Religion Commons^™

A Strategy For The Church Growth Through The Development Of Senior-Friendly Pastoral Ministries: The Case Of The Senior Ministry At Shinlim Central Church In Korea, Hoo Sik Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to suggest the necessity of and alternative strategies for senior-friendly pastoral care to achieve sustained church growth amid the growing phenomenon of aging in Korean society. The recent aging of Korean society also has effects on changes in church members. As the ratio of senior members becomes increasingly high, pastoral alternative strategies for coping with it has also been urgently needed. The problem is that although this social phenomenon was already foreseen several years ago, there are insufficient practical strategies for pastoral care to deal with it.

The researcher first conducts biblical, theological, historical, …

A Study On The Training Programs For Assistant Pastors Toward Healthy Church Growth In The 21st Century With A Focus On Ulsan Dae-Young Church In Korea, Yong Don Yun

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Team ministry continues to be important in the 21st century. Against the situation that Korean churches are declining in this age, diverse programs are offered for the laity, but not many training programs can be found assistant pastors. Moreover, almost no educational training programs exist for assistant pastors except irregular seminars even in about 56 regular theological seminaries in South Korea. This thesis investigates the roles of assistant pastors in church growth and their training in team ministries. Based on the biblical and theological study, the thesis looks up the aspects of church history and reviews contemporary literature. It also …

A Study On The Revitalization Of Worship By Using Multimedia In Korean Rural Churches With A Particular Attention To Visual Media, In Jun Hwang

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to help to bring about the revitalization of worship in rural churches by using visual media. At present, Korean churches, especially rural churches, are facing great challenges due to the aging of the church members, illiteracy rates, a poor educational environment, the lack of incoming young people, pastors’ reluctance to minister in rural areas, troubled rural economy and so on. Nonetheless, churches in rural areas should not be abandoned. In this context, one of the most urgent needs in rural churches is healing and restoration through church worship. At any arduous and difficult time …

A Study On The Influence Of Seasonal Feast Ministries On The Church Growth: The Case Of Seoul Shindo Church, In Hwan Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to suggest an alternative method for church growth based on the seasonal feast ministry. The Korean church experienced a quantitative revival unprecedented in the world. Recently, however, the reality is that many Korean churches lost their lively dynamics as they failed to strive to meet, and consequently their members gradually decreased. In this context, the researcher emphasizes the importance of feast ministries as an alternative method for church growth, based on the idea that feasts found in the Bible were days that gathered people. For this, the researcher will investigate feasts found in the …

A Plan For Founding A Christian Alternative School As A Type Of Youth Ministry In Korea With A Rationale For Church-Sponsored Christian Schools, Chan Sik Park

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study aims to contribute to the change of the prime age-centered traditional pastoral ministries present in Korean churches for the future generation-centered ministries. The researcher's church, too, has an inverted triangular structure under which the future generations disappear. To overcome this, this study sets up a model of new growth for the future generations. The researcher analyzes and evaluates the cause of the problem of decreasing youth in Korean churches. The researcher will do mentoring work in the special environment of alternative schools so that the youth may have sound faith and not leave the church even after they …

Students' Spiritual Integration Into Bible Colleges: A Grounded Theory Study, Brett Blount

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explain how undergraduate students integrate spiritually into Bible colleges in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States and discern the role spiritual integration plays in persistence. Spiritual integration of Bible college undergraduate students occurs when they perceive that their spirituality, whether possessed by them upon their enrollment and/or formed during their attendance, has aligned with the spiritual environment of their college and therefore have accepted their place in that environment. A total of 35 participants, 28 students and seven faculty members, were interviewed to obtain their perceptions of how students experience the …

The Development And Validation Of A Measure Of Beliefs About Sex And Spirituality, Brittany Lashua

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Spirituality and sexuality are related concepts that include sacredness and transcendence. When the spiritual concepts of sacredness and transcendence are the filter through which sexuality is understood, there are many positive benefits, including increased sexual and relationship satisfaction. Previous research has considered the concepts. However, little empirical work has addressed the idea of transcendence, spirituality, and sacredness without explicitly religious overtones. Previous measures that have considered spirituality and sexuality have been found lacking in the ability to capture the multidimensionality of sex fully and have utilized explicitly religious terminology that may not capture the experience of non-religious or spiritual individuals. …

Contextualizing Worship And Music In A Multicultural Church: A Case Study At Christ Fellowship Miami, Kimberly A. Martin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christ Fellowship Church is a Southern Baptist, multicultural, multigenerational, and multilingual church with eight local campuses, which hosts worshipers from seventy-six nations every weekend in Miami-Dade County. While the worshiping body of Christ Fellowship Miami is extremely diverse, the music and worship genres and styles are predominantly homogeneous. This case study serves the worship ministry at Christ Fellowship Miami as they seek to engage in more culturally conscious methods of worship and music by exploring the diverse cultures, languages, and music styles represented in the congregation. It discusses the planning, development, and execution of a global worship experience at the …

Divine Physiology: Deity Revealed Within The Conception Of Jesus Christ, Robbin Nelson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project will develop an educational instrument linking science to faith supporting the deity of Jesus Christ, specifically as it relates to his conception. This information will be used by this author’s church to understand the identity of Jesus. This thesis project will employ analytical, theoretical, and scientific research methods as applies to a study of medical and theological information, as well as interviews with medical professionals, and religious leaders.

A Strategy To Build A Healthy Church Through Dynamic Cell Ministries: The Case Of Global Mission Church In Korea, Kyung Sik Shin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research covers a strategy to build a dynamic cell church. The purpose of the cell church is not simply for church growth, but to restore the essence and function of a biblical community. This study will examine a biblical community as well as cell churches in theory. The study will focus its research on adult cell groups of Global Mission Church, one of the representative Korean cell churches, which served Korean churches and others in the world through cell conferences for its first 10 years since it began operation in a cell church system, from 2004 to 2014.

The …

Pedestrian Dharma: Slowness And Seeing In Tsai Ming-Liang’S Walker, Teng-Kuan Ng

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper studies the ways that Walker, a short film by the Malaysian-Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-Liang, visualizes the relationship between Buddhism and modernity. Via detailed film analysis as well as attention to sources in premodern Buddhist traditions, this paper argues that its filmic performance of Zen walking meditation serves two functions: To present slowness and simplicity as prophetic counterpoints against the dizzying excesses of the contemporary metropolis; and to offer contemplative attentiveness as a therapeutic resource for life in the modern world. By instantiating and cultivating critical shifts in viewerly perspective in the manner of Buddhist ritual practice, Walker invites …

Mobile Bodies, (Im)Mobile Beliefs? Religious Accord And Discord As Migratory Outcomes, Lily Kong, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article advances a new understanding of the outcomes that arise from the movement and settlement of religion. These outcomes can range from religious accord to discord; or, from the full integration of migrant religions to inter-religious conflict. It identifies two axes that determine such outcomes. The first relates to the interplay between transnational religious agency and the strength of local religious structures. Harder structures are more likely to require migrant religious groups to make greater compromises to bring about situations of religious accord, while softer structures are less likely to do so. The second relates to the interplay between …

Educating For Tolerance In Kazakhstan, Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva, Karlygash Borbassova

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In their paper "Educating for Tolerance in Kazakhstan" Shamshiya Rysbekova, Ainura Kurmanaliyeva and Karlygash Borbassova consider the problem of education intolerance amidst young people in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The authors hope to unveil some of the controversies and problems encountered with regards to the prevention of terrorism and extremism and illuminate the efforts of Kazakhstan for international transparency and EU convergence. The paper begins with a revision of Kazakhstan law on the matter of religious freedom, registration of religious groups, and religious education. These topics have created great controversies in the international community, and the paper goes on to …

What Is To Be Done With The Underground Man: A Comparison Of N.G. Chernyshevsky And F.M. Dostoevsky, Mark Mccarthy

Pro Rege

No abstract provided.

Calvin's Political Theology And The Public Engagement Of The Church: A Response To Keith Sewell, Matthew J. Tuininga

Pro Rege

Response by Tuininga to Keith Sewell's review of Tuininga's book (Pro Rege, v. 46 no. 3, March 2018, pp.42-44.

Commencement Address At Dordt College, May 2017, Mark Verbruggen

Pro Rege

Pastor Verbruggen delivered this commencement address in May 2017 at Dordt College.

Exploring Christian Song (Book Review), Karen A. De Mol

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Exploring Christian Song edited by M. Jennifer Bloxam and Andrew Shenton. Lexington: Lexington Books, 2017. 238 pp. ISBN: 9781498549905.

Argument Is War : Relevance-Theoretic Comprehension Of The Conceptual Metaphor Of War In The Apocalypse, Clifford T. Winters

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Catholic Church And Its Impact On Public Policy In Contemporary Democracies, Dawid Tatarczyk

Dissertations

The overarching aim of this dissertation was to examine the extent to which the Catholic Church is still a significant public policy actor in 35 economically developed democracies. The research design used in this project draws on three distinct approaches, each addressing a different puzzle but when integrated together they provide an answer to the main question. Taken together these three approaches show that the Catholic Church continues to be an important political institution with considerable influence even in economically developed democracies.

The rational choice institutionalism paradigm is used to explain the political behavior of the Catholic Church. The paradigm …

Preaching With Cultural Intelligence: Understanding The People Who Hear Our Sermons, Rodney A. Palmer

Faculty Publications

"Kim does a masterful job at demonstrating how, through a careful exegesis of Scripture, culture, and one’s self, the preacher will deliver more effective sermons that will reach the hearts of both the giraffes (the insiders) and the elephants (the others) within the congregation. Preaching with cultural intelligence is worth it!"

Damascus Road Or Emmaus Road?: Conversion, Nurtutre Or Both?, Edyta Jankiewicz

Faculty Publications

As outlined previously, the Scriptures appear to portray a tension between, on the one hand, the need for adults to nurture the faith of children and, on the other hand, the need for the new birth of conversion. Thus, while adults are encouraged to create an environment that facilitates optimal spiritual development, the Scriptures do not suggest that optimal spiritual nurture negates the need for conversion. However, while the Scriptures provide counsel on the how of spiritual nurture, they do not address the subject of how those who are nurtured in faith experience conversion. Thus, Adventist understandings of children’s faith …

The Qur'anic Epic In Iranian Cinema (Farsi), Nacim Pak-Shiraz

Journal of Religion & Film

The representation of religious figures in Islam has become particularly controversial in recent years. The creation of religious films has, therefore, turned into a highly sensitive undertaking. Iranian cinema is one of the very few in the Muslim world to have employed this new medium in imagining and narrating stories of revered religious figures. In this article I examine the complex socio-political context of Iran to study the relatively late emergence of the epic genre in Iranian cinema. I then study the recent creation and development of ‘Qur’anic Films’ within Iranian cinema with specific reference to Kingdom of Solomon (Mulk-i …

2018 Printed Program

Colloquium Schedules

No abstract provided.

Towards A Beautiful Japan: Right-Wing Religious Nationalism In Japan's Ldp, Andrew Weiss

Student Work

A 2017-2018 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Andrew Weiss (Davenport College '18) for his essay submitted to the East Asian Studies Program, "Towards a Beautiful Japan: Right-Wing Religious Nationalism in Japan's LDP” (Frances Rosenbluth, Damon Wells Professor of Political Science, advisor).

Andrew Weiss, a double major in East Asian Studies and Global Affairs, spent several months of field work in Japan over the summer and winter of 2017 to understand the role of right-wing Shinto in the thinking and politics of the Liberal Democratic Party. Why is the LDP and Abe in …

Santería In A Globalized World: A Study In Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music, Nathan Montgomery

Lawrence University Honors Projects

The Yoruban people of modern-day Nigeria worship many deities called orichas by means of singing, drumming, and dancing. Their aurally preserved artistic traditions are intrinsically connected to both religious ceremony and everyday life. These forms of worship traveled to the Americas during the colonial era through the brutal transatlantic slave trade and continued to evolve beneath racist societal hierarchies implemented by western European nations. Despite severe oppression, Yoruban slaves in Cuba were able to disguise orichas behind Catholic saints so that they could still actively worship in public. This initial guise led to a synthesis of religious practice, language, and …

Setting The Record Straight, Nathaniel Pockras

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America has existed since the 18^th century, and the actions of its governing Synod are published in annual minutes, but the actions have never been recorded in a single catalogue. An organizational schema is proposed, improving on the schemata of similar catalogues for other Presbyterian denominations: actions are listed chronologically and assigned subject headings to facilitate the creation of a thesaurus. Inclusion criteria are specified, and the catalogue is described in a manner approachable without specialized training.

The Liturgical Lives Of Pets, Howard Schaap

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Stewardship draws our hearts upward and downward, to not only the transcendent and sublime but also the immanent and mundane."

Posting about lessons learned from pet ownership from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/the-liturgical-lives-of-pets/

St. Francis Of Assisi Catholic Church And Center For The Deaf Sunday Bulletin, May 27, 2018

Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and Center for the Deaf Sunday Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Landover Hills, MD

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and Center for the Deaf Sunday Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, May 27, 2018

Saint Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Chicago, IL

Saint Francis Brogia Deaf Center Church Bulletin Finding Aid

Holy Trinity Series B 2018, Phillip L. Brandt

Sunday's Sermon

This PDF comments on the Propers for the Festival of the Holy Trinity, Series B and offers ideas for proclamation and preaching.