Workshops (Adult education)

Kevin Harney

My understanding of shared ministry, at the beginning of my studies, was shaped by New Testament teaching on ministry. As a matter of fact, the Pauline Epistles were the primary source of my thinking. Beyond this, it is safe to say that three sections of Scripture formed the core of my ecclesiology in relationship to Shared Ministry (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12-15 and Ephesians 4). Each of these passages teaches the importance of spiritual gifts among the body of believers.

This limited perspective led me to read the entire bible and look for any passages which dealt with shared ministry (of any kind). The second learning unit in my program pushed me beyond the New Testament "gift-centered" approach and helped me develop a broader understanding of ministry and God's people.

Rhonda Kaye Kamakawiwoole D.Ed.Min.

Given the world’s plurality of worldviews, transformation to the biblical worldview—God’s understanding of reality—remains the paramount task of Christian parents and the church in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Christian parents are to impress God's commands on their children so the next generation might come to know, love, and serve Him (Deut 6:6-7). Jesus charges the church to make disciples, baptize, and teach others to obey his commands (Matt 28:19-20), yet, spiritual formation is not the target it should be for most Christian families and the American church. The literature reveals a general lack in understanding of the biblical worldview in Christians across generations, and thus, believers lack confidence and motivation to share God’s worldview with others.
This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a workshop designed to address transformation in the comprehension, commitment, and intended conduct of participants to train others to the biblical worldview. Statistical analysis revealed participants changed in understanding, confidence, and motivation toward engaging in further growth to the biblical worldview and training others to it. Anecdotal information gathered from comments on the post-training survey provided additional evidence of the above, as well as qualitative evidence demonstrating participants changed in their commitment to share God’s truth with others and planned for future change in this “commissioned” area for Christ.
The workshop effectively addressed the lack of intentionality about growing in and sharing the biblical worldview with others. The study showed adult Christians of all ages are more likely to engage in sharing the biblical worldview with others once they better understand the distinctives of the biblical worldview, gain confidence in their knowledge and abilities and are motivated to share it, and are equipped with models for training others to the biblical worldview.

Ralph L. Scherer D.Min.

Making disciples was part of Christ’s commission to his Church. Historically, the focus of Christian discipleship has been to produce greater spiritual health and maturity. Author Pete Scazzero, in his book, The Emotionally Healthy Church, offers a paradigm of discipleship that promises to also produce greater emotional health and maturity. This project sought to test the validity of this discipleship paradigm, by teaching and utilizing the principles of The Emotionally Healthy Church in an extended discipleship workshop process with 20-30 adult Christians within our congregation. The process included an anonymous survey, Nominal Group Technique, multiple workshop teaching / learning sessions, a preaching series on these principles and individual follow-up interviews.

Chava Stacie Bahle D.Min.

This thesis-project explores participant experiences in a long-term Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogue program. Examined through the theological quests for truth, love and peace, participants reflected on their experiences, placing those experiences in conversation with sacred texts and images from their home traditions. T'shuvah, the Jewish theological act of turning toward the holy, is explored as a transtemporal, liberative and conciliatory gesture, through which the program might create change in the participants' sense of self and other. Reflective storytelling as a method is explored in depth.
The author theorizes that t’shuvah did in fact occur, according to participant interviews. T’shuvah in an interreligious dialogue setting may occur in part because of: the phenomenon of multiple “Us-es,” according to the neurobiology theories of Robert Sapolsky; contact theories through dialogue; and the structure of gatherings proposed by Priya Parker. Ethical considerations of intentional interreligious engagement, especially historical wounds and vulnerability, are also discussed.
The thesis-project used semi-structured, one on one interviews, and applied a novel, four step Jewish theological reflection method conceived by the author: p’shat, thick descriptions of “what happened”; d’rash, placing those experiences in dialogue with sacred texts and images; t’shuvah, how the experiences may have created individual and cosmic repair among the dialogue partners; and k’dushah, exploring whether and how participation in the program translated into action in the world outside the program. Framing the interviews through the lens of “participant as storyteller” is explored in detail as a potential contribution to sacralizing the lived experience of the program.
The rich imageries of shared ancestry, meeting at table, fellow travelers and learning in the presence of the other inform the conclusion that the intentional interreligious engagement of this program may create tikkunim (repairs) in both individual and group to group relationships among Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Johnnie W Cordova

This researcher participated in a marriage enrichment workshop, Sanctus Ministries weekend seminar. This paper employed a case study methodology, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. This researcher sought to discover the impact the Sanctus Ministries seminar had on married couples. A study of the methods and philosophy of the Marriage Enrichment (ME) movement was researched to ascertain the kinship that Sanctus had to other marriage enrichment organizations. The results of the case revealed that Sanctus maintained the primary emphasis of the ME movement, which was to help healthy couples acquire skills to make their marriages better.

Michael Shannon Moses

The purpose of this project was to equip selected members of Liberty Grove Baptist Church, Jackson, Tennessee, in small group leadership skills. The project director began by researching the field of small group ministry and compiling an annotated bibliography of resources dealing specifically with small group leadership skills. He then surveyed a selected number of churches to determine the best practices for equipping small-group leaders. The project director utilized the research to develop a curriculum that he taught during a weekend workshop. The workshop consisted of six sessions with each lasting one hour. The project director equipped selected members of Liberty Grove Baptist Church with small group leadership skills during the workshop.

Jeffrey L Ingram

The purpose of this project was to equip pastors, ministers, and lay leaders from selected churches in the Louisiana Baptist Convention in a model they can use in their churches to disciple adults to become disciplers of other adults. Research was compiled from various contexts of churches and ministries. The transmission of this information was in the form of a workshop to a specific enlisted group of church leaders to equip them with models of adult discipleship they can employ in their ministry context. Twelve church leaders participated in the seminar. A post-test of session content and a learner evaluation was administerd to the participants at the end of the seminar.

William B Camp

The purpose of this project was to equip selected members of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church, Shelbyville, Tennessee, in personal evangelism skills. The project began with the project director's research in the field of personal evangelism. The project director utilized the research to develop teaching plans and conduct a workshop in order to equip selected members in personal evangelism skills. The project concluded with the project director's evaluation of a post-test and two evangelism encounters by the selected members of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church, Shelbyville, Tennessee.

Daryl R Stagg

The purpose of the project was to equip a selected group of pastors and church leaders in Lake County Baptist Association in Lake County, Illinois, in vision development skills. The components of the project included researching the field of vision development, surveying pastors in associations that participated in an Associational Diagnostic Assessment, designing training materials to increase vision skills, and finally, leading a workshop to enhance vision development skills. The project director utilized the equipping model for this project.

Steven S Davis

The purpose of this project was to prepare a selected group of young men of the Liberty Baptist Church of New Albany, Mississippi to consider vocational ministry. The project director developed an equipping guide, a teaching plan, and a PowerPoint presentation under the supervision of several professionals in the field and utilized them all during a weekend equipping workshop. The project director designed and administered a series of pre and post-tests to measure the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor effectiveness of the workshop. At the completion of the workshop, he evaluated the tests under the supervision of a professional in the field. The evaluations of the tests affirmed the workshop as a success. The project director hopes to repeat the Equipping for Ministry Workshop as often as needed in future ministry needs.