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Full-Text Articles in Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

The Korean-American Church In The 21st Century; A How To Model For Church Growth, Dongsik Kim Oct 2012

The Korean-American Church In The 21st Century; A How To Model For Church Growth, Dongsik Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although Korean-Americans have high religious affiliation, they have a low religious commitment. Many Korean-Americans think of the church as a place for relaxation and social connection rather than a place of worship. With the distorted perspective towards the church, the Korean-American churches experience split and division; the church's growth stagnates or declines, and the church is no longer healthy. This project provides suggestions for becoming a healthy church through a case study of the Lord-Jesus Korean Church (LJKC) in Richmond, VA. Based on questionnaires, the project evaluates the effectiveness of the ministries of the LJKC and suggests recommendations for becoming …


Culture And Interreligious Understanding According To The Romanian Philosopher Lucian Blaga, Michael S. Jones Aug 2012

Culture And Interreligious Understanding According To The Romanian Philosopher Lucian Blaga, Michael S. Jones

Michael L Jones

Culture affects how we interpret our experiences and the way we construct our world. It also affects our ability to communicate with one another. The late Romanian philosopher Lucian Blaga developed a systematic philosophy of culture that explores and explains how culture challenges and at the same time facilitates interideological communication. This article introduces and explains these aspects of Blaga's philosophy and then applies them to the issue of interreligious dialogue. It concludes that Blaga's philosophy of culture promotes a high regard for culture and cultural distinctness and at the same time vindicates, enables, and promotes efforts at interreligious understanding.


Extending Story Listening As A Practice Of Communal Formation At The Lake Orion Church Of Christ, Eric R. Magnusson Aug 2012

Extending Story Listening As A Practice Of Communal Formation At The Lake Orion Church Of Christ, Eric R. Magnusson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project that explores the potential for extending a practice of story listening as a way of forming community across social circles at the Lake Orion Church of Christ in Lake Orion, Michigan. The intervention involved guiding a group of six participant-researchers, each of whom had previous experience in story listening, through six sessions in the fall of 2011. Each phase of the project was informed by a participatory social Trinitarian theology. The first three sessions were designed to empower participant-researcher pairs to facilitate story listening groups of four to five …


Karl Barth Among The Postliberals, William J. Brennan Iii May 2012

Karl Barth Among The Postliberals, William J. Brennan Iii

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


The Initiation Of Growth-Focused Relationships Involving Healthy Accountability At The Carbondale Church Of Christ, Stephen Shaffer May 2012

The Initiation Of Growth-Focused Relationships Involving Healthy Accountability At The Carbondale Church Of Christ, Stephen Shaffer

Doctor of Ministry Theses

After several years of transition, the Carbondale Church of Christ is in the early stages of becoming a spiritual growth-focused community. However, the emerging growth community appears to reflect the prevailing cultural assumptions that growth is a personal, private, and an individual task. To shape this emergent growth culture, this project initiated a group of congregational opinion leaders, organized in pairs, into the practice of growth-focused relationships involving healthy accountability. The initiation involved a theological orientation followed by a four-week healthy accountability praxis.

The theological framework of the project involved three main aspects. First, the project used the body image …


Liberian Clergywomen And The Women Of Liberia Mass Action For Peace : Causal Factors For Clergywomen's Participation Or Nonparticipation And The Impact On Clergywomen's Leadership In The Liberian Church, Katurah York Cooper May 2012

Liberian Clergywomen And The Women Of Liberia Mass Action For Peace : Causal Factors For Clergywomen's Participation Or Nonparticipation And The Impact On Clergywomen's Leadership In The Liberian Church, Katurah York Cooper

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


The Father's Business Person, The Shift To Tentmaking Missions Strategy, Chris White May 2012

The Father's Business Person, The Shift To Tentmaking Missions Strategy, Chris White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the important place that tentmaking holds or should hold in missions strategy. It is the belief of the author (supported by almost 20 years of ministry experience overseas) that visas and money are often barriers to ministry effectiveness. This paper would like to provide a solution (i.e. tentmaking) to these common tensions that most missionaries encounter. The value of the topic is very personal to the author's ministry: first because I am currently serving on the mission field (needing a visa and money), and second because of the potential tentmaking holds for …


Calvin Theological Seminary Forum, Scott Hoezee, John Bolt, Carl Bosma, John Rottman Apr 2012

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum, Scott Hoezee, John Bolt, Carl Bosma, John Rottman

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

A Week at Calvin Theological Seminary
6 - The Ministry Theorem: Science for Ministry by Scott Hoezee
7 - Classic Reformed Theology: Still Serving the Church by John Bolt
8 - CTS: Serving Global Church Planting and Renewal by Carl Bosma
9 - Visiting, Learning and Serving in Angola Prison by John Rottman
10 - Preaching God’s Word in Classis Red Mesa by Jeff Weima
11 - International Conversation on the Gospel in Latin America by Mariano Avila
12 - Admissions Department Update by Matt Cooke
13 - A CTS Classroom in Your Own Context by Peter Choi
14 - …


The Postmodern Church, Timothy C. Lawless Apr 2012

The Postmodern Church, Timothy C. Lawless

Senior Honors Theses

Within the past twenty years, the Church (especially in America) has experienced dwindling membership and attendance, along with a host of other problems. Many of these problems are symptomatic of a massive cultural shift toward postmodernism, leading to discontentment with the Church. In attempting to respond to these challenges, the emergent Church has arisen as a major element of American religious culture. Their methodology and doctrine is heavily influenced by postmodernism, which presents a further challenge for Christian leaders and ministers. This paper will survey the challenges facing the Church, will describe the emergent Church’s origin and response to these …


Review Of: T. J. Gorringe. The Common Good And The Global Emergency: God And The Built Environment, Brian Stiltner Feb 2012

Review Of: T. J. Gorringe. The Common Good And The Global Emergency: God And The Built Environment, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Tim Gorringe follows up his positively reviewed 2002 book A Theology of the Built Environment with this offering from the same publisher. The former book was notable as a sustained attempt to think theologically about the ‘built environment’. The built environment is the context that humans construct for themselves through their industry and technology; it comprises all types of physical settlements (cities, suburbs, towns, and villages), roads and transportation systems, parks and outdoor spaces, and buildings of every sort. It matters to humans how we build social spaces, for this influences our individual flourishing and the common good. While any …


Developing Pastors' Understanding And Practice On Biblical Financial Stewardship: The Key To Impacting The Growth Of The Bible Christian Fellowship Church Of Indonesia, Tandi Frederik Randa Jan 2012

Developing Pastors' Understanding And Practice On Biblical Financial Stewardship: The Key To Impacting The Growth Of The Bible Christian Fellowship Church Of Indonesia, Tandi Frederik Randa

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


The Strategy Of Feed My Lamb Ministries: Developing Servant Leadership, Sunil Kumar Samuel Jan 2012

The Strategy Of Feed My Lamb Ministries: Developing Servant Leadership, Sunil Kumar Samuel

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Unity In The Body Of Christ: A Study Of The Racial Unification Of The Church Of God In Virginia, Stephen Gene Mcmurray Jan 2012

Unity In The Body Of Christ: A Study Of The Racial Unification Of The Church Of God In Virginia, Stephen Gene Mcmurray

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Your Next Move: Planning For Clergy Transitions, Robert Alfred Kaylor Jan 2012

Your Next Move: Planning For Clergy Transitions, Robert Alfred Kaylor

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Them That Are Without: A Biblical Theology Of Outsiders And Preaching On Outsiders In Churches Of Christ, Van E. Robarts Jan 2012

Them That Are Without: A Biblical Theology Of Outsiders And Preaching On Outsiders In Churches Of Christ, Van E. Robarts

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Toward A Theology Of Pareo Dei: Exploring A Contextual Theology Of Missio Dei For The Missiological Reconciliation Of The Korean Protestant Church, Musung Jung Jan 2012

Toward A Theology Of Pareo Dei: Exploring A Contextual Theology Of Missio Dei For The Missiological Reconciliation Of The Korean Protestant Church, Musung Jung

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Mentoring As A Tool For Leadership Development In The Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Nigeria, Oladimeji Babatunde Jan 2012

Mentoring As A Tool For Leadership Development In The Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Nigeria, Oladimeji Babatunde

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Sustaining Effective Spiritual Leadership Through Spiritual Formation Practice And Self-Care Among United Methodist Ordinands In The Rocky Mountain Conference, Jane Youtz Riecke Jan 2012

Sustaining Effective Spiritual Leadership Through Spiritual Formation Practice And Self-Care Among United Methodist Ordinands In The Rocky Mountain Conference, Jane Youtz Riecke

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Church And Clergy Revitalization Seen Through The Lens Of Luther's Theology Of The Cross, John David Roth Jan 2012

Church And Clergy Revitalization Seen Through The Lens Of Luther's Theology Of The Cross, John David Roth

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


"For The Sake Of Jerusalem, The City Which I Have Chosen:" On The Lord's Choice Of Zion/Jerusalem And Its Development In The Old Testament, David Schreiner Jan 2012

"For The Sake Of Jerusalem, The City Which I Have Chosen:" On The Lord's Choice Of Zion/Jerusalem And Its Development In The Old Testament, David Schreiner

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


He Loves The Immigrant: Deuteronomy's Theological And Social Vision For The Ger, Mark Abraham Awabdy Jan 2012

He Loves The Immigrant: Deuteronomy's Theological And Social Vision For The Ger, Mark Abraham Awabdy

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


The Adamic Backdrop Of Romans 7, Robert Brian Kidwell Jan 2012

The Adamic Backdrop Of Romans 7, Robert Brian Kidwell

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Mi'kmaq And French/Jesuit Understandings Of The Spiritual And Spirituality: Implications For Fait, Terry Lance Leblanc Jan 2012

Mi'kmaq And French/Jesuit Understandings Of The Spiritual And Spirituality: Implications For Fait, Terry Lance Leblanc

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Exploring Leadership Practices For Korean Missionary Wives In Davao City, Philippines, Kyung Ja Kim Jan 2012

Exploring Leadership Practices For Korean Missionary Wives In Davao City, Philippines, Kyung Ja Kim

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


2012 - 106th Annual Summit, "Intimacy", Abilene Christian University, Abilene Christian University Jan 2012

2012 - 106th Annual Summit, "Intimacy", Abilene Christian University, Abilene Christian University

Lectureship and Summit Programs

No abstract provided.


Healthier Officers, Healthier Corps: A Study Of Salvation Army Corps Officers' Spiritual Renewal As A Means Of Congregational Renewal, Grant Sandercock-Brown Jan 2012

Healthier Officers, Healthier Corps: A Study Of Salvation Army Corps Officers' Spiritual Renewal As A Means Of Congregational Renewal, Grant Sandercock-Brown

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.


A Critique Of The Multi-Ethnic Church Planting Strategy, Gustavo Suarez Jan 2012

A Critique Of The Multi-Ethnic Church Planting Strategy, Gustavo Suarez

Great Commission Research Journal

This paper seeks to discover if the multiethnic church planting strategy is effective in reaching a multicultural nation. This paper will first take a brief look at the challenges of an ethnic population in North America with primary emphasis given to the Hispanic population. Second, I will present supportive evidence for the multiethnic church planting view. Third, I will present arguments against the multiethnic strategy. Fourth, I will give observations and implications for the church. The main source of argument centers more in the methodology used. The reader will readily see the contrasting theological and cultural opinions of these two …


Book Review: Great Commission Companies: The Emerging Role Of Business In Missions By Steve Rundle And Tom Steffen, Anthony Casey Jan 2012

Book Review: Great Commission Companies: The Emerging Role Of Business In Missions By Steve Rundle And Tom Steffen, Anthony Casey

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.


Book Review: Global Church Planting: Biblical Principles And Best Practices For Multiplication By Craig Ott And Gene Wilson, Tom Steffen Jan 2012

Book Review: Global Church Planting: Biblical Principles And Best Practices For Multiplication By Craig Ott And Gene Wilson, Tom Steffen

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.


Book Review: Muslims, Christians, And Jesus: Gaining Understanding And Building Relationships By Carl Medearis, Warren F. Larson Jan 2012

Book Review: Muslims, Christians, And Jesus: Gaining Understanding And Building Relationships By Carl Medearis, Warren F. Larson

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.