Religion Commons^™

Architectural Features Of Protestant Churches From The 16th To The 21st Centuries In Ukraine, Valentyna Kuryliak, Petro Kotliarov, Mykhailo Fedorenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article discusses the way the creeds of Protestants are reflected in their sacred architecture on Ukrainian lands. It investigates the evolution of the architecture of Protestant churches and religious buildings in Ukraine from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century. Three periods in the formation and development of Protestantism in Ukraine are distinguished: the magisterial reformation, the classical currents of Protestantism (Calvinism, Lutheranism), and late Protestant currents (Baptism, Pentecostalism, Adventism). The article establishes that the church architecture of Protestant denominations in each of these periods was influenced by the particular teachings of the Protestants themselves, the dominant political ideology, and …

The Efficacy Of Using Scb Guidelines To Facilitate Conservation Science-Faith Collaboration: Experiences In The Field, Jame Schaefer, Kit Magellan, Robert Sluka, Shekhar Kolipaka, Oscar Gonzalez, Akmal Arif Mohd Razali, Gopalasamy Reuben Clements, Chantal Elkin

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

Recognizing the need to identify ways in which conservation researchers and practitioners can work constructively with faith leaders and communities to conserve biological diversity, the Religion and Conservation Biology Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology formally launched the Best Practices Project in March 2016 for the purpose of collecting recommendations from SCB members throughout the world. A survey of members in 2016, a forum at the 2016 International Marine Conservation Congress in Newfoundland/Labrador, a symposium, workshop and poster session at the 2017 International Congress for Conservation Biology in Colombia, and an e-mail request to RCBWG members in October …

"Lead Us Not": Linguistic And Exegetical Considerations For Translating The Sixth Petition Of The Lord's Prayer, Brodie Allan Robinson

Masters Theses

In 2019, the Vatican announced a revision to the Italian translation of the Roman Missal, modifying the temptation petition of the Lord’s Prayer from “non ci indurre in tentazione” (“lead us not into temptation”) to “non abbandonarci alla tentazione” (“do not abandon us to temptation”). A formal, word-for-word rendering of the petition was substituted for a freer, more interpretive one. Though such a change seems insignificant, it stands at the heart of one of the most theologically contested passages in the New Testament, a passage which appears to contradict most scriptural teaching on temptation. This thesis probes the multiple problems …

The Role Of Emotional Intelligence In Chaplaincy: An Analysis If Ei In The Delivery Of Patient-Centered Care, Dean A. Darroux

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study addressed the role of emotional intelligence among healthcare chaplains and its place in delivering patient-centered care at Adventist healthcare, Maryland. The study assumed that since healthcare chaplains’ journeys with their patients help them process their feelings as they understand the nature of their illness, they must identify their feelings and that of their patients to provide better care. It further examined the role of personality in determining its relationship with emotional intelligence and how it would influence patient-centered care. The literature surveyed indicated that emotional intelligence helps individuals understand their emotions as well as that of others. A …

A Legacy Of Millennials: Discovery Of A Leader Development Process For Family Church In North Carolina, Herman H. Walker Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Millennial leadership development for church ministry is the key to reaching future generations with the gospel. Unfortunately, many critical scholars predict the ultimate demise of the church as they highlight an unprecedented exodus of millennials from its ranks. The purpose of this study is to challenge the misplaced focus on those who have left the church and refocus on the millennials who remain. The biblical record supports the view that God has repetitively used a remnant of leadership to rebuild his people when they were in decline. The millennials who actively attend church are a contemporary remnant whom God can …

Improving Adoptive Mergers At River Community Church, Gavin Roger Adams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project cross compared the adoptive mergers of River Community Church (RCC) to identify the methodologies and strategies that created one successful campus via adoptive merger and a subsequent unsuccessful campus. Empirical analysis quantified the gap in success between RCC Chesterfield and RCC Fairway. Qualitative research provided the thematic points of differentiation in RCC’s adoptive merger implementations. The thematic findings detailed a potential revitalization plan for RCC Fairway, a common structure for future RCC adoptive merger considerations, and insight for churches contemplating adoptive merger pursuits.

The Sent Life: Discovering The Mission Of God And The Christian's Place In It, Cliff Roberts Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The church in the West today has separated something that was never intended to be divided. This critical error impacts the very core of who a Christian is which informs and empowers what a Christian does. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you,” and in doing so He designated all Christians as “sent ones.” This means living on mission as a sent one is not reserved for a special class of Christians, but is the very calling of all Christians. Since that is true, all Christians need to understand and be equipped for the mission …

Surviving A Divorce With An Intact Faith: A Strategy For Ministering To Those Experiencing Divorce In The Church, Brandon Paul Wells

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Effectively ministering to divorcees is a unique aspect of church leadership. The majority of church leaders have never experienced divorce, so the unique problems that divorce presents are not familiar to them. The purpose of this D. Min Thesis Project is to investigate those problems and develop strategies that will allow church leaders to minister to divorcees effectively. This will be accomplished using questionnaires and interviews where difficult questions are asked to divorcees, and honest answers are revealed. Church leaders will also be interviewed about their positions on divorce and their responses compared to those given by divorcees in order …

An Evaluation Of The “40 Days Of Prayer For Church Revitalization” As An Instrument For Initiating A Revitalization Process At First Baptist Church, Pikeville, Ky, John Anthony Lucas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The current lack of health found in many churches across the United States requires the development of prayer strategies that will propel local churches toward a renewed passion for the gospel through revitalization. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the “40 Days of Prayer for Church Revitalization” devotional guide, a resource developed by the Church Consulting and Revitalization Team of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, when utilized in local Churches. By using quantitative surveys in three Kentucky Baptist churches that utilized the “40 Days of Prayer” resource as well as qualitative interviews with those church’s pastors …

Establishing Christ Community Church As A Sent Community: Initiating Spiritual Conversation With Confidence, Relevance, And Conviction, William Leland Burch Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem is that Christ Community Church does not see itself as a ‘sent community.’ A ‘sent community’ is one where purpose and forward movement in Kingdom work is embraced. A church must seek to involve itself in the community, delve into the needs, and speak to the emptiness with the Gospel of Jesus. The purpose of this project is to establish Christ Community Church as a ‘sent community’ by offering a sustentative engagement program which will: 1) describe the mission of Jesus; 2) assess the culture in which the church is situated; 3) answer six frequently asked theological questions; …

Prosperity Gospel In Liberia: A Theological Alternative To The Gospel Of Jesus Christ, Jerome A. Newman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many indigenous Liberian pastors are not theologically grounded on a solid biblical foundation. As such, many Liberian Christians lack foundational knowledge of the truths of the Gospel of Christ for salvation. The prosperity gospel or “Faith, Wealth, and Health” theology in Liberia is a significant deviation from the Gospel of Christ that undermines sound hermeneutical interpretation of Scripture. This study examines why a growing number of pastors in Liberia are replacing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the prosperity gospel. An anonymous survey research study of 12 pastors from Unity Light Ministry Network (Unity Community Church) in Kakata, Liberia, West …

Preaching And Teaching: An Integrative Evaluative Approach To Christian Practices At Fil-Am Sda Church, Ernst Jacques

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In this thesis, biblical expository preaching is defined as the exegetical method that brings out the theological nuances of a narrative biblical passage in relation to content and context. Biblical expository preaching in the USA is facing a significant theological challenge as churches are becoming culturally diverse. Research has shown that theological understanding plays a great role in Christian spiritual formation; it has also shown that believers are generally more receptive to sermons that are contextualized. This thesis project aims to determine how biblical expository preaching can make sense to believers and spur them on to spiritual maturity in a …

A Mixed Methods Study Concerning Biblical Worldview Formation In Children And Adolescents Through Informal Learning By Parents And/Or Guardians, Joan Ellen Appleton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Children and adolescents need spiritual nurturing and teaching to instill biblical worldview and to make possible the development of lifelong spiritual formation. Informal learning as an educational format is foundational to and provides an avenue by which to impart early biblical worldview formation for children and adolescents. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to examine and explore the knowledge and behaviors of informal learning of the study participants (parents and/or legal guardians) in five U.S. Southeast states to determine the relationship between informal learning and outcomes of biblical worldview formation in children and adolescents. The mixed …

Archaeology And Biblical Inspiration, Garry Leo Hill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The thesis project topic is on Inspiration and Bible Archaeology. The project's main reason is a perceived lack of confidence in the Bible’s stories being real. The project addresses this worldview, which causes this belief to influence our church members. The study includes an explanation of the post-modern world view concerning the certainty of historical events. A Biblical viewpoint is addressed, and the relationship with this to Bible inspiration is explored. A survey is given to individual members of the congregation, which gives questions concerning these issues. Two interventions are then presented, one in which the debates concerning the United …

Biblical Warrior Integration Connecting Veterans And Civilians In Oakland Baptist Church, Alva Ray Bennett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As a small, less than a 150-member church, located close to Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, Oakland Baptist Church struggles to fully integrate veterans and civilians within the congregational setting. The author studied biblical postwar rituals and used them to design the Biblical Warrior Integration model to enhance the relational connectivity between veterans and civilians. It was congregation-based and relationship-focused. It helped to heal misunderstandings and neglect between veterans and civilians. Also, it was biblically based and reflected a modern application of biblical postwar rituals identified within the biblical text. Thirty of the 150 members of Oakland Baptist Church …

Healing Through Preaching: Recovery For Red Oaks Baptist Church, Darin Scott Wilt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this Doctor of Ministry thesis, Healing Through Preaching: Recovery for Red Oaks Baptist Church, is to address the need for healing Red Oaks Baptist Church’s members through a coordinated preaching and counseling ministry. Research shows there is a lack of information available on how to preach to a church after a traumatic event such as a church split or revitalization effort. The literature available addresses church problems that may have led a specific situation but does not help the pastor use the preaching of scripture to lead the church in recovery and to use God’s word to …

Freemasonry And Evangelical Christianity: Are They Compatible?, John Carl Mozingo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since 1717 there has been a formalized organization known as the Freemasons. Currently, there are over six-million members worldwide, with over 18% of those members residing in the United States. The Freemasons have been controversial since their inception due to their secret nature. There are claims that the organization is anti-Christian as well as claims that support its compatibility with the church, indicating that there are Freemasons on the rolls of our Evangelical Churches. Therefore, using observation and participant research as well as secondary data analysis and archival study, this paper will seek to determine if Freemasonry is compatible with …

The Decline Of Ministry Participation And Leadership Amid Black Males In The Worthington Missionary Baptist Church In Houston, Texas, Joseph Ray Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This DMin thesis project sought to address the decline of male participation in ministry leadership at the Worthington Missionary Baptist Church (WMBC) in Houston, Texas. Not only are males absent from many church congregations, but those that do attend church services tend to be seemingly content with the female populace leading an abundance of church ministries. This research study accessed rationales prompting male withdrawal and then ascertained how to restore balance to the initial design of God at WMBC. Assessment tools of questionnaires, surveys, and one-on-one interviews were utilized to gain insights from 10 WMBC males between the ages of …

A Model For Pastoral Care And Shepherding Of A Mid-Sized Growing Church, Willis Dean Wainwright

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study addresses the challenges related to the caregiving ministry of Mountain View Community Church located in Temecula, California. This revitalized Church has grown from 50 attendees in 2004 to over 2000 by 2010. The growth has led to many challenges, including the development of a ministry strategy that will meet the needs of the congregation. The leadership team sought to answer the question of an appropriate ministry strategy through examining scriptures, reviewing the history of ministry, and evaluating current models of caregiving used in large Baptist churches. Additionally, a survey of pastoral care methodology employed in large Baptist churches …

Christian Higher Education: The Global Context And A Russian Case Study, Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

An account and analysis of the brief existence of Russian-American Christian University (RACU), a Christian liberal arts university in Moscow.

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 13: Wallace On Prayer, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823−1913) is known to most for his natural history explorations and theoretical biology, but he also developed thoughts on a number of subjects relatable to a wider appreciation of evolutionary cosmology. His adoption of spiritualism, for one, was attuned to this mission, and in turn his otherwise difficult-to-interpret two-sided position on prayer.

Gratitude Attitude, Adrienne J. Royo

Faculty Works

As a member of this world's community we must be aware of other's needs, look for ways to make a difference, and pay attention to God's ongoing blessings. Our talents and skills can make a difference in other people's lives.

Hot Dog Vs. Christian Fundamentalism In 1920s America, Nicole Orchosky

Student Projects from the Archives

Hot Dog: the Regular Fellow’s Monthly was a satirical magazine published by the Merit Publishing Company in Cleveland, Ohio throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Editor Jack Dinsmore included crudely humorous short stories and poems, images of scantily clad women, and editorials and opinion pieces offering his own commentary on current events. In the case of the December 1921 issue, Dinsmore offers scathing criticism of religious Prohibition supporters, namely Billy Sunday and Reverend John Roach Straton. This paper examines how an opinionated independent publication representative of its anti-Prohibition readership reacted to the Temperance Movement and subsequent outspoken Fundamentalist Christian figureheads.

Islamic Labeled Firms: Revisiting Dow Jones Measure Of Compliance, Ahmed Elnahas, Ghada Ismail, Rwan El-Khatib, M. Kabir Hassan

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Billions of dollars, across 131 countries, are invested in Islamic law‐compliant funds that are often promoted as consistent with the spirit and overall objectives of Islam (Maqasid Al‐Sharia), thereby indicating they are more socially responsible, less risky, and less prone to failure. The empirical results of this study indicate that Shariah‐compliant firms identified by the Dow Jones do not have higher corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores, lower risk, or lower likelihood of failure than non‐compliant firms. We address endogeneity using the instrumental variable (IV) approach and selection bias using propensity score matching (PSM). Our results are similar when using the …

Warfare In Christianity And Islam: Unveiling Secular Justifications And Motivations Behind So-Called Religious Violence, Onur Korkmaz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The phenomenology of religion has received the most attention in social science because it has shaped society on social, political, and economic levels throughout history. Religion can be an organization that brings people together and develops a sense of identification, while also acting as a divisive structure for those of other faiths or nonbelievers. And so, we have witnessed the rise of both religious tendencies and violent acts for the last two decades, occasionally intertwined. Various belief systems have increasingly become a factor that politicians, intellectuals, and the mainstream media associate with violence-based modern warfare. However, scholars and analysts who …

Rethinking The Role Of Aging Pastors In Ministry, Petr Cincala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

St. Francis Of Assisi Catholic Church And Center For The Deaf Sunday Bulletin, October 25, 2020

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, October 25, 2020

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

St. Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin, October 25, 2020

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Cleveland, OH

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, October 25, 2020

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