Wesley Theological Seminary

Vona R Wilson

Looking through the lens of Christ's behavior and prayer in chapters 14-17 of John, the author identifies seven theological descriptions that help us recognize the body of Christ in any circumstances. Establishing a Virtual Chapel, an electronic devotional tool, within the community context of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, the author observed surprising impact as employees, volunteers and donors began sharing this message of Christ with others. Initially beginning as a 169-person distribution, it now reaches over 900 people.

Redonia M Thomas

What kind of intercessory prayer ignites and energizes a church to become more engaged in the community? Research shows there is a consistent decline in people attending church. The two congregations I serve are experiencing this decline. They were more inward focused and less missional minded. At one time, the four walls of the church were sufficient for ministry, because people came to the house of God. However, there has been a shift in the demographics, the attitudes and behaviors of the community. This project focuses on how intercessory prayer helps congregations seek the welfare of the city.

Sin Kian Tan

Aging is a world trend and global issue. It is important to provide a relevant equipping program to transform the young-old from retiree to an active servant of God, thus to live their life fruitfully and meaningfully and accomplish the task given by God which serves to bless the middle old and old-old generation. This paper focuses on two main areas: the transformation principles through the study of the life of Moses from shepherd of the flock to the leader of the Israelite crowd, and a study of the equipping program of the Golden Army of Heaven (GAOH) and modifications of it to suit the Singapore context. A survey of the young-old about their satisfaction and meaning found in life helps to determine the real-life condition of the young-old, and the evaluation of the Golden Army of Heaven (GAOH) conducted by the author examines the effectiveness and usefulness of the equipping program.

Deborah C Suddarth

How can Collierville United Methodist Church wholistically address the spiritual yearnings of mind, body, and soul of those in the church's immediate neighborhoods by sharing God's incarnational love through community development, while at the same time revitalizing the intentional discipleship of the congregation? The author embarked on a community development project, bringing together the congregation, neighborhood and community churches, and four targeted neighborhoods in Collierville, TN, creating a coalition: Collierville Connected. Spiritual and leadership development were emphasized in every team meeting. Surveys conducted determined possible goals for the coalition, the first resulting in the opening of a Neighborhood Resource Center.

Adam B Snell

The statistical data congregations collect can be a beginning point for learning the stories of those congregations and their pastoral leadership. Statistical data was collected for over 600 churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church for the years 1974 to 2014. Graphs were generated that plotted average worship attendance for that range of years for each of those churches and, concurrently, the pastoral leadership of those churches. This project found a decrease in average worship attendance for the Conference, but also found evidence of vitality in many congregations and pastors. It also discovered a few good stories.

Ronald L Slaughter

How can community stakeholders partnering with Saint James Church address urban blight? The author researched how a partnership between the church and community stakeholders can lead to creative financing of a new church building and the revitalization of an urban blighted area. He studied how Nehemiah's strategy for redeveloping urban Jerusalem, can become a model for the 21st century urban church. He presents insights from interviews with community stakeholders along with creative marketing strategies to launch a capital campaign to keep members excited. Lastly, the author shares relevant strategies for building a new church in an urban blighted community.

Paula B Smith

Clergy health matters. Clergy health is considered critically threatened in various dimensions of health and well-being when compared to a representative sample of the general population. The Reclaiming Wholistic Health and Well-Being Clergy Women's Health Initiative utilized a covenant peer group model, an overnight retreat, health professional/spiritual director consultations, and an online and in person communication forums to facilitate theological reflection and engagement in spiritual disciplines to cultivate healthy habits in five dimensions of health: spiritual, physical, emotional, social, and financial. The participants demonstrated improvement in all dimensions.

Daniel T Braswell

This project involves exploring ways to enhance religious services at a military hospital through the Protestant chapel congregation. The author implemented ways to raise awareness of the services through the hospital. He also conducted a survey among the current chapel congregation. Next, he did a series of interviews of chapel congregants using narrative analysis to gain a picture of the meaning and purpose of the service for the current attendees to provide insights for enhancing the service. The results lead to conclusions and suggestions for further enhancement of the services.

Susan E Boehl

To the unchurched, the local church is largely absent and nominally relevant to their circumstances. This fundamental disconnect threatens to leave the church impotent to walk alongside and impact its unchurched neighbors. This author proposes a common denominator for the community and the Gathered Church, namely, Intercessory Prayer. Through planning and implementation of five public Intercessory Prayer activities with internal complements, the author details the re-introduction of relationship-building, mutual vulnerability, and authentic connection between those inside and outside the walls of the church. Interviews and first-person narratives reveal the journey toward collaboration with, and transformation of all, through sacred encounter.

Bryan L Brooks

Christian congregations can use small groups to build mutually nourishing connections among young adults aging out of foster care and church members. Working with a nearby foster care organization, the author adapted a traditional Wesleyan small group approach, Covenant Discipleship, to establish a cohort of congregants from his local church and young adults aging out of foster care, a population often overlooked by communities of faith. By flexibly applying Covenant Discipleship techniques and engaging the foster care residents as adults with power to shape the experience, a new model for connecting congregations and young adults transitioning from foster care emerged.