Practical Theology Commons^™

Assessing Retention Patterns And Implementing Strategies For Membership Retention In The Zimbabwe Union Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Richard Sithole

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

This research project has investigated, identified, and assessed member retention patterns of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Zimbabwe, an entity usually referred to as the Zimbabwe Union Conference (ZUC). What prompted the research are two quinquenial reports (1998-2002; 2003-2007) which, as will be seen, show high baptisms as well as high membership losses (see Appendix B). Findings were made through surveys and questionnaires to pastors, elders, members, and former members; the researcher then designed an intervention program which was tried in two churches which were fast growing and at the same time poor in retention. The program was deliberate, …

Mentoring And Coaching Executive Secretaries In The Zimbabwe Union: A Strategy For Change, Solomon Maphosa

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Southern Africa Indian Ocean Division (SID) has never developed or implemented a program for coaching and mentoring newly elected leaders at any administrative level—division, union, or conference. Newly elected officers report personal and professional frustration as a result. It is reasonable to infer this has contributed to new leaders facing difficulty in delivering expected performance on the job, effecting their careers and service to the community of believers.

Methodology

The study followed the qualitative research paradigm. Qualitative research became a method of choice because it is descriptive in nature and it provides the researcher with the opportunity to …

Development Of An Action Plan To Transform The Erwin Hills Seventh-Day Adventist Church Into A Family-Friendly Church For The Purpose Of Winning Families With Youth And Children, Eli Rojas

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Through a period of a few years the Erwin Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church went from a thriving congregation with members of all ages to a small group of faithful members who desired to see the return of the days when their church was thriving. As the new pastor took office a desire to change came upon the leadership, one that led them to think of ways to attract and retain families to their ranks. There was a lack in ministry that was inclusive of all the members of a household and thus unattractive to new members with young adults …

A Strategy For Effective Youth Ministry In The Bantama Seventh-Day Adventist Church Ghana, Kofi Opoku Acheampong

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Young people comprise two-thirds of the 1,500 members of the Bantama I Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ghana. Despite a continuing increase in the number of young people, only a few of them attend youth activities. It appears that there may be a lack of formal programming or clear directions for youth ministry in the church. The result is a lack of spiritual connections between the youth and the church. In addition, there are behavioral problems among the young people when they are left to their own activities; consequently, parents are not allowing their children to attend youth-initiated activities, resulting …

Stewardship Patterns In The North Katanga Field Of East Congo: Implications For Leadership, Mutombe N'Gili-Muloko

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (GC) has reduced funding in terms of the appropriation to the lower entities. The GC has encouraged all organizations to reduce debts and manage their income more effectively. This project was formulated to determine to what extent the North Katanga Field (NKF) can increase its tithes and manage its income adequately. From 1999 to 2003 tithe decreased in the NKF when at the same time it increased in the North-East Congo (NECAT) areas and these regions were compared.

Method

Substantial written materials from specialists were used to find strategies for tithe …

Transforming West Zambia Field Of Seventh-Day Adventists To Conference Status: A Case Study, Passmore Hachalinga

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Southern Africa-lndian Ocean Division (SID) experiences annua] baptized membership growth of 5-7 percent. This membership growth rate however has not resulted in church organizational self- support. Efforts implemented by the SID administration to bring local fields to the required level of self-support, or conference status, in a timely manner failed to yield expected results during the 2005-2010 periods. This study project seeks to address this challenge by conducting a case study of West Zambia Field of Seventh-day Adventists.

Method

An assessment was conducted in the West Zambia Field of Sev enth-day Adventists using …

The Historical Reflection Of The Integration Of The Minority Groups Within The Adventist Church In Zimbabwe Between 1985 And 1994, Jonathan Tapera Nzuma

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The integration of minority groups into the mainstream of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Zimbabwe has been resisted. In the power struggle that ensued, rooted in complex issues of multi-ethnicity and multiculturalism, the church has gone through a schism. Little reflective thought has been given to how this schism may have been avoided and how to address similar issues in the future, as well as seeking to embrace wounded members back into the larger Adventist Church.

The Method

A theological foundation was laid for this project by examining the biblical doctrine of unity in diversity as portrayed in both …

The Role Of The Pastor In A Multi-Church District In East Zimbabwe Conference Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Robert Muzira

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Some Seventh-day Adventist Church members in Chiremba West District, Harare, East Zimbabwe Conference, complained that 1, the district pastor, was not ministering to them effectively. The district has a total of seven organized churches and a membership of 5.135 (E.Z.C. Church Membership Record Book, 2008). Despite the high membership, members' expectations are that I attend all family or church programs. The purpose of the project was to discover the professional role for the pastor in a multi-church district, and also to uncover the expectations that church members have of their pastor in a multi-church district. Defining those expectations enables …

A Strategy To Mobilize Seventh-Day Adventists In Lusaka In Response To The Hiv/Aids Crisis, Harrington Simui Akombwa

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

While Zambia is rated the 7th country worst affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide, the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, an Faith Based Organization (FBO) well respected nationwide for its concern about people’s physical health because of its hospitals and clinics around the nation, is seemingly standing by doing close to nothing. What could be the problem?

Method

To uncover the possible causes of Adventists’ perceived noncommittal stance on the AIDS issue, a survey designed around a descriptive and exploratory social research model utilizing quantitative research techniques for data collection and analysis was conducted. The survey was conducted in 2 of the …

Programa Para Mejorar La Salud Espiritual De La Iglesia Adventista Del Séptimo Día De Gainesville-Florida, Byron Alexander Rivera Sr.

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Every church as a social group has the potential to grow and improve its spirituality, its cohesion, its commitment, its fidelity and its participation. The Gainesville Spanish Adventist Church is formed by members that have the ardent desire to improve in all these areas. This investigation aims to improve the spirituality of the congregation.

Methodology

The investigation began with the selection of 25 members of the Gainesville Spanish Church in Florida who were available to collaborate in the investigation in order to detect the spiritual deficiencies among church members. A questionnaire was used to discover the spiritual weaknesses and, …

The History Of The Emergence Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In The State Of Manipur, India, Cornelius Kamei

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist church emerged in the state of Manipur, India, through a lay-led church planting movement. Currently, no written account exists of the early history of this work in Manipur. Today, the work in Manipur is clergy-dependent and growth in this region has stagnated. In order for the work to move forward successfully, there is a need to remember the early history of the work in this region.

Method

In the absence of earlier written works on the rise of Adventism in Manipur, oral sources were relied upon as primary sources for accuracy. The sources were gathered through …

Developing Team Ministry Among Pastors And Elders In The Eastern Sector Of The Reunion Conference Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Johnson Andriamanalina Razafimamonjy

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

In 2005, two of the churches in the eastern district of Reunion Island experienced severe conflict between the assigned pastor and elected local elders. The response of one church was the removal of its elders from their posts. In the other church, the church board expressed that they did not want the pastor. The result was minimal church growth during the two years that followed. The continuing confusion and conflict that has stymied the evangelistic potential of the congregations must be addressed in order to recover mission and witness.

Task

The task of this project is to develop and …

Formation Of A Widows' Association: Empowering Women In The Local Church In The Kabwe East And West Districts Of The Central Zambia Conferance, Lubinda Ngenda

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The failure to meet the basic needs of life for the many widowed women in Kabwe East and West Mission District of the Adventist Church has affected the faith of widows in God’s ability to help them meet their physical needs and has eroded their confidence in the ability of the local church to help, as well as the genuineness of purpose the local church has in helping its needy members. The many widowed women in this region of Zambia, represented as 50% by some researchers, make responding to the problem urgent.

Method

Literature on leadership and community efforts …

Implementation And Evaluation Of The Jesus Loves Jeans Initiative To Evangelize And Retain Youth For The Houston International Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Kendall Turcios

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The Topic

The Houston International Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church has had significant challenges baptizing and retaining its youth. In the last five years, only a few youth have been baptized and nearly 50% no longer attend church. A primary contributing factor seems to be the lack of training to develop genuine biblical discipleship in the youth and young adults. Eims (1978) describes the process of discipleship as ―[taking a] person from the time of his conversion and helping him become a solid, dedicated, committed, fruitful, mature disciple who could in time repeat that process in the life of another‖ (p. …

A Curriculum To Equip Lay Pastoral Candidates For Service In The Pennsylvania Conference, James Richard Wibberding

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

During the first decade of the twenty-first century, Pennsylvania Conference leaders nurtured a desire for lay pastoral development. However, a cohesive training program did not emerge. Although lay training programs with other foci and the efforts of some local salaried pastors had produced a few lay pastors, a streamlined, accessible, principle-driven, and competency-based program was needed. With an increase in pastor to member responsibility of 64% from 1970 to 2005 and no growth in the number of churches in the same period, the creation of a training program was deemed to have missional import.

Method

An eleven-month curriculum was …

Planting Diverse Ethnic Seventh-Day Adventist Churches In Berlin, Germany, Berndt Dietrich Wolter

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Purpose

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a contextualized model for an ethnic church planting process in large cities such as Berlin.

Statement of Problem

The unchurched population of foreigners in Germany stands at around seven million with 450,000 of them living in Berlin. A few existing ethnic Adventist churches in Germany have been established in the past but no strategy has been developed to reach new foreign groups. Although there are some Adventist ethnic churches in Berlin, they have not developed a coherent strategy to reach the rest of the foreigners. The German attitude toward integration of …

Creating A Relational Model Of Evangelism In The Texas Conference, John L. Dubosque Jr.

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Seventh-day Adventist evangelism has attracted fewer postmodern Generations X and Y persons in the recent past due to a lack of understanding subgroup culture and the church’s tendency to accommodate only didactic preaching in a public evangelistic series. Complicating transformation are some Builders and Boomers who are resistive of the needed deep changes in public evangelism ministry which includes small groups. Researched principles that could readily be applied without alienating the older generations had to be field tested in six evangelistic campaigns in order to determine if success could be obtained in reaching Generations X and Y.

Method

Three …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Summer Day Camp In The Local Church As An Opportunity To Encourage Youth In Their Spiritual Growth, Church Identity, And Service, Michael J. Stevenson

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Large amounts of time and effort are expended by youth directors in providing camp related opportunities for employment. It is widely hoped by these youth directors that the experience of being a camp staff person will increase spirituality among the staff, that it will strengthen their identification with the Seventh-day Adventist church, and that, in the future, these same staff members will desire more opportunities to serve in the mission of the church. The purpose of this project is to qualitatively study whether staff are affected positively or negatively in the ways mentioned above, by being staff members of …

Strategies Of Team Formation In A Multi-Staffed Church, Larry C. Becker

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

This project sought factors that bring about the formation of pastoral teams.

Method

Methods included the study of current literature, testing a hypothesis, administering a self-developed survey with pastoral teams in the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh day Adventists, and work with the Redlands Seventh-day Adventist Church pastoral team. Data was gathered from 30 churches, totaling 77 pastors and results were tabulated with SPSS software.

Results

Analysis of the teams in the main cohort and Redlands revealed both support for the hypothesis and factors of team formation. These pastoral teams formed in a culture, in relationship, with trust, mutual …

A Description And Analysis Of The Implementation Of A Strategic Leadership Team In The Oerlikon Sda Church, Paul N.T. Wright

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Oerlikon Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church in a suburb of Zurich, Switzerland declined from a total of 204 members in 1975 to 103 members at the end of 2008. This represents a membership loss of nearly fifty percent in thirty years. It is a hypothesis of this paper that a lack of strategic leadership at local church level is one reason for this decline. The task of this paper is to describe and evaluate a Strategic Leadership Team which came into existence in 2006 as a means of promoting growth in that local church.

Methods

The project begins by …

How To Have A Christ-Centered Youth Ministry In A Small Church Using Mentoring, Missions And Meetings, Kris R. Eckenroth

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

As of 2005, there was only one Seventh-day Adventist church within the Pennsylvania Conference that was providing consistent youth ministry. Many of the churches have seemed to have had difficulty finding individuals who have both the experience and the necessary training to lead a local church youth program. Due to the absence of local church youth ministry, the needs of the youth are being unmet and many are leaving the church.

Method

The method used to address this problem began in 2005. Training sessions were provided to potential leaders within the churches in the Pennsylvania Conference. There were five …

Bringing Home Our Adventist Prodigals: A Strategic Plan To Reclaim Youth In The Trans-European Division, Paul David Tompkins

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Seventh-day Adventist church is losing far too many of its young people. This trend is hurting the world-wide church, the local congregation, and individual families. Yet very little is being done about it! The purpose of this study is to address this issue and to specifically formulate a Strategic Plan for reclaiming inactive youth in the Trans-European Division (TED).

Method

The TED territory is extensive, covering over thirty-five countries, therefore, a local pilot project was conducted. This involved identifying young people who the local church listed as inactive, or non-attending, and then contacting them with a questionnaire as …

Recruiting And Equipping Postmodern Immigrant Youth Preachers In Emmaus, Christian Fellowship, And Community Tabernacle Seventh-Day Adventist Churches, Anthony L. Usher

Doctor of Ministry Projects

After spending over six years at Emmaus SDA church, on January 1, 2004, the author was assigned to Christian Fellowship SDA Church and Community Tabernacle Mission. He observed that the fierce shifting winds of postmodernism have fueled the retardation of youth evangelism. If the trajectory of this dreaded trend goes unchecked, youth preaching in these churches will spiral downward into the obscure corridors of oblivion. A relevant profile, as well as a specific demographic composition of all three congregations, enhanced the development of an empowering argument that potentially could reverse the momentum of this encroaching tide back to God’s side. …

An Investigation Of Mentoring Preference Of Employees At The Adventist Information Ministry And Implications For Empowerment, Christopher Vernon Fritz

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Customer Service Representatives at the Adventist Information Ministry (AIM), the call center for the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventist Church media ministries on the campus of Andrews University in Michigan, have a passion for ministry but lack mentoring models to make their ministry effective. There is a great need to understand mentoring models operational at AIM and to develop a master plan for mentoring and empowering employees at Adventist Information Ministry.

Method

The purpose of this study was to discover the mentoring styles preferred by employees within the Seventh-day Adventist community of faith working at Adventist Information Ministry …

A Lay Mobilization Program For The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Zimbabwe, Cuthbert Machamire

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The church in Zimbabwe involves lay people in ministry, but the proportion of people involved is small compared to the total membership of the church. Further, while the church believes in the biblical teaching on spiritual gifts, this concept is not given enough emphasis in enlisting members for ministry. This results in some members experiencing frustration as they serve in ministries for which they are not gifted. Others stay uninvolved either because they are not personally invited to take part, or because they do not find a ministry in the church that matches their gifts.

Method

In this dissertation, …

An Evaluation Of The Implementation Of Natural Church Development Within Seventh-Day Adventist Churches In The United States And The Resulting Church Growth, Rodney Jon Mills

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The Problem

Natural Church Development (NCD) is a church health paradigm that is being used in Seventh-day Adventist churches across the United States as a tool for increasing both church health and growth. One question that needs to be addressed is whether the implementation of NCD within Seventh-day Adventist churches results in church growth.

The Purpose

The purpose of this dissertation is to establish a validation of the NCD process by evaluating the church growth experienced at the Milwaukee Central Seventh-day Adventist Church and compare that growth with Seventh-day Adventist churches across the United States which have participated in taking …

Church Planting To Reach Postmodern Generations: Launching A New Church In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Jeffrey T. Potts

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

The Henderson Highway Seventh-day Adventist Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was failing to attract unchurched young adults (ages 18-35). Many of the young adults who had grown up in the church were lapsing into irregular worship attendance. Attempts were made to help the congregation become more relevant to postmodern generations. However, these attempts failed to create a church environment that truly engaged young adults.

Method

Under the direction of its senior pastor, the Henderson Highway Church decided to plant a new congregation to reach unchurched young adults. The church was designed to be relevant to the postmodern context. Launched at …

Los Medios De Comunicación Masiva En La Evangelización Adventista En Texas, Daniel Sosa

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The mission Jesus entrusted to the church, “Go and make disciples,” is not yet accomplished. To solve this problem, mass media communications can be used, especially in Hispanic churches. At all times, God has communicated with created beings. This communication has taken many shapes, culminating in the coming of God’s Son to earth. However, the Bible is the most accessible form to human beings in the twenty-first century.

Adventist pioneers used the secular press as well as the publication of their own books and periodicals, both before and after the disappointment of October 22, 1844. The Adventist Church has taken …

Proyecto Para La Construccion De Un Templo Para La Iglesia Adventista Central Hispana De Kansas City En Missouri, Manuel Moral

Doctor of Ministry Projects

The purpose of this project is to meet the need of a temple for the Kansas City Adventist Central Hispanic Church in Missouri. Financing the construction of that temple presents a difficulty. That is why fundamentals, principles, strategies, and methods will be studied that will make the construction possible.

The theoretical part will consist of studying the proceedings required for the building of temples in the Bible, and that are still applied today. Consequently, actual books and manuals will be researched regarding the construction of a temple. The process mentioned includes different implications that will also be researched in this …

Implementing A Spiritual Formation Program In The North Miami Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Grigore Leordean

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

From 1986 to 2005, the North Miami Beach Seventh-day Adventist Church has never been exposed to spiritual formation. The poor inadequate knowledge of church members as to how to practice the presence of God on a daily basis and the lack of numerical and spiritual growth, along with the unfulfilled goals of the founding members of the church, called for special and immediate action. The purpose of this project was to develop and implement a spiritual formation program in the church and address this deep spiritual need that had not been met over the years.

Method

A nine-month process …