Ministry--Study

Michael T Boulware

The project addresses the need to equip untrained leaders in the local church whom the church is asking to offer pastoral care to the people of God. It begins with an examination of the biblical calling of the leaders as officers, staff members, or small group leaders. It lays a biblical foundation of how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is central to understanding and practicing pastoral care. Next, it examines the Law of God as a principle filter through which all pastoral counsel must pass, and explores how such a filter cannot discount the importance of the cultivation of relationships.

Christina J Semmel

This thesis-project is a qualitative study of five directors of national youth ministry training organizations. Through the lens of appreciative inquiry and employing critical reflection, it discerns best practices in training youth ministry leaders in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and the underlying assumptions and values of such practices. Using relevant Church documents and transformative learning theory in dialogue with these practices and assumptions the author proposes the promotion of a ministerial habitus. In concludes with five recommendations for improving the field of youth ministry training, including a national document as a framework for guiding training and formation.

Soonjung Kwun

During the revival period of the Korean church there was no need for a special church planting strategy or plan. As the number of churches and pastors increased, problems such as overpopulation of large churches and competition between ministers started to occur. Thus, a number of problems arose. This paper, with the theological consideration that God wants the mission of the Church to be the growth and independence of different churches, addresses how the SALT PLAN, the small church growth and self-reliance program organized by Kwanglim Church, can be developed more effectively and provide practical help.

Timothy C Schlatter

Eight couples engaged in regular "one another" encouragement to see what impact this would have on their practice of incarnational ministry. For nearly a year, they met in ministry transformation group clusters approximately twice a month. Five "one another" activities were jointly practiced-praying, sharing "God Stories," words of encouragement, learning, and on occasion, connecting for ministry beyond the meetings. Comparative before and after surveys showed participants came to embrace a more organic approach to ministry. They reported greater internationality in relational ministry, as well as increased commitment to pray, use "God stories," and pursue lifelong learning in ministry.

Jimm C Casey

The purpose of this project was to train selected leaders in personal grief ministry traits. The program emphasized a team approach to grief ministry that, when implemented, enables church members to meet the needs of the grieving. A pre-test/post-test was designed and employed with results showing significant differences. The results were attributed to the training of the selected members. The recommendation of these members was for this program to be implemented within the church to train more members in personal grief ministry traits.

Adam P Harmon

This project helps a congregation explore engaged ministry through connecting story of context, story of the "other," and God's story. Using focus groups and theological reflection, the project explores these connections while using Matthew's boat stories to illustrate characteristics of engaged ministry. The project tested that in making these connections, a congregation became more aware of the stories of the "other" by connecting with the stories of people, enabling a willingness to become more involved with engaged ministry. The congregation made the connection between story and engaged ministry while discovering the importance of awareness for helping the church move forward in engaged ministry.

Samuel Albarian

The Armenian Evangelical Church of Toronto (AECT) has never had a shared and clearly communicated corporate mission and vision statement. As a result the congregation's ministries have not been aligned with any explicit overarching vision. Ministries were sometimes not sure how their particular activities aligned with the larger purposes of the church. A process was needed to bring the congregation's leadership together to start thinking strategically and plan the future ministries of the church around a shared vision. A strategic planning team led the process by conducting congregational surveys, meeting regularly to pray, studying survey results and writing new mission and vision statements. The outcomes of this project include new mission and vision statements, a willingness to align the ministries accordingly, and a more forward looking, visionary leadership. The process of developing a well articulated mission and vision statement allowed a number of other church issues to be addressed.

Linda M Gregg

The scientific understanding of contemporary cosmology and the reality of climate change places the human in a new context. This has implications for the practice of the Christian faith. In my ministry persons coming to me are struggling to re-contextualize their faith in these realities. In this thesis I use the cosmology of Thomas Berry who links the three governing principles of the universe (differentiation, autopoiesis and communion) to the Trinity, then develop evolutionary and Trinitarian theology, applying it to my development of the integral program of Village Earth. The participant's experiences provide the qualitative research component of my study.

R Mark Robinson

The thesis of this dissertation is that there is a positive relationship between participation in the electronic media program of Wildwood Community Church (including reading blogs, listening to podcasts, participating in the church Facebook group, and following the church on Twitter) and sermon retention and application, experience of group life, and involvement in serving. This dissertation shows how one church in Norman, Oklahoma intentionally developed a strategy to leverage electronic media resources in an attempt to further their chief discipleship goals related to helping people worship, connect, and serve. The hypotheses anticipated that participation in the electronic media program would reveal a positive relationship in sermon retention and application, experience of group life, and involvement in service. To determine the validity of these hypotheses, a pre-test/post-test was designed to evaluate the change in sixty demographically diverse participants after a one-month period in the electronic media program in July 2010. After the results of the survey were examined, the hypothesis concerning a positive relationship between participation in the electronic media program and sermon retention and application was confirmed. However, a statistical analysis of the data did not confirm the two hypotheses that predicted a positive relationship between participation in the electronic media program and an improved experience of group life and involvement in service.

Walter Eugene Sprankle

The project developed a Healing AfterCare Groups resource to provide effective follow-up healing care after participants complete a 16-week healing care group. The main content of the resource came from Dr. Terry Wardle's books concerning healing care and spiritual formation. The resource was evaluated by seven caregivers (ordained pastors and licensed counselors) in the field of healing care groups. The mean for the twenty-one qualitative questions was 6.44 out of a possible 7.00, suggesting that the resource received a highly favorable evaluation. The results of the five qualitative questions suggested improvements that would enhance the resource in various areas.