Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons^™

Communicating The Justice And Peace Of God In Africa Today, Walter Ihejirika

Journal of Global Catholicism

Engaging with the work and theories of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, the article charts out a spirituality of communication within Nigerian Catholicism. Discussing the intersection between various forms of media and community, the article argues for the utilization of media in the pursuit of social justice and the dismantling of inequalities.

Editor's Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

Introduction to African Catholicism: Contemporary Issues: Volume: 1, Issue 2 of the Journal of Global Catholicism

Case Studies Of The Participation And Results Of Professional Visitation To Schools By Youth Ministries Of Local Churches In Korea, Young Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study is to get results from youth ministry participation in local churches through a school visitation ministry. Youth ministry faces a crisis in Korea because the number of church attendees is decreasing. In fact, the number of church members in Korea is decreasing, but the numbers of people in the youth group are much smaller than other age groups. Thus, the study shows the failure of education from church and home. The researcher experienced this issue in his own church and tried to find alternative methods. Upon closer study, he found hope for a youth …

Miracles And Natural Law: Are They Compatible?, Glauber S. Araujo

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"We have tried here to bring together the contribution of many who saw the incoherence in Hume’s violation theory and have proposed a different view of the universe, where the natural and the supernatural cooperate with each other, maintaining the possibility of miracles. By avoiding Hume’s proposition, they were able to present a worldview of a universe open to divine action, turning the belief in miracles into a reasonable option. Miracles, although naturally impossible, do not need to be understood as opposing natural laws, but can be interpreted as events in nature produced by a supernatural cause, having a spiritual …

Ignatius: A Guide For Congregational Discernment, Benjamin Gensic

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

Congregations find themselves living in transformative times, but transformation is often an act of subtraction, which means congregations find themselves living in anxious times as well. Within this context, it is tempting for congregations to base decisions on either financial constraint or political expediency. However, such superficial discernment is incapable of guiding congregations wishing to respond to God’s activity in the world. This author argues that Ignatius of Loyola provides congregations with an alternative.

To accomplish this, the author walks the reader through the basic principles of Ignatian spirituality and discernment, making suggestions for how these can impact congregational decision-making …

The Impact Of Anthropocentrism On Christian Environmentalism, Alexis Grasse

Dialogue & Nexus

This paper will discuss the effects of anthropocentrism in Christian theology, doctrine, and environmentalism. The development and history of Christian environmentalism will be examined, with emphasis on the time since the 1960s, when environmentalism came to the forefront in the Western world. Alternative interpretations and worldviews, mainly ecocentrism and biocentrism, will be considered and compared to the prevalent anthropocentric view. I will close with a presentation of two possible means for developing a Christian ecological theology without anthropocentrism. An environmental position most coherent with Christian principles will be left open to the reader; my purpose is to examine the impact …

Toward A Framework For Interfaith Leadership, Barbara A. Mcgraw

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

Today there is a need for a vision of the world that takes account of religious, spiritual, and non-faith orientations in a way that promotes cooperation and resolves conflict. Educational programs that employ this article’s proposed four-dimensional interfaith leadership framework can contribute to that vision. Through dialogue for understanding and compassion, lens bias reflection and cognitive-affective frame-shifting, religious literacy, and leadership theory and practice, students can become socially conscious leaders who effect positive change in religiously diverse environments. This interfaith leadership framework is especially salient for Catholic institutions of higher education, but is readily extendable for use in other institutions.

The Trinity...The Biblical Mandates For Preaching, Teaching, Worshipping And Evangelism In The Local Church, Pedreto Graham-Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Trinity is viewed as the bedrock of the Christian faith. Notwithstanding, the worship of the Trinity in local churches today are hardly mentioned by pastors in their sermon. The researcher chose this topic to introduce the importance of assimilating the worship of the Trinity in the areas of the four key biblical mandates. The researcher surveyed 50 Southern Baptist Pastors and 10 members were selected from each church to participate. It was discovered that both pastors and members lack the essential understanding of incorporating the worship of the Trinity in these four areas of the ministry. The results of …

The Development Of A Quiet Time (Qt) Manual For The Growth Of Urban Churches, Gwe Hong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study aims to investigate the effects of a quiet time (QT) ministry on the growth of Korean churches and develop a program to help urban churches grow through QT. Korean churches are in a severe slump these days; beyond stagnation, they are in the critical situation of evident and serious decline. The encroachment of secularization on the church, the spiritual corruption of pastoral leaders, and church splits caused by the lack of trust among church members all result from weakened relationships with God. The researcher has provided QT ministry for Siheung-dong Sarang Church for the last twelve years as …

A Study On A Missional Church In A Business Corporation: The Case Of The E-Land Group In Korea, Kyo Kum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study considers a new form of the church that can influence the society with the gospel in a more proactive way; it is a church in a corporation. As evangelism is becoming more difficult in Korea, Korean churches need to discover the contact point for the gospel. Existing churches attempted to make nonbelievers come to them, but the church in a corporation reaches out to nonbelievers in the workplace. Existing churches are established around people’s dwelling environment, but the church in the workplace provides a nexus for social life. There surfaces a need for a new form of the …

A Study On The Development Of Professional Young Adult Pastors For Korean Churches, Hyeong Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

At the end of the twentieth century, young adult ministries experienced abundant revivals through the churches and campuses of colleges, but are now much reduced. One of the causes is that there were not enough professional pastors for the young adult ministries. The revival and growth of young adult ministries in Korea is largely dependent upon the leaders who lead the ministries. This research emphasizes the importance of young adult ministries in Korean churches and aims to develop concrete manuals for pastors who can appropriately perform their ministries. In doing so, it will point out the roles for young adult …

The Formation Of A Church Community United With A Local Community: The Case Of Vision Village In Changwon, Kyungsangnamdo, Hang Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this thesis project is to build a platform for a united community of church and local residents. In the community, the church expands its boundaries so as to become embedded in the local resident community. Nowadays, Korean churches have lost the public character and the ability to fulfill their social roles and functions in the community. As a result, the churches have low reputation and influence in society, and they face the crisis of reductions in the number of churches and its members. For the sake of overcoming these problems of Korean churches, the thesis studies biblical …

A Study On The Comparison Of Pastoral Succession Cases In Korean Churches, Chang Choi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to study invitation and succession cases of senior pastors in Korean churches. This thesis is written as Korean churches are currently facing major issues concerning the succession of senior pastors from the first generation to the second generation. The study deals with the biblical backgrounds and theological foundations of the Old and New Testament in relation to pastoral succession. It also compares and analyzes various pieces of data. The investigation of the invitation types is designed to contribute toward discovering what may be the most desirable invitation system for senior pastors. Surveys were distributed …

Identification, Intervention, And Implementation Of A Church Substance-Abuse Program For Twenty-Six To Forty-Six Year Olds, Michael Schmidt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Peer-reviewed empirical research indicates that the church can improve how it equips ministers to reach out to twenty-six to forty-six year olds suffering from substance abuse. This thesis project will help ministers evaluate, rethink, and implement better addiction-outreach programs. It is the intent of this thesis project to guide ministers and church workers, to give them levelheaded, real-world, hands-on, sensible solutions in order to see clear-cut positive progress in their outreach program to substance abusers. This thesis will answer the question: Is the church doing a good job of identifying and ministering to substance-abusing addicts? This doctoral thesis will provide …

A Study On The Church Growth Method Through The Vitalization Of Small Groups In Traditional Korean Churches: The Case Of Daegu Dong-Sung Church, Byung Min

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Nowadays, Korean society is faced with social issues, like individualism arising from fast growth. The traditional society has become dominated by individual interest and intention, as well as by new social aspects such as the loss of community ethics at large. This can also be seen in Korean churches; we have noticed an increase in Sunday service visitors and unregistered members. This change has brought a number of spiritual crisis into churches and is even a huge crisis in and of itself. In this regard, through research on church growth through small group ministry in traditional Korean churches, this study …

The Effect Of Mentoring On Interns In A Cross-Cultural Setting To Produce Incrteased Missional Engagement, Timothy G. Meier

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

"the purpose of writing The Effect of Mentoring on Interns in a Cross- Cultural Setting to Produce Increased Missional Engagement is to examine the relationship between mentoring and mission. this is accomplished through interviewing interns who have served with c&Ma/Envision in a cross-cultural setting for a minimum of two months. for a minimum of 45 minutes, 17 interns were interviewed, and the results show a strong correlation between high mentoring and high missional engagement."

Cognitive And Emotional Processes Involved In The Experience Of Objects As Holy Or Transcendent, Lotte J. Pummerer

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, attitudes about religion/spirituality have become more pluralistic (Pew Research Center, 2015a). At the same time, the number of individuals who identify themselves as nonreligious, atheist or agnostic are growing (Pew Research Center, 2015b), yet we are lacking words and research to describe their attributions of transcendence in language not bound to religious concepts. This study aims at examining both concepts – holiness and transcendence – in their similarities and differences through assessing cognitive and emotional processes involved in experiences of objects.

The study consisted of two parts with a total of 206 Christian and 52 nonreligious/atheistic/agnostic participants. …

Window Shopping And Turf Control, W. Milton Adams

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"In the past there has been much appropriate emphasis on the laity’s posture of respect toward church leadership. But what matters now is an equal and proactive posture of respect toward the laity. As new methods and new plans spring forth from the laity, cooperation and mutual respect must also spring forth. The result will look and function like a peer relationship. In today’s developing culture, the onus will lie on church leadership to rid themselves pf any turf control and instead develop skills of cheering, funding, and quickly embracing God-honoring lay ministries. So, a call to smooth the way, …

The Minister-Elder Relationship Within “Churches That Work”, Steve Cloer

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This essay is the summary of a research project focused on how the minister-elder relationship in Churches of Christ can facilitate missional transformation in an established church. Twenty-five reputable congregations of Churches of Christ were researched that were profiled as “Churches That Work” by The Christian Chronicle from 2006-2013. A survey was conducted of these congregations’ elders and ministers assessing their leadership practices and perspectives. Four congregations were selected based on results of the survey and qualitative strategies of interviewing, focus groups, observation, and document gathering were used. Five patterns of a missional polity developed: elders as nurturing pastors, ministers …

Christ And Culture Valued: Test Cases On Fairness, John Carson Iii

Senior Honors Theses

This research engages H. Richard Niebuhr’s work, Christ and Culture. Niebuhr’s book is a seminal work on the historical trends of Christian cultural engagement. This research applies several tests to the paradigm demonstrated in Niebuhr’s work. These tests demonstrate that Christ and Culture presents a paradigm that lacks fairness and does not adequately meet the goals of an explanatory paradigm. Niebuhr’s paradigm has shaped the discussion of Christian cultural engagement for over fifty years, and this research was done to demonstrate the need for new conversation-shaping paradigms in the field of Christian cultural engagement.

The Study On The Problems Of The Current Korean Churches, Hai Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christianity in South Korean experienced unusually rapid growth for almost 100 years: The revival of church members, the growth of prayer, worship, and evangelism. However, current Korean churches face many problems that have stopped the growth, and actually put the Korean church in a decline. The problems, but are not limited to, are unethical aspects of pastor; including tax problem, huge church constructions, and loving materials. Korean churches should know why these kinds of problems occur and what the solutions are. There are many studies regarding the development of Korean churches but there are few studies examining the problems of …

Equipping A Local Congregation For Saturation Evangelism At The Emmaus Missionary Baptist Church, Willie David Mcclung Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the research project was to determine if a local church has failed to equip the congregation with the tools needed to share their faith, and saturate the local community with the Gospel message; and if so, to provide immediate training and test the results for its effectiveness at the Emmaus Missionary Baptist Church, Owings Mills, Maryland. Participants heard four consecutively evangelistic sermons, which were preached during the 10:45 a.m. worship service. In addition, after each sermon the participants attended a workshop that covered: (1) The biblical mandate, biblical definition, and meaning of evangelism; (2) The biblical method …

Leadership Principles And Applications For Establishing A Christ-Centered Church In South Korea, Dongho Cho

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide a Christ-centered, biblical Great Commission model for Presbyterian Church pastors in South Korea. Pastor Hanhum Ok said that there are many programs and forms without the spiritual vitality in the Korean Church. Many attractional churches attract people by relying heavily on programs that often alter the focus of believers onto the programs themselves and prevent them from focusing on Jesus Christ. To ensure that the church—the body of Christ—remains faithful to its biblical mandates, thesis project argues that the pastors must have leadership principles and applications in accordance to the Christ-centered biblical …

Contributors To Indian Catholicism: Interventions And Imaginings, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

Contributors to Indian Catholicism: Interventions and Imaginings, the inaugural issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism.

Authority, Representation, And Offense: Dalit Catholics, Foot Washing, And The Study Of Global Catholicism, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

In reflecting on a sharp scholarly exchange at a conference, this article explores issues of authority, representation, and offense in global Catholic and South Asian Studies. Focusing on the act of foot washing by Dalit Catholics, the article examines how scholarly offense is linked to particular claims of representational authority. The article also puts this discussion within the context of contemporary debates about Western portrayals of Indian culture and society.

Dalit Catholic Home Shrines In A North Indian Village, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines three Catholic home shrines in a Dalit community in North Indian and argues that it is misleading to think that home shrines and other collections of material objects are somehow static conveyors of meaning. “Meaning” can mean many things or nothing at all, depending upon the terms we are using and the scholarly methods we deploy. The crucial aspect of Dalit Catholic home shrines is that they are literally open to interpretation and reinterpretation, to touching and being touched. Their significance—their meaning—depends not on decoding their structure or symbolic logic, but interacting with them as part of …

The Grace Of God And The Travails Of Contemporary Indian Catholicism, Kerry P. C. San Chirico

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay discusses the challenges faced by Indian Catholicism, particularly as it seeks to adapt to and in contemporary, post-colonial India through the process or program of what is called inculturation, a self-conscious program of adaptation to Indian religion and culture. Since Indian Catholicism is constituted by so many irreducible persons-in-relation, the article focuses on the life of the Catholic priest, Swami Ishwar Prasad in whose life we may chart something of the inculturation movement and the Catholic tradition as it is found in North India region, in one rather long and rich lifetime connecting two centuries. The article seeks …

In Continuity With The Past: Indigenous Environmentalism And Indian Christian Visions Of Flora, James Ponniah

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article considers whether Indian Christianity can be said to have a distinctive ecological vision. The first two parts of the article examine Christian environmentalism in two native forms of Indian Christianity: Tamil Christianity and Tribal Christianity. Continuing with the theme of conformity to the local culture—though of the elite—the third part of the article investigates how Christian Ashrams function as dynamic centers for ecological praxis. The last part of the article considers how contemporary Indian Christian communities can respond to the ecological challenges confronting them.

Antoniyar Kōvil: Hindu-Catholic Identity At The St. Anthony Shrine In St. Mary’S Co-Cathedral, Chennai, Pj Johnston

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article combines ethnographic description of the practices of Hindu and Christian visitors of the St. Antony Shrine in Chennai with the observation that this material cannot be understood using the standard world religions paradigm that essentializes Christianity as exclusivistic. Drawing upon the visual and material culture of the shrine in light of premodern and Vatican II templates for inculturation and the negotiation of religious difference, the article highlights overlap between Tamil Hinduism and the Tamil Popular Catholicism of the site to argue that the beliefs and practices documented should inform descriptive and normative accounts of Catholic Christianity. Because Tamil …

A Theological Heritage For New Evangelicalism And Its Social Justice Focus, Kenley Hall

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Based on a review of relevant literature, this article will look at this emerging submovement within evangelicalism that researchers are referring to as “New Evangelicals” and its expanding social consciousness. Then the article will address an issue I believe is of critical importance: a likely theological and historical heritage for New Evangelicalism that can serve as a theological resource and even connection between them and the larger evangelical narrative.