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Naming the Lies: A Spiritual Diagnostic Tool for the Leaders of Kairos
Full text linkThe purpose of this project is to equip the leaders of the Kairos congregation at Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee to utilize a spiritual diagnostic tool in small group settings to name the lies keeping them from maturing in Christ. Having experienced catalytic growth in its early years, the Kairos staff must adapt to the increasing pastoral and discipleship needs of young adults. Without a leadership pipeline to equip and train leaders to address the unique needs of young adults, small groups have struggled to develop a strategic approach to spiritual formation for leaders other than lecture environments. The spiritual diagnostic tool presented will be used to equip Kairos leaders to identify the source of and the healing for their primary temptations. Doing so will enable them to see and lead others where God wants to develop their character and release their unique kingdom contributions.
Part One examines the cultural, denominational, and geographical influences that led to the catalytic growth of Kairos. The stability and liability of leadership, resources, and practices will be discussed as well as how they contributed to the current deficit of maturity among its leaders. Part Two presents a biblical explanation for the primary temptations that all people face. A synthesis from theological thinkers and practitioners informs the categorization of the primary temptations. Direction from biblical and theological thinkers demonstrates how leaders can access the transformative power of Christ to experience spiritual maturity. Part Three covers the implementation of a reproducible spiritual diagnostic tool for leaders. The digital training manual is presented and evaluated both on its content and in the context that it was presented to the leaders
Making A Healthy Church: Church Growth Strategy Through Spiritual Mentoring
Full text linkThe Los Angeles Fountain Church is a Korean Presbyterian immigrant church located in Gardena, California. Gardena, once the historic berry growing capital of southern California, was a lush oasis of greenery amidst coastal sage scrub. By the 1990s, Gardena was home to a large percentage of Korean immigrants living in Los Angeles. Even though more than 75 percent of Korean immigrants in America are churchgoers, Korean immigrant churches still have difficulty meeting their complex needs.
The greatest challenge for the Los Angeles Fountain Church is membership instability. This issue is a consequence of the immigrant mentality that survival is one’s top priority. Most church attendees are first-generation Korean immigrants who are selfemployed and running small businesses, so their work is very demanding. Their spiritual growth and maturity naturally take a back seat to their work. Thus, they have no comprehensive understanding of ecclesiology and soteriology. Furthermore, the Korean immigrant cultures as well as unique negative traits of the Korean culture in general hamper the development of an authentic relationship with Jesus. As a result, church members sometimes end up leaving for other churches.
The purpose of this project is to create a mentoring handbook for developing lay leaders as spiritual mentors. Spiritual mentoring integrates spiritual formation and leadership development. The handbook will broaden the perspective of potential spiritual mentors regarding the imitation of Jesus and provide useful skills for being a good mentor. After acquiring qualities, skills and tools, mentors will become like travelling companions to members in their journeys of faith. They can lend a listening ear and give continuing support. Most importantly, they will become people of God who can discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their lives
Adopting the Abandoned: Changing the Approach to Student Ministry at First Baptist Church in Columbia, Missouri
Full text linkThe purpose of this doctoral project is to lead the congregation of First Baptist Church to first understand the effects of systemic abandonment of adolescents by Western culture and the Church and then confront these effects by applying what can be learned (about identity, belonging, and attachment) from a biblical and cultural (secular) understanding of adoption, in order to reshape ministry praxis to more faithfully align with the work of God’s Kingdom. The project uses the process of practical theology to guide this work.
This project is divided into three parts. Part One explores systems of adolescent support—and ultimately, abandonment. It also examines the Church’s reaction to the rise and fall of such systems. This context is essential to creating a felt need for action within the local church.
Part Two employs theological reflection and insights from secular disciplines to examine the idea of adoption into the family of God as foundational for identity. It also borrows from lessons gleaned from adoptive parents and their children on attachment and identity.
Part Three draws from the previous parts to propose an implementation plan for a new ministry strategy that addresses the need for belonging through understanding how people are adopted (both spiritually and culturally) into God’s family, the Church, within the context of First Baptist Church. This approach is leading the congregation into creating a more faithful praxis. The project concludes with a summary of what was learned and insights for future ministry
The Role of the Christian Church in the Face of Internally Displaced Communities in Colombia
No full textA 50-year-history of armed conflict has forced millions of Colombians to flee their homes. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) often encounter ongoing economic, occupational, and psychosocial challenges (Denov & Marchand, 2014; Herm-Singh & Stuttgen, 2018). In response to the armed conflict, IDPs’ voices have become a vital component in peacemaking process in Colombia (Greminger, Vidal, & Kälin, 2008; Wong, 2008); similar, religious groups and faith leaders have played a powerful and influential role in the accompaniment to IDPs. Given the limited research on the IDPs’ perceptions of religious groups’ support, in particular the Christian Church (i.e., the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church), the aim of this study was to examine faith-based support efforts for IDPs in two pilot communities in Colombia. In this qualitative study, mixed methods and grounded theory were utilized to compare the experience and perceptions across IDPs (2 focus groups; n = 14) and religious leaders (n = 2), residing in rural and urban communities. Results showed significant within and between group differences across urban and rural IDPs and faith leaders with regards to types of support received and barriers to accessing help from religious groups and non-religious entities (e.g., NGOs), in many domains (e.g., physical, emotional, social). IDP’s expectations and barriers to support were also coded. Findings suggest that it is vital for the voices of IDPs to be heard by faith leaders and church members when designing and implementing outreach services among this vulnerable population
Community, Continuity, and Faith in the Midst of Loss: Culturally-Sensitive Practice Guidelines for Clinical Work with Grieving Coptic Clients
No full textGrief literature has evolved over the decades from encouraging people to “severing” ties (Freud, 1917, p. 255) to, currently, “continue bonds” with the deceased (Worden, 2002, p. 16). Although much has changed in psychology’s conceptualization of attachment with the deceased, current psychological literature continues to overlook the communal and spiritual components inherent to many non-Western communities’ grief processes, including that of the Coptic American community. Given the American Psychological Association’s ethical principles that require competent and culturally-sensitive care, this deficit in the literature and resources is problematic. The aim of this project is to address this gap by developing practice guidelines. This will be done by using Coptic spiritual and cultural themes to adapt William Worden’s four tasks of mourning (Worden, 2002). In doing so, this project aims to avail clinicians with a culturally and spiritually informed resource that can be used in clinical settings with grieving Coptic clients
Sharpening Iron: Developing a Mentoring Program to Train New Lay Pastors
Full text linkCongregations in the Presbyterian Church (USA) look to their pastor for spiritual, organizational, and missional leadership, but many congregations in villages and rural areas are having difficulty recruiting, affording, and retaining ordained clergy to fill pastoral leadership roles. The Presbytery of Northwest Coast located in parts of Washington and Alaska seeks to fill the need for pastoral leadership in these congregations by training and supporting lay pastors.
The purpose of this doctoral project is to develop a systematic mentoring network for the training of new lay pastors using clergy as mentors. This project will establish the vision and core values of the ministry, create awareness of the value of mentoring for this purpose, design a sustainable and reproducible framework for ministry, and implement a coaching approach to training clergy as mentors. The mentoring program will be developed, implemented, and evaluated in concert with presbytery leadership and staff.
This project defines mentoring as an empowering relationship between two people where one person gives God-given resources to another at a time crucial for personal and professional development. Clergy will invest their time, talent, and wisdom into the mentees as they work to fulfill their individual learning plans to meet the requirements to be commissioned as lay pastors. Clergy will receive training and coaching to develop as mentors.
The project created a sustainable mentoring ministry that continues to train lay pastors through mentoring. By the conclusion of the project implementation period, two individuals had been commissioned as lay pastors and are serving congregations within the presbytery. The continued implementation and refinement of this ministry will serve as a model for the denomination as it seeks to find qualified leaders for each congregation
