shame In Christian Leaders, Matthew James Williamson Jul 2023

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Exploring Leadership Efficacy: Understanding The Impact Of Shame In Christian Leaders, Matthew James Williamson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This hermeneutic phenomenological study explored the Christian leader’s experience of shame within organizations and its impact on their leadership efficacy. For this study, shame is defined as a deep sense of internal, negative pressure that typically elicits a subconscious desire to suppress or deflect. Since every organizational leadership role has a degree of accountability, emotional risk is potentially present in all negotiable interactions. This paper investigated the social/cultural encouragement of shame and potential avoidance of shame when emotional risk and failure are perceived. Brené Brown’s (2006) Shame Resilience Theory inspired this study. This theory is aligned with the purpose of …


A Theistic Critique Of Secular Moral Nonnaturalism, Dale Eugene Kratt Jul 2023

A Theistic Critique Of Secular Moral Nonnaturalism, Dale Eugene Kratt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation is an exercise in Theistic moral apologetics. It will be developing both a critique of secular nonnaturalist moral theory (moral Platonism) at the level of metaethics, as well as a positive form of the moral argument for the existence of God that follows from this critique. The critique will focus on the work of five prominent metaethical theorists of secular moral non-naturalism: David Enoch, Eric Wielenberg, Russ Shafer-Landau, Michael Huemer, and Christopher Kulp. Each of these thinkers will be critically examined. Following this critique, the positive moral argument for the existence of God will be developed, combining a …


The Decline In Attendance At Local Churches In Queens, New York: A Biblically Based Strategic Revitalization Plan To Bring Local Churches Back To Spiritual Health, Marilyn A. Dolloway Jun 2023

The Decline In Attendance At Local Churches In Queens, New York: A Biblically Based Strategic Revitalization Plan To Bring Local Churches Back To Spiritual Health, Marilyn A. Dolloway

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The decline in church attendance is not a new phenomenon. Historical evidence shows that God has intervened to revitalize and restore the church to a healthy state. Unfortunately, attendance at churches in contemporary times worldwide has declined, as congregations at approximately ninety percent of churches have shrunk. This trend is evident in the United States, where upwards of fifty congregations close their doors permanently each week, resulting in an annual attendance decline of one to two percent. The decline is remarkable in the New York borough of Queens. Churches have been declining for decades, with only fifteen to twenty-five members …


The Influence Of Religion On Marital Crisis: A Qualitative Study, Kendal Florence Thomas Jun 2023

The Influence Of Religion On Marital Crisis: A Qualitative Study, Kendal Florence Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to explore how married Christians couples and pastors perceive the influence of religion, religious over-idealization, and community-centered social processes on couples’ ability to cope with relationship crises within their marriage in New York. The theory guiding this study was the Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura (1977). The Social Learning Theory was fundamental in the discussion of marriage because behaviors can occur in a marriage that one spouse may disagree with, but due to lack of consequences or rewards, the behavior has persisted, leading to conflict within the marriage. The researcher interviewed ten …


Charles Spurgeon And A Biblical View Of Wealth, Robert Sheppard Jun 2023

Charles Spurgeon And A Biblical View Of Wealth, Robert Sheppard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Charles Spurgeon preached wealth as a spiritual commodity based on his Christological exposition which countered the preaching of wealth as a divine right. Some people have come to view earthly wealth as a substance that comes as a result of obedience to God. There are also a number of people that believe that any biblical theology pertaining to wealth is amendable and see no lasting truth in the text. Spurgeon critiques these approaches. He saw earthly wealth primarily as a spiritual commodity and believed it to be a substance that should be utilized for the purpose of bringing glory to …


Commissioned: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Evangelism Beliefs, Practices, And Results, Shane Redding May 2023

Commissioned: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Evangelism Beliefs, Practices, And Results, Shane Redding

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although Jesus clearly commanded His Church to spread His gospel to the world and make disciples of all nations, the modern American Church has struggled to evangelize effectively, resulting in declining church attendance. While many churches claim to value evangelism, the results indicate a need for churches to reevaluate their current evangelism approaches. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine if a relationship exists between the levels of importance that churches place on evangelism, the churches’ tangible evangelism practices, and their new believer baptisms. The target population for the study was lead pastors from non-denomination, baptistic, evangelistic, Christian …


Worship Leadership From The Beginning: A Comparative Study Of Exodus 15:1-21 And Judges 5, Vivian Ann Petties May 2023

Worship Leadership From The Beginning: A Comparative Study Of Exodus 15:1-21 And Judges 5, Vivian Ann Petties

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although many excellent books, commentaries, and journal articles have been written on worship leadership, no framework for worship leadership has been developed based upon Exodus 15:1-21 or Judges 5. The purpose of previous research has not been to discover principles of leadership, praise, and worship, or composition of music for use in ministry nor to develop a consensus about the roles played by the males and females in these texts. To develop a proposal for filling this lacuna, the present thesis will study Exodus 15:1-21 and (comparatively) Judges 5. This qualitative study will employ the exegetical methods of socio-rhetorical analysis …


A Phenomenological Examination Of Church Leaders' Perceived Impact Of Executive Coaching On Organizational Culture, Jerrell Stokley May 2023

A Phenomenological Examination Of Church Leaders' Perceived Impact Of Executive Coaching On Organizational Culture, Jerrell Stokley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The trajectory of the seminary training curriculum has evolved pedagogically at projecting adequate church leadership education and hands-on development. However, empirical research reveals that the seminary struggles with preparing generations of church leaders for modern church responsibilities including executive leadership, tactical performance, administration, and church organizational culture (Crowson, 2021; Costin, 2008). Hicks (2012), as cited by Smith (2017) states, “Recent studies have begun to explore the need for management training for pastors” (p. 2). Graduates as well as current church leaders report feeling ill-equipped for the increasing duties for today’s church culture. This qualitative, phenomenological study evaluated mid-to-senior level Christian …


A Case Study Of Racial Reconciliation In An Antebellum Multiracial Christian Church, Ossie X. Mckinney May 2023

A Case Study Of Racial Reconciliation In An Antebellum Multiracial Christian Church, Ossie X. Mckinney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

It has been fifty-eight years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation in public places in the United States of America. Yet, in the twenty-first century, a racial divide still exists in the American church. The American church has not been able to mend the rift that occurred within the antebellum biracial church after the end of slavery. This study examines the actions of a biracial antebellum church that was inspired by its antislavery leaders and the Second Great Awakening to join social activism with worship to foster Christian unity and racial reconciliation. An examination of autobiographies, journals, …


Seeking Biblical Clarity Through Blended Worship In Georgia Baptist Churches, Angelia Weide Mcleroy May 2023

Seeking Biblical Clarity Through Blended Worship In Georgia Baptist Churches, Angelia Weide Mcleroy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite worship training, many leaders in Georgia Baptist churches struggle to combine music styles cohesively to produce biblical worship. Because of the musical “worship wars” regarding traditional, contemporary, and blended styles, many leaders encounter congregations that lack an understanding of blended worship that marries varied music styles. Guided by survey findings of Georgia Baptist music leaders, this qualitative research case study may identify challenges leaders face concerning stylistic music selections while striving to achieve biblical worship. By evaluating the educational and training process and biblical content, the methodological selection of music can be assessed through this study as documented worship …


Understanding The Sources Of Hurt And Wounded Members In The Church Of Pentecost Norfolk, Jehu Kwame Gyimah May 2023

Understanding The Sources Of Hurt And Wounded Members In The Church Of Pentecost Norfolk, Jehu Kwame Gyimah

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Church hurt is an emotional feeling that disconnects a person from reality, and remains a neglected topic in many Pentecostal churches. In the church setting, hurt members who are broken inside often portray an attitude of wholeness on the outside, even if the physical, spiritual, and physiological atmosphere of hurt prevents them from fully connecting or interacting with others. That hurt eventually hinders their growth, the growth of others, and the potential of the whole church. In this thesis, the researcher investigates the causes of church hurt experienced by members of COP Norfolk, a US subsidiary of the global Christian …


Saint Columba: Rhythm, Sacred Time, And His Mission To Northern Scotland, Michelle Kay Johnson May 2023

Saint Columba: Rhythm, Sacred Time, And His Mission To Northern Scotland, Michelle Kay Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation explores the rhythm and sacred time in the life of Saint Columba of Iona and his mission to Northern Scotland. It begins by establishing the existence of rhythm and sacred time in the Pentateuch, the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, and Paul and the early Church in the book of Acts. Rhythm and sacred time of early Christian monasticism in general and then specifically in the Celtic church are explored to provide context into which Columba and his monasticism and ministry are situated. The study concludes by demonstrating that Columba’s influence was felt well …


Social Media: A Tool For Discipleship, Allen James Williams May 2023

Social Media: A Tool For Discipleship, Allen James Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this DMIN action research project is to equip students within The Next Generation Ministry at Christ Community Church Pinehurst with social media as a tool for discipleship. The academic literature reviewed reveals that social media introduces significant levels of influence, causes addictive habits, and often results in overconsumption of content. To determine if these aspects could be overcome, an intervention was developed to train and equip a group of thirteen participants to avoid those traits and instead use social media as a tool for discipleship. The research shows that it is possible for social media to be …


A Phenomenological Study Of Church Growth Strategies Used By Pastors Of Digital Churches During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicholas D. Cole May 2023

A Phenomenological Study Of Church Growth Strategies Used By Pastors Of Digital Churches During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicholas D. Cole

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the digital church growth methods that pastors of digital churches in the United States used to increase church attendance during the 2020-2022 COVID-19 pandemic. For the purpose of this study, pastors of digital/online churches were studied. Since the 1950s, the church growth strategy for many Christian churches has been to attract as many people as possible for in-person worship services. However, in-person church attendance has declined consistently for the past 20 years. The shutdowns of churches worldwide during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic amplified this trend. The only option available …


Covenant Infidelity And Political Apostasy In The Judean Monarchy: Disobedience, Punishment, And The Promise Of Redemption, Angie M. Roehrenbeck May 2023

Covenant Infidelity And Political Apostasy In The Judean Monarchy: Disobedience, Punishment, And The Promise Of Redemption, Angie M. Roehrenbeck

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study will focus on an exegetical examination of political apostasy, the resulting judgment of God, and the promise of redemption for the Judean monarchy. Through an examination of specific texts in the book of Kings and the classical prophetic corpus, this dissertation will show how five out of twenty-one Judean kings ruling at key junctures in Israelite history were condemned and suffered punishment for violating the covenant by committing political apostasy with the surrounding nations. Yet, despite these infractions, Yahweh was still found to be a God of hope, compassion, and mercy, forgiving when his people repented, and faithful …


Becoming Who You Already Are In Christ: An Eight-Week Discipleship Plan To Equip Members Of Crossline Church To Live Out Their Identity In Christ, John Paul Jones May 2023

Becoming Who You Already Are In Christ: An Eight-Week Discipleship Plan To Equip Members Of Crossline Church To Live Out Their Identity In Christ, John Paul Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action-research project focused on equipping members of Crossline Community Church to live out their identity in Christ. The intervention was an eight-week discipleship plan, “Becoming who you already are in Christ.” The action-research project aimed to evaluate the impact of equipping believers with their identity in Christ upon their transformation into Christ-likeness. The project incorporated biblical, theological, and devotional content with a comprehensive pedagogy designed for maximum influence toward progressive sanctification. The twelve participants in the intervention engaged in sermons, training classes, small groups, and personal Bible studies as a part of the action research. Triangulated evaluation tools were …


The Prophets’ Use Of The Shepherd Motif And Its Contribution To Their Presentation Of The Character Of God, Deanna L. Huff May 2023

The Prophets’ Use Of The Shepherd Motif And Its Contribution To Their Presentation Of The Character Of God, Deanna L. Huff

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The shepherd motif provides one of the most significant portraits of God in the Old and New Testaments. Various research on the historical metaphor within these studies frequently focuses on the relationship between rulers and leaders in the ancient Near East. The shepherd motif provides a tangible picture of the characteristics of deities and kings in their world. Therefore, it is a natural step for the prophets of the Old Testament to utilize a commonly used metaphor. In modern research, numerous studies in Ezekiel 34 have explored different facets of the shepherd motif. Several studies are related to leadership roles. …


Restoration Of Key Middle Age Demographic Can Save The African Methodist Episcopal Church, Geromy D. Johnson May 2023

Restoration Of Key Middle Age Demographic Can Save The African Methodist Episcopal Church, Geromy D. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

St. Luke faced years of struggles resulting in a dwindling ministry and membership with specific impacts resulting in missing generations within the church. The missing generations include Generation X who were born between 1965-1980, Generation Y who were born between 1981-1996, and generation Z who were born between 1997-2012. There are many methods used to combat church decline and incentivize membership growth including evangelism, mega facilities, appealing ministry, and church legacy attracting the community. This research sought to prove that if ministries were developed specifically targeting the wants and needs of the missing generations souls would be won for Christ …