Religion Commons^™

Revitalizing The Church Through Reaching Men With Families, Mike Conan

Doctor of Ministry

Churches today face a unique crisis as most of them are either declining or plateaued, and the culture around them has changed, and men have not responded with faith and godliness, but instead with fear and withdrawal. Churches, especially conservative evangelical churches, who can overcome the worldview struggles and learn to embrace the postmodern, and overcome the struggles of patriarchy and learn to see how the power bestowed by society can be used for good, can see revitalization that will bring renewal to every part of their churches. Reaching these men usually brings new life to the entire church, as …

My Daily Labor To Pursue: A Wesleyan Perspective On The Integration Of Faith And Work, Jason Wellman

Doctor of Ministry

Work is a central part of being human. Yet, in the Church, few discuss how one’s faith impacts his/her work. Laity struggle with discerning how their faith should be integrated with their career. While this is a problem in many churches and denominations, it is prevalent in churches from the Wesleyan theological tradition. This dissertation lays the groundwork for developing a Wesleyan perspective on the integration of faith and work.

Chapter one addresses the problem many experience in the Wesleyan tradition to find any substantive literature that provides a uniquely Wesleyan perspective on work and faith. This chapter looks at …

The Promise And Purpose Of Love And Belonging In Shaping The Spiritual Destiny Of Sixth Graders, Jim Newby

Doctor of Ministry

The consilience of interpersonal neurobiology and theology is the template for the viscidity of faith throughout one’s lifetime. The congruence of disciplines conclude that what is experienced and believed before the age of thirteen determines how one will live their life. The loss of connection to parents at home and adults within the faith community, is cultivating isolation, loneliness, and the loss of love and belonging in each emerging generation.

Chapter One introduces the deprecating beliefs that are practiced during the first twelve years of one’s life that ultimately lead young believers away from homes and communities of faith and …

The Purple Book, Office Of Mission

Holy Cross Bookshelf

This untitled volume, commonly referred to as "The Purple Book" was first produced in 2011 by the College Committee on Mission and Identity to provide informative essays on Jesuit education, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and the history of the College of the Holy Cross. It was intended that the book might also offer a rich sampling of sacred texts and poems submitted by students, faculty, and members of the staff.

Mable Fuchs Papers, (1920-1921), Mabel Fuchs

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

No abstract provided.

Finding Aid For Mable Fuchs Papers, Abilene Christian University Special Collections And Archives

Mable Fuchs Papers

Finding aid for Mable Fuchs Papers, (1920-1921).

Breaking Evangelical: An Attachment-Focused Framework For Healing Spiritual Trauma, Ashley M. Davis

Doctor of Ministry

About 25 percent of the US population is religiously unaffiliated, and about 70 percent of these individuals are former Christians (Pew Research, PRRI, Gallup, Barna). Included in this phenomenon is the spiritual traumatization of women within evangelical churches, which has been revealed partially through the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements on social media.

At the core of spiritual abuse is the issue of broken attachments (human bonding and communion with God). God created people for community, and abuse is direct injury to this vital aspect of our humanity. This work explores theories and concepts of perichoresis, God attachment, and interpersonal attachment …

Re-Imagining The Lord's Supper As A Place Of Belonging And Hospitality In The Christian Churches/Churches Of Christ, Katy Drage Lines

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation reimagines the independent Christian Churches' practice of Communion as a means of belonging within a community—and as an opportunity for hospitality and welcoming others. Unfortunately, the deficient theological understanding and trivializing of communion within many independent Christian Churches contributes to a lack of ecclesial identity and authentic openness to others. It will be argued that when an independent Christian Church congregation prioritizes and collectively practices communion, it strengthens their identity, mission, and connection to one another and puts in place opportunities to welcome outsiders into their community through shared meals. The concept of permeable belonging will be introduced, …

A New Koinonia: Rediscovering Community Through Online Communities Of Practice, Christal M. N. Jenkins

Doctor of Ministry

The 21st century American church sits in the crux of a paradigm shift. The shift is driven by the decline in community and the need to evolve in the manner and methods used to maintain fellowship with believers who are seeking community. The loss of community presents both a challenge and an opportunity. One way in which we, as the church, can expand our connection with one another is through incorporating communities of practice. Communities of practice consist of three main components: domain (shared interest), community, and practice. The conceptual framework of communities of practice can foster community and discipleship …

The Melody Of Mutuality: Integrating Theological And Psychological Principles For Egalitarian Churches To Better Support Marriages, Jennifer J. Dean-Hill

Doctor of Ministry

The dynamic combination of the unique characteristics of man and woman have been described by author Carolyn Custis James as The Blessed Alliance. Yet power struggles, misunderstandings, and unmet expectations often plague the particular struggles of modern marriages therefore creating a demand for marriage therapists and psychological modalities that seek to rectify the conflictive divide among the genders. Marriage therapy has provided tools and methods for marriages to resolve their differences, strive for a relationship of equity, and develop a culture of mutuality. These new and improved marriages attend egalitarian churches, only to discover the gender wars are still being …

“In The Beginning Was Body Language” Clowning And Krump As Spiritual Healing And Resistance, Sarah S. Ohmer

Publications and Research

In the neighborhood of HollyWatts in Los Angeles, dance allows a shift from existing as bodies presented as sites of threat and extinction to sources of spiritual empowerment. Clowning and Krump dancers—their subjectivity and their dancing bodies—negotiate survival from trauma and socioeconomic marginalization. I argue that the dancers’ performances act as embodied narratives of “re-membering in the flesh.” The performance acts as a spiritual retrieval and re-integration of traumatic memories and afflictions into memory through the body. Choreography and quotes from dancers support the claim that Krump and Clowning is “re-membering in the flesh” that enacts self-worth, self-defined sexuality, and …

Constraint And Control, Patricia Ayres

Theses and Dissertations

I have long considered themes of the body. Drawing on my knowledge as a fashion designer, I bring materials and hardware from the fashion industry into my artwork transforming and rendering them non-functional. My sculptures relate to stories of isolation, separation, and confinement. The following pages will analyze how the United States penal system controls, constrains and restricts the body through physical and psychological wounds. Furthermore, they will examine how the Catholic Church controls people’s minds and behavior through a ritualistic belief system.

What If Every Church Became A House Of Prayer?, Don Jacobsen

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Capitalizing On My African American Christian Heritage In The Cultivation Of Spiritual Formation And Contemplative Spiritual Disciplines, Claire Appiah

Doctor of Ministry

This project addresses what I perceive to be an opportunity for some aspects of African American spirituality to become more holistic. It is noteworthy that many African American communal worship experiences are powerful and dynamic. I hypothesize that many African American Christians can enjoy an even more enhanced spiritual experience by integrating contemplative spiritual disciplines into present dynamic communal practices for spiritual formation. In Section One, I look at the genesis of the circumstances that necessitated communal solidary for enslaved Africans in the New World. I follow the path of their religious journey from being a clandestine group of ecstatic …

Through The Valley Of Darkness: Spiritual Formation For Pain Sufferers Within The Context Of Evangelicalism Today, Michael Golden

Doctor of Ministry

Chronic pain sufferers can find themselves on the margins of evangelical culture in the United States. Evangelicals are largely guided by a paradigm of power, an ethos that finds little room for the hurting and disabled. Pain sufferers do not fit into such a paradigm; their physical limitations can prevent them from contributing to the evangelical church’s efforts to extend their influence. It is not that pain sufferers are ignored by evangelicals; many churches have some type of ministry function to assist them. The issue is that they are not valued in their current state of suffering.

Spiritual formation for …

Jesus Kommt - Bald: Eine Geschichte Des Aktiven Wartens Der Frühen Adventisten, Denis Kaiser

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Newsletter Catholic Deaf Of Detroit, February 2019

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Detroit, MI

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit Finding Aid

Traitors In The Service Of The Lord: The Role Of Church And Clergy In Appalachia's Civil War, Sheilah Elwardani

Masters Theses

Studies of the guerrilla war in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains reveal repeated instances of violence and threats directed at the pastors of mountain churches. Instances of churches being burned, pastors and laymen beaten and at times murdered are sprinkled throughout the primary source materials. The question raised here is why were pastors and specific churches being targeted for violence? The church was the center of the life for secluded Appalachian communities, church leadership carried tremendous weight in influencing loyalties. Research focused solely on the Dunkard Church in Floyd County, Virginia revealed that amidst a particularly violent guerrilla war, …

Adam Reinhold Schiewe---A Cross-Border Man Of Faith: A Baptist Trailblazer In Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, And Russia, Üllas Linder

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This study aimed at compiling a biography of the preacher Adam Reinhold Schiewe (1843–1930). Schiewe ministered in the territories of present-day Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, and Estonia. His historical significance lies primarily in the formal founding of the first Baptist congregation in Estonia. Schiewe wrote memoirs of his life and is featured in a large number of fragmentary, at times even contradictory, sources. The author pointed out the inaccuracies found therein and reconstructed a plausible biography. The study was originally written in Estonian and was supported by a single scholarship from the ESF programme DoRa activity 8.

The Obstacles To Receiving Grace In A Substance Abuse Population, Bradley Johnson

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Grace has been important throughout the history of Christianity, and it is also relevant in the contemporary positive psychology movement. Nonetheless, the construct of grace has been left relatively unexplored through theoretical or empirical investigation in the social sciences. The few psychological explorations of grace found in the current literature can be roughly divided into four categories: advocating for grace, theoretical development, measuring grace, and empirical studies of grace. The current study examined the obstacles to grace experienced by patients in a substance abuse recovery program. Seven obstacles were first identified by a group of 25 participants through the use …

Righteousness By Faith And The Third Angel’S Message — 2, George R. Knight

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

God Likes Sex: Conversations Integrating Spirituality And Sexuality, Jennie Armstrong

Doctor of Ministry

Throughout Christian history, the Church has provided inconsistent messages about the spiritual foundation for healthy sexuality. With avoidant messages of silence and shame around sexual topics from the Church, many emergent women separate their spirituality from their sexual lives, never considering scripture as a guideline for healthy sexuality. Emergent adult women, specifically those without strong spiritual foundations, are more likely to engage in unhealthy sexual behaviors which often leave them feeling alone and separate from God and spiritual community. Because popular culture does not support marriage as a moral requirement for a sexual relationship, present cultural messages advocate that these …

Rethinking Evangelism As Discipleship: Equipping Followers To Live Incarnational Lives Outside The Walls, Lisa A. Willey

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation explores how local churches can help lay people live incarnational lives of reaching out and connecting or building relationships in their communities with the potential to share the gospel. To live an incarnational life means to allow Jesus to live through you in a way that changes your life and allows you to do what you otherwise could not do on your own. To live the life of a disciple or follower fosters a missional mindset and the desire to build relationships. To spring off of Len Sweet’s concept of MRI (Missional, Relational and Incarnational)1 I will explore …

Rethinking Foreign Missions: How Churches Can Engage In Global Missionary Work Without Leaving Their Communities, Stuart Alan Cocanougher

Doctor of Ministry

For three hundred years, the modern missions movement has established a paradigm in which evangelical churches, denominations, and parachurch agencies have recruited, trained, funded, and sent missionaries around the world. Taking seriously Christ’s command to reach the nations with the gospel, U.S. churches spend millions of dollars each year to send a few select missionaries to faraway nations, while most Christians are not engaged in cross-cultural ministry. But the world has changed. Now there are millions of foreigners living in the United States. I propose that evangelical church leaders consider a new strategy that involves training American Christians to minister …

Renewing The Jesus Movement In The Episcopal Church: Weaving Good News Into Spiritual Formation, Robert Swope

Doctor of Ministry

The Episcopal Church today experiences continuing decline in membership and new challenges to making Christ Jesus fully known. Research1 reveals a significant number of members desire to understand scripture better, experience the mystery of the Eucharist, learn how to deepen their spiritual journey, and encourage clergy to deepen their journey as well. With the departure of many Evangelicals, the Church has lost its comprehensiveness.2 This affects how leadership sees spiritual formation. At the same time, laity have expressed a desire for how to engage in a deeper prayer life.

Two solutions address these issues. Centering prayer explores silent, imageless contemplation …

Becoming Stuck In Complicated Grief: Turning Loss Into Resilience, Hope, And Healing, Elizabeth (Pam) Strachan-Proudfit

Doctor of Ministry

Grief is a natural and normal experience reaching back to the narrative of creation. Research has revealed that about 80 to 90 percent of grievers experience normal or uncomplicated grief while a small percentage ranging from 10 to 20 percent struggled with complicated grief responses. This small percentage is the focus of this dissertation. Those who experience complicated grief are observed to become stuck and unable to move through the grieving process independently. Grievers who are stuck appear to have on-going difficulty in their spiritual, emotional, cognitive, and even physical health. The uniqueness of grief is not only real with …

Forming Anglican Wayfinders In Aotearoa: A Contextual Approach To Ministerial Preparation, Karen Kemp

Doctor of Ministry

This dissertation begins with a Church in crisis and a story of vocation under pressure. It identifies the need for clergy who are resilient and adaptive in the face of change.

Using the four phases of Appreciative Inquiry, Sections Two through Six build a picture of what New Zealand Anglican leaders need today.1

Discover: Section Two surveys bright spots in ministerial education, and exegetes the Rule of Benedict using a leadership lens.

Dream: Section Three identifies key challenges, evaluates emerging models of leadership, and proposes a fresh approach to training.

Design and Destiny phases (Sections Four through Six) present the …

Soul Journey: Rediscovering The Sacred Paths For Body, Heart, And Mind, Christopher Fillingham

Doctor of Ministry

The spiritually thirsty are leaving the church in the West. They do not find the church to be a place of spiritual wisdom and nourishment. This dissertation follows various ancient guides within Christianity to recover a life-giving spirituality for the Western Church in the twenty-first century. Chapter 1 draws on the desert monastics as it explores the lack of a transformational spirituality in the modern Church. It defines spirituality in terms of eros, clarifies the aim of spirituality as union, and explores the common reductions that have led the Church astray. Chapter 2 connects the three spiritual paths outlined in …

Azerbaijan: Religious Freedom Survey, 2018, Felix Corley, John Kinahan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Azerbaijan restricts freedom of religion and belief with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. Forum 18’s survey analyzes violations including prisoners of conscience who were jailed and tortured for exercising freedom of religion and belief, strict state literature censorship, and regime claims of its “tolerance.” Forum 18's survey analysis documents Azerbaijan's violations of freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. Serious violations include but are not limited to:

- a complex labyrinth of “legal” restrictions to prevent the exercise of freedom of religion, belief, and other fundamental freedoms;

-total state control of the …

Supporting A Canadian Proposal To Declare Srebrenica Genocide Denial Illegal, Rusmir Mahmutćehajić,

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A letter written by the author, Dr. Rusmir Mahmutćehajić, at the request of Professor Ramić in support of a petition currently before the Canadian federal parliament to make denial of the genocide at Srebrenica illegal