Browsing by Department "Duke Divinity School"

This thesis introduces readers to the rich tradition of the ecumenical movementand explores how emerging new strategies can benefit congregations as well as facilitate healing in our fractured and divisive world. It argues that the same principles used in ecumenical dialogue can and should be used in the local church. First, the history and significant steps and missteps of the ecumenical movement are briefly examined, before turning to the contemporary strategies of receptive, spiritual and kenotic ecumenism. Then, the paper considers 21st century examples of thriving ecumenical ministries, including survey feedback that provides an intimate look at how one church (Snowmass Chapel) has committed itself to unity across various denominations. Finally, a process is provided for effective ecumenical leadership both within, and outside of, the local church context. Ecumenical work takes courageous leaders who are willing to acknowledge difference without judgement, listen deeply, and be committed to Christian unity in love. The ecumenical movement has made significant strides in the past century and half, yet it has not made a significant move into the local church. This thesis argues that by introducing the concept of ecumenism to local congregations, leaders can initiate change that has far-reaching impacts across all areas of life.

In response to Nassir Ghaemi, an academic psychiatrist who presumes a mental illness and genetic abnormality in Martin Luther King, Jr., this project contends that King was a decidedly maladjusted prophet who dramatized his resistance to the evil triumvirate of racism, materialism, and militarism pervasive in American public life. Using the sermonic trope, “Creative Maladjustment,” a theological reconstruction of King’s prophetic meliorism is sustained in order to reclaim his legacy from the facile memory of the nation. The essential writings, speeches, and sermons of the revered Baptist clergyman source the work, giving insight into his personal thoughts about the method he chose specifically for the purpose of pricking the conscience of the America during the Civil Rights Movement. Relevant commentary and critical analyses of scholars and historians also support the claim of this thesis, pointing to King’s well-reasoned moral stance against social iniquity. The project traces the roots of King’s resistance in the biblical witness of the Old Testament prophets, the religion of the black church in America, and his early humiliations borne of racial segregation. Attention is also given to his intellectual assent to the theory of civil disobedience and philosophy of nonviolence, with critical examination of his conversion to the same. Finally, the project delves into the maturing path of King’s resistance vis-à-vis the widening economic inequities observed across the national landscape and spreading global strife, which formed the basis of his “world house” doctrine. The implications of King’s legacy upon contemporary moral leaders are offered as concluding thoughts.

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.

The startling consistent decline of church attendance in the United States has created a flurry of new church start activities and revitalization efforts. Most literature and efforts focus on what new things must happen to reverse the decline. In those efforts, older existing congregants are often overlooked and ignored, at best, or viewed as obstacles and the root of the problem, at worst. This leads to combative relationships between revitalization leaders and congregations caught in the crosshairs. This combative approach is inconsistent with the message of Christ and detrimental to the needed revitalization efforts.

This project seeks to introduce a model for the treatment and role of existing older congregants during a church’s revitalization. The model includes the treatments to Ascribe Value and to Optimize Minimal Change, and the twofold role to Engage in Ministry.

In my process, I engaged existing writing and research on church revitalization and aging in the church, applied acute theological perspectives to these writings, and provided real-life examples of how these insights can come together for a more complete treatment and engagement of existing older congregants in healthy and sustainable church revitalization.

This project seeks to introduce a model for revitalizing urban churches that have experienced decline (i.e., membership, money, and morale). Social Justice, Prophetic Preaching, Missional Stewardship, Intergenerational Ministry, and Progressive Pastoral Leadership functions as the central pillars of the project. My research has led me to engage the contributions of theologians, sociologists, social critics, activists, researchers, biblical scholars, homileticians, historians, politicians, church growth experts, political scientists, statisticians, community advocates, journalists, and civil rights leaders to explore the collaborative efforts that can be taken to revive black churches in impoverished communities in Urban America.

This project seeks to introduce a model for revitalizing urban churches that have experienced decline (i.e., membership, money, and morale). Social Justice, Prophetic Preaching, Missional Stewardship, Intergenerational Ministry, and Progressive Pastoral Leadership functions as the central pillars of the project. My research has led me to engage the contributions of theologians, sociologists, social critics, activists, researchers, biblical scholars, homileticians, historians, politicians, church growth experts, political scientists, statisticians, community advocates, journalists, and civil rights leaders to explore the collaborative efforts that can be taken to revive black churches in impoverished communities in Urban America.

St. Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth provides an important resource for the work of dispute resolution. The letter reveals Paul’s unique approach to conflict. Using modern categories of alternative dispute resolution borrowed from the legal sciences, one can identify the structural approaches to conflict: negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication . These categories help a reader to peer behind Paul’s rhetoric to examine his method. Faced with particular conflicts in Corinth over divided factions in the community, disagreements about sexual conduct, and differences regarding food, Paul has many strong opinions. However, he never imposes those opinions on the Corinthian congregation. Paul never adjudicates, arbitrates, or even mediates between the parties. Instead, Paul undermines traditional understandings of power and authority in dispute resolution by demonstrating a new, cross-shaped, power-subverting approach to conflict. In addressing disputes, Paul articulates a new social ethic of solidarity based in love and points the community towards a new goal that transcends winning or losing, namely growing into the body of Christ as an organic whole. Through this process of formation, Paul seeks to both empower members of the congregation to negotiate disputes among themselves and to build up the community as whole.

Paul’s approach to conflict contrasts sharply with contemporary and traditional alternatives. Jewish practice, as evinced in the Septuagint, the New Testament, Josephus, and the Tractate Sanhedrin of the Mishnah, focused on adjudication or arbitration by an authoritative body of elders, the Sanhedrin. The Jerusalem assembly described in Acts adopted this approach to resolving disputes. Similarly, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus appears to adopt this traditional authoritative approach. Roman magistrates, in their exercise of imperium, readily adjudicated disputes backed with the threat of force. This consistent assumption of the power to adjudicate disputes is demonstrated in their correspondence and the New Testament. In adopting a cross-shaped approach to conflict, Paul turns away from the traditions of both the Sanhedrin and Roman law as he unsettles assumptions of power and authority.

Many modern churches adopt the authoritative methods of the Sanhedrin and Roman magistrates to resolve disputes today. This focus on arbitration, judgment, winning, and losing, corrodes community and solidarity. Paul’s unique approach to conflict provides a potentially transformative alternative that needs to be reappropriated today.

Abstract

The inability of black and white Christians to bear compelling and sustained witness to God’s love and justice in American society is reminiscent of Churchill’s sentiment concerning Russia: it is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” This thesis seeks to explore how black leaders can faithfully engage a younger generation of black Christians who have grown increasingly frustrated with the American Church, specifically the lack of robust commitment to the liberation of black voices and bodies in the struggle against white racism. Additionally, it attempts to challenge all Christian leaders to reimagine the important work of liberation and reconciliation with this perspective in view.Based on engagement of mostly primary sources, this research delves into the remarkably relevant influences of James H. Cone and J. Deotis Roberts to the current intergenerational and interracial work before Christians in America today. I will argue that Cone’s revolutionary insight has been proven true: black rage against oppression is a very human reaction against unfreedom. Rebellion, in various forms, is a natural response to sustained systemic and structural violence against an oppressed people. However, I will also show that Roberts’ work offers a more inclusive and methodical approach to Christian unity in this perennial struggle. Cone’s liberating insight, balanced with Robert’s scriptural mandate of reconciliation between equals, still provides hope for solution-driven intergenerational and interracial dialogue and action for Christians.

In Luke’s two volumes, Luke is not interested only in Gentiles and those with high social status but also in the marginalized and those who are outsiders. This dissertation seeks to read Luke’s concern for outsiders and the theme of the inclusion of outsiders in the new kingdom of God in Luke’s narrative of the Ethiopian eunuch’s conversion in Acts 8:26-40. This paper examines the Ethiopian eunuch’s complex identity from the perspectives of the Greco-Roman world, Old Testament (LXX) allusions to the Elijah-Elisha narratives, and Luke’s interpretation of the Isaianic quotation of the Suffering Servant in Acts 8:32-33 (cf. Isaiah 53:7-8). This study pays close attention to the correlations between the theme of outsiders and three key characters in Acts 8:26-40: the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip, and the Suffering Servant. First, Luke depicts the Ethiopian eunuch as the consummate outsider—geographically, morally, socially, ethnically, and in terms of gender—and indicates that the eunuch represents other marginalized outsiders. The eunuch shows no one can prevent outsiders like him from inclusion in the kingdom of God. Second, Luke portrays Philip as a prophet, specifically a prophet like Elijah and Elisha. Philip emulates Elijah and Elisha by reaching out to the outsider (in this instance, the Ethiopian eunuch). Third, Luke presents the Isaianic Suffering Servant as a religious and social outsider and identifies the character with Jesus and the Ethiopian eunuch. The indescribable descendants of the Suffering Servant signify a universally inclusive messianic community and fulfill the outsiders’ inclusion within the people of God as Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 56:3-8). This thesis finally suggests ways to read the story of the Ethiopian eunuch today and concludes that it is imperative to include those outsiders among us within the community of Jesus’s followers.

ABSTRACTThis thesis is offers exilic texts as the basis for restoration for communities traumatized by displacement. The scriptural focus for the thesis is Jeremiah 30-33, the Book of Restoration. The purpose of the thesis is to provide tools for inner-city pastors to navigate the opportunities and challenges of displacement caused by gentrification. The thesis is fueled by the contrast between numerous studies that report the benefits of gentrification versus its ills experienced as a pastoral witness of the machinery of displacement in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. In Dr. Ellen Davis’ work on Jeremiah, she shows Jeremiah’s painful growth into his prophetic role. This growth occurs through laments or “protests addressed to God” thus making it possible to “lay claim to realistic hope.” This birth of hope is in the beginning of the book in Jeremiah 1:10, “See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant,” with building and planting as themes for Jeremiah 30-33. Dr. Davis further explicates hope’s placement. Hope finds a concrete place economically through Jeremiah’s land purchase (Chapter 32:6-15) and socially through community building (chapters 30 and 31). Building upon this work, my thesis concludes that Book of Restoration provides a relevant and effective model of restoration for today’s church.

Many Christians struggle to be significantly formed by their faith through the traditional practices and ministries of the local church. The prevalence and power of competing voices in our culture create exhaustion and fragmentation. Busy schedules, work demands, and extracurricular activities add to this struggle, monopolizing many households’ time and availability. Acknowledging the continual decline in church attendance and engagement across denominational affiliations and traditions, and current research that clearly reveals the necessity of the institutional church for faith development, I will explore some of the ways the church can begin shifting its faith formation practices to help congregants rediscover the deep center of their being in Christ and grow in their faith.

Mining the depths of the Christian tradition, I will explore how the church can expand its educational ministries by reinstituting the ancient process of catechesis, which is how the church practiced faith formation for its first three centuries of existence. Arguing that the home is the primary source of faith and values, I will provide the church a method for extending the catechumenate outside the walls of the church by equipping families for the work of faith formation in the home.

Drawing from deep within the well of church history, I will examine the core Christian values of early monastic rules that believers must develop in order to participate in the life and mission of Jesus. Utilizing Aristotle’s process for cultivating virtues, I will examine the spiritual disciplines and shared practices of Augustine’s and Benedict’s rules to provide concrete steps for habituating the core Christian values in the lives of believers. As these values are fostered in the homes of believers, Christ can begin to transform their lives from the inside out. What I am proposing is an accessible method for churches to begin equipping families for how to live more fully in the way of Jesus that allows them to experience the abundance (John 10:10) that Christ promised in their homes and wherever they go.

In 1526, a Spaniard in the papal court of Clement VII addressed a treatise against Luther’s Bondage of the Will, calling it On Fate and Free Will and arguing good works are not only possible before one receives God’s grace but a necessary prerequisite to that grace. The position, which acknowledges a human need for grace but assigns the beginning of salvation to human effort, is one church historians conventionally refer to as semipelagianism. The Spaniard, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, went on to serve Charles V as royal historian, and to defend the latter’s conquest of the Americas and subjugation of those contintents’ indigenous populations at the Valladolid debates in 1550–1551. The logic by which he did so is generally attributed to a high view of plenary papal authority in the temporal world, combined with an Aristotelian hierarchy of being that conveniently labeled the indigenous peoples of the Americas “natural slaves.” This dissertation uses Sepúlveda’s published treatises in order to trace his treatment of themes such as natural reason, natural law, divine law, human free will, and divine grace, in order to demonstrate that Sepúlveda's logic in his defense of the conquest was actually rooted precisely in the semipelagian theology he deployed in his writings against Luther. He argued that the indigenous peoples of the Americas were barbarians and appropriately labeled according to Aristotle's natural slave category, but he began with the theological conviction that they had failed to embrace what natural reason alone could teach them about God, and failed moreover to “do what is in one” by turning to God and obeying the divine law as revealed in nature, all of which Sepúlveda took to be prerequisite for the receipt of grace. The indigenous peoples of the Americas were not barbarians in Sepúlveda’s mind because they belonged to Aristotle’s natural slave category, but “natural slave” was a useful term he deployed to further describe those who had failed to take the initiative for their salvation, as required by the semipelagian theology he deployed against Luther.

This thesis aims to develop a narrative strategy for the local church parish, drawing on postliberal and narrative theologies. It argues that the narrative nature of the incarnation is not only descriptive of God's movement into the world but also prescriptive for the movement of God's people within the world. To begin to develop this claim, the thesis examines denominational and consultant practitioners' approaches and proposes a practical strategy for carrying out a narrative movement in a contextualized seing.The thesis centers around the biblical feature that Jesus is from Nazareth, with a particular in-depth look at his time spent in the Nazarene synagogue in Luke 4:14-30. Building on Samuel Wells' A Nazareth Manifesto, the thesis argues that contextualized story should be more formative and shaping than the corporatized phenomena of mission statements and core values, following the pattern of the narrative nature found within Scripture. To test the proposed strategy's effectiveness, the thesis includes an on-the-ground experiment within the North Street Community Church of the Nazarene, spanning about two years. The experiment seeks to see if the strategy results in narrative formation of both the individuals within the church and the church itself. Finally, the thesis concludes with a project for congregational use that builds upon the experiment's results. The project proposes a practical application of the narrative strategy, incorporating both what was learned during the experiment and adaptations of strategies found elsewhere.

Serious divisions within the United States currently threaten our social fabric. These divisions are acutely on display across the political arena and permeate many aspects of American society. Alarmingly, Christian convictions are contributing to this upheaval. Many conservatives and liberals across the ideological spectrum believe they are following not only the Constitution of the United States but also biblical principles when they engage in inflammatory rhetoric against political rivals. Predictably, justifying political positions with biblical principles has caused many Christians to embrace partisan identities and adopt divisive behaviors. Furthermore, the present political divisions are severely harming American churches at the local level. The kind of rhetoric emanating from pulpits, pews, and Christian publications across most denominations pose a direct challenge to how the church has traditionally understood the Christian life and its bearing upon our relationships with one another. The issue of immigration is a particularly acute example. The tearing apart of family structures, the constant threat of deportation, and the frequent use of dehumanizing rhetoric are stances that some Christians have unapologetically supported. It is my attempt to show how in this time of intense partisanship Christians desperately need to practice right speech and embody Jesus’ commandment to love one’s neighbor. Using the issue of immigration as a case study, I argue that the way we talk about people influences how we treat them.

A careful observer of the current political dynamic in America will understand its precarious position. Following the presidency of Barack Obama, a tide has clearly turned across the country. The sounds of hope, optimism, and progressive change have been replaced by a boisterous quest to “Make America Great” again by restricting U.S. borders, re-visiting trade agreements, limiting access to health insurance, retreating from nuclear treaties, as well as dismissing and altogether denying climate change. Where a warm cultural embrace once stood, profound xenophobia now rests; diversity has gone the way of division. Lost in the shuffle of this dynamic however is the human element of communal relationship with one another. For individuals and institutions that claim allegiance to Jesus Christ, the political speech and actions witnessed across the United States challenge the very nature of Christian identity. Among many Christians there is a dichotomy between the Christian ethic portrayed and the one practiced, a disconnect between what is offered in the Holy Scriptures and reality. If the case can be made that the political dynamic in America is on precarious footing because of the role Christians currently play guiding the nation forward, it too means that Christian identity in America is subject to that same dynamic. When political policy in America is dressed up and disguised as proper Christian action, and supported as such by many Christian adherents, then the very nature of the Christian faith as practiced in America is threatened. This thesis will examine how recent speeches and comments made by political figures on various aspects of immigration law and human rights compel Christians to reflect upon right speech considering the teachings on speech found in the book of Proverbs. For Christians to blindly and unequivocally label immigrants “animals,” “rapists,” and “criminals,” presents a ripe and necessary opportunity to hear the guidance, wisdom and chastisement of the Proverbial writer. A rediscovery of speech that could be considered “Christian” and a recommitment to embodying such speech, is ultimately incomplete, unless it results in right Christian action. Examining the parable of the Good Samaritan in its wider context (Luke 10:25 – 37), I will display how it might inform our Christian praxis. Early followers of Jesus and the historic church have understood this commandment as a necessary component of the Christian life. Noting key textual observations from theologians and Bible scholars including Joel Green , the project will show how aspects of the text speak to contemporary Christian praxis. The research of this thesis will be designed to build upon existing theological literature concerning the role of Christian speech and action and placing these distinct roles in conversation with current political affairs. I argue that in an era marked decidedly by extreme political and cultural polarization, Christians, and by extension the Christian church, must rediscover the role of speech and behavior in the workings of everyday life and the shaping of a more just society for all.

Serious divisions within the United States currently threaten our social fabric. These divisions are acutely on display across the political arena and permeate many aspects of American society. Alarmingly, Christian convictions are contributing to this upheaval. Many conservatives and liberals across the ideological spectrum believe they are following not only the Constitution of the United States but also biblical principles when they engage in inflammatory rhetoric against political rivals. Predictably, justifying political positions with biblical principles has caused many Christians to embrace partisan identities and adopt divisive behaviors. Furthermore, the present political divisions are severely harming American churches at the local level. The kind of rhetoric emanating from pulpits, pews, and Christian publications across most denominations pose a direct challenge to how the church has traditionally understood the Christian life and its bearing upon our relationships with one another. The issue of immigration is a particularly acute example. The tearing apart of family structures, the constant threat of deportation, and the frequent use of dehumanizing rhetoric are stances that some Christians have unapologetically supported. It is my attempt to show how in this time of intense partisanship Christians desperately need to practice right speech and embody Jesus’ commandment to love one’s neighbor. Using the issue of immigration as a case study, I argue that the way we talk about people influences how we treat them.

A careful observer of the current political dynamic in America will understand its precarious position. Following the presidency of Barack Obama, a tide has clearly turned across the country. The sounds of hope, optimism, and progressive change have been replaced by a boisterous quest to “Make America Great” again by restricting U.S. borders, re-visiting trade agreements, limiting access to health insurance, retreating from nuclear treaties, as well as dismissing and altogether denying climate change. Where a warm cultural embrace once stood, profound xenophobia now rests; diversity has gone the way of division. Lost in the shuffle of this dynamic however is the human element of communal relationship with one another. For individuals and institutions that claim allegiance to Jesus Christ, the political speech and actions witnessed across the United States challenge the very nature of Christian identity. Among many Christians there is a dichotomy between the Christian ethic portrayed and the one practiced, a disconnect between what is offered in the Holy Scriptures and reality. If the case can be made that the political dynamic in America is on precarious footing because of the role Christians currently play guiding the nation forward, it too means that Christian identity in America is subject to that same dynamic. When political policy in America is dressed up and disguised as proper Christian action, and supported as such by many Christian adherents, then the very nature of the Christian faith as practiced in America is threatened. This thesis will examine how recent speeches and comments made by political figures on various aspects of immigration law and human rights compel Christians to reflect upon right speech considering the teachings on speech found in the book of Proverbs. For Christians to blindly and unequivocally label immigrants “animals,” “rapists,” and “criminals,” presents a ripe and necessary opportunity to hear the guidance, wisdom and chastisement of the Proverbial writer. A rediscovery of speech that could be considered “Christian” and a recommitment to embodying such speech, is ultimately incomplete, unless it results in right Christian action. Examining the parable of the Good Samaritan in its wider context (Luke 10:25 – 37), I will display how it might inform our Christian praxis. Early followers of Jesus and the historic church have understood this commandment as a necessary component of the Christian life. Noting key textual observations from theologians and Bible scholars including Joel Green , the project will show how aspects of the text speak to contemporary Christian praxis. The research of this thesis will be designed to build upon existing theological literature concerning the role of Christian speech and action and placing these distinct roles in conversation with current political affairs. I argue that in an era marked decidedly by extreme political and cultural polarization, Christians, and by extension the Christian church, must rediscover the role of speech and behavior in the workings of everyday life and the shaping of a more just society for all.

Small membership churches are struggling with the very real issue of their continued survival. However, there is no wealth of information nor work addressing the issues of small membership churches. The purpose of this thesis is to devise a vehicle by which I can analyze and interpret issues of survival as they are lived out in the local church setting. This thesis will explore the biblical and theological basis for parish ministry by using The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. It will assess the role of the small membership church, explore several different denominational approaches to the issue of church survival, provide a study guide, and analyze a process that I am developing for the three small churches I served. This thesis will be beneficial in exposing the state of the small membership church and the hidden dynamics that shape them. This thesis will be the beginning of a road map for the small membership church seeking to survive to participate in God’s Mission.

Small membership churches are struggling with the very real issue of their continued survival. However, there is no wealth of information nor work addressing the issues of small membership churches. The purpose of this thesis is to devise a vehicle by which I can analyze and interpret issues of survival as they are lived out in the local church setting. This thesis will explore the biblical and theological basis for parish ministry by using The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. It will assess the role of the small membership church, explore several different denominational approaches to the issue of church survival, provide a study guide, and analyze a process that I am developing for the three small churches I served. This thesis will be beneficial in exposing the state of the small membership church and the hidden dynamics that shape them. This thesis will be the beginning of a road map for the small membership church seeking to survive to participate in God’s Mission.

ABSTRACT

This thesis examines the theological correlation between the role of the church, the identity and role of the African American male, and the effectiveness of fatherhood. The study begins with an in-depth analysis of how absentee fathers cause a crisis in the family. The absence of fathers from the home causes children to suffer financially, socially and psychologically, and therefore causes a disruption in the community as a whole. Focus on the Family founder and leader, Dr. James Dobson, confirms that “our very survival as a people will depend upon the presence or absence of masculine leadership in millions of homes.” In person interviews of African American Christian males and interpretation of the scriptures are just two of the methods used in this study to explore the theological norm of fatherhood. Collectively, the case studies and statistical data within this study explore attempts to remedy the crisis through governmental policies and networking within the community. The final chapter examines the role of urban churches and clergy in teaching effective fatherhood practices. Within the conclusion, it is made clear that the church is responsible for establishing the theological framework and principles for understanding the intended role of being a father. Another conclusion of this study is the acknowledgement of the African American community’s role in shaping and reforming the identity and role of the African American male as a father in the home. The African American community and the church must continue working in tandem to encourage organic social networks that will promote a model for effective fatherhood practices.

This thesis will describe the way a story functions within a sermon as a layer of meaning placed over the biblical text that enhances a particular message from the Gospel. Stories allow the faithful to become active listeners as they unite their own stories to the one being told, creating a shared, lived experience. To demonstrate how the layering of stories function in a homily, I have created an art series of assemblages, visually illustrating how each layer focuses on certain textual details while discarding others. This visual exegesis highlights themes in the biblical text and illuminates the sermonic role of stories. It also provides an avenue for spiritual reflection, revealing similarities between my artistic process and my process of sermon preparation. The thesis is completed with a homily, synthesizing the elements described and sharing a message of hope from the scriptural account of the three young men in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3).