Practical Theology Commons^™

Contrasting The Faith Responses Of The Royal Official And Thomas In The Gospel Of John And Their Implications For Discipleship, Edward W. Watson

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

John pens his Gospel in such a way that, like his included characters who encounter Jesus, his readers are being confronted with the person of Jesus and the totality of his revelation. Also like the characters, John’s readers must make decisions regarding the divine truth being revealed through the gospel as they read the text and experience Jesus for themselves. This study examines the two characters of the royal official and Thomas in the Gospel of John, examining how each character responds to the testimony of Jesus and how their differing faith-responses provide instruction for modern discipleship.

Discipleship Coaching For Empowering Members At Norwalk Seventh-Day Adventist Church, John W. Strehle Jr.

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Based on members' feedback, there were concerns of judgmental and critical attitudes at the Norwalk Seventh-day Adventist Church. A study in 2009, “Christ’s Mission in Norwalk” by Monte Sahlin, Senior Consultant for Center for Creative Ministry, indicated a need for personal involvement in the Norwalk church in meeting the challenges of one another and the community. Yet, the judgmental and critical atmosphere was limiting the lay involvement. Likewise, the Natural Church Development (NCD) survey confirmed in 2014 that Loving Relationships was a minimum factor for the Norwalk Church. The survey showed that the community was not relying on friends …

Intentional Discipleship: Using A Personal Growth Plan With Microgroup Support As A First Step In Creating A Culture Of Discipleship At The University City Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Ryan Lee Ashlock

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

There is a general lack of understanding and practice of discipleship within Western Christianity. This lack of discipleship can be observed within the University City Seventh-day Adventist Church. Many Christians view their relationship with Jesus as something that affects the afterlife but has little effect on the present. There is a grave need for the church to have a culture of discipleship in which people are encouraged to have a daily and lifelong connection with Jesus.

Method

Building on conclusions drawn from theological reflection and a review of relevant literature, an intervention was developed that sought to draw church …

A Follow-Up Program For Public Evangelism Using Online Discipleship In The Indiana Conference, Eric Freking

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Traditional Adventist public evangelism in North America typically sees a large drop in attendance of new converts or potential converts shortly after the meetings end. I have personally held or been a part of around thirty evangelistic series in the past twenty years and have seen this pattern in each of them. The consequences are the loss of new or potential members, who, given more interaction with the evangelist, may assimilate into the church.

Method

An online discipleship program was created and launched in the Summer of 2020 in Indiana. Its purpose was to educate the participant on how …

Missional Leaders' Multiplication Through Holistic Discipleship: The Fishermen Project As A Model For German Millennials In The Central Rhenish Conference, Christian Badorrek

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

If not through the influx of Seventh-day Adventists from diverse countries and their missionary efforts, the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany would be stagnant. Most growing churches consist of people with migrant background and a large number of them conserve their native languages in their activities. Consequently, new approaches to reach the extremely secular indigenous population are rare, since the number of people who naturally have the potential to connect with them is rapidly declining. This downward spiral leads to an overaged Seventh-day Adventist church in Germany and seems to accelerate. Only very few millennials are …

A Bible Study Series: The Family-Centered, Church-Supported Paradigm Shift For Raising Children In The Faith At Salem Lutheran Church, Michael J. Nielsen

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Nielsen, Michael J. “A Bible Study Series: The Family-Centered, Church-Supported Paradigm Shift for Raising Children in The Faith at Salem Lutheran Church.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2021. 160 pp.

In many Christian churches there is the question: “How do we keep our children after confirmation?” The answer is a simple one: Parents. This MAP examines the relationship of the family and the church when it comes to raising children in the faith. Biblically parents are called to be the primary faith formers in the lives of their children. A multi-part Bible study was created to teach …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Large-Scale Discipleship Methods In Adult Believers: A Study Of The Southwest Church Rooted Experience, Kim Walton Harrell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Spiritually mature believers bear the burden of responsibility for an early-stage believer’s discipleship development. As a believer matures over time, the weight of responsibility shifts from the church corporately to the individual believer’s responsibility to disciple himself and others. Southwest Church has approximately 3,500 adult attendees on an average weekend and has the responsibility to disciple large numbers of early-stage believers in their faith journey. This research of large-scale programmatic discipleship methods centers on the Rooted experience recently adopted at Southwest Church. The purpose of this DMIN action research thesis is to positively affect the early discipleship development of adult …

Obeying The Commission: A Model For Equipping Christians To Make Disciples, David Kofi Bempong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Jesus was explicit when He gave His disciples specific instructions before His ascension. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commissions his followers to be disciple-makers. Christians today are beneficiaries of the previous generations’ efforts to fulfill this commission. The purpose of this project is to evaluate how discipleship is accomplished at Riverdale Baptist Church and to propose a strategy demonstrating practical ways people can begin making disciples. The traditional church model is losing relevance amid a society that is increasingly dissociating itself from formal religion. The body of Christ must be in touch with their communities and find effective ways of making …

Innovation In Churches: A Theoretical Framework, David R. Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many changes in the present socio-cultural context point to the importance of innovation in churches. A theoretical framework for understanding innovation in churches is presented, featuring 6 key elements. These elements include the cultural context of the church and the church’s target audience, a culture of innovation within the church, innovations in church programs, processes, and personnel, social capital (social ties) which permits church members to navigate the changes associated with innovation, program loss (that which is lost when programs change), and progress toward the church’s goals. The church’s goals and the …

Small Groups Evangelistic Growth At New Gainesville Seventh-Day Adventist Church, John Raymond Sconiers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christian denominations generally have low growth rates and stagnant evangelistic programs. While churches struggle to evangelize new believers, evangelistic models that utilize small group methodology have shown various degrees of success. The purpose of the author is to conduct a church growth study of the New Gainesville Seventh-Day Adventist Church by developing, implementing, and evaluating small groups over a thirteen-week period to analyze it’s effect on quarterly growth rate. The author will define and implement biblical principles of small groups and measure the outcome of numerical and personal growth among participants. As a result of implementing small group evangelism into …

A Biblical Understanding Of Making Disciples, Gregory Douglas Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the many functions of the local church is to make disciples. Unfortunately, thoughtful and consistent efforts have not always proven to yield the results that accompany transformational living. This thesis project seeks to address and remove some of the barriers around discipleship and disciple-making in the local setting. This study provided a discipleship training course targeted toward spiritually mature male leaders. Individuals were invited to attend a six-session training course where they were equipped with a biblical understanding of discipleship, and training in spiritual disciplines, to aid in their personal growth and ability to teach others. Data was …

Go & Make Disciples: The Biblical Foundation For Discipleship In The Way Of Jesus, Ryan May

Senior Honors Theses

What are Jesus’ foundational teachings that lay the groundwork for discipleship in the church today? Within this paper, I will seek to work through the initial section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to distill the essential theological lessons of Christ on discipleship. After introducing some important cultural realities concerning the state of discipleship in the church today, Matthew 5 will be thoroughly engaged. Beginning with a discussion on cultural, literary, and theological backgrounds, the passage will be broken down section by section to discern key truths expressed for the modern church. The paper will conclude with further reflection questions …

Potential Ministry Approaches For Reaching Hispanic Millennials In El Paso, Texas America’S Largest Ethnic Demographic In The Borderland, William Howard Lavender Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

How can evangelical churches be more effective when conducting Christ’s missional mandate to make disciples of all nations among one of the United States’ largest ethnic people group? A recent demographic study reveals that 60% of Hispanic Millennials form one of the nation’s largest ethnic demographics. The El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is home to the largest concentration of Hispanic Millennials living in the United States. This Doctor of Ministry project discovers ministry approaches that will equip ministry leaders in El Paso, Texas to be more effective at conducting Christ’s missional mandate within their ministry context.

Defining, Assessing, And Progressing Discipleship: Helping Church Leaders And Laity Become Confident And Equipped Disciple-Makers, Matthew R. Ulrich

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Many pastors, lay leaders, and followers of Jesus have a desire to make disciples, but there seems to be a general lack of understanding at the local church level about what it means to make disciples and equip disciple-makers. The Chartis discipleship assessment (www.chartisassessment.com) was created as a discipleship assessment to assist disciple-makers in pragmatically defining, assessing, and progressing the spiritual growth of their disciples. Discipleship definitions, supplemental teaching resources, and a biblical theology of discipleship were also created to produce a robust discipleship toolkit for any potential disciple-maker to utilize. These tools were given to eleven disciple-makers to be …

Leadership Development And Succession: A Review Of Best Practices With Insights For Mission Leadership, Boubakar Sanou

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Leadership development and succession planning are of critical importance to any organization’s performance and long-term sustenance. Unfortunately, the need to plan for leadership succession remains a challenge to most organizations, both secular and faith-based. This article explores the risks of not having a succession plan in organizations, the inhibitors of successful leadership transition management, and best practices for leadership development and transition. The last section explores ways to prepare the next generations for missions. The emphasis is on how intentional mentoring can help address the challenge of leadership development and succession at all levels of an organization.

A Study Of A Systematic Evangelistic Discipleship Process At The Lighthouse Free Methodist Church, Thomas Michael Doherty

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Lighthouse Free Methodist Church in Barryton, Michigan, lacks a systematic discipleship program that produces disciple-makers. This Doctor of Ministry project purposes to integrate a systematic discipleship program into the Lighthouse Free Methodist Church. The research methodology includes pre-and post-surveys and interviews. Pre- and post-survey data were collected to compare the number of disciplers, salvations, worship attenders, and the number of new systematic evangelistic discipleship groups. Six People participated in the training provided. The Lighthouse FMC is located near a small community of three-hundred people and is in the middle of a ten-mile circumference with thirty thousand. Thirteen people started …

Bringing Millennials Back To Church, Katherine Noell Parrish

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study is focused on the millennial age group at Mechanicsville Baptist Church in Gordonsville, Virginia. The overall purpose of this study is to increase the attendance of the millennial age group at MBC. If the church gains a better understanding of the dropout problem, increases communication, and improves discipleship, then it should increase millennials at MBC by 20% over four weeks. There were several events planned, along with increased communication, in the hope of meeting this goal. Some of these events had to be modified or cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic limits for any gatherings in Virginia. The unforeseen …

Developing A Discipleship Program For Chinese Speaking People To Create A Core Team For The “Abiding Christ Net” Via Zoom Video Conference, Sung Sub Song

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research (ASTR) data in December 2019 showed that among the 1.4 billion population in the Mainland China, there were 467,516 Adventist members, and the population per Adventist member ratio was about 3,000:1. Furthermore, there are about 50 million Chinese people living overseas. As a result, there is a great need to efficiently and effectively spread the Gospel to nearly 1.45 billion Chinese people around the world. In July 2020, the online Chinese discipleship network, ACN, was established to create a global Chinese discipleship network by connecting and utilizing Spirit-filled human resources, …

Missional Prayer: The Ebenezer Model As A Relational Catalyst For Disciple Making Through The Collegedale Seventh-Day Adventist Church, James Gordon Moon Sr.

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

In a 2010 missional assessment, the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church was made aware of a missional blind spot in relation to the external needs of its ministry context. A 2017 MinistryInsight.com Priorities Report also identified the region's desire for warmth and friendship from religious communities as a top ministry preference. In a 2018 effort to begin addressing these needs, Collegedale’s pastoral staff chose "Christ has called us to Make Friends," an actionable expression of Jesus' commission to make disciples. In light of these factors, the Collegedale Church needs a relational catalyst to encourage attenders and members to make friends …

An Evangelism And Discipleship Pathway To Address The Cultural And Worldview Distance Between The Preston Seventh-Day Adventist Church And The White British Culture In Preston, Jeff Keith Couzins

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem.

The UK Preston Seventh-day Adventist Church in the North England Conference is a predominantly Black church situated in a White British city. The Church has seen a numerical increase of almost 25% since 2013, but only one person from this growth was from the majority culture population, a group who tend not to be attracted to traditional Adventist forms of evangelism. The hypothesis for this project, therefore, is that when the cultural and worldview distance between church members and individuals in society is reduced, it is easier for the Christian witness to then explain the Kingdom of God. Also, …

Intentional Discipleship: Effective Disciple-Making For Church Growth In Liberia, George L. Suah

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastors of extremely effective disciple-making churches are conscious of the degree of church efficiency, and they recognize the significance of intentional discipleship for church growth. The purpose of this study is to investigate intentional discipleship for church growth in Liberia. An anonymous research study of 12 pastors and church leaders (evangelists) from Unity Light Ministry Network (UCC) in Kakata, Liberia, West Africa, was conducted to explore why Unity Light Ministry Network (UCC) in Liberia is struggling to grow their church numerically and spiritually. The study found that the Ministry does not have adequate and systematic training on intentional discipleship for …

Four Scriptural Principles: Creating A Discipleship Culture In A Caribbean Church Context, Reynold Decourcey Price

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastors and church leaders have critical roles to play in the spiritual development of their members. In this study, this student proposes to present a practical solution to a perennial issue that plagues his church and many others in Trinidad and Tobago. Presently, many church members are spiritual consumers of the ministry of a few, while they remain spiritual infants who do not contribute to the local church or to fulfilling the Great Commission. The churches are faced with the problem of determining how to teach, train, and disciple its members effectively to become spiritually mature disciples who know their …

Developing Reciprocal Community In Jackson Baptist Church, Jamie Ryan Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Jackson Baptist Church lacks reciprocal community amongst its regular attendees and visitors. The focus is on the large group gathering on Sundays which has developed a consumer-based culture within the church. In both the Old and New Testaments, there are examples of reciprocal community. Acts 2:44(NASB) it states, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common.” The church in the first century developed an active reciprocal community. Strategies laid out in scripture and church history can assist building community. This project by taking those strategies will conduct an awareness campaign at Jackson Baptist on …

Fostering Self-Efficacy For Biblical Learning And Doctrinal Awareness With Micro-Teaching In A Brief Course On Bible Study, Robin K. Henson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Self-efficacy for biblical learning was explored in the context of a small group experience focused on how to study the Bible. After first developing a new instrument to measure self-efficacy for biblical learning in a pilot study, ten church attendees participated in a seven-week course designed around the hermeneutical principles of understanding a Scripture passage in textual and historical context, placing the passage in the grand story of God, and relating it to relevant doctrine. The small group process employed micro-teaching as a mechanism to facilitate challenge and mastery experience in learning. Micro-teaching places the student in the role of …

The Impact Of Discipleship On The Wellbeing In Intergenerational Congregations, Joe Azzopardi

Human Subject Research Archive

This study has sought to understand the impact of belonging to an intergenerational congregation on wellbeing.

The Role Of Biblical Literacy In Discipling Believers In The Local Church, Joseph G. Austin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The degradation of biblical literacy has increased in recent years to the point that many church attendees have very little actual knowledge or understanding of Biblical truths. This lack of knowledge is a direct correlation to the lack of moral foundations for many of today’s believers, particularly with younger generations. The goal of this paper is to provide a balanced, substantive, and interactive plan for churches, large and small, to integrate into their discipleship programs or use to assist the local church in establishing a discipleship program. The process will include surveys gauging the level of biblical literacy among self-identified …

Evaluating Discipleship Program Effectiveness Of Liberian Churches In Worcester, Massachusetts, Jesse G. Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project is evaluating discipleship program effectiveness of Liberian churches in Worcester, Massachusetts. The goal of this thesis is to develop a strategy and effective program for the Liberian churches in Worcester, Massachusetts as a tool to train and educate the Liberian churches for effective and adequate discipleship programs. This project will survey Liberian Christians residing in Worcester, Massachusetts who are members of churches that are dominantly Liberians. This research will help others to understand their religious background, social lifestyles and commitment to discipleship. Implementation of the 12-step training proposed in this project will enable the Liberian churches to be …

The Practice Of Children’S Ministry: Developing A Cohesive Vision Of Practice With Church Leaders, Shannon Clarkson Rains

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to create a congregational workshop for church leaders that leads to the development of a cohesive vision for the practice of children’s ministry. In order to do this, I began by presenting the evolution of children’s ministry in the Churches of Christ along with the current tensions that exist between ministers and church leadership created by a lack of cohesive vision for the practice of children’s ministry. This foundational understanding of the origins of this tension supports my discussion of a vision for children’s ministry that includes attention to the spiritual formation of children—an …

The Church Discipleship: Real Praxis, Omar Rojas

Masters of Theological Studies

This paper presents a holistic model for effective discipleship. Definitions of discipleship used by several ecclesiastical denominations as well as a secular perspective are examined, but biblical examples and principles of discipleship serve as the platform to achieve spiritual knowledge and its purpose. The current state of discipleship in a sample of some of the denominational Christian churches in the West is presented in order to understand the necessary changes that need to be made. In the same manner, this paper offers some elements of healthy discipleship from around the world that provide a fresh way to integrate real discipleship …

Technological Discipleship: How Modern Platforms Can Improve Devotional Habits In Core Church, Greg D. Phelps

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

In a society immersed and fascinated with technological devices and tools, the researcher explored the extent to which online platforms can provide a productive means to implement discipleship programs in a church plant through the use of internet video devotional materials. The relatively low practice of regular devotional habits in today’s Church has become an increasing problem. The purpose of this project was to examine the possibility of spiritual formation within the congregants of Core Church through the use of online video devotions. The project consisted of sixteen online video devotions that were created from four sermons delivered at Core …