Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Breaking Depression’S Silence Within The Church Through Friendships, Robert D. Mcbain

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has a rich history of helping sufferers interpret their experiences of depression, but changing worldviews, the growth of the modern medical model, and the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals monopolized health and shoved the church to the periphery of the conversation. Silence became the church’s typical response, which …

Christian Identity Meets Identity Politics: A Lutheran Approach To Political Engagement, Michael Hanson

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Identity politics has become a frequently referenced and much maligned term used to describe a trend in political engagement in the early 21^st century. Identity politics is employed across the political spectrum and has critics on both the left and right in the United States. Christian Identity Meets Identity Politics examines the contours of identity politics to understand and consider the concerns which lead neighbors to engage in identity politics, accounts for the needs of those neighbors who are denied God’s gift of justice through the state, considers criticisms leveled against identity politics within the greater view of Western …

Being Biblical In A Pluralistic Age

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

One way to define a disciple is “a follower of someone’s words.” In a pluralistic age, there are many words beckoning would-be disciples to particular ways of life, all promising some kind of wellness. These word-ways are ingredients of worldviews, a program or map for orienting oneself in the world. Worldviews answer core questions about human existence, often in the form of a story. This essay argues that contemporary pluralism is the result of abandoning the Bible as our control story, a loss that is as much a failure of what Charles Taylor calls the social imaginary. If this diagnosis …

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 …

Disabling The Body Of Christ: Toward A Holistic Ecclesiology Of Embodiment, Nancy Jill Hale

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

Dissertation Notice:

Full Text of Dissertation

A brief history of ecclesiology is followed by an assessment of the embodied ecclesiology of selected theologians. The relationship among embodiment, liturgy, and christian formation is probed. Finally, principles are proposed that answer the question, “What would it mean for the church to be a disabled body?” The intention of these principles is to help churches disable those beliefs and practices that keep them from being the message of the kingdom of God and from embodying the new social reality of the gospel that challenges the values of other social bodies in the world.

Developing A Model For Church-Based Disaster Relief, Brady Rose

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide a manual for the local church to implement in preparation for and during times of disaster. The author will specifically focus on the region of Amherst County, Virginia for this project. The author will approach this project by first defining what a disaster is and the role the church should play during times of great need. Attention will be given specifically to how the church should respond during times of disaster in foreign nations, in the United States, in nearby counties, and in the community of the church’s backyard. This project will …

A Biblical Guide To Maximizing Great Commission Emphasis By Transforming Your Church Government, Marcus W. Bridges

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

After learning 3500-4000 churches close their doors each year, Ed Stetzer believes, "the church will not change until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change." This project will compare Congregation-led churches to Elder or Board-led churches to explore the need for changing the practical operation of the church in attempts to fulfill the Great Commission. The thoughts presented will provide a guide for church leaders, pastors, and church planters to adopt the style of governing policies that best results in for Jesus Christ. There will be fifty pastors polled from Congregation and Elder-led churches …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Outreach And Retention Methods Of Six Congregations Of The Brunswick Baptist Association, Jeffrey Gibby

Doctor of Ministry Projects

I chose two hypotheses to form a survey. The first hypothesis is that persons are reached by the style of building, existing relationships, or advertising. The second hypothesis is that persons maintain their membership based on the content of preaching, the quality of teaching programs, or fellowship.

I employed the Mann-Whitney Statistical Test to analyze the data.

The data revealed that good preaching, good worship, and good fellowship make a growing church. The data results also show the significance of the Pastor and revealed that age-graded Bible study groups are still valid in reaching and retaining members.

The Local Churches And The Universal Church: Reflections On The Kasper/Ratzinger Debate, Adam Koester

Obsculta

No abstract provided.