Church officers

Timothy C Strickland

The researcher hypothesized that Toronto area church leaders who participated in a short-term revitalization training cohort would be equipped to begin leading revitalization in their churches. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods to study the impact of the revitalization training on the participants, the researcher concluded that the hypothesis was correct. The theological chapter studies church revitalization leaders as strategic, missionary leaders. The literature review chapter studies the following church revitalization themes: the type of leader needed, church leadership structure, outward missionary focus, leading change, and minstry areas to change.

Stace D Rollefson

Church meetings are powerful places of opportunity and danger. This project helps leaders to serve the Lord in faith and good courage while helping them avoid the spiritual dangers of serving self and the powers of darkness in meetings. The focus of this effort is on the moments following alarm or the awareness of stress that is being generated by one's heart. The researcher trained the five men and nine women of the Parish Planning Council on three theological foci: a theology of thinking in crisis, a theology of worship in service, and a theology of leadership in suffering. Each of these monthly sessions was reinforced by a weekly Bible study and a monthly opportunity for a one-on-one meeting where applications of the Alarm Model were made to current issues. The goal of this project is to give leaders theological tools to help them manage crisis in meetings and even prevent some of it by the grace of God.

Tara L Jernigan

The aim of this project is to give an overview of the biblical model and historic church's understanding of diaconal ministry in order to explore the nature of preaching as a diaconal function and related issues as they are particularly relevant for deacons, postulants, and candidates who are learning the art of preaching. Because the modern church holds very little common understanding of the history, ontology, and even functional role of the diaconate, modern deacons are often left with conflicting messages regarding their role, most often with regard to preaching. Therefore, this paper will include a foundation in the exegesis of several key passages of the Biblical text in which the diaconate is established (such as choosing of the first deacons in Acts, chapter 6), exercised (such as Stephen's sermon in Acts, chapter 7), and defined (as in 1 Timothy, chapter 3). Several passages and themes will be explored in depth to gain an understanding of the Biblical expectations of the office of deacon. Furthermore, the examples of deacons in each of the major eras of church history will be offered for consideration. Through study of a number of deacons' ministries throughout the Patristic, Medieval and Reformation eras, we shall explore the traditional roles and boundaries of the diaconal ministry. This should assist us as we re-examine the deacon's role within the modern church, particularly as pertains to preaching.

Ruth M Hempel

In the polity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) elders are entrusted with significant responsibilities, but unlike ministers, do not have required internships or other forms of experiential learning. Traditional didactic classroom instruction is not always sufficient, because it does not provide an opportunity for elders to apply what they have learned. To compensate for this lack of experiential learning, role-play was incorporated into elder training in a particular congregation, resulting in the conclusion that role-play is a useful training tool in certain situations. This paper describes that project and the participatory action research that guided it.

Wilfred Nelles Ball

Churches in the New Testament know only two enduring offices, that of elder and of deacon. Of these two, the office of elder is the one principally charged with the leadership of local churches. The identification and selection of said elders is a key challenge that this project seeks to address and facilitate. The project execution saw the creation and implementation of a workshop in two congregations focused upon the biblical standard of an elder's qualifications, roles and tasks. Post workshop evaluation indicated that such a workshop is most effective in a new congregation that is selecting church officers for the first time.

Jun Tae Jung

This project was a study of the application of the idea of holistic mission to an individual church. Manjong church, which I serve as a pastor, exemplifies such application. I attempted to actualize the reformation of the church through the education of the church officers in a small group, focusing on the flexibility of organization and the cooperation of lay persons, which are important factors in holistic mission theology.

Ernestine H Battle

The pastor of a predominately African American Free Will Baptist congregation located on Capitol Hill in southeast Washington, D.C., established in April, 1935, determined that a formal training program for the officers/leaders was needed. She asked the question: could she create a standard training curriculum for the officers/leaders of New Hope Free Will Baptist Church that would serve as a prototype for other churches of the Free Will denomination? First, survey questionnaires that asked about the ministry selection process and required qualifications for this selection were sent to churches participating in the study. The data was collected, compared and contrasted with other researched information. She developed a training model, piloted the proposed model, and made an oral presentation. The author used the additional feedback to report the results, recommendations, and limitations of a formal structural leadership training program.

Barry Paul Dawson

Spiritual leadership is strengthened through the design and implementation of processes to train and install elected church council members for their church governance responsibilities. Spiritual leadership development materials emphasize prayer and spiritual discernment. A key component of the project is the creation and celebration of an installation service for church council members-elect. The project rests on the belief that church governance is qualitatively different from the business management model of secular organizations. Findings indicate that council members are better equipped to discharge their church governance responsibilities with the perspective and passion of prayerful, theologically reflective spiritual leaders.

Richard J Munn

The project employs survey research and statistical analysis to gauge the correlation between Salvation Army ministry and marital satisfaction for corps officer couples in the Northern England division. Data compiled and assessed in 2001 from 125 married corps officers randomly selected from across the USA Eastern Territory are utilized to structure a Married Officer Leadership seminar for the married officers from the same division. Salvation Army married corps of officers appear to evidence above average marital satisfaction rates and relate positively to the sense of shared vocation and calling. Data appears to substantiate a strong correlation between marital health and shared vocational calling for officer couples.

Arthur G Ames

This project involved evaluating the present ministry of training ordained officers. The questionnaire "Officer Training Evaluation" was developed and given to all current officers and to the men who had completed officer- training class but did not submit to ordination. Results of the evaluation suggest that changes made because of this project improved the officer training process and aided in the relationships between the elders and deacons and between the session and the board of deacons. Those involved felt aided in their understanding of their own and others officer job descriptions and their implications as they interned and studied together.