Religion Commons^™

A Phenomenological Study Of Leader-Observed And Student Experienced Behavioral Transformations Associated With Christian Released Time Programs, Steven Louis Rathers Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experiences of instructional leaders and high school graduates associated with a released time education (RTE) learning center in northern Georgia. The study sought to understand the perceived contribution of released time on behavioral transformation and the construct of a biblical worldview. The phenomenological method was chosen as the qualitative design for this research since it involves how the participants made sense of their experience. Data collection in this phenomenological study consisted of interviews with nine instructional leaders, and a focus group of eight alumni, all of whom were purposively …

Development Of An Observation Skill In Inductive Bible Study In Consideration Of Biblical Genres For Bible Students In The School Of Biblical Studies In Youth With A Mission, Kona, Hawaii, Yohan Shim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

SBS Kona has been helping Christians to employ the inductive Bible study method to study the Bible for many decades. Some Bible students in SBS Kona superficially observe the biblical text. The project aims to assist the Bible students in developing their observation skills by considering the biblical genres. For this purpose, the project covered eight genres of the Bible: Narrative, Law, Poetry, Wisdom, Prophet, Apocalyptic, Gospel, and Epistle. The project also supplied five essential observation labels for each genre to guide the participants observe the text in light of the biblical genres. The researcher facilitated the project for six …

Reconnecting Black Christian Methodist Millennials To The Church, Albritton Nelson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Like other denominations today, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) is missing the millennial generation in attendance and activity. The elders of the church genuinely believe that the millennial generation will continue to decline to attend and decrease their membership and the numbers of the church. Some feel that tradition may be the blame because the church refuses to change its ways. Others believe that there’s a lack of vision to understand where the church is going. No matter the reasons for the decline, changes are needed to ensure the health and resilience of the CME Church if it is …

4th Sunday Of Advent - 19 December 2021, Gerard Moore

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

4th Sunday In Ordinary Time - 30 January 2022, Anthony Doran

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Feast Of The Immaculate Conception Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 8 December 2021, Patricia Gemmell

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Music Review: Deep Peace Songs / God Be In My Head, Angela Gorman

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Czech Resistance To Organized Religion, Donald L. Schwarz Jr.

Theology Undergraduate Work

According to current statistics, the Czech Republic is a secular, post-communist, post-Christian nation that is almost 80% atheist/agnostic, yet it boasts a vibrant spiritual heritage. Over the last twenty-five years of ministry in this country, the author has observed that it is challenging for Czechs, specifically those newly professing faith in Christ, to integrate into local Czech churches. This research paper briefly reviews the Biblical foundations for the Church, its mission and purpose, and then explores some of the reasons that Czechs resist the Church and organized religion. This paper argues that Czechs are not averse to God but rather …

Best-Practices For Trauma-Informed Preaching, Rodney A. Palmer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Counseling Women In Prison On Forgiveness, Guilt, And Shame, Lashawnda Denise Key

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a lack of adequate counseling on forgiveness, guilt, and shame in the women’s prison. Without effective counseling on those subjects while incarcerated, there is potential for the female offender to reoffend. Adequate counseling could increase the recidivism rate. Counselors in the prison system address behavior issues, acclimation of prison life and rehabilitation programs. Addressing the issues that precipitates criminal behavior and helping the offender understand the factors that lead them to engage in criminal behavior are overly complex. With passable counseling the offenders have the propensity to release the hurt and pain they have lived with and become …

Servant-Leadership: Social-Science Model Or Biblical Model--Which Is Predominant Within Southern Baptist Ministry Leadership?, Norman Custis Snead Sr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive research study was to discover the most predominant leadership style, of the five styles being measured (Autocratic/Authoritarian, Bureaucratic, Democratic, Laissez-faire, or Servant-Leader), that was found within the ministry leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, and to discover which servant-leadership model (social-science or biblical) was more predominantly followed by those using a servant-leadership style. Furthermore, the correlation of their leadership position and educational level were analyzed for those ministry leaders predominantly following the social-science model of servant-leadership. The social-science model was identified and defined through a literature review. Whereas, the biblical model was defined and …

Rethinking Intergenerational Worship To Pass Down Spiritual Legacy Through The Generations In Korean Churches, Sungjoo Yoon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Korean Christianity has seen astonishing growth over the past century. As churches have grown, with the necessity of more specified education by age, generational separation in worship services and programs has become a common trend in Korean Churches. However, this tendency has also stimulated conflicts and divisions among generations in churches. Consequently, the age group segregation within churches has made it increasingly difficult for them to preserve Christian legacy through the generations. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis project is to assist Korean local churches in reevaluating and adopting Intergenerational worship as a biblical means to bind generations in one …

Youth To Adult Continuance Of Faith: How To Achieve Young Adult Retention Through Pre-Adult Instruction, Michael Leslie Tyree Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project grows out of the late teen through the twenty-something absence of young adult believers as active Crawford Road Baptist Church (CRBC) members. This phenomenon, young adult absence, is experienced in many churches and therefore worthy of research to discover causal influences and possible mitigations. Project research included scholarly books and direct interviews with ministry experts. The project topic is youth to the young adult continuance of faith and how to achieve young adult retention through preadult instruction. Research in this effort has included discipleship, church growth, worship, culture, and relevant young adult statistical data review. This project will …

The Kingdom Of Heaven In Matthew's Gospel, Jeffery Jerome Mize Sr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research is to clear up the misunderstanding that exists in Matthew’s Gospel. This project focuses on clarifying how a better understanding of the differences between the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom of God” in Matthew’s Gospel which in turn will impact the lives of Christians today. As this study will reveal, each phrase has a unique usage that was important to the original audience. Matthew’s aim in writing his Gospel were, not only to strengthen the spiritual disposition of his church, but also to assist his readers in rediscovering their true identity. The Jewish setting …

Establishing 24-7 Worship And Prayer Reflecting The Harp And Bowl Model Depicted In Revelation 5:8 In The Local Church, Margaret Leanne Naff

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the primary functions of the Church as being redeemed unto God is to worship and pray. The combination of worship and prayer releases the kingdom of heaven on the earth for the purpose of divine encounter with God, cultural transformation, and redemption of humanity. This thesis project focused on the progressive establishment of 24-7 worship and prayer in the local church to reflect the harp and bowl model depicted in Revelation 5:8. This study provided a four-week teaching that was targeted toward growth in understanding a biblical theology for worship and prayer, revelation of intercession, the harp and …

An Attempt To Understand Gender And Gender Dysphoria: A Christian Approach, Tony N. Jelsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

No abstract provided.

Gathered Fragments Vol. Xxxi

Gathered Fragments

Full Fall 2021 issue of Gathered Fragments (Vol. XXXI).

"Read It Again!": Storytelling To Imitate The Great Teacher, Kate Whatley

Senior Honors Theses

The student’s mind is bent on stories, asking mothers around the world to ‘read it again’. These stories preserve information and emotions for centuries. In the classroom, stories enliven motivation and empathy in ways that result in higher academic achievement and social awareness. Learning to use stories as a key instructional strategy will allow for more equitable opportunities in classrooms, encourage mental health and truth telling for the teacher and the student collectively, and allow the academic community to imitate Christ by contributing to the bigger story taking place across time. In application of using stories as teachers, this thesis …

Obeying The Commission: A Model For Equipping Christians To Make Disciples, David Kofi Bempong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Jesus was explicit when He gave His disciples specific instructions before His ascension. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commissions his followers to be disciple-makers. Christians today are beneficiaries of the previous generations’ efforts to fulfill this commission. The purpose of this project is to evaluate how discipleship is accomplished at Riverdale Baptist Church and to propose a strategy demonstrating practical ways people can begin making disciples. The traditional church model is losing relevance amid a society that is increasingly dissociating itself from formal religion. The body of Christ must be in touch with their communities and find effective ways of making …

A Phenomenological Study Of Anger's Dissonance: Exploring The Attribute Of Meekness Among Christian Exemplars, Stephen Ethan Halstead

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological research examined the role of cognitive dissonance in the process of spiritual and behavioral change in the lives of mature Christian exemplars within the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) located in the Southeast Region of the United States of America by peering through the lens of the emotion of anger to explore one’s transformation toward meekness. Utilizing a purposive sampling, this study sought to explore the magnitude of behavioral change from a tendency toward anger to a tendency toward meekness as one matures as a Christian. It sought to close the gap in understanding how Christians viewed …

Reproducing Lay Leaders In The Local Church Through Missional Mentoring, Jonathan A. Watson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In many rural churches with 250 or fewer people in attendance each week, there is a need to properly train and prepare non-paid, volunteer laymen to serve in positions of leadership. Churches have been guilty of placing someone in an area of service with very little—or no—direction of what to do or how to properly lead. Without adequate training and leadership development, the spiritual growth of the ministry can be hindered as lay leaders are not equipped to effectively disciple those under their ministry. At Bible Baptist Church, the desire is to develop a missional mentoring ministry that will help …

Keeping Culture: An Evaluation Of Organizational Culture In The Multisite Church, Michael John Grayston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore the attendee perception of organizational culture, including the communication pathways, vision, and mission in the three common multisite church models: the local franchise model, the national franchise model, and the live teaching model. The study evaluated the attendee perception of the methods and strategies used by the multisite church to create and keep one unique culture in spite of their method, proximity, or demographics. The researcher attempted to evaluate these methods through a survey and face-to-face interviews with multisite church leaders from six different churches representing three different models. The …

‘Jesus Is Not A Foreign God’: Baptist Music Making In Burma/Myanmar, Heather Maclachlan

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Christians in the Southeast Asian country of Burma, also known as Myanmar, make up approximately five percent of the national population. The Christian community of Burma includes both Catholics and Protestants, and Baptists predominate among the Protestants. In this article I argue that twenty-first century Protestant Burmese Christians fulfill both aspects of a “twofold legacy” bequeathed to them by Adoniram Judson, the first Baptist missionary to Burma, and that their fulfillment of this legacy is manifest in their musical practices. I further argue that it has been, and continues to be, to Burmese Christians’ advantage to emphasize both aspects of …

Vatican Ii, Liberation Theology, And Vernacular Masses For The Family Of God In Central America, Bernard J. Gordillo

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) instituted reforms in the Catholic Church that included changes in language and music employed in the liturgy, inspiring a proliferation of sung vernacular masses throughout Latin America. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research undertaken in Nicaragua and the United States, this article examines three Central American vernacular masses—Misa típica panameña de San Miguelito (1967), Misa popular nicaragüense (1969), and Misa campesina nicaragüense (1975). Each mass emanated from communities founded as part of the transnational Familia de Dios (Family of God) movement, which established programs of religious education, leadership training, and community building among impoverished …

Sankyoku Magazine And The Invention Of The Shakuhachi As Religious Instrument In Early 20th-Century Japan, Matt Gillan

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

The early 20^th century was a period in which understandings of music, religion, and the nation-state underwent rapid change in Japan. In this article I examine Japanese cultural discourse from the first decades of the 20^th century in which the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, was frequently portrayed as a religious instrument. In some cases, this discourse referenced pre-20^th century historical affiliations of the shakuhachi with the Fuke-sect, an organization that was loosely affiliated to Rinzai Zen Buddhism. But the article also explores how religio-musical discourse surrounding the shakuhachi intersected with developments in modern Japanese religious life, …

Early Modern Scottish Metrical Psalmody: Origins And Practice, Timothy Duguid

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Non-literate societies are often dependent on music for transmitting news and ideas because of music’s ability to enhance memory. Sixteenth-century reformers were aware of this, but they had to compete with secular and Roman Catholic music that often contradicted Reformed doctrine. Highly influenced by the Strasbourg-based Martin Bucer and the writings of Saint Augustine, John Calvin insisted that Biblical Psalms, set in vernacular poetry, were most appropriate for both corporate worship and private devotion. The result was a series of metrical psalters that were intended to be performable by everyone. Some editions had explicitly liturgical designs, but most were intended …

Saint Jude's, October 31, 2021

Saint Jude's

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Waltham, MA

Saint Jude's Finding Aid

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, October 31, 2021

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in San Francisco, CA

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin, October 31, 2021

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Cleveland, OH

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, October 31, 2021

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