Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Divinity'

Christian volunteers throughout the United States serve in prison ministry in differing capacities. Some preach during services in chapels; some mentor individuals; others are part of a team which provides transitional programs. One such program is called “The Authentic Christian Man,” which is a Christian discipleship initiative staffed by volunteers at the men’s prison in Concord, New Hampshire in collaboration with the Calumet Halfway House in Manchester, New Hampshire. This inmate program involves a weekly meeting series for three months in the spring and fall, involving teaching and small group conversation. Increasingly, there have been former inmates being released into the Calumet Halfway House. Many former inmates help out at Makeover Ministry and attend 1269 Café, both ministries of Manchester. These men are challenged with the hurdles of adjusting to reconnecting with families, finding work, and establishing homes. In the course of many conversations with these men, the need for a coaching process and Christian evangelism became apparent, which was very timely in these transitional circumstances, reflecting an existing deep need.

The purpose of this ministry project is to draw upon prison ministry experience and to apply transformational, lifeforming coaching with former inmates at the Calumet Halfway House. This ministry project will emphasize the importance of a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and the advantages of fellowship in a church body. The approach to evangelism will be encouraging, not arm-twisting. This ministry project will determine the effectiveness of applying a coaching experience with newly released inmates through the use of a coaching and case study method. The overall aim is that former inmate will become proactive and have a fighting chance to embrace a fulfilling life according to their dreams.

This dissertation addresses the role and functions of silent prayers of lament and sorrow in light of individual and communal suffering of black women due to their triple oppression of sexism, racism, and classism. Silence is used theologically in two respects: (1) it refers to the rarity of articulated sentences, but not to the absence of sound; and (2) it refers to the various forms of lament from the disenfranchised that historically and contemporarily are silent within the dominant theological discourse. Silence is the intimate communication which may be quietness or the audible sounds and symbolic actions that may not follow normal rules of speech that persons use to convey their deepest thoughts and most intense feelings, including pain and anguish to God. A Pentecostal Womanist methodology utilizes pneumatological transformation of pathos as a theological framework to examine the ways marginalized people deal with oppression. The Holy Spirit effects change in the act of lamenting prayers by turning the expressions of sorrow, anguish, and afflictions toward the triune God, but also serves as the catalyst for imparting glimpses into the fellowship of Christ’s suffering and power of resurrection (Philippians 3:10). Orthopathos is a pneumatological transformation of suffering experienced by marginalized groups. Silent prayers of sorrow and lament have been foundational in empowering African American communities.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the sense of valuation that members of the younger Vietnamese generation receive from church leadership and the effect of this perception of valuation on the church’s retention of the younger generation. The motivation for this study arose out of an intergenerational conflict which has existed for some years between the first and second generations of Vietnamese church leaders and members. The researcher proposed that merging potential leaders of the younger Vietnamese generation into church leadership would increase retention of the younger generation in the Vietnamese churches. In order to test this hypothesis, a survey was created and filled out by three groups of second generation Vietnamese: Group A consisted of those who have remained in the Vietnamese Church; Group B included those who had once attended a Vietnamese Church, but have left and are now attending a non-Vietnamese Church; and Group C was comprised of those who once attended a Vietnamese Church, but now are not attending any church. Thus, the participant groups included one “retained” group and two “un-retained” groups. The seven-question survey was designed to evaluate seven possible issues related to retention, each touching in some way upon the Second Generation’s sense of valuation by the First Generation. The researcher tabulated and analyzed the differences in the responses between the three groups. The results of the study show that valuation of the younger Vietnamese by the first generation is an essential component for making disciples and retaining and developing future leaders within the immigrant Vietnamese church community.

The purpose of writing this paper was to raise awareness about spiritual fitness within the Hawaii Army National Guard. A training program was developed to assist soldiers with increasing their spiritual fitness, thereby making them more resilient.

Chapter 1 outlines the current trends and ministry problem facing the Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers. A review of the US Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is addressed, and it is shown how spiritual fitness is developed and increased.

Chapter 2 provides a review of literature relating to the topic of spiritual fitness, and the importance and place it has in our society. The development of the Four Spiritual Laws is addressed, and shown how the use of the booklet can very simply and directly help individuals grow their faith personally.

Chapter 3 sets forth the research methodology utilized in approaching the project, including the use of readily available training materials and resources. The purpose of the spiritual fitness inventory is discussed and the goals of each research area are defined.

Chapter 4 presents an analysis of the method used to gather supporting data. The methodology for the chaplain led intervention is outlined, so that others can use the program to engage their military units in the future replication of this program.

Chapter 5 assesses the data and points to the strategy for areas of further research across the Hawaii Army National Guard. The benefits of the program are discussed and shown to be applicable for implementation by other chaplains across the state.

The purpose of writing An Evaluation of the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Course at Community Alliance Church, Butler, Pennsylvania was to measure the efficacy of the course to improve emotional maturity on participants.

This dissertation explores the analogical complexity of the soul's unfolding mythos within human consciousness as it mediates and constellates creative psychic impulses into the form of mythic narrative. This study argues how, through its fundamentally poetic, narrative action, the epical soul reciprocally seeks its own development as it raises human consciousness to the larger ground of its being, with its consequent healing of the human soul.

Depth psychotherapy accords to a mimetic pattern of soul that contains an epic sensibility in its power to differentiate, then integrate, the full dimensions of psychic life. The purpose of this essentially poetic journey is to amplify human awareness of the imaginal soul and its guiding principals in reviewing one's personal and ancestral past. It conveys how literalized stories of human life can be deconstructed and re-mythologized through the eyes of the soul.

The complexity of the soul's mythopoetic impulse constructs a world of personal meaning based in divine purpose for the individual; it also bridges one to a larger sense of communal order. Such an expansive mythic vision unleashes a flow of healing energy. With such healing, compassionate energy spirals out, enriching communal life and connecting us to the world.

Throughout the dissertation, an image of the giant sequoia tree is used as a symbol of an expanded form of consciousness and that carries the narrative essential to the human soul. It serves as a guiding metaphor to demonstrate the transformation of one's painful past into a fictional, healing narrative. Deeply rooted in the soul's soil of significance, every ring of one's personal history carries the ghostly stories of ancestors and cultural history that, when deeply explored and explicated, impart meaning to one's journey and the aspirations of an ensouled spirit.

This theoretically-informed dissertation employs a phenomenological hermeneutic as its methodological approach. As an interdisciplinary study, the work weaves together literary criticism, depth psychology, and mythological studies in support of its argument. Clinical material is used to illustrate the depth psychotherapeutic dynamics and how the soul heals through that process.

This work explores the ecumenical aspects of liturgy and how it can provide a common ground by which ecumenism can develop. Though different denominations may have varying characteristics to their liturgy the commonalities are striking. Liturgy can cross denominational and doctrinal boundaries. Whether a group adheres to transubstantiation or to representation, when the believer partakes in the bread and wine there is no question that it is Jesus Christ whom they remember. The Scriptures also cross denominational lines and does not depend upon one particular doctrinal viewpoint from which it must be read or heard. Baptism, whether by immersion or sprinkling, has been debated throughout the centuries yet is still a sacrament for most. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs of worship are equally as trans-denominational. Liturgy not only transcends denominations but links the contemporary church with the Church throughout the ages.