Christian Denominations and Sects Commons^™

A Companion Guide For The Discipleship To Missional Community (D2mc) Program, Jedidiah T. Maschke

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

This Doctor of Ministry (DMin.) Major Applied Project (MAP) offers a companion guide for the discipleship training program called D2MC (Discipleship to Missional Community) taught by PLI, a leadership development organization that works primarily with the LCMS. The D2MC program is based on the training pioneered by Mike Breen through 3DM. The companion guide shows how the methods and practices taught by PLI are soundly based in Scripture and confessional Lutheran theology and offers some personal insights and devotional thoughts. The companion guide was distributed and field tested with volunteer participants through and with the approval of PLI. Participants in …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 65, No. 3

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 65, No. 3.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: A Classical Critique, Michael W. Cunningham

Liberty Theological Review

In 2005, American sociologist Christian Smith coined the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” in his book, Soul Searching, The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. At the time, this phenomenon was heralded as a new “religion” for emerging generations, yet it ascribes to no formal text, deity, or doctrine. It serves as a self-focused compilation of secular philosophy, politics, culture, and spirituality flavored with fragments from popular religions. While there is no formal MTD doctrine, there are five affirmations: (1) A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on Earth, (2) God wants …

Our Lady Of La Vang Journeys With The Nation: Marian Devotion And Pilgrimage In Vietnam, Dung Trang Ph.D., Lhc Khiet Tam

Journal of Global Catholicism

The sanctuary of Our Lady of La Vang (OLLV) reveals the role of popular devotion in Vietnamese Catholicism. It manifests the recent strategy from Vietnamese Church leaders to maintain a public presence with an emphasis on reinforcing a sense of Catholic identity through popular devotion and liturgy. Devotion to OLLV then reflects the interaction of several factors: the promotion of the clergy, political influence, and the collaboration of the Vietnamese Catholic laity. Building on existing scholarship that focuses on the cultural inheritance and collective identity of Vietnamese Catholics around the world, this paper explores the case study of the basilica …

Worship Space And Immigrant Memory: Korean Parishes In Los Angeles And New Jersey, Hansol Goo Ph.D. (Cand.)

Journal of Global Catholicism

It has been often observed that national parishes in the US play a central role for Catholic immigrants in preserving and transmitting the cultural heritage of the community. For Catholic immigrants, a parish is more than a place of worship. It is a source of belonging, comfort, friendship, social interaction, and most importantly, a place in which the immigrant’s cultural heritage is reaffirmed and preserved. The early European immigrants to the US built their national parishes following the architectural style of their homelands, by which they could express their cultural identity. However, more recent arrivals like Asians and Hispanics are …

Theological Implications Of The Symbols And Signs In The Sacrament Of Matrimony Of The Syro-Malabar Church, Nelson Mathew O. Carm.

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article discusses the significance of the signs and symbols used in the sacrament of the marriage of the Syro-Malabar Church and the adaptations from different cultures, particularly the Hindu culture of India. It concentrates on the specific elements found in the marriage celebration of the St. Thomas Christians. The rituals that are unique to the Sacrament of Matrimony of the Syro-Malabar Church, mainly expressed through symbols and signs, remain a significant contribution to the liturgy, spirituality, and theology of the Sacrament of Matrimony, and to the theology of inculturation. In the Syro-Malabar liturgy, marriage rituals, and signs and symbols …

Rethinking The Panata To The Nazareno Of Quiapo, Wilson Espiritu Ph.D.

Journal of Global Catholicism

Filipino Catholicism’s hallmark is its festive and colorful celebrations of popular piety, which exhibit the Catholic faith’s embeddedness in people’s lives and culture. One of the most renowned Filipino devotions is rendered to Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno of Quiapo, Manila. The devotion of making a pledge to the Nazareno, known as panata, is commonly understood as a sacred promise that must be kept in return for a request that is granted. In this paper, I propose a theological reading of panata performance that unites devotion to the Nazareno and commitment to the wellbeing of others. This interpretation aims to …

Overview & Acknowledgments, Marc R. Loustau Ph.D.

Journal of Global Catholicism

An introduction to the current issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism.

Hospitality: Areas That Are Effective In Creating A Desire For A Visitor To Connect To Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Brent M. Hartwig

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

This major applied project explores hospitality offered by the local congregation. Biblical hospitality is implicitly and explicitly commanded in scripture. Balancing the Missio Dei and two kinds of righteousness will keep us on the straight and narrow theologically when pursuing hospitality.

When churches offer hospitality, we are feeding, clothing, visiting, providing, and welcoming our neighbor. Our Redeemer wants to continue serving the community as a family-oriented, mission focused, hospitable congregation. We are doing the feeding, clothing, and providing through many efforts in the community. We are active with the local homeless shelter and crisis center. For the MAP, we wanted …

Positive Factors Related To The Decision To Study For The Office Of The Ministry By Men Of The Lutheran Synod Of Nicaragua (Iglesia Luterana Sínodo De Nicaragua/Lutheran Church—Canada), Edmund Auger

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Auger, Edmund D. “Positive Factors Related to the Decision to Study for the Office of the Ministry by Men of The Lutheran Synod of Nicaragua (Iglesia Luterana Sínodo de Nicaragua / Lutheran Church—Canada).” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2023. 128 pages.

The Lutheran Church throughout the world needs a continuing supply of men to serve as faithful pastors in the public ministry of the Gospel. The identification and spiritual formation of candidates for Word and Sacrament ministry is critical for the young national church body, Iglesia Luterana Sínodo de Nicaragua (Lutheran Synod of Nicaragua).

This project is …

Embodied Superintendence: The Person Of The Preacher In Lutheran Homiletics Especially In Relation To Cultural Identity, Dennis Matyas

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Over the past several decades, the greater homiletical academy has progressed from questions of authority to dialogics to identity, both of the preacher and of the hearers. Within this timeframe, modern Lutheran homiletics has stayed relatively silent on considerations of the person of the preacher, opting instead for certain foundational homiletical truths including the efficacy of the Word of God, the proclamation of justification, and the authority of the Ministerium. After recovering the consideration of the person of the preacher as a foundational Lutheran homiletic, this work explores the formational significance of the preacher’s cultural identity by offering a theoretical …

Behind The Numbers: A Traditional Church Faces A New America, Larry Vogel

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The dissertation examines membership data for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) from the mid-1970s to the present. It considers the analysis of LCMS decline by two scholars, George Hawley and Ryan MacPherson, who independently proposed that LCMS membership decline was internal in causation due to diminished birthrates and fewer young families. While acknowledging the reality of such internal decline, this dissertation argues that the lack of external growth is a greater cause for LCMS decline. Its lack of external growth is due primarily to the racial and ethnic homogeneity of the LCMS and its failure effectively to evangelize the increasingly …

What God Has Joined Together: The One Threefold Purpose Of Marriage, David Frayne Shudy

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Modern married couples and marriage-minded individuals are often left awash in a sea of confusion aimlessly groping about for a purpose for their marriage, with disastrous societal results. Whereas long-standing Christian tradition has taught a unified threefold marital purpose of three equal elements—procreation, mutual help, and remedy for sin—Enlightenment thinkers and their ideological descendants have introduced a hierarchical marriage teleology with a self-chosen purpose (usually companionship) at the top in order to correct for an alleged countervailing overemphasis on procreation in premodern marital teleology.

This thesis will challenge the claim of a relative deficiency in the companionate aspect of premodern …

Recovering A Missional Ecclesiology: A Framework For Reviving Congregational Mission Within The Baptist Union Of Victoria, Gayle Hill

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT This project is an intervention to develop a theological and theoretical framework

that will become the foundation for a future curriculum for recovering a missional ecclesiology for the pastors of the Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV). Despite mission being central to the overall vision of the BUV, declining numbers, the post-COVID context in Victoria, and an overarching post-Christian and pluralistic context have significantly challenged the centrality and functioning of mission across our denomination. The impetus of this project was the observation that our churches were floundering rather than flourishing in the missional space. Many chronic and acute provocations were …

The Voice Of One Crying In The Wilderness, Megan Kenyon

MFA in Visual Art

I am a Midwestern, Christian, and feminist artist. I make work about the beautiful, broken, and absurd ways in which American evangelical culture influences lives, especially women’s lives. I’m dragging everything into the light by deconstructing and critiquing the world in which I live, move, and have my being. I do this by harnessing prophetic imagination and incarnational space to shine a light on how patriarchy infects evangelical Christian theology and practice. Using prophetic imagination through photographic self-portraiture and text (my own and found texts using the Bible), I seek to make plain the effects of white, Christian patriarchy on …

William Webb Freeman Papers, 1912-1954, William Webb Freeman

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

Finding aid for the William Webb Freeman Papers, 1912-1954.

Tell Me The Old, Old Story: An Educational Curriculum For Junior Week At Christian Youth Encampment, Justin Lance Simmons

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to create a curriculum framework for the Junior Week of camp at Christian Youth Encampment (CYE) in DeRidder, LA. The initial step in this project was to develop information on the ministerial context of CYE by investigating its history and interviewing those who have experienced camp both as campers and staff. Next, an examination of theological and theoretical foundations was made, considering the history of narrative in the instruction of children both for Israel and the church. Also, the concept and practices of narrative and its usefulness as a pedagogical tool were explored. Using …

Missional Renewal In A Large And Established Suburban Western Church, Michael Stevens

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the topic of missional renewal at Clovercrest Baptist Church (CBC), specifically focusing on participating in the mission of God through simple, memorable, and reproducible missional practices. The identified problem is a lack of process or framework for enhancing participation in God’s mission and churchwide missional renewal at CBC, a large suburban Western church. The purpose of this project intervention is to develop a resource guide of missional practices that facilitate participation in the mission of God at CBC towards missional renewal. This intervention is guided by the theological foundation that God is a God of mission. He …

Redeeming Theodicy In Job: Moving From A Classical To A Christological Framework, Jaime L. Riddle

College of Theology and Ministry Dissertations, Projects, & Theses

This thesis analyzes existing interpretations of theodicy in the book of Job, in order to suggest an alternative approach informed by the nature and mission of Christ. Much of biblical scholarship in Job has focused on a classical approach to theodicy or, in recent years, deconstructed anti-theodicy. This thesis offers an alternative approach that focuses on the Christological overtones in Job and a modern synthesis of Old and New Testament theodicy.

Chapter 1 introduces the problem of theodicy in Job, and a taxonomy of lenses traditionally used to examine Old Testament theodicy. Chapter 2 analyzes classical perspectives of Job derived …

Exploring Theological Themes Of Bridehood In Revelation 19:6-9: An Analysis Of The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb, Riley F. Kempker

College of Theology and Ministry Dissertations, Projects, & Theses

Most people see Revelation as a book shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. As well, the various interpretations offered only add to the confusion of the book. Yet, John uses clear images and themes in his Apocalypse, on which most people can agree. The account of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19:6-9 offers an open window into John’s theology of the Bride of Christ. This thesis seeks to understand John’s theological implications that arise from the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

This thesis began in chapter 1 with a statement of the problem in understanding John’s theological implications …

Liturgical Practices For Full Participation: Creating Opportunities For Engagement In Corporate Worship For People Living With Intellectual Disabilities At The Mooroolbark Salvation Army, Catherine Jane Spiller

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The Mooroolbark Salvation Army is a place of welcome and acceptance for people with disabilities. However, people with intellectual disabilities often have limited opportunities for engagement in corporate worship. The act of worship is a practice everyone should be able to participate in, but barriers often limit engagement for people with disabilities. This project thesis explored and sought to address these barriers and create opportunities for full participation for people with intellectual disabilities. A small diverse group of people from the Mooroolbark Salvation Army came together for ten weeks commencing in February 2022 to consider how to attend to engagement …

Toward A Spiritually Mature Leadership Culture : Moving From Decision-Making To Discernment, Martha Scott

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Efficacy Of The Christian Reformational Transcendental Model Of Art Criticism As A Literary Theory Through Albert Camus’S The Stranger, Elizabeth Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The subfield of art criticism and theory within Christian reformational philosophy, a descendent of the neo-Calvinist theology developed through the work of Dutch Reformer Abraham Kuyper and others, is becoming increasingly diverse. Recently, scholars such as Leland Ryken, Glenda Faye Mathes, and Philip Graham Ryken have built upon twentieth-century theologian Francis Schaeffer’s worldview approach by popularizing a transcendental model of art criticism, an approach that applies the transcendentals of truth, goodness, and beauty to works of art. However, the transcendentals, while widely discussed in the fields of philosophy, theology, and, to a lesser extent, art theory, have not been explicitly …

Review Of Intergenerational Missiology: An African Pentecostal-Charismatic Perspective, Vincent Anohene Appiah

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Review Of Genesis: A Pentecostal Commentary, Michael Blythe

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Review Of Los Profetas: The Prophetic Role Of Hispanic Churches In America, Hanna Larracas

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Spirit Of God In The Torah: A Pentecostal Exploration. By Steffen G. Schumacher, Lora Angeline E. Timenia

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

No abstract provided.

Abiding In The Vine: A Relational Model Of Spiritual Formation, Bill Buker

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

In recognizing the significance of final conversations, the information Jesus shares in his Farewell Discourse (John 13–17) is considered especially important. During this conversation, in describing the new relationship he envisioned with his disciples following the events of his passion, he employs a vine and its branches as an analogy. Three core concepts seem critical to understanding this comparison—abiding in the vine, bearing fruit, and pruning. These concepts are explored within the context of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse and defined relationally in connection with the new commandment he had just introduced. This new command to love each other as he had …

Songs As Theologizing: Annamma Mammen’S (1911–2002) Contribution In Shaping The Kerala Pentecostal Imagination, Allan Varghese Meloottu

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

In Indian Pentecostal theological and missiological literature, the role of Kerala Pentecostals is well documented. However, the pioneering voices that are highlighted are of men, sidelining women’s voices and contributions that shaped the grassroots Kerala Pentecostal imagination. The preacher-songwriter Annamma Mammen (1911–2002) is one such voice that impacted early Kerala Pentecostal growth. Therefore, this article, in addition to bringing forth the sidelined story of Annamma Mammen, emphasizes Mammen’s role as a songwriter and analyzes one of her early songs to highlight how her theology encapsulates early Kerala Pentecostal theological emphases (eschatological imagination, scriptural importance, contextual primacy, and Jesus-centeredness). Although Mammen’s …

Pentecostal Socio-Political Engagement And The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jonathan Cantarero

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

The coronavirus pandemic has raised important questions regarding the correct balance between religious freedom and public health. These questions have become increasingly difficult to address given the diverse reactions within the church to government-imposed restrictions on religious freedom such as limitations on public gatherings in places of worship. Nowhere has this diversity been more prevalent than within Pentecostalism. This article discusses the religious response to the pandemic in the United States within the Pentecostal Movement as gleaned through three sources: public statements, legal action, and other public activity. I suggest that Pentecostalism’s diversity in this area is consistent with its …