5860 research outputs found
Sort by
Plan for Distance Leadership in Young Life in Latin America and the Caribbean
Get PDFYoung Life in Latin America and the Caribbean consists of ministry to teenagers in twenty five countries over a continent and a half. There are twelve senior leaders that give supervision to the leadership in these countries. The scope of this doctoral project is to design a leadership development plan that addrsses the needs, issues, challenges for each of these twelve leaders in their areas of responsibility.
I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado but the reality of my leadership challenge is that where I live is irrelevant to my calling. I must lead from significant distance from the people who are following me. Carolina Pi lives in Correntes, Argentina. She gives leadership to the four countries of Argentina, Paraguay, Uraguay and Chile. The closest senior leader to Carolina is Enrique Vargas who lives in Lima, Peru some 2,049 miles away. With the leadership under my responsibility I must learn and adapt to a leadership style, structure and vision that empowers and encourages strong and healthy ministry separated by thousands of miles.
Distance is only one of the challenges to be addressed in this project. The vast variety of cultures that our staff give leadership to requires a leadership development plan that is instructive for every community and culture as well as scalable in a multiple of countries around the division. This will require the skill of transference on behalf of our staff – the ability to extend what has been learnt in one context and creatively apply other contexts. In order to accomplish this I will distil the vast training material of Young Life’s seventy five year mission down to its most basic level, meaning we will focus on the core DNA of the mission of Young Life that transends cultures.
There is very little written specifically on distance leadership in Christian literature. The business world and the military world have however done considerable thinking on this topic. The theological basis of this leadership development plan will center around an apostolic leadership model based on the morphing of the apostle Paul’s leadership growth expressed in the Book of Acts and articulately described by Neil Cole in his work Journeys to Significance. Also central to the project will be the original research of a multitude of global leaders who are actively engaged in effective distance leadership.
The ministry call on our Young Life staff is clear: grow the ministry under your leadership with clarity, health, depth and joy as you allow Jesus to bring life and courage to our staff, volunteer leaders, kids and families. Clearly this is an impossible worldly endeavor. The reliance on the intervention and empowerment of the Holy Spirit is central to the development of this project and the implementation of our mission throughout Latin America and the Caribbean
Using Kingdom of God infused oikos to transform communities where Arrow Leadership participants serve
Get PDFAs the Kingdom of God is a relational construct, this project argues that it is possible to quantify and influence the health of an oikos (a set of relationships), framed by the reality of the Kingdom of God, which ultimately transforms communities in which program participants of Arrow Leadership serve.
There is growing commentary about Christians embracing aspects of the Kingdom of God beyond the scope and ministry of their local congregation (or, for increasing numbers of Christians, living in missional communities as an alternate to participating in a local congregation). In light of this move towards a post Christendom environment, the missional purview initiated and intended by the missio dei, wherein the missional reality of the Kingdom of God is expressed through the existing social infrastructure or networks in which Christians are placed, becomes increasingly normative for Christ followers. This paper asserts that the health of networks can be measured and therefore become increasing healthy, growing and full of love (Eph 4:16).
The purpose of this dissertation is to establish a methodology by which the health of an oikos (a set or network of relationships), framed by the reality of the Kingdom of God, can be measured (via survey) and influenced. This project will have particular focus on the past participants of the Arrow Leadership Program (offered by Arrow Leadership, a national, non-denominational, leadership development Christian not for profit organization). As a result, these past participants (and eventually those who subsequently access the survey) will be practically equipped with the capacity to develop their oikos, such that it reflects with greater clarity the reality of the Kingdom of God, thereby impacting positively the broader community in which their oikos exists
Public Discipleship: Forming Disciples for the Sphere of Neighborhood and Justice
Get PDFAs Western urban centers continue to secularize, religion increasingly finds itself relegated to the realm of private opinion. Religious beliefs are rendered largely inadmissible in the public sphere of shared truth. As a result, the Christian gospel increasingly tends to be heard as a statement of personal preference rather than the proclamation of a public truth available to all.
While the culture has shifted, the American evangelical church has continued to approach discipleship largely in terms of beliefs, practices and morals—the very things the culture regards as a matter of personal preference. This essentially privatized approach to discipleship assimilates well into our culture, but it struggles to reflect the public nature of the gospel. The American evangelical church is in need of an approach to discipleship that does not concede to these cultural categories.
This doctoral project introduces a framework for discipleship that will address this specific challenge at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York. It will propose an intentionally public approach to discipleship by beginning not with religious beliefs, practices or morals, but with day-to-day realities encountered in our shared spheres of life—both public and private. It seeks to enter into the real issues of these spheres in which all people are engaged with the goal of forming them to live with Christian distinctiveness in every sphere of life. In the interest if space, this project will highlight one sphere—the sphere of Neighborhood and Justice
Seeking but Not Sealing the Deal: The Exploratory Reality of Identity Status and Spirituality in Emerging Adulthood
No full textThe main part of identity exploration is now widely considered to occur in emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2004). Furthermore, religion and spirituality have been historically and currently viewed as a rich context for identity development (Erikson, 1965; King, 2003). Current research suggests a multidimensional model of spirituality (transcendence, fidelity, and contribution), which emphasizes bi-directional relations between individual and context (King, Kim, Furrow, & Clardy, 2017). The relationship between individual and context is congruent with the processes of exploration and commitment, which are highlighted in Marcia’s (1966) identity status model as essential to identity formation. The current study examined the spirituality and identity status of emerging adults who are actively engaged in religious communities. It was hypothesized that identity status would be positively associated with spirituality in this population, and thus transcendence, contribution, and fidelity would significantly differ by identity status. As the majority of the sample was found to be in ideological or interpersonal identity moratorium, the hypotheses could not be directly addressed, but correlational analyses supported the hypotheses
The Role of the Local Church in Addressing Trauma in African-American Communities: An Examination of Relevant Empirical Literature
No full textResearch has indicated the existence of patterns of elevated levels of community violence (CV) in urban neighborhoods heavily populated by African-Americans. Although this kind of recurring trauma can contribute to both subjective and clinical distress for members of these communities, researchers have found an underutilization of mental health resources by African-Americans. Conversely, literature has described a tradition of African-Americans seeking help from local Christian churches and/or utilizing individual spiritual resources. Given general underutilization of typical psychotherapy and reliance on the local church for support, community psychologists must consider how to support pastors in meeting the needs of traumatized individuals. In this review, the author will examine the available empirical literature regarding various ways churches can intervene with African-Americans experiencing repeated trauma. Of twenty-one total articles on interventions in the church, ten related directly to trauma, three to physical health, and eight to broad mental health. Six major themes arose across all articles related to the role of the pastor, pastoral ministry activities, meeting practical needs, informal and formal programs for healing, the development of collaborative relationships and mobilization of people in the community, and changing perceptions of trauma within the church. Implications for psychologists and pastors are discussed, with an emphasis on relationship building and increased research in this area
Muslim Religious Experience: An Experiential Approach and Dialogical Tool
No full textThis dissertation explores the religious experience of eight Muslim participants from California through a series of twenty-four interviews. The research examines four areas: the Islamic formal prayer rite, the participants’ motivations for worship, their perception of sin and forgiveness, and their beliefs about death and the hereafter. The research employed methods of participant observation, in-depth interview, and ranking. It focused on a relationship of trust between the researcher—who participated in their formal prayer rites—and the participants. The design of interviews relied on storytelling and conversation.
The findings indicated that one central factor, the unknowable nature of Allah, orchestrates the Muslim religious experience. First, it doesn’t allow for knowing Allah’s nature, but rather his attributes through the Qur’an and the divine law. Consequently, the law functions to inspire fear of Allah’s punishment and verdict. It also emphasizes observance of rules in a performance-oriented worship, where sin is treated as an act in a legal context, rather than a nature and where forgiveness is postponed to The Day of Judgment. Lastly, it produces an enduring sense of guilt and uncertainty filled with hope.
In the application phase, the researcher utilized the three-part dialogue method to train and mentor three Christians for three months to employ skills for experientialdialogue with Muslims on the subject of religious experience, rather than theological issues. Findings showed significant change in motivations, attitude, and the quality and the quantity of interaction of these individuals in their engagement with Muslim friends.
Mentor: Judith Lingenfelte
Kindling God: How People Experience the Divine Lecture 1: The Faith Frame
No full textThe Faith Frame
The great social science theorists of religion take the fact of belief for granted. Moreover, the cognitive science of religion and evolutionary psychology have demonstrated that evolved, “natural” qualities of our minds readily generate intuitions about supernatural agency. Yet Christians also report that faith is hard: it takes effort. These lectures make the case that this effortful attention involves an attention to the mind and to mental events; that different practices of attending to mental events shape mental experience; that different cultures and different theologies emphasize mind and mental process in distinctive ways; and all this has consequences for the way people experience God. This first lecture lays out the general frame and makes a claim that factual beliefs are different from religious beliefs. Attendees will be able to (1) identify the need to expand the cognitive science of religion to include the effort required to maintain a commitment to the salience of a positive supernatural presence and (2) identify the distinction between religious and factual belief.
Respondent: Justin L. Barrett, PhD, Thrive Professor of Developmental Scienc
Developing a Role for Men in Preventing Human Trafficking into the Sex Industry in Madrid
Get PDFThis ministry project aims to counter the masculine-related cultural dynamics that lead to human trafficking into the sex industry in Madrid, by developing a discipleship program that helps men to understand biblical masculine identity and their role in the Missio Dei, reducing demand through their approach to cultural and socio-economic structures.
Although Madrid is a main center for sex trafficking, the evangelical churches often lack the ability to respond effectively. Government efforts to combat trafficking largely focus on prosecution and protection. Meanwhile, the issue of prevention and the development of a positive role for men have received less attention. However, efforts to reduce the demand globally address masculine sexual identity and behavior.
The paper contains three parts. Part One examines the cultural and socio-economic environment proliferating sex trafficking. Specific attention is given to masculine culture and how this manifests in various social settings. It also raises some cultural and theological issues that limit local evangelical church engagement.
Part Two establishes the theological foundations of this project. It begins with a review of five books, and leads to a reflection on the relationship between masculine identity, the dynamic of spiritual powers, and the role of men in the outworking of the Missio Dei. These theological tenets then inform discussions on the role of men in influencing the power dynamics implicit in the cultural and socio-economic structures of Madrid.
Part Three provides a practical strategy for helping evangelical men develop the awareness and skills to participate in the prevention of sex trafficking through an understanding of biblical masculinity. The strategy focuses on the creation of a pilot project for future implementation in local churches, in the form of weekly teaching sessions, trust circle, prayer retreat, and the creation of ongoing project support groups. A plan for evaluation and implementation is also offered.
Content Reader: Christa Foster Crawford, J.D