Browsing by Author "Odom, David L"

Christian teachers lead godly change in the lives of people whom they influence. The preparation of people to lead as teachers in the church requires the development of inner character that is consistent with Christian purposes. One of the fundamental attributes of this sort of character is empathy because it engages the heart in all of its dimensions. My argument in this thesis is that the qualities of empathy can be used as a means to highlight specific practices and skills that Christian teachers need. Helping Christian teachers to cultivate such practices and skills provides them with a more sustainable foundation than any set of teaching techniques found in teacher training materials. This approach enables the church’s education program to effectively shape people’s hearts to follow Christ and serve one another.

Drawing upon a broad selection of literature that includes narrative theology, adult educational philosophies, developmental psychology, and business leadership perspectives, this study begins by examining the nature of empathy and spiritual practices. I propose that a teaching ministry is most effective when it encompasses two specific practices that cultivate identity and integrity. A practice of formative presence highlights the incarnational nature of the teacher’s role and identity, and a practice of resilient trust establishes a framework for building and sustaining integrity. Both of these are patterns of communal action in which the benefits of God’s presence and power are made available to people. Furthermore, these practices depend on some underlying skills that help Christian teachers develop empathy. My discussion includes three specific skills: reception is a collaboration between people that communicates acceptance and understanding; reflection is a way of fostering shared meaning-making; and response is a type of action that expresses accountability with collective wisdom. When these practices and skills are wrapped in empathy and empowered by God’s Spirit, godly character and shared learning are cultivated in both teachers and students.

Christian teachers lead godly change in the lives of people whom they influence. The preparation of people to lead as teachers in the church requires the development of inner character that is consistent with Christian purposes. One of the fundamental attributes of this sort of character is empathy because it engages the heart in all of its dimensions. My argument in this thesis is that the qualities of empathy can be used as a means to highlight specific practices and skills that Christian teachers need. Helping Christian teachers to cultivate such practices and skills provides them with a more sustainable foundation than any set of teaching techniques found in teacher training materials. This approach enables the church’s education program to effectively shape people’s hearts to follow Christ and serve one another.

Drawing upon a broad selection of literature that includes narrative theology, adult educational philosophies, developmental psychology, and business leadership perspectives, this study begins by examining the nature of empathy and spiritual practices. I propose that a teaching ministry is most effective when it encompasses two specific practices that cultivate identity and integrity. A practice of formative presence highlights the incarnational nature of the teacher’s role and identity, and a practice of resilient trust establishes a framework for building and sustaining integrity. Both of these are patterns of communal action in which the benefits of God’s presence and power are made available to people. Furthermore, these practices depend on some underlying skills that help Christian teachers develop empathy. My discussion includes three specific skills: reception is a collaboration between people that communicates acceptance and understanding; reflection is a way of fostering shared meaning-making; and response is a type of action that expresses accountability with collective wisdom. When these practices and skills are wrapped in empathy and empowered by God’s Spirit, godly character and shared learning are cultivated in both teachers and students.

Young adults find it difficult to transition to life beyond college—in their relationships, professional work, and most especially in their faith. This project explores the practical steps necessary to start a fellows program in Athens, Georgia that would help young adults flourish and integrate their faith into the whole of life, concluding that through sustainable networks, funding, and detailed planning, such a program could become viable within one year.

In 1970, Robert Greenleaf coined the phrase, “servant leadership.” In his book of the same name, Greenleaf argues that leaders must demonstrate unconditional grace and acceptance toward those they lead. Greenleaf’s ideas are still popular today among leaders in both the business and social sectors, but especially in the church. Consequently, many pastors are reticent to use termination as a management technique in favor of attempting to rehabilitate problematic employees. The result, however, is that churches are hindered from achieving their mission by leaders who are more focused on either meeting the needs of their staff or maintaining pleasant relationships than on fulfilling the vision of the church. This thesis attempts to provide a new model of servant leadership that calls on clergy to be devoted to the wider mission of Christ.

The thesis begins by evaluating the crisis that servant leadership creates in the church and the subsequent anxiety that is introduced into the congregation. It then explores a survey administered to clergy across ten denominations that illuminates many of the internal and external barriers in the church that prevent pastors from terminating their staff. Subsequently, the thesis attempts to redeem some of the aspects of leadership that seem to be in tension with the servant leadership model, such as power and authority. Finally, the thesis outlines a new model of servant leadership that retains the best qualities of the servant leadership model but reorients the clergy’s service toward the ultimate mission of the church.

ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the issue of burnout in congregational settings. Unmanaged stress in a system is a cause of burnout. Individuals can feel burnout, but a systemic approach is needed to prevent and address burnout. Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter believe burnout is a relationship problem. Requiring a relational solution This thesis will examine a congregation’s relationship to the world, work, and church. A relationship reset is needed to prevent and address burnout.

The thesis unfolds in five moves. The first move explores the relationship between burnout and the world. It seeks to answer the question, what cultural realities contribute to the experience of burnout? In conversation with Charles Taylor, Andy Root believes we live in a secular age when the drive to seek a distorted idea of the good life “the good life” is constant and overwhelming. Root contends that the problem arises from the constant drive to seek the good life and from the speeding up of time itself. Root builds upon Taylor’s theory of the secular age using the work of Hartmut Rosa; he claims congregations are living in an age of acceleration which produces an epidemic of “time-famine” in modernity. Rosa concludes that acceleration causes alienation, experienced as isolation in many forms. Root concludes that the time-sickness of modernity causes depression. I conclude that times-sickness additionally causes burnout identified by exhaustion, disengagement, and ineffectiveness. The second move of the thesis explores burnout as a mismatch of relationships between people and their work. Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter suggest burnout is a systemic problem, not a personal one. Maslach and Leiter’s research defines burnout as a mismatch between people and work. The cost of caring can lead to exhaustion, disengagement, and ineffectiveness. Maslach and Leiter not only diagnose the problem of burnout but suggest how organizations can prevent burnout through engagement and empathy. The third movement of the thesis explores burnout as a systemic issue in which better matches can be made between people and their relationship to work. The fourth move explores the relationship between burnout and the church. Hartmut Rosa suggests resonance is the only antidote to the problem of the accelerated pace of modern life. Rosa defines resonance as a connection involving meaning and transformation. Andrew Root concludes that a theological understanding of resonance involves waiting as action, as the church waits for an encounter with God. I challenge Root's call for waiting and instead call for a current deepening of relationships in a congregational setting. The fifth and final move explores the need to reclaim relationships in the church as canopies of community through resonant leadership to manage burnout in a congregation. Sociologist Peter Burger wrote that religion provided a sacred canopy in the reality of a chaotic and secular world. How can congregations reclaim resonant relationships to prevent burnout as they work in the world? The Bible never uses the word burnout, though scripture offers examples of congregations facing exhaustion, disengagement, and perhaps feeling ineffective. The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Rome, facing divisions and obstacles in a chaotic world. Paul appeals to the church at Rome to create new relationships with each other and the world. He points to the image of a body working in tandem, believing each part is vital for the work of the system. Ultimately, the Apostle Paul, called by God, knows the church's work is too exhausting to do solo. In the 16th chapter of Romans, Paul names parts of the body like Phoebe and Junia who assist him in the work of God. How can the church reclaim the necessity and importance of relational leadership to prevent burnout in congregations? How can congregations move from burnout to engagement?

The purpose of this study was to examine how African American women in ordained ministry construct and develop ministerial identity in the context of the Black Church. This study employed a qualitative multicase study methodology and the purposive participant sample was comprised of 13 women who were ordained or pursuing ordination in the Baltimore or Washington conferences of the AME Church. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants, and member checks were employed as a triangulation method. This study reveals that the primary factor impacting ministerial identity development is the relationship with the senior pastor and explores the various ways in which that impact is felt. This study also connects aspects of that relationship and its resulting impact to African American cultural traditions and values, as well as offers several suggestions to women cultivating ministerial identity and the organizational systems within which that process occurs.