New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Eric T Andrews

The purpose of this project was to develop a school- and community-based strategy to reduce chronic absenteeism among kindergarten and first-grade students at W. S. Neal Elementary School. The project director analyzed internal and external demographic data. The faculty and staff members were surveyed on the school culture. The kindergarten and first-grade students’ parents were surveyed on the school safety, culture, and climate to determine the potential barriers for chronic absenteeism in kindergarten and first-grade students. The project director also explored existing strategic models to determine best practices on chronic absenteeism for kindergarten and first-grade students. The project director developed a school and community-based strategy to address chronic absenteeism in kindergarten and first-grade students and presented the strategy to an existing Attendance Management Team (AMT) and the school-based Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) for approval.

Jamie M Smith

The purpose of this project was to equip selected parents with best practices to disciple children at Concord Baptist Church in Clermont, Georgia. The project director began by researching the field of discipling children and producing a comparative analysis to determine the best practices. He then produced a report of six best practices for discipling children in the home. Next, the project director developed curriculum to train parents how to use the best practices discovered and use the curriculum to teach a selected group of parents at the church with the best practices. Through the process, the project director increased his knowledge of discipleship practices in the home and in equipping families to lead their children spiritually. He also increased his knowledge and skill curriculum writing and classroom instruction. During the process, expert evaluators guided the director in development and implementation of the project.

Kwangmyeon Kim

The purpose of the project was to develop an Islam mission strategy for Rasimpasa International Church which is located in Istanbul, the political and economic center of the Islamic Republic of Turkey. For this Islam mission strategy development model, the project director first studied the areas of professional strategic planning and development for church planting and studied theories and practical application cases for Islam mission in order to establish and develop general strategic planning concerning church planting. Second, throughout the process of this study, the project director identified theoretical bases for Rasimpasa International Church to actively participate in the Islam mission ministry and developed a specific Islam mission strategy that can be applied in this situation of the church in Istanbul, Turkey. Third, the project director presented a developed Islam mission strategy for approval to selected group of leaders of Rasimpasa International Church. It also reflected the objective evaluation of experts on the achievement of the presented misistry goals and professional goals for this project. Lastly, the project director made suggestions for the deep and good practice through analysis and reflections after the preparation, and implementation and evaluation process for the Islam mission strategy development model.

Ytu Thi Tran

The purpose of this Doctor of Ministry project was to research the field of pastoral care related to multicultural death and dying rituals in order to identify best practices and develop a manual for the chaplaincy department at Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC), Lawrenceville, Georgia. Among the pastoral care services offered at GMC, an examination of many hospital manuals showed a lack of information and resources on death and dying rituals and faith practices, especially for those with focus on the four leading religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. A manual that centered on these four religious groups, along with providing information on religious death and dying rituals, would not only be helpful for new intern Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) chaplains and staff chaplains, but would also benefit the interdisciplinary medical staff in helping them treat patients and families with respect and dignity.

In order to complete this project, the project director examined research in the field of pastoral care on the beliefs and rituals of four leading religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. She also investigated significant time studying how to design and write a manual. The result was a comprehensive, but not exhaustive, manual about these four religions that focused on their history, beliefs, teachings, practices, and death and dying rituals. Furthermore, the project director personally interviewed a spiritual leader representing each of the four major religions presented in this document for their review and evaluation of the accuracy of its contents.

Watkins Keith Pierce

The purpose of this project is to develop a revitalization strategy for the Clinton Baptist Association in East Tennessee. The project is derived from the strategic planning model. After conducting sufficient research, the project director will learn best practices in field revitalization. The project director will conduct a demographic study to verify the need of revitalizing the association. An internal demographic study will produce the facts and trends of the churches affiliated with the association. An external demographic study of the cities and communities of Anderson County, Tennessee, will be completed to increase awareness of community and generational needs and desires. The project director will assemble a strategic leadership team from the leaders of the associational churches. When assembled, the team will prepare and adopt a strategic planning process and develop a revitalization strategy. After the strategic planning process is created, the final step of the project will be a presentation of the proposed revitalization strategy to the messengers of the annual meeting, followed by the messengers’ vote on the proposal. The implementation of the revitalization strategy will begin in the project and will be completed after the approval of the project. The strategy implementation is outside the scope of the project.

Sidney C. Tortorice

The purpose of this project was to train selected adults from Jimmie Hale Rescue Mission, Birmingham, Alabama, in a strategy for coping with grief in relation to substance abuse. The project director sought to fulfill three goals for this project. First, to research the field of grief recovery in order to determine essential practices, he researched literature in grief recovery and evaluated essential grief recovery practices in rescue missions. The second goal was to identify the best model for grief recovery in substance abuse programs in selected rescue missions. He accomplished this goal by researching abuse programs in multiple North American rescue missions. The third goal was to design a grief recovery strategy for substance abuse residents at Jimmie Hale Rescue Mission by selecting team members and creating strategy sessions.

Dedrick J. Minor

The purpose of this project was to research the spirituality of Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), a twelve-step program for individuals who desire to stop their sexual compulsive behaviors, to develop a pastoral guide for spiritual caregivers to sex addicts. Due to the contentiousness of the concept of sexual addiction, few pastoral care guides exist to reach sex addicts and this project addressed that need. The project director utilized both primary and secondary sources related to the fields of pastoral care and counseling while researching the spirituality of SAA, adapting his findings to the specific spiritual needs of sex addicts. This project culminated in the development of a pastoral care guide to be utilized by spiritual caregivers in the provision of pastoral care to the sexually addicted. The final state of this project was the completion of a pastoral care guide for spiritual caregivers to assist them in ministering to sex addicts.

Nathaniel Jones Carroll

The purpose of this project was to develop a membership assimilation strategy for First Baptist Church, Haleyville, Alabama. The project director explored the field of survey development and analysis, resulting in the creation of a discovery survey. After analysis of the results, the survey provided a church profile of membership expectations.

The project director researched the field of membership assimilation resulting in a list of best practices from the annotated bibliography compiled. The project director researched the field of strategic planning producing an annotated bibliography and list of strategic planning producing an annotated bibliography and list of strategic processes discovered. The project director led a group of selected members through a chosen strategic process, discovered during the research phase.

The result of the strategic process was a membership assimilation strategy for First Baptist Church, Haleyville, Alabama. The project director presented the strategic plan to the deacon body of First Baptist Church, Haleyville, Alabama, for approval. Once approved by the deacon body, the strategic plan was presented to the membership of First Baptist Church, Haleyville, Alabama, for approval.

Justin Wade Phillips

The purpose of this project was to research virtual worship strategies in order to develop a strategic guide to transition virtual worshipers to in-person worship at Northcrest Baptist Church, Meridian, Mississippi. The project director used the research model found in the current Doctor of Ministry Handbook from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

This is a topic that has very little research on it currently as it is still a developing field of study in the church. It is, however, a field of study that has seen exponential growth because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most churches, including Northcrest, went live-stream only for several weeks during the initial COVID-19 shutdown of 2020. Therefore, despite the relative dearth of research, there is a great need for understanding.

The project director did a wide range of research on this topic to better understand those participating in worship both virtually and in-person at Northcrest. In doing so, he created a strategic guide for reaching those watching virtually at Northcrest that could serve as a tool for other churches to try to do the same.

Jody K Hill

The purpose of this project was to equip selected students at Blue Mountain College, in Blue Mountain, Mississippi, with strategic leadership skills so they can serve the church and community as Christ-centered leaders. The project director utilized curriculum-based training sessions to teach the students essential strategic leadership skills. Using leadership research built upon theological foundations, he created a ten-step training process with an acronym titled LEADERSHIP. The college plans to implement a degree in leadership communication in the near future. Thus, a byproduct of the project was that Blue Mountain College students were introduced to a new field of study as a result of the project's completion. To complement the degree in leadership communication, the college provost hopes to offer a recurring course in strategic leadership at Blue Mountain College. The planning and research completed in this project will assist in developing the strategic leadership course.