Pastoral theology

Stephen David Schmidt D.Min.

Faith deconstruction and reconstruction have become a religious cultural phenomenon in 21st century America. It is an experience lamented by conservative evangelical and fundamentalist leaders as a step toward apostasy. But deconstruction is also a vital practice of those seeking to retain an authentic spirituality while challenging the authoritative and often regressive doctrines and practices of their traditional church. The goal of faith reconstruction is a revitalized, more compassionate, progressive, and inclusive belief system; one that rejects ancient perspectives of an angry God and embraces a perspective of a more loving and gracious God.
The act of ministry at the heart of this doctoral thesis project was implementing the “Evolving Faiths Discussion Group” in an inter-denominational church in Norman, Oklahoma. The goal was to provide a “safe space” where Christians from fundamentalist and evangelical backgrounds could openly discuss their questions and doubts about the faith they inherited, and explore more palatable alternative theologies. The intent was to provide a regular place and time, resources, and fellow deconstructors to explore those concerns. The desired outcome was that the participants would continue faith exploration as a life-long journey, become comfortable with questions as normative of spiritual health, and experience an enhanced connection with God and the world (3Cs).
The project engaged in action research, and employed adapted elements from heuristic phenomenology and ethnography. The thesis examines a recent social history of the “Fall of American evangelicalism,” and the “Rise of the Spiritual But Not Religious.” It constructs a biblical defense of deconstruction, describes the implementation of the Discussion Group, presents an analysis of five core evangelical themes as they affected the participants with a composite summary of the group experience as a whole, and concludes with some pastoral reflections.

Earl Antonio Robinson

One of the most pressing issues for the contemporary church is to train and educate culturally competent pastors to shepherd future generations of the church community. The proposed program included hands-on learning that facilitated change in the culture of the current leadership approach while addressing some adaptive and transformational leadership skills for enrichment in performing ministry tasks. The purpose of the program was to produce matured, effective, confident, committed, and able men and women in shepherding God’s flock while creating the knowledge necessary to develop and implement an educational leadership training program. This leadership program was designed to provide the opportunity for educational development for current leaders to prepare those seeking entry into ministry in the Church of God of Prophecy, Mid-Atlantic Region. Thus, pastors and bishops from the Church of God of Prophecy, Mid-Atlantic Region were surveyed and interviewed regarding the knowledge and skills that would be beneficial to future leadership training programs. Results of the survey indicated a need to improve the existing practices of leaders in the region. Participants defined a need to improve on learning new things and implementing them in the region. Results of the interviews revealed that (1) church leaders prepared for the role through learning formally and informally, (2) church leaders prepared for the role through prioritizing service, and (3) leadership qualities could be nurtured depending on the individual. The themes indicated that continuous and effective systems were in place to provide training and guidance for pastors and young aspiring ministers in preparation for effective ministry engagement. However, survey results indicated a need to improve the current education system for ministerial licensing of leader.

Paul Barrett Rudd

The project in ministry described in this paper is a study of Congregational Expectations of Pastoral care. It was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Ministry degree at the Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The purpose for making the study was to provide information to the Presbytery of Baltimore and its member churches and pastors regarding the attitudes and expectations of lay persons, in both leadership and non-leadership capacities, in the area of pastoral care and counseling. Second, the project was selected in order to better understand the concerns of church members whom the candidate is training students to serve through Clinical Pastoral Education. Finally, I selected this type of project in order to learn and utilize descriptive research techniques.

Mondonico A. Williams

The purpose of this project was to research the field of African-American pastoral leadership in multiethnic churches in order to develop a leadership workshop for pastoral interns in The Pursuit Church Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. The project director research a wide range of sources to gain knowledge of the best practices used by African-American pastors who lead multiethnic churches. The project director used the information to develop a workshop that will be used at The Pursuit Church Memphis, as well as other churches, churches planting networks, North American Mission Board (NAMB), and denominations that which to plant or revitalize multiethnic churches. The project director utilizes the research model described in the current New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Project in Ministry Design Handbook to complete this project.

Chung Yuen Chan D.Min.

In response to the migration of Hong Kong people to Canada in recent years, this project attempted to build up a biblical theology of hospitality from the perspective of discipleship. The theology of exile was also engaged to shed insight on hospitality. The driving question for this project was: How could the Hong Kong background Cantonese-speaking churches in Canada embrace a new wave of Hong Kong diaspora through practicing hospitality as a journey of discipleship?

This project interviewed 21 Hong Kong background Cantonese-speaking churches in Canada to draw lessons from their experience in embracing the Hong Kong wave during the period between September 2021 and May 2022.

Based on the biblical exposition, a framework of “B.O.N.J.O.U.R.” (i.e., boundary, orienting our hearts and minds, nurturing a lifelong habit, juncture, open, understanding, and reframing) in conjunction with the elements of the discipleship base of the writer’s church (i.e., Word, prayer, worship and stewardship of time, finance and talents) was proposed as a criteria for evaluating our mindset and practices in embracing the migration wave. Recommendations in another framework of “P.L.O.W.” (i.e., preparation, leadership, optics and willingness) were humbly offered at the end to different churches of different sizes and different paces in welcoming the migrants from Hong Kong.

Jeffrey M. Luchun

The purpose of this project in ministry report was to develop a strategic plan for St. Andrew's United Methodist Church (SAUMC) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to reach millennials in their surroundings community through the implementation of these methodologies and the developed strategic plan. During the past decade, at SAUMC, the need to reach the next generation has reached a critical point. The community around the church holds multiple mosaic identities which identifies which were utilized in developing the strategy to reach this narrowed demographic. Current literature on the topic and strategic planning assist in identifying key methodologies St. Andrew's can implement. The millennial generation desires a church that reflects ancient aspects while blending contemporary distinctiveness. This change in ministry thinking, style, and context provides the church with the perfect opportunity to evolve. This project identifies strategies utilized by churches that are successfully reaching the largest and most unchurched population in the United States. These strategies inform the future planning of SAUMC as it seeks to reach millennials in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Grady Alan Cox D.Min.

This Ministry Research Project aims to demonstrate a system for pastoral succession for congregationally governed Baptist Churches with by-laws requiring a pastor search committee system. Pastoral succession is a viable mechanism for pastoral selection in Baptist polity when certain factors are met, including predecessor’s tenure, successor’s qualifications and calling, and congregational understanding and support. Chapter 1 explains the opportunity for pastoral succession to create healthier churches and outlines the context, rationale, goals, and methodology used for this specific project. Chapter 2 examines biblical examples and exhortations from Scripture about succession of spiritual leaders in the Old and New Testaments (Moses/Joshua, Elijah/Elisha, Paul/Pastors, Jesus/Apostles). Chapter 3 argues for the advantages of pastoral succession through historical examples (St. Augustine, Gregory of Nazianzus, Charles Spurgeon, Andrew Fuller), and explores practical advantages supported by biblical leadership theory. Chapter 4 describes the planning, implementation, and results of a pastoral succession at University Baptist Church Fairbanks, AK. Chapter 5 evaluates the effectiveness of pastoral succession through set goals, defines theological principles supporting succession, and highlights best practices and common mistakes. Finally, it analyzes the possibility of using a similar process for healthy and intentional ministry leadership transitions.

Jonathan A Ytterock

Christian congregations today live under the reign of the ascended Lord Jesus, who has been exalted to right hand of God the Father, lives to intercede for us, pours out his Spirit, and promises to return. Yet the reality of Jesus’ ascension is often dramatically undercelebrated, distorted, or dismissed. When this happens, congregations not only lose a key part of the Biblical witness, but also a key way of understanding their identity, calling, and hope. If the church today relates to Jesus as the ascended Lord, pastors and Christian leaders should be asking, what are the implications of the ascension for leading congregations to participate in the mission of God? In response to that question, this project places the doctrine and story of Jesus’ ascension in conversation with pastoral ethnography and the organizational theories of sensemaking and innovation as defined by Karl Weick and Clayton Christensen. Through this conversation, and by focusing particularly on the congregation of Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church, I propose that the reality of the ascension – particularly Jesus’ incarnate exaltation, his intercession and gifting of the Spirit, and his promised return – gives small to average-sized mainline congregations stability in the present and resources to act and improvise hopefully into the future as they participate faithfully and contextually in the mission of God.

David Allen Williams D.Min.

The purpose of this project was to equip deacons of Iron City Baptist Church, Iron City, Georgia to serve the church as servant leaders. The first chapter goes into great detail of the context of not only the church, but also the surrounding community. By way of understanding the context of the church and community, one can see the great need for biblical servant leaders as well as determine whether this project is helpful to you in your context. Chapter two intently researches the biblical foundation of the office of deacon, as well as argues for the role of the deacon to be one who leads, as well as one who serves. The third chapter narrows its scope to argue for a shared leadership model among the servant leader deacons of any given church. Chapter four is the implementing of the project itself. It includes all that is needed to duplicate the project at your church, such as the four-session training material, as well as how I recruited participants, developed the curriculum, and taught the curriculum. The final chapter is simply personal evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the project. I discuss things that I learned as a result of the project, things that went well as well as some things that I should have done differently. In the appendixes you find all the various aspects that you need to print and use for your own training, such as the training material itself, the recruitment letter, the pre-and post-test, etc. May the Lord bless you as you glean from this project for your own project or implement in your church.
David Allen Williams, Doctor of Ministry in Christian Leadership
Advisor: Dr. Shane Parker, Ph.D.
School Name: Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2022

Ryan James Lawrence Dr. D.Min.

In this portfolio the writer explored his ministry journey and identity through the lens of time, looking at his past, future, and present, in order to plot a course forward. In considering his past he examined how his theology of preaching had arisen out of his experiences and the relationship between biography and theology. In considering his future, he explored how the imagination could be used to help lead people and institutions to new horizons. In considering his present he researched how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted preachers in his denomination, The Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), and how group story sharing could be used to aid in their healing and recovery. The research portion of this portfolio used a narrative study, the heart of which was a focus group meeting of five pastors, followed up by interviews in which participants contributed to the evaluation of the project. The key finding was that participants endured many common struggles and hardships, including the experience of “preaching into a void,” which described the hardship of speaking without a connection to one’s audience. Sharing their stories helped participants to understand and normalize these experiences, aiding in their healing.