Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Lead At Any Level, Will Gunzelman

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation discusses the key leadership imperatives and leadership lessons learned in combat, which transfer to the corporate sector

•Keywords: leadership, team building, strategy, talent management, ethics, Christian leadership, combat, special operations, project management, employee retention, recruiting, planning, and risk management

• Author, Will Gunzelman: retired U.S. Army Special Forces (“Green Berets”) after 27 years of service and numerous combat deployments. – Adjunct professor of Business Strategy and Policy – Strategy, leadership, and operations consultant for senior executives

Implementing A Discipleship Strategy At Open Door Evangelical Church, Samuel Odney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This thesis project aims to address the lack of involvement of church members in leadership at Open Door Evangelical Church. With the implementation of a discipleship strategy that will coach those not involved, they will become true disciples of Christ and serve in the church with any ability they have received from the Lord. The researcher will use three different methods for data gathering, including surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Every Member of the church will participate in the survey phase of the project. Still, the bulk of the study consisting of focus groups and interviews will focus on members …

Creating Collaborative Missional Communities To Enhance Church Revitalization, Bradford William Reaves

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

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This project utilizes the revitalization efforts of Grace Community Church in Winchester, VA to examine the precedence of collaborative strategies for church revitalization. In this study contemporary literature, theological foundations, surveys of church leaders in the United States, and interviews with collaborative church and ministry leaders from around the United States are evaluated to determine the need for greater collaboration for the health and revitalization of church and ministries. The findings of this research argue that contemporary church growth strategies that emerged from the recent church growth movement may actually inhibit church revitalization efforts …

Leadership Model And Best Practices For Member Engagement In Chambers Of Commerce, Gretchen Skok Disanto

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Many nonprofit membership-based associations experience poor levels of engagement which threatens member retention and their long-term survival. While leaders recognize that engaging members is critical to member retention, many association leaders struggle with identifying the best approaches for engaging members. This qualitative multiple case study focuses on member engagement and retention in two high-performing chambers of commerce with above-average member retention rates in Northeast Ohio. The study discovers effective strategies to engage chamber of commerce members, develops a leadership model for member engagement, and identifies best practices that chamber of commerce leaders should use to successfully engage members. Participants in …

Young People And Full Time Pastoral Ministry In The Church Of Pentecost U.S.A., Inc, Frank Asirifi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The shortage of young pastors to replace the aging and retiring pastorate is an alarming reality confronting Christian churches regardless of location, size, and denomination. This research project's primary objective was to explore the factors discouraging young Christian adults born in the United States of America from responding obediently to God's call into full-time pastoral ministry and create corporate awareness of the holistic nature of the problem and seek a collaborative solution plan to motivate young Christian adults to obey God’s call into full-time pastoral ministry. The project focuses on young American-born adults in the ministry context of The Church …

Church Leadership: The Church's Responsibility To The Great Commission And A Qualitative Approach To Its Command To Make Disciples, William Maxwell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The gospel message is one that is life changing and one that must go forward in our world. As the church, every Christian is responsible for making every effort to fulfill the incredible command that Jesus gave first to his small group of disciples and essentially to every follower. Disciples of Jesus are to go out and make new disciples of Christ, teaching them the ways of Jesus and actively helping them, through the working of the Holy Spirit, to mold them into Christians that will in turn go out and be disciples that make new disciples. Consequently, this is …

Understanding And Managing Conflict In Leadership Teams Within The African-American Church, Damian Alexander Hinton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The African American church has been the cornerstone of many urban centers since its birth in the United States. While it has been a haven for so many, the African American church (or Black church) has faced conflict, especially among its leaders. Senior Pastors and staff are keys to ministry progress in urban centers. This study utilized data from leaders within the African American church in the form of surveys, focus groups, and private interviews to identify the sources of conflict between Senior Pastor in the church and their ministry staff or team members. The results showed that while there …

A Qualitative Study On The Underrepresentation And Minimal Advancement Of African Americans In Higher Education, Sylvester Allen Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative case study explored the underrepresentation and disproportionate advancement of African American leaders in higher education. The general problem addressed is the minimal advancement, and the disproportionate representation of African Americans compared to their White counterparts in leadership positions at higher education institutions, resulting in a lack of diversity among individuals in a leadership capacity. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to add to existing bodies of research that address the underrepresentation and low advancement of African Americans in leadership positions in higher education. The research questions explored why African Americans leaders are disproportionately represented in leadership …

Leading From Eternity: Developing Inmates With Life Sentences Into Undershepherds, Richard S. Kowalczyk

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In an attempt to reform the American criminal justice system, the United States Congress passed, and the President signed, the comprehensive First Step Act (FSA). The aim of the FSA is to identify and begin preparing offenders for release in order to reduce recidivism. Unfortunately, the provisions of FSA applied to only a small percentage of the inmate population. Further, there was very little relief with regards to the reforming of the sentencing guidelines. None of the provisions provided any direct relief for inmates with a minimum of 20 years to life sentences. This thesis project provides an opportunity for …

Migrating And Amplifying Ministry To Online Platforms To Pursue The Great Commission, Daniel Elnaam Bagaas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The COVID-19 crisis was unexpected by the universal church. The current pandemic revealed that the universal church and many local churches were not prepared for its’ accompanying challenges or to adapt in general. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, churches across America were required to temporarily cease in-person public gatherings and later to reduce the number of participants once in-person meetings were allowed again. This scenario caused many churches to have to adapt to the current circumstances to continue ministering. The purpose of this DMin research project is to amplify Sonrise Church’s online ministry presence and determine if it garners greater engagement …

Exploring How Self-Leadership Influences Team Building In The Department Of Defense, Joseph Wolemonwu

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative research case study explored the influence of self-leadership in team-building abilities among leaders within a Department of Defense (DOD) component in Quantico, Virginia. The general problem to be addressed was the lack of self-leadership among leaders resulting in ineffective team building. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to discover what tools, approaches, skills, methodologies, or theories are needed to prepare those in authority for self-leadership better to assist team building and to evaluate those tools, methods, or theories. Research questions explored how self-leadership supports team-building abilities among leaders. If any, the barriers to self-leadership could prevent …

A Correlational Study Of Emotional Competence And Christian Practices Among Millennials, Nancy Watkins Flanagan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While emotions management is critical to effective leadership, literature describes present and emerging leaders in the millennial generation as not being proficient at managing their emotions. If this is true, how could the Christian community promote leadership development for millennials? Toward determining if a connection exists between emotions management and faith, this non-experimental quantitative correlational study explored the relationship, if any, between millennials’ emotional competence and Christian practices. Survey instrumentation was employed. The survey included two validated instruments, one for emotional competence and the other for spiritual growth. Study invitations were emailed to 395 millennials at a church in VA’s …

Exploring The Effect Of Leader Emotional Intelligence On Follower Self-Efficacy During Change Management, Jay L. Phipps

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The problem under study was lack of scholarly research on the effect leader emotional intelligence (EI) has on follower self-efficacy during change management. This study provided findings on the three overarching themes of EI, organizational change, and self-efficacy. Each theme was examined individually and then how they are interrelated. The researcher provided a detailed overview of how the interviews were conducted then subsequently coded and analyzed. The researcher then provided an interpretation of the findings through visualization of the data. As a support to the research, a detailed explanation of the research questions was provided along with participant vignettes to …

Developing A Discipleship Program For Artists In Naples, Florida, William Sanford Barnett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Naples, Florida, is home to many talented artists. Many hold to various worldviews that are different from a biblical one. Both secular and Christian artists are on a mission to transform the culture. This divide creates challenges for Storytellers Creative Arts’ mission to do evangelism through the arts. Artists, over centuries, have functioned in various roles within the church, marketplace, government, communications, entertainment, and education. The arts have always been one of the most powerful forces in transforming the world. God has instituted the church as His most redeeming force to transform culture. Rather than allowing the arts to be …

Leadership Development Of Ethnic Minoritized Men In Ces: A Phenomenological Theory Study, Maria E. Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Ethnic minoritized men continue to be underrepresented in the counselor education and supervision (CES) field in faculty and leadership roles. This qualitative phenomenological study highlights the lived experiences of six ethnic minoritized men leaders in CES to examine the factors that helped them in their leadership development and how those elements can be fostered in others to increase diversity in leadership in CES. The six participants come from universities across the United States. Limited research has been done on ethnic minoritized men leaders in counseling and CES, and that research focused on their current leadership experiences. A semi structured interview …

Shared Oversight: Equipping Elders To Shepherd The Flock, Eric Michael Hartman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Leadership structures vary greatly across various faith traditions, but how much flexibility is biblically warranted? Far from being silent, the Bible is descriptive and prescriptive with regard to a plurality of leadership within a congregation. These elders, also called overseers, are to shepherd the flock (Acts 20:17, 28). The problem is that there is often lack training to that end. This study constructed a process for training elders and/or potential elders within a congregation to better understand the nature of plurality and parity of those tasked with caring for God’s people. The four training sessions covered the following: (1) The …

A Correlational Study Of Transformational Leadership Behavior And The Spiritual Growth Of Congregants’ From Multicultural Churches Of Christ In The United States, James Phillip Chaisson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The world in the twenty-first century is becoming more integrated and interconnected which is affecting not only how one conducts business and education, but also how the church adapts to the fact that over the coming years it seems likely that one will find fewer and fewer monocultural congregations. The need to understand issues related to diversity and cultural sensitivity while at the same time remaining faithful to the Gospel and its promotion is vital. For those reasons, this study aimed to identify if transformational leadership behaviors contribute to the spiritual growth and maturity of members of multicultural Churches of …

Defining Revitalization As The Initial Step In The Revitalization Process, Bradley Kent Childres

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The revitalization of churches that are either plateaued or declining is a daunting task for any pastor. The idea for this thesis project arose when this researcher engaged in his first revitalization program as a Senior Pastor. This researcher noticed that many people in the church were confused about what revitalization meant which led to confusion and mistrust in the revitalization process. This is when this researcher observed the need to define what revitalization means. As challenging as church revitalization is, pastors can make this process easier by knowing the first step to take in a revitalization program. This thesis …