Browsing Divinity School by Issue Date
Now showing items 21-40 of 264
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Inclusion of the Autism Population in Churches, Schools and Communities
(2021)AbstractThere is a population of individuals classified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This group of people should be included in places of worship, the schools they attend and the communities where they reside. ... -
Present Reality and Future Possibilities for the Rural United Methodist Church
(2021)This thesis examines the distinctive nature, specific struggles, and ultimately hopeful future of rural congregations in the United Methodist Church. Drawing from my experience pastoring various rural churches, I address ... -
Relational Hermeneutics: A Womanist's Approach for Renewing the Reader's Self-Understanding, Commitments, and Practices
(2021)How do readers regain their enthusiasm for reading Scripture when what they are reading does not relate to their life’s circumstances? With all the competing voices in the world today, readers find it challenging to ... -
A Strange Land: Christian Rhetoric and Behavior in Times of Political and Cultural Polarization
(2021)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 ... -
Weakness, the Cross of Christ, and the 'Muscular' American Christian Man: Exploration and Significance of St. Paul's Theme of 'Strength in Weakness' in 2 Corinthians 10-13
(2021)There are American evangelical distortions of ‘muscular’ Christianity influencing the twenty-first century American Christian Church. These distortions unwittingly encourage Christian men to find their identity primarily ... -
Transformational Detours: A Journey with Lydia Through God’s Power Within
(2021)"Transformational Detours: A Journey with Lydia Through God’s Power Within" is a call for Christian leaders to return to the roots of their heritage and follow the example of Lydia, Paul’s first European convert and church ... -
A Model For Revitalizing Urban Churches Facing Decline
(2021)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, ... -
A Study Guide for Small Membership Church Survival: Participating in God’s Mission
(2021)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 ... -
Kenotic Leadership: A Model for Clergy
(2021)Leadership in the church today must be able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and availability of resources in order to allow for the thriving of congregations. In order to serve as Christ served, church leaders ... -
The Case for Reparations: The Social Gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch, and a Program to Understand and Close the Racial Wealth Gap
(2021)Considerable attention is being given to the growing problem of the racial wealth gap in the United States of America. Understanding this chasm requires a critique of the government’s imprimatur on the institution of slavery, ... -
“And Also with Your Spirit, Pastor”: Toward a Balanced Framework Designed to Forge, Cultivate, and Sustain Holy Friendships among Clergy
(2021)Over the last several decades, pastors, ministers, and other clergy have benefited fromcountless biblical, ecclesial, theological, and practical resources designed to provide church leaders with appropriate strategies for ... -
The Rediscovery of Resident Aliens – the Virtuous Leadership of Shaping God’s Faithful People: Implications for the Korean Churches of the 21st Century
(2021)This thesis presents the ecclesiology of Resident Aliens as an alternative to overcome the crisis of the Korean church and focuses on the ways to establish a Christian community through “virtuous leadership”. This thesis ... -
The Well-Prepared Local Church Mission Leader
(2021)In the United States of America more and more churches are including intentional organized missional outreach efforts as a part of their overall ministry. As this number continues to grow it becomes increasingly important ... -
Symbiotic Grace: Holobiont Theology in the Age of the Microbe
(2021)Christian theology and discourse work by separating the human individual from “the environment.” The science of the human microbiome exposes the ecological, social and theological inadequacies of this and other ... -
"All Hail King Jesus": The International Worship Symposium and the Making of Praise and Worship History, 1977–1989
(2021)Since the late 1940s, Praise and Worship has emerged as a new mode of liturgical expression out of North American Pentecostalism. Despite a variety of conflicts that have marked its adoption, it has found a home in a wide ... -
How Do You Read It?: Exegesis, Religious Coping, and Spiritual Growth
(2021)This thesis analyzes critical and non-critical approaches to the interpretation of scripture against the four psychological features of religious coping identified by Ken Pargament—differentiation, integration, flexibility, ... -
No More Gallery Sections: Exploring Spiritual Wellbeing for Descendants of Enslaved Africans at Predominantly White Institutions of Higher Education
(2021)This project explores spiritual wellbeing for descendants of enslaved Africans at historically and predominately white institutions of higher education, through the hermeneutical and phenomenological accounts of past and ... -
Faith by Design: Exploiting intersections between Acts and design thinking to cultivate the conditions for innovation in the local church as an expression of traditioned innovation
(2021)In 2021, congregational life in America feels troubled. The residue of vitality in vacant Sunday school classrooms, dated worship bulletins, antiquated committee structures, and worn pew cushions reminds churchgoers of the ... -
Love at First Step: A Study on Intimate Discipleship Informed by the Shema and Song of Songs
(2021)This project explores the relationship between Christian discipleship and intimacy with God. Appreciating that many discipleship models focus exclusively on the New Testament and speak minimally to the soul’s ability to ... -
FAILURE-SPARKED INNOVATION: THE KEY TO ENSURING THE FUTURE OF LOCAL CHURCHES
(2021)Within the current cultural milieu of eclectic pluralism the Western Church currently finds itself in, innovation must be a central focus within all aspects of ministry in the Christian Church. With the focus that the local ...
