Practical Theology Commons^™

The Case For Closing The Contagiously Conflicted Church: Three Reasons Why It Is Necessary, Michael Sanders

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The topic of this thesis focuses on the harm of severely conflicted congregations and necessary reasons for their existence to cease. The rationale behind this choice is that there are numerous congregations that are contagiously conflicted and harming the lives of vocational ministers, the name of Christ, and the witness of the church. This issue needs to be addressed. Having served as pastor of two contagiously conflicted congregations, it is this writer's hope that this document will help others discern if and when such an unpleasant decision is necessary. The research for this thesis was derived from surveys of pastors …

Development And Evaluation Of An Evangelism Workshop For Training Lay Leaders In The Churches Of The Daytona Beach District Of The African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rhella Johnson Murdaugh

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

But You Are A Man Like My Equal: An Exploration Of The Suffering Of The Righteous At The Hands Of Fellow Community Members, Dan Cooper

Masters Theses

This thesis explores book two of the Psalms and how it displays and reacts to the theme of the suffering of the righteous at the hands of fellow community members. It explores the nationality, tactics, and motivations of the enemies in Psalms 52, 53, 55, 62, 64, 69, 70, and 71. It is shown that the Psalmist is often pitted against other Israelites who are even within his religious circle. These enemies who are closest to the psalmist employ certain tactics and are motivated by specific worldviews. The concluding chapter explores the implications for worship and theology that these findings …

A Case Analysis Of The Foundational Ministry Principles Of Rev. Jerry Falwell From 1956-1966, Iain Lyttle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research examines principles employed by Dr. Jerry Lamond Falwell between 1956 and 1966 and the early developmental stages of his church, Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC). The foundation built during these formative years facilitated precipitous growth within the church plant for decades, allowing TRBC to become one of America’s most prominent megachurches and to found Liberty University, the world’s largest evangelical university. As church plants are more likely to fail than to succeed, this research aimed to investigate key characteristics of a church planter who was highly successful, which can be replicated. Using primarily twenty-three interviews of TRBC congregants …

Best Practices For Retaining Youth Group Students In The Local Church Post-High School, Christopher Dortch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research has indicated that students who were once active in a local church are leaving the church and possibly leaving the faith after they graduate high school. The purpose of this project is to present best practices for youth pastors in retaining students' involvement in a local church post-high school. The project will consist of surveying fifty student pastors and will examine the impact of the student pastor's tenure, student ministry philosophy and structure, curriculum plans, and the role of the student pastor in assisting students through this transition. Through a review and examination of these elements, the project will …

Overcoming Growth Strangulation And Small Church Negative Stereotypes Through Intentional Biblical Steps, Donald Campbell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this paper is to provide encouragement to small churches so they may nurture spiritual growth while working to overcome space restrictions that prohibit sustained numerical growth. Through intentional biblical steps, small church negative stereotypes can also be diagnosed and eliminated, thus bringing forth growth. By addressing spiritual problems and space restrictions, congregations can be rejuvenated and community perceptions can be improved by making God's people and facility meet His standard of excellence. The research tools include surveying twenty-five pastors to ascertain strengths and weaknesses of their church growth strategies and twenty-five large church attenders to identify small …

Roosevelt, Boy Scouts, And The Formation Of Muscular Christian Character, Gordon J. Christen

Religious Studies Honors Projects

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many prominent Christians and political leaders saw a degenerative influence in industrializing America. For them, urban culture had eroded gender roles, personal strength, and moral fiber. So-called “Muscular Christians” prescribed physical exertion and wilderness experience to cure these ills. I argue that these values were embodied in idealized characters such as Theodore Roosevelt, Jesus, and the Boy Scout to give a form to cultural remedies. In the process, they became the terms upon which proper Americanism, and proper Christianity, were constructed.

The Story We Find Ourselves In: Nurturing Christian Identity In A Consumer Culture, Terri L. Elton

Faculty Publications

Consumerism has become society’s prevailing story, the story in which young people cultivate their identity. If ministry leaders are to help young people nurture their identity as children of God and help them discover a faith that speaks into the current culture, it will be important to help them shift from viewing themselves as objects within a consumer society to seeing themselves as subjects and agents of God’s love.

We Are Our Stories: Narrative Dimension Of Human Identity And Its Implications For Christian Faith Formation, Rolf A. Jacobson

Faculty Publications

Increasingly, representatives of diverse disciplines have come to a significant consensus about human identity. Each of us constructs and lives in a narrative that is, in fact, us. If this is the case, we will need an outside source to construct a narrative that is both good and true—one to which and in which we can give our lives. Such a story is given us in Holy Scripture and in the collective memory of the church.

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum: April 2014, Arie C. Leder, Michael J. Williams, John M. Rottman, Carl J. Bosma

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

Old Testament: God’s Word for Today

Articles
3 - Reading the Bible Backwards by Arie C. Leder
5 - Christ in the Old Testament by Michael J. Williams
8 - Preaching Old Testament Texts by John M. Rottman
10 - Forgiveness—A Key to Happiness by Carl J. Bosma
12 - The Old Testament as a Resource for Christian Discipleship Amanda W. Benckhuysen
15 - Teaching the Language of the Old Testament by Michael J. Williams

Called to Serve
18 - Retirement Tributes by Bruce Buursma
21 - Distinguished Alumni Awards

Reaching The Community Through Childcare: A Plan To Use Early Childhood Centers To Assimilate Members Into Resurrection Lutheran Church In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Christopher Ascher

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Ascher, Christopher D. “Reaching the Community Through Childcare: A Plan to use Early Childhood Centers To Assimilate Members into Resurrection Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.” DMin Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary—St. Louis, [2014]. [207] pp.

Churches have for some time operated early childhood programs. Often times the stated reason is to reach out to those in their community, and the unstated reason is to bring members and growth into their congregations. This project is a descriptive study that surveyed congregations operating an early childhood center. Follow up interviews were then conducted with church staff whose congregations saw some growth …

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 49 No 1 -April 2014), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

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Articles: Rediscovering Van Raalte's Church History: Historical Consciousness at the Birth of Dutch American Religion by Michael J. Douma - 5 / Revelation, Faith, and Tradition: Catholic Ecumenical Dialogue by Eduardo Echeverria - 25 / Becoming Who We Are Supposed to Be: An Evaluation of Schneider's Use of Christian Theology in Conversation with Recent Genetic Science by Andrew M. McCoy - 63 / Faith, Reason, and the Trinity in Richard Baxter's Theology: Incipient Rationalism or Scholastic Fides Quaerens Intellectum? by Simon Burton - 85 / Obscurity …

God Was With Me, Ashleigh Jardine

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

An Expositional Study Of The Letter To The Philippians With Specific Application To Christian Women Serving Vocationally Or Voluntarily In Local Church Ministry, Tammy Gutierrez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis will reference the exposition, research, cultural background, and exegesis of over fifty Bible Commentaries, Bible Dictionaries, New Testament Greek word study texts, and additional writings on the Letter to the Philippians making specific application to Christian women serving vocationally or voluntarily in local church ministry. Currently, there is no resource providing both a synthesis of the writings of leading commentaries along with specific practical application for the vocational or volunteer Christian women in ministry regarding every unit of thought within the Philippians Letter. This thesis will fill this gap with a strong example of how a contemporary expositor …

Sacra Domus: The Anglican House Church In Theology And Context, Alan Andraeas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The author is an evangelical Anglican priest with a recently formed sacramental house church. Though the house church movement is gaining popularity, no formal guidelines or methodologies exist which address this trend from a liturgical and sacerdotal perspective--even within his diocese. Because of this void, he will examine the following critical issues:

* What are the scriptural foundations for mandating the use of liturgy?

* What are the biblical, theological, and historical precedents for house churches?

* Can there be a complementary union between priestly liturgy and the house church model?

Without guidance from other `reference parishes,' the need for …

Developing A Contextualized Retreat Manual Based On The `Tres Dias' Movement For The Spiritual Disciplines Of Russian Churches, Sungsoo Hong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this thesis project is to create a practical retreat manual for the spiritual disciplines contextualized to the Russian context based on the `Tres Dias' movement. It is important to develop the spiritual training program with contextualization as an effective mission strategy. While many of the missionaries in Russia have been trying to apply the spiritual disciplines in their mission field, little contextualized practical research exists on them. Tres Dias is one of the spiritual retreat programs compatible with contextualization. This project analyzes and evaluates the value and compatibility of the Tres Dias movement in Russia based on …

A Pastor's Approach To Discipleship And Its Effect On The Local Church: A Three-Step Approach To Biblical Discipleship, Daniel Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The current condition of the local church is in need for revitalization. The process of discipleship within the church has been viewed as an underlining issue for the local church. The purpose of this project is to determine the ways in which the pastor influences discipleship in the local church in the areas of formation, transformation, and application. The pastor's practice of ministry is reviewed by looking at both the pastor's and members' perspective concerning the pastor's approach to discipleship. The pastor's approach to discipleship is observed in three areas, including formation, transformation, and application. Through careful observation, a three-step …

Clark Memorandum: Spring 2014, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Byu Law School Alumni Association, J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The Clark Memorandum

• Guardians of the Law (Sheila McCleve)
• Revisiting Humility (Brett G. Scharffs)
• Defending Innocence (Gregory W. Moeller)
• Martin Luther King and the Good Samaritan (Goodwin Liu)
• Oliver Cowdery (Jeffrey N. Walker)

Start With The Heart, Michael A. Steiner

Selected Honors Theses

There is something happening in the chapel services of Southeastern University, the largest Assemblies of God university in America. The question is, is it orthopathy? The goal of this thesis is to determine if 1st Chapel consistently provides the space for students to be engaged in Orthopathy in such a way that their affections are changed from egocentricism to theocentrism. To prove this, the first goal will be to establish what Orthopathy is both historically and theologically, something which has never been fully accomplished in the academic world. This will include defining what a proper transformational experience with the Holy …

Establishing A Revitalizing Strategy For Church Planters: An Analysis Of Church Planting Trends Of The 21st Century Within The Published Works During The Past Thirteen Years (2001-2013) In America, Ji Woon Choi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Church planting is the most valuable method to spread the Gospel, and God wants to see His churches everywhere. Nevertheless, many church planters have produced strikingly different results; depression or growth. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and research about current church planting trends within the published works during the past thirteen years (2001-2013) in the United States and to suggest a healthy church planting and growth model for local church planters in America and the World. After the analysis of the current trends in the 21st century, the particular statistical evidences and theological views about this study …

Parenting Again For The Very First Time/You're Raising Your Grandchildren: Now What?, Larry Lamb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Grandparents raising their grandchildren are a new demographic emerging at a staggering rate because the parents are either unwilling or incapable of raising their own children. The rationale for this work is derived from the challenges this author and his wife have because of parenting their grandchildren. The research for this project has the value to offer support, wisdom, hope, and perspective for those who are parenting again as grandparents. Opportunities abound to lead grandchildren in a direction where they never would have gone had grandparents resisted the selfless act of parenting again. This project will be approached using surveys …

Biblical Environmental Protection: Seven Keys For Christian Leaders, Rejoice Muwadzuri

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project examines Christian environmentalism and espouses the need for the principles of environmental stewardship to be fanned into flame among Christians through the ministry and influence of Christian leaders. It has become apparent that America and the rest of the world face an environmental crisis as is reflected by climate change, high air and water pollution, land and habitat degradation, depletion of forests and issues of waste management. However, this reality has not been matched by a corresponding level of practical action and activism to protect and restore the environment in Christian circles. This thesis project will provide …

Marriage As A Spiritual Discipline: Principles And Benefits, Richmond Laney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christians use spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, and journaling as methods to enhance their relationship with God. However, Christian rates of divorce are not different than the United States average where more than one in three first marriages ends in divorce. This is despite a Christian belief that marriage is a special relationship. The rate of divorce among Christians should be reduced. Marriage can be practiced as a spiritual discipline that will benefit the relationship as well as yielding sought after spirituality. Marriage as a spiritual discipline would help couples increase marital satisfaction, thus driving down the divorce rate. …

Divorce In The Christian Society And A Prescriptive Model To Rekindle The Marriage Bond, Frederick Styles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to explore the history, consequences, and guidelines of divorce in the Christian world. God's plan for marriage is procreation of children and love between husband and wife. According to a Christian study by Jack Wellman, the top three reasons for Christians divorcing are adultery, communication, and abuse (physical and emotional). This thesis will assist couples who are contemplating divorce and provide guidance on the causes and effects of divorce. In addition, it will create a prescriptive model; guidelines for those couples to follow for each of the reasons above that will rekindle and strengthen …

Becoming A Disciple-Making Church: A Strategic Transition For Dongshin Apostle Community, Hyuk Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Dongshin Apostle Community (DAC) transitioned from being a traditional church of 210 members to a hybrid church of 700 members through an organic movement called Jesus Hope Movement (JHM). In recent years, however, DAC has also plateaued in its growth due to the limitations of its institutional structure. In order for DAC to become a healthy growing church once again, it must become a disciple-making church that implements strategic biblical steps of transition that will push the church to become more organic. This thesis project will examine diverse organic factors within DAC that enabled its growth and transition to a …

The General Epistles And Work, Theology Of Work Project, Kelly Liebengood, Al Erisman

Theology of Work Project

1. Introduction to General Epistles
2. James - Faith Works
   • Depending on God (James 1:1-18)
   • Working for the Benefit of Others in Need (James 1:22-28)
   • Faith and Work(s) (James 2:14-26)
   • Discriminating Against the Poor and Currying Favor with the Rich (James 2:1-13)
   • Listening Well and Taming the Tongue (James 1:19-21 and 3:1-12)
   • Selfish Ambition and Investing in Others (James 3:13-4:12)
     • Selfish Ambition and Submission to God (James 3:13-4:12)
     • Investing In Others (James 4:1-12)
   • Business Forecasting (James 4:13-17)
   • Business Oppression (James 5:1-6)
   • Waiting for the Harvest (James 5:7-20)
3. 1 Peter - Serving the World as Resident Alien Priests
   • Resident Aliens and Priests (1 …

Interview: Katherine Leary Alsdorf, Katherine Leary Alsdorf, David W. Gill

Theology of Work Project

Katherine Leary Alsdorf is co-author with Timothy Keller of Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work (Dutton, 2012). She came to Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City in 2002 to establish the Center for Faith and Work to help people nurture a meaningful integration between their faith and their professional work. Prior to this ministry role at Redeemer, she spent 20 years in the high tech industry. In California, she served as CEO of Pensare, an online management education company, and CEO of One Touch Systems, a hardware/software products company. Before that, she was President of Private …

Moore Of Feminine Style: A Rhetorical Examination Of "Wednesdays With Beth", Terrie Meeks

Masters Theses

Beth Moore is a best-selling author of books and Bible studies, a speaker to crowds that fill places like the Georgia Super Dome, as well as an international speaker, a radio and television personality, and she is achieving this milestone as a woman, in a world lit with male stars. Through all of these venues it is estimated that Moore speaks to hundreds of thousands of people each year. One of Moore's most recent ventures is speaking on Life Today with James and Betty Robison. Each week features an episode of "Wednesdays with Beth." Using Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's theory of …

The Pastor: Forming A Shared Vocational Vision, Skip Bell

Faculty Publications

Who defines the vocat i o n a l v i s i o n fo r pastoral ministry? Is it the employing denomination? Is it the congregation the pastor serves? Is it the church board? Is it the demand of the moment—preaching, evangelism, mission, church planting? Is it the Great Commission? Or is it the One who gives the commission? The purpose of this article is to discover a biblical foundation for a pastoral vision. Such a foundation offers the hope of transcending differing perspectives while relating to the various expectations of the church and broader community. Articulating a …

Justification And Sanctification In The Southern Baptist Church In West Virginia; Implications In Worship And Practice Of Faith, Todd Hill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to investigate the doctrines of justification and progressive sanctification and its implications in the Southern Baptist Churches in West Virginia. In the Southern Baptist Churches in West Virginia, there seems to be much confusion concerning the subject of justification and sanctification in the life of the believer. This confusion appears to grow out of a misunderstanding of sanctification and its relationship to justification from the error of Roman Catholic doctrine of blending justification and sanctification. The result of this study will expose the disparity of understanding concerning these doctrines and produce a teaching resource …