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Pentecostal Health: The Intentionality of Being a Spirit-filled Ministry
Get PDFThe premise of this research project asserts that a disconnect exists between what Pentecostal churches profess to believe and what is experienced and practiced by their congregations. The purpose of this project was to discover if this disconnect exists. Secular philosopher Franz Brentano popularized the concept of intentionality. Jesus demonstrated intentionality regarding the partnership with the Holy Spirit and his followers, expecting them to be empowered with the Holy Spirit for Christian living and witness. Jesus always intended for his Church to be filled with Pentecostal people. Jesus’ intention can be perceived by observing what He said about the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John and what Luke demonstrated in the ministry of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and Acts. The concept of Pentecostal Health is presented in this research, identifying six characteristics of a healthy Pentecostal ministry. A congregational survey and a staff/leadership survey were developed and distributed to six participating Assembly of God churches to measure the accuracy of their self-awareness and whether the outcomes correlate with their experiences and practices. The surveys also assess the desired needs regarding the Holy Spirit. The evidence reveals both the strengths of the church and areas of needed growth. This empowers the staff and leadership of these churches to take intentional steps in regaining, maintaining, and increasing their Pentecostal health. Intentionality is necessary for Pentecostal leaders to successfully pass on the essential experiences and practices that identify them as Spirit-filled ministries.
Abstract (Spanish) La premisa de este proyecto de investigación afirma que existe una desconexión entre lo que las iglesias pentecostales profesan creer y lo que experimentan y practican sus congregaciones. El propósito de este proyecto fue descubrir si existe esta desconexión. El filósofo secular Franz Brentano popularizó el concepto de intencionalidad. Jesús demostró intencionalidad con respecto a la asociación con el Espíritu Santo y sus seguidores, esperando que fueran empoderados con el Espíritu Santo para la vida y el testimonio cristiano. Jesús siempre tuvo la intención de que su Iglesia estuviera llena de gente pentecostal. La intención de Jesús se puede percibir al observar lo que dijo sobre el Espíritu Santo en el Evangelio de Juan y lo que Lucas demostró del ministerio de Jesús en el Evangelio de Lucas y Hechos. En esta investigación se presenta el concepto de Salud Pentecostal, identificando seis características de un ministerio pentecostal saludable. Se desarrollaron y distribuyeron una encuesta congregacional y una encuesta de liderazgo a seis iglesias participantes de las Asambleas de Dios para medir la precisión de su autoconciencia y si los resultados se correlacionan con sus experiencias y prácticas. Las encuestas también evalúan las necesidades deseadas con respecto al Espíritu Santo. La evidencia revela tanto las fortalezas de la iglesia como las áreas de crecimiento necesario. Esto faculta al liderazgo de estas iglesias a tomar medidas intencionales para recuperar, mantener y aumentar su Salud Pentecostal. La intencionalidad es necesaria para que los líderes pentecostales transmitan con éxito las experiencias y prácticas esenciales que los identifican como ministerios llenos del Espíritu
Evaluation of the Hispanic Paradox: Conceptualized Through the Lens of Generational Decision-Making Styles of First-, Second-, and Third-Plus-Generation Hispanic Leaders
Get PDFThe primary objective of this dissertation was first to ascertain whether there is a statistically significant effect of generation on decision-making styles and secondarily to ascertain whether there would be a statistically significant interaction effect for study participant gender and generation upon decision-making styles. The researcher hypothesized that there are quantifiable differences among Hispanic generations: first-generation Hispanic immigrants to the second and third-plus generations (Kiang et al., 2011; Pan & Pierre Lu, 2015). Decision-making styles create a framework to understand an individual\u27s decision-making process, problem-solving matrix, and interactions with other organizations and team members (Rowe & Boulgarides, 1983). The population for this study included Hispanic pastors and leaders of the Hispanic districts of the Assemblies of God Fellowship (Springfield, MO). The Hispanic Districts of the Assemblies of God were selected for their unique Hispanic population matrix. The study’s topic was addressed using a quantitative, nonexperimental research design. The study’s research methodology was a survey research approach. The instrument was the General Decision-Making Style (Scott & Bruce, 1995) survey, and the internal reliability level achieved in the study was considered good to very good for the overall value and for each of the three generational values (α = .84). Participants (n = 226) responded to 30 survey items: 5 demographic questions and 25 decision-making style questions. The data were collected using an online survey platform (SurveyMonkey) and analyzed using SPSS. The final analysis revealed a nonstatistically significant (F (10, 410) = 0.96, p = .48, ηp2 = 0.02) relationship between decision-making styles and generations. There was a similar finding for the secondary study question, in that the main effect for study participant generation was nonstatistically significant (F (10, 404) = 1.24, p = .26, ηp2 = 0.03). Congruently, the three hypotheses for Research Questions 1 and 2 were rejected considering the nonstatistically significant interaction effect. These results challenge assumptions of decision-making style and generational theory—and, as such, open the door to a new empirical examination of the constructs
SECONDARY TEACHING THRIVING: INVESTIGATING SECONDARY TEACHER WELL-BEING AND CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THRIVING
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine secondary teacher thriving using the PERMA well-being model. This non-experimental, quantitative survey aimed to discover secondary teachers’ well-being and how the dimensions of well-being are predictive of thriving among secondary teachers in the United States. Using a comprehensive researcher-created instrument assessing participants’ sense of thriving and PERMA well-being, the study resulted in statistically significant findings with 55 secondary teachers participating in the survey. Both sense of thriving and the dimensions of thriving were statistically significant in a one sample ttest. Demographics, such as school classifications, years of experience, and geographic locations, were statistically significant using an ANOVA analysis. Of the five dimensions of thriving, positive emotions, engagement, and positive relationships were statistically predictive of thriving in a secondary classroom. While future studies need to be completed on teacher thriving, this study provides a comprehensive instrument to examine secondary teacher thriving in the classroom
A Quantitative Study of Authentic Leadership, Authentic Followership, and Organizational Commitment within Christian Higher Education
Get PDFOrganizational commitment is an important component within Christian higher education, impacted by the words and actions of authentic leaders and followers. In a time when more people left their jobs or looked for new employment than ever before, it was necessary to identify contributing factors that built and detracted from organizational commitment within this context. In this study, the researcher explored the relationships between organizational commitment and authentic leadership and authentic followership from the perspective of followers within five institutions in the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). The findings provided important context for current levels of connection between followers’ perceptions of their leader’s authentic behaviors and self-reflection of their own authenticity. Further, the researcher identified the correlations between each independent variable and the dependent variable, providing significant effects and potential causation within the follower’s perception of leader and the follower actions. The data for this quantitative study were collected through a survey completed by 213 participants among the staff, faculty, and administration located at five different within CCCU institutions in the United States. This study contributed to the overall body of research by showing statistically significant relationships between organizational commitment and authentic leadership (selfawareness, balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, and relational transparency), and organizational commitment and authentic followership (selfawareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, and psychological ownership) among respondents at the participating institutions
PROPP, PARABLES, AND PAIDEIA: WHAT THE STORIES OF JESUS TEACH US ABOUT CULTIVATING CULTURE
Get PDFThe parables of Jesus are well-known and oft-repeated. They are commonly taught to children in Sunday school, but Jesus used them to reveal truth to his adult audiences. This paper explores the importance of Jesus choosing to use stories to teach adults, whether these stories qualify as folklore, and also whether they can be analyzed as literature. After drawing conclusions on these matters, this paper analyzes several of the parables of Jesus according to Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale and looks to see if Jesus told stories that fit within Propp’s proposed functions. Finally, this paper asks what can be learned from such an analysis in a culture where Christians shy away from their call to engage in the arts to establish paideia
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF DIGITAL RESOURCES BASED ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Get PDFMany factors impact teachers’ decisions about when and how to implement technology during instruction. However, a gap exists in understanding teachers’ motivations for technology integration and face-to-face instruction. Therefore, this qualitative case study explored how teachers’ perceptions of student achievement, motivation, classroom behaviors, and digital challenges influenced their decisions about using technology or direct instruction in the classroom setting. A group of 20 teachers from two southern Florida public elementary schools completed anonymous Likert-scale surveys; six teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings determined via descriptive statistics and thematic analysis revealed that teachers’ inclusion of technology and traditional resources is influenced by teachers’ perceptions of students’ achievement, motivation, behavior, and technology challenges during instruction. To increase technology inclusion, teachers stressed the importance of a balanced and ethical learning experience that promotes students’ achievement. Participants indicated that to increase teachers’ technology inclusion, greater focus must be placed on resources that enhance students’ learning and achievement rather than focusing on student motivation, behavior, and technology challenges
CHRIST AS DIALOGUE WITH CULTURE: REIMAGING THE CHURCH FOR INCARNATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP AND MINISTRY
Get PDFGod spoke, and Logos created. Increased polarization and divisiveness in USAmerican society and the resulting social pain and even violence inspired this project to pursue a healthier and restorative dialogue. If God’s spoken and incarnate Word originated human life and was and is the means of redeeming humans to life with God and one another, how might such a dialogical Christology impact a theology of dialogue capable of addressing brokenness in a culture? As action research, this project tested the potential for a theology of dialogue to impact perceptions as a precursor to altering behaviors through a presentation at Calvary Church in Naperville, Illinois, a culturally diverse and multi-national congregation. Identifying both the theological roots of divisive issues and what it means for the Church to be the dialogical Body of the dialogical Christ are steps this project took toward healing racial, ideological, and political division. The broader aspiration was to develop a theology of dialogue capable of bringing health to broken cultural dialogue through a reimaging of Christ for incarnational discipleship in the ecumenical Church. This dissertation presents the research project’s biblical, theological, and literary study; applied intervention; quantitative study of the intervention’s post-survey; and evaluation and conclusions. The discoveries and implications for the ecumenical Church and cultural dialogue are decisive as the study showed the theology of dialogue did impact the participants’ perceptions. The combined findings of the literature review and quantitative study offer potential for broader application in religious and non-religious contexts to move USAmerican dialogue from devastation to restoration. Christ is God’s dialogue with humanity as the Divine Logos and in-flesh Word through whom God speaks, hears, touches, and is touched. He is a bi-directional “through-word.” God’s dialogue, in-through-as Christ, continues in and through the dialogical Church as the present, embodied Christ in the culture
TEACHER PERCEPTIONS AND UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Get PDFAwareness of human trafficking is key to prevention and intervention, and it is important for educators to have an awareness of it in the classroom. Conducting a quantitative study, the researcher surveyed 40 teachers from various counties throughout the state of Florida. The teachers were surveyed to determine awareness levels and their perception of effectively addressing all matters associated with human trafficking. The internal reliability level of participant responses was considered excellent. Results showed higher levels of awareness when evidence of human trafficking training was provided and was statistically significant. Results also revealed an increase in confidence when evidence of human trafficking training was present. The use of a two-phase analysis revealed how three elements of human trafficking were considered statistically significant based on an evaluation of the predictive abilities of the three elements while using the multiple linear regression statistic technique. Three elements of human trafficking were statistically significantly predictive of study participants\u27 perceptions of their overall effectiveness in addressing all matters associated with human trafficking: training received, prevention technique awareness, and confidence in the application of prevention techniques
Exploring Implicit Belief Alignment in Leaders and Followers
Get PDFThrough quantitative, nonexperimental research, this study focused on follower schemas among leaders and followers. The sample included 203 leaders and followers from Canada and the United States. The research addressed a literature gap through comparing leaders and followers’ implicit beliefs. In followership literature, two prominent areas of study regarding followers’ implicit beliefs are the implicit followership theory (IFT) and follower role orientation. Although many scholars have considered IFT and role orientation as the same construct, no scholar has ever compared the theories for correlation. Thus, the study addressed another literature gap through correlation and predictive analysis tests to compare between the two constructs, which were the instruments that measure IFT and role orientation: the implicit followership scale for IFT and the coproduction and passive role orientation scale for follower role orientation. The results showed no statistical difference between leaders and followers regarding IFTs and follower role orientations. The prototypes from the implicit followership scale showed no correlation to coproduction role orientation. There was, however, a correlation and a predictive relationship between the antiprototypes from the implicit followership scale and passive role orientation. The findings are valuable for individuals, teams, leaders, followers, and organizations
PODCASTING AS A PEDAGOGY: TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF PODCAST USE AND CREATION IN THE CLASSROOM
Get PDFPodcasting is an innovative technology medium that has impacted the world with its new ideas, perspectives, and connections between listeners and hosts. While this medium has grown exponentially in many spheres, it is relatively new in educational settings. This thesis seeks to determine whether educators are ready to implement podcast listening and producing in their classrooms. It also seeks to ascertain educators’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of podcasting. A survey was conducted asking teachers and college students preparing to become teachers about their observations and understandings of podcast use in classrooms. The findings indicated that access to professional development to learn how to effectively implement podcasting correlates with a high likelihood of teachers willing to incorporate podcasts into their pedagogy