New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Stephen M Ahrens

The purpose of the project was to develop a church revitalization strategy for Bethel Baptist Church, Trenton, Florida. The project director explored the field of church revitalization in order to determine best-practices. The project director researched the literature and practices of both the Southern Baptist Convention and other denominations to gather information and strategies of revitalization of the church. He then investigated the internal and external demographics of Bethel Baptist Church, Trenton, Florida. The project director selected church members to serve on a church revitalization strategy development team. He chose members who were involved in a wide range of ministries in Bethel Baptist Church. He trained the members of the strategy development team and led them through a chosen strategy development process to create a step-by-step church revitalization strategy. The project director then presented the church revitalization strategy to the church council, deacons, and the entire Bethel Baptist Church for approval.

Clayton D Chisum

The purpose of the project was to develop a strategy for an intergenerational mentoring ministry at First Baptist Church, Andrews, Texas. The project director researched the fields of mentoring, church leadership, and intergenerational relationships to determine the best methods and practices for the strategy. From this research, the project director created an annotated bibliography and report on best practices. The project director investigated several strategic planning models and selected the most appropriate model as a guide for the project. In order to identify barriers and opportunities for the ministry, the project director conducted and audit of First Baptist Church, Andrews, Texas, through an online questionnaire and demographic study. The project director created a dynamic ministry strategy presentation that was presented by the project director to the church staff for formal approval.

William Boyd Guy

The purpose of this project was to research cross-cultural communication theory to equip short-term mission teams from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary serving in rural India. The emphasis of this project was to utilize cross-cultural communication theory as it pertains to ministry in the rural-cultural context of Indian villages. The need exists to equip individuals serving on mission trips to rural India for effective cross-cultural communication for which few models currently exist. This project begins with the project director’s research an ends with the development of curriculum to meet this need. Due to time constraints, the results are outside the scope of the project.

Robert A Palculict

The purpose of this project was to enhance the project director's doctrinal preaching skills at Gate City Baptist Church, Pocatello, Idaho, to increase congregational awareness of selected Baptist distinctives. The project director researched the fields of doctrinal preaching and Baptist distinctives. The project director researched the fields of doctrinal preaching and Baptist distinctives. He also developed two annotated bibliographies. Experts in their respective fields evaluated these bibliographies for proficiency and scholarship. The director developed a sermon series to increase congregational awareness of Baptist distinctives. Finally, he preached these selected Baptist distinctives to worshipers at Gate City Baptist Church. He used several tools to determine the success of the project, including a pre-test and post-test and rubrics related to doctrinal preaching and Baptist doctrine.

Stephen Reid Guy

The purpose of this project was to equip selected leaders at Carterville Baptist Church, Petal, Mississippi, with addiction recovery ministry skills. The project director researched the topic of addiction in order to determine skills needed by individuals to minister to those struggling with addiction. Research was completed by using books, journals, websites, periodicals, and expert interviews. The research was used to develop a curriculum that was taught to the selected group in five sessions. participants were evaluated by the utilization of a pre-test and a post-test, role playing, and commitment cards. Two professional goals for this project were to increase the project director’s knowledge on the topic of addiction recovery ministry and to develop a curriculum.

William L Englehart

The purpose of this project was to equip selected members of Chinese Christian Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with essential apologetic engagement skills. The project director researched the field of apologetics, chose five apologetic skills, and then prepared file lessons teaching the essential apologetic skills to a select group of college students and working professionals. The project director presented the material in five sessions. Prior to teaching the lessons, and apologetic expert reviewed and evaluated the research for the project, and a curriculum expert reviewed and evaluated the style and content of the curriculum. Those evaluation tools enabled the project director to create an effective resource for equipping young adults in essential apologetic skills.

Lucinda S Lyons

The purpose of this project was to equip selected teachers of the Georgia Baptist Convention Hispanic churches in best Bible teaching practices for children. First the project director researched the field to determine best practices for teaching theology to children, and then developed a curriculum. The project director presented the curriculum in an all-day training session. The training session included: (1) teaching methodologies based on Deuteronomy, (2) questions carefully worded to help children discover the Bible message, and (3) a model for discovering biblical truth, developed to help both the teacher and the students identify the doctrinal elements in the bible passage being studied and for creative, practical ways to apply the doctrine in daily life. An expert in biblical and theological studies reviewed the research and an annotated bibliography on which the curriculum was designed, and a curriculum expert approved the lesson plans. Rev. Tim Millwood, as field mentor, discussed the project prior to the implementation, attended the project implementation, and provided feedback on the project and its impact. The stages of the project development, results, evaluation, and reflection complete the project report.

Michael Baker

The purpose of this project was to equip selected adults of Lowrey Memorial Baptist Church, Blue Mountain, Mississippi, in grief ministry skills. The project director seeks to fulfill three goals for this project. First, to determine the skills necessary for effective grief ministry, he plans to research the field of grief ministry as it applies to ministering to families that have experienced the loss of a loved one. The second goal is to develop a workshop that will equip selected adults of Lowrey Memorial Baptist Church with grief ministry skills. The third goal is to present the workshop to the selected adults so that they will be better equipped to minister effectively to grieving families.

The teaching methodology to implement the project included lectures, multimedia presentations, group sessions, and case studies. The project director evaluated the selected adult in the three domains of learning: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Using a post-workshop evaluation, the participants evaluated the project director’s instructional skills.

Timothy Glenn Burdick

The purpose of this project was to provide First Baptist Church of Minneola, in Minneola, Florida, a strategy to assimilate millennials. First Baptist Church of Minneoloa is a sixty-year-old church that grew in membership during the late nineteen seventies into the nineteen nineties. After that period of growth, the church began to lose members. Through research and communication with a select group of church members, a four=part strategy proposal was created and presented to the church. The strategy focused on the church becoming more invitational, improving a guest’s first visit, changing stereotypical perceptions and perspectives, and hearing the concerns of millennial families. This project report also includes an evaluation of the project goals and personal goals of the project director.

Cory Brooks Bruce

The purpose of this project was to develop a church growth strategy for First Baptist Church, Dubach, Louisiana. The project director commissioned a demographic study of First Baptist Church, Dubach, and explored existing church growth strategies. The project director used the demographics data to compose a church growth-potential report. He used the research from existing church g4rowth strategies to create an annotated bibliography and a report entitled Best Possible Growth Strategies for First Baptist Church, Dubach. The project director formed a Church Growth Strategy team that reviewed the research during six team sessions and helped develop a list of church growth strategies that would be most effective at First Baptist Church, Dubach. The project director presented the final strategy to the Deacon Board, Board of Directors, and congregation of First Baptist Church, Dubach, for approval.