Leadership, Religious

Nathaniel Alfonso Hall Jr.

Oftentimes the mission, vision, purpose, and plan of God lives longer than an individual. To see it achieved, it must be effectively passed to the next generation. No generation stands independent of its predecessors or those that follow. In fact, generations overlay and overlap one another. Each is uniquely equipped with men and women created by God for that generation. Every single generation stands on the shoulders of those who went before them. People build on and must not destroy the foundation that is laid before them. Therefore, the church's success is determined by and dependent upon the successful transition of its leadership. This research will explore the good, the bad, and the indifferent regarding this subject matter and document best practices for a successful leadership transition.

Wai Kei Lee D.Min.

This study is intended to explore the importance of spiritual discipline of pastors regarding their ministry and inner spiritual life. Without building a strong relationship with Heavenly Father, one cannot easily stand firm when facing the challenges from work or temptations from the world especially in this postmodern 21st century metropolitan Toronto. Interviews with pastors who are held highly in reputation and have long lasting ministry experiences have been conducted. Their rich and real life sharings definitely will serve as a precious resource for this dissertation. A list of spiritual discipline practices that are relevant and suitable for current 21st century setting at metropolitan Toronto will be provided at final.

Steven Bray D.Min.

The purpose of this Doctor of Ministry project was to create an annual staff development plan for Fountain City Wesleyan Church which focused on both improving effectiveness in performance and encouraging personal, professional and spiritual development. Fountain City Wesleyan is a church of 1000 with nine full-time pastors and ministry directors. The project highlighted the powerful impact of combining goal setting, coaching, and evaluation to develop team members. In addition, the project concluded that high performance expectations can be countered by high care for team members.

This project conducted two case studies of similar churches to Fountain City Wesleyan Church. The project explored the biblical and theological basis for staff development including the identification of twelve biblical principles. The literature review analyzed three components of the annual development plan: crafting an action plan utilizing SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed upon, Relevant and Timed) goals and strategies; regular coaching sessions; and an annual review process to provide additional performance conversation and formal documentation of employee performance.

This plan included a guide to create an action plan each trimester, the implementation schedule for the plan, a model for coaching staff (Connect, Opportunity, Alternatives, Course, Highlights), an annual self-review and performance review. Additionally, supplemental avenues to promote self-care among staff were identified. The final plan, tips and tools for coaching, tools for diagnosing development needs, and the research protocol are noted in the appendices.

Mark J. Laboe D.Min.

This thesis-project proposes that the work of Catholic mission effectiveness at a large, diverse Catholic university in the United States can be enriched through a rediscovery and re-founding of the theological notion of vocation, which can serve as a distinguishing contribution of Catholic education in an increasingly pluralistic society. Furthermore, focusing attention on the important role and vocation of mid-level leaders, who often hold a significant influence on organizational culture, can be a strategic focus for the work of advancing a culture of vocation as well as sustaining the institution's founding charism and mission in the face of the diminishing influence of the sponsoring religious community.

Andrew J Kumpel D.Min.

This study researched the effect of replacing church committee meetings with missional teaching and experiences of evangelism for church leaders on perceived current and preferred organizational culture. A three-moth moratorium of all official church meetings allowed the researcher to conduct five training sessions on evangelism. The researcher collected quantitative data from both control group participants and experimental group participants using a pretest and posttest model using the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument. Findings revealed some changes in perception of both current and preferred organizational culture among research participants. Change in organizations is pervasive because of the degree and rapidity of change in the external environment.

Michael Wayne Oldham D.Min.

Mainline churches no longer enjoy the status of being the "established" religion in today's culture. The implications of this disestablishment have left churches and pastors feeling frustrated, powerless and often hopeless. This project is a case study of how a combination of video chats and incremental learning resources increased the psychological and theological resilience of American Baptist pastors who serve in pastoral-size churches. This study showed that this process was effective in helping pastors develop a renewed sense of hope and direction for their ministry and might be used in other mainline as well as evangelical denominations. This project will focus on the role of the pastor as the key leader in their church.

MANJUNG ABRAHAM TSAI D.Min.

This thesis explores the relationship of pastoral authority and conflict resolution in a way that will glorify God, along with the process of building up such pastoral authority. Paul’s letters to the Corinthian Church contain specific events that provide realistic and historical material on which to base theological concepts regarding the resolution of conflict and the exercise of pastoral authority. Therefore, the researcher utilizes the perspective of equal and unequal powers in an organizational structure to analyze the conflicts in the Corinthian church. The investigation of these Scriptures is based on the presupposition that pastoral authority in conflict resolution needs to attain a certain level of competency and practice in three specific fields: adhering to pure biblical positions, pursuing mature spiritual character, and possessing excellent leadership skills.

Steven Leon Cole

A Discovery of Confessional Accountability Practices of Leaders in the Brethren Church Denomination Based in Ashland, Ohio:
The purpose of this project was to discover the personal spiritual practices regarding confessional accountability among leaders in The Brethren Church denomination based in Ashland, Ohio. The participants were evaluated by distributing an assessment both by mail and email. The surveys were returned by mail or completed on a survey website where they were stored for data to be
compiled for evaluation.

The most prominent finding revealed that respondents held a high value
for pastors to have vulnerable relationships but found it difficult to develop and
sustain relationships where they can engage in confession and spiritual healing.

William E Joseph Jr.

Self-Awareness: The Vital Key to Successful Spiritual Leadership Development Through a 5 Day Boot Camp Experience

The purpose of this project was to impact Seventh-day Adventist ministerial interns preparing for ordination to begin the process of becoming self-differentiated leaders. The design of the project included the administration of pre-assessment and post-assessment questionnaires, along with five modules focusing on self-awareness for completion by the participants.
The results of the five-day self-awareness course revealed that the participants became more self-aware. Self-awareness among the participants improved as they integrated biblical principles from 2 Peter 1:5-8, the formation of a personal mission, vision and philosophy statements, taking diagnostic tests, practicing the discipline of solitude, and tracking a life sketch.

Worku Yohannes Gebre D.Min.

Abstract
This thesis-project discovers educational leadership values, knowledge, and skills that can contribute to the increased effectiveness of Capuchin friar school principals at Capuchin Schools in Ethiopia. Furthermore, the study attempted to suggest some sound and effective methods of communicating those discovered values, knowledge, skills, and educational leadership training to Capuchin friar school principals. Though Capuchin friars school principals succeeded in some aspects of school administration, they faced several challenges due to lack of educational leadership knowledge. Therefore, in the global culture where values, knowledge, and skills are rapidly changing it’s important for friars to attain an in-depth educational leadership knowledge. Additionally, they should understand education from Christian and human values perspectives within Ethiopian context.