<p> Problem - The future of retirement is an issue that has attracted the attention of governments and private entities worldwide. The period for retirement requires preparation during active professional life so that the resources or assets accrued and added to the Instituto Naacional do Seguro Social and Instituto Adventista de Jubila&ccedil;&atilde;o e Assist&ecirc;ncia can be sufficient to meet the costs of living in the period of retirement. </p><p> The objective of this work is to awaken the interest in this issue, bring enlightenment and information for those who wish to prepare for retirement and encourage choice a balanced financial position or strengthen the preparation of those who have this advance purpose. </p><p> Method - The method used in this action research was quantitative in the 77 questions selected Ministerial Adventist Church Seventh-day Census - South American Division 2012 prepared by sociologist Dr. Thadeu J. Silva Filho at the request of SAD - South American Division. In the second survey questions applied to the shepherds that make up the Mission Para Amap&aacute; (MPA), the same quantitative method was used. </p><p> The selected data from the first survey provided information that charted an overview of the financial profile of the Adventist pastor and served as the basis for the identification of questions that this work intends to bring clarification. The data from the second survey showed interest, by the pastor, to put in practical financial measures that have been suggested in the seminar "Finance &amp; Balanced Quiet retirement." </p><p> Results - Through action research were identified aspects of unpreparedness for retirement for a share of SAD pastors group such as lack of knowledge in finance and own financial profile, the need for external support and tools that facilitate the changing habits. Through research actions it became clear that supplying these aspects can the auxiliary group of pastors prepare quiet mode and satisfactory for retirement. </p><p> Conclusion - The final results suggest the possibility of improving the financial literacy of the Adventist pastor, assimilating new habits such as participatory planning the family budget, reshaping the way to spend their resources and restructuring the way to save. Through these measures the financial health of the pastoral family is a tangible reality and expectations for the most promising future.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of writing <i>Catalyzing Soul Care Mentoring Among Young Leaders in France</i> was to examine the effects of a soul care mentoring initiative on young adult French leaders to produce increased willingness to mentor others in soul care principles. The author recruited twenty-five participants. He used the <i>Willingness to Mentor Measure</i> (for quantitative data) and compared pre- and postintervention results in order to measure changes in willingness. In order to obtain qualitative data, he gave the participants a set of open-ended questions at the end of the intervention. He then searched their answers for indicators of God-confidence; self-confidence; a positive mentoring experience; a magnanimous vision; prioritization; enthusiasm; and, soul health. The author discovered all participants experienced a degree of increase in willingness to mentor others in soul care. Fourteen of the participants experienced a high level of increase. The researcher offered ministry recommendations.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to explore what makes worship meaningful to people and to determine if postmodern worship could be incorporated into a traditional Baptist church&rsquo;s worship in a way that would be meaningful to adults of all ages. For the purpose of the project, we defined postmodern worship as worship that is multisensory, experiential, enhanced with art, video or other imagery, is more participatory in nature, less clergy centric and word driven. In order to measure if postmodern worship was more meaningful, we ran a mixed methods research project at First Baptist Church in Columbia, MO; the research included the collection of both quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (interviews) data. </p><p> We designed a series of six worship services, which included elements enhanced with a postmodern style. After three of those worship services, we conducted surveys with the worship participants. We had them rank each element of the worship service based on how meaningful it was and we asked them a series of open-ended questions about the worship service. In addition, we conducted in-depth interviews with members of the congregation to determine what made worship meaningful to them and to further explore their experience of the postmodern elements in the worship services. After analyzing the data, our research revealed that the postmodern elements of worship were indeed more meaningful to members of the congregation. </p><p> During the project, we were not attempting to radically alter worship at First Baptist. Instead, we focused on worship innovation, renewing our worship by adding a more postmodern style to what we were already doing. This approach proved very successful. The congregation responded with enthusiasm and since the conclusion of the project, we have continued to utilize a more post postmodern style in worship.</p><p>

This research examines how assasa-passisa and its surrounding concepts are discussed in Buddhaghossa's 5th century Theravada work, the Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification) to determine if there is metaphysical use of the term in the text and to determine if the concept of assasa-passasa is similar to the better-known Indian concept of prana (metaphysical vital animating force), indicating whether Theravada Buddhism more closely resembles other Indian religions in terms of metaphysical content. Text analysis reveals how assasa-passasa is described in the Visuddhimagga as an animating vital force, suggesting that Theravada Buddhism has an implicit ontology similar to other Indian schools of philosophy. Secondarily, this paper argues that because assisa-passasa plays a similar role to prana in the Visuddhimagga, it is also operationally similar and could be functioning as the implicit intermediary between links in the chain of dependent co-arising-as the vehicle of paticcasamuppada.

The research on the Muslim American community is largely Sunni specific and the purpose of this thesis is to add upon the limited scholarly work concerning the Shi'a Muslim American community. This study looks into the American Shi'a Muslim education experience at the Islamic Jaffaria Education Center (IJEC) and how it establishes and sustains a Pakistani Shiite Muslim identity. In addition, research on widespread American Muslim education shows high female participation on all levels, including, but not limited to, board and teaching positions. To see if this situation exists inside the Shi'ite communities an ethnographic study was conducted over the course of about 4 months at the IJEC. The findings show that there is also high female participation at that Shi'ite education center on all levels. The study links the high female participation with the education and how it established and is currently sustaining a Pakistani Shi'ite Muslim American identity in South Florida.

The purpose of this research was to investigate how Buddhism affects the status of Thai women by (1) not directly addressing concerns regarding the sex trade industry, (2) not allowing for the legitimation of a bhikkuni sangha (community of higher ordained women) and (3) denying mae chis (5-9 precept nuns) access to education and other privileges. The study is significant from the standpoint of public health since there is a high rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Thailand, and also in regard to human rights because of the growing international interest in women's rights issues. This study is based on a review of key literature on the topic, along with observations and on-the-ground accounts of Thai Buddhism from travel opportunities to the country in recent years. The findings suggest that Buddhism contributes to the low status of women by defining how they are viewed based on Buddhist scripture and traditional Thai culture and by systematically failing to provide the same religious outlets for women that men are allowed.

abstract: Since Ruth Benedict introduced the dual concepts of “shame culture” and “guilt culture,” far Eastern Asian societies have placed more emphasis on such “shame culture.” However, Wolfram Eberhard has indicated that Ruth’s dualism may be questionable, and he has pointed out that there are several documents composed by non-Confucian elites that are available to study. Furthermore, Paul Ricoeur claims that language, especially that in confession, is the best source to study to understand guilt and shame cultures. Thus, I would like to study confessional writings in early Daoism. These so-called confessional writings include the Personal Writs to the Three Officials, the zhang-petition in the Celestial Master tradition, and the ci-declaration in Lingbao rituals. If the Personal Writs documents a true practice in history, it should contain the most itemized and profound “feeling of guilt” according to the earlier texts. Most petitions recorded in Master Vermilion Pine’s Almanac only include some formula for confessional words rather than specific confessions. But, I have found some flexible sections, which may be reserved for specific confession, in these formulaic petitions. I also explore two anecdotes about specific confessions in the Six Dynasties to support my claims. I discuss the format, structure and functions of the ci-declaration, an ancient but new writ system in Lingbao retreats. By far the majority of confessions in Lingbao tradition are public and formulaic, but the Lingbao scripture also contains personal confession. Much like the petition, the ci-declaration is personal but contains formulaic writing. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis East Asian Languages and Civilizations 2017

abstract: A novel about an Orthodox priest who seeks solace in Greece after the death of his wife. While Father Christopolous struggles to find forgiveness and restoration in the Paschal celebration, he grows increasingly entangled with a young priest-activist and his striking, self-destructive wife. Amid the tumult of a country in political upheaval, he unravels the secrets of his hosts and confronts truths about his own marriage that threaten his faith and his place in the world. Set over the course of Holy Week, the novel explores the tensions in the bodily experience of faith and in the dichotomy between the knowledge of the mind and that of the heart. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.F.A. Creative Writing 2013

This dissertation constructs a theological anthropology for ecofeminist theology. In spite of their insistence that human beings need to feel âat home on the earth,â ecofeminists have not developed a theological anthropology that explicitly counteracts human exceptionalism. Without such an anthropology, the distancing conceptions of the human being that contributed to the ecological crisis are not fully challenged. I propose a conscious turn to a focus on matter as a means by which ecofeminist theology can achieve nonexceptionalist anthropology. I draw from Maurice Merleau-Pontyâs phenomenology of visible and invisible âfleshâ to construct a theological anthropology that accounts not only for human bodies but also for human cognition and experiences of transcendence in a way that does not differentiate us absolutely from the material world. Specifically, I use Merleau-Pontyâs figure of the chiasm to construct an âapophatic anthropologyâ in which the boundary between self and world is fundamentally indeterminate. I argue that this anthropology is more conducive to an ecologically sound relationship with the world because it cultivates a mode of seeing ourselves as entirely continuous with material reality and enables us to live into our embodied interconnection.

Black womenâs bodies are experienced as a moral dilemma due to the markers of the race and sex that render them as demonized other. Such formulations sanction Americaâs social hierarchies, animate violence and neglect of black womenâs flesh and dispossess them of their bodies. Consequently the experience of black female embodiment is fraught with antagonism, feelings of impotence and rejection, fomenting dysfunction between many black people and their embodiment. These complications, in turn, compromise healthy identity construction and limit their capacity for moral agency. Given the bodyâs critical role in the denigration of black women, this dissertation considers the relationship between embodiment and personhood for those marginalized by race and sex, and how the bodies of black women, specifically, can be used for their own liberation. Using phenomenological theories of Maurice Merleau Ponty and Robert Sokolowski, it focuses on the bodyâs role in identity construction, pleasure as epistemology and moral agency. Drawing generously from Black feminist Audre Lordeâs seminal essay, âUses of the Eroticâ it posits the erotic as a necessary intervention against the violence of corporeally driven hegemonic formulations of blackness and femaleness. Mining the literary tradition of black women, black Christian practices, black social protest and popular culture, it argues that the erotic is a divine resource that fuels moral agency and a key capacity of black flesh in the disruption of hegemony, the repossession of their physical being and the construction of alternative realities, free of the desecrating powers of racism and sexism.