Love--Religious aspects--Christianity

Jeffrey D Granger

This thesis researches whether a 12-week spiritual formation program for a group of ten to twelve married Christian couples will enhance their individual relationship with God and others, and therefore, increase perceived marital satisfaction. It outlines a model for spiritual formation centered on being conformed to the image of Christ. Theoretical support ties spirituality to marital satisfaction, and subjectification to love for God and others. Measures include the DAS, SWBS, and qualitative questionnaires. Results suggest this program was a positive influence on perceived marital satisfaction.

Gregory A Graham

The commands to love God with all of one's heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love one's neighbor as one's self are clearly identifiable throughout the entirety of Scripture. Jesus summed up these as the two most important commands. The purpose of this project was three-fold: to explore how people understood what it means to practice loving God and others to determine the impact this has on their spiritual growth; to determine if Christians demonstrate a holistic approach to loving God, or instead have a primary or choose a preferred method to loving and drawing close to God; and last, to work with individuals and small groups of Christians to recognize the import and centrality of the commands. The project occurred in seven stages. A comparison of the information gathered from the focus-group research to the post-training survey indicated the success of the project. Nonetheless a finding emerged revealing that in general participants did not understand and pr actice loving God and loving others in the manner prescribed and exhorted throughout Scripture. Once participants recognized this lack and understood the methods available, they enthusiastically listed specific ways and means for improvement.

Travia Lynnett Speer

Discrimination is a dilemma that marginalized African-American clergywomen face within United Methodism. This project examines the history and practices of the United Methodist Church, as well as the discriminatory practices that have been perpetuated by the Black church (within the Central Jurisdiction and within United Methodism). The aim of this project is to present a new paradigm of engagement that will help the United Methodist Church live into its proclamations of inclusivity and Christian love. The methodology used within this report is qualitative and, in more narrow sense, auto-ethnographic.

Ronnie L Parson

This thesis presents a cultural, biblical, theological, psychological, and systemic contribution to the formulation of an integrative counseling model derived from a special population: African American Pentecostal-Apostolic (AAP-A) clergy couples. A brief comprehension of AAP-A clergy couples' uniqueness is presented. Spiritual formation, conservatism, and expressive love are matters of concern for AAP-A clergy couples facing marital anxiety. The biblical theme of expressive love is the framework for understanding the personhood in need and key to marital health. Family systems theories support biblical principles to formulate a counseling approach that elucidates expressive love. A case study using the model is presented.

Dell Elaine Bednar

This project designed a resource to equip one with integrating tough love while supporting their spouse in recovery from addiction. A psycho-educational group was developed that educated on: tough love; tough love mirroring biblical love; tough love helping their spouse; the implementation of tough love; and the modification of one's own behaviors. Fifteen raters (n=15) assessed the project resource via an assessment tool. The responses of the raters indicated that the resource was most effective in educating on the characteristics of tough love and how tough love is in the best interest of the addicted spouse.

Jeffrey K Polglase

Communicating the gospel to Africans in Eastern and Southern Africa is a most urgent task. Many barriers, however, hinder both an effective communication and a proper understanding of the gospel. The barriers exist both in the cultural back-ground of Western missionaries and the Africans' worldview. While some missionaries have studied the African worldview, many have not spent enough time learning about their own cultural assumptions. This project deals specifically with the issues related to the sharing of God's love in Africa. It deals with the barriers missionaries bring with them as well as those that await on the field. One basic premise is that the romanticized concept of love missionaries bring is totally different from the utilitarian view of love Africans hold. Westerners value love for love's sake. Africans understand and express appreciation in how something or someone has been useful to them. Misunderstanding on this point causes harm in communication and relationships. The purpose of the project is to train a group of missionaries in the concept of God's love as a demonstrated love and evaluate their use of this terminology in evangelism.