<p>Seeing: we might say that the whole action of spiritual growth is contained in this deceptively simple word. The overarching focus of our entire discussion in these pages will focus on the complexities of seeing better - of being more aware, of developing fuller consciousness, of growing spiritually. As I hope to demonstrate, this increase in vision - in spiritual growth - is a founding inheritance of the Judeo Christian paradigm, and as such, is essential to humanity's journey toward maturity, integrity, and connectedness - toward greater differentiated autonomy and toward greater integrated unity. In addition, the journey toward greater consciousness is the founding tenet of an overwhelming majority of psychological and anthropological theories that receive popular acclaim. As such, the question of increased consciousness, the evolution of vision, is an elementary and foundational facet of humanity's state that crosses the chasm between the Science orientation (those who choose to believe that what is to be accepted is that which can be proved) and the Faith orientation (those who choose to believe that all answers are held within sacred writings, traditions, and beliefs). Since evolving consciousness is a concept that supercedes anyone orientation, it is a transformative and transcendental human element. For this reason, I view the philosophical and spiritual history of humankind as the elaboration of an ever-more expansive awareness, an ever-more evolved consciousness, and an ever-more perfected vision, all within a wondrous and holy Creation where there is always something more to be seen. But, at the base of greater vision is growth. All growth is costly. I believe that humanity is the whole that unfolds, the sacred consciousness that strives ever further, and the motion of evolution that risks the pangs of growth. This work is a respectful challenge to the status quo in Spiritual Leadership, and consequently asks its readers to risk these very pangs.</p> <p>Growth is an important concept to me. As a Christian educator and counselor, I have expended vast amounts of energy in the pursuit of the elucidation of the progression of human spiritual growth. I call myself an educator because I believe that I am called to disseminate this elucidation throughout the field of Spiritual Leadership in order to challenge Leaders toward greater usefulness, reception, and compass ion. I call myself a counselor because I believe that a powerful road to personal healing lies in the participation in, and cherishing of, compassionate and interpersonal relation ships. Consequently, I am writing this thesis in the hopes of raising a considered alternative to the traditional concepts of Spiritual Leadership, as it is presented in the Judeo-Christian conception: can we redefine the role of Spiritual Leaders in order to develop and accept a founding epistemology that transcends and unites views and cultures that have traditionally pitted us against one another? Can we redefine the role for Spiritual Leaders in order to set the basis for a Christian culture that is built upon concern for each individual, and not concern for the propagation of a traditional system? Through a consideration of both Science and Faith, the following pages will propose a constructivist-developmental framework for Spiritual Growth and Spiritual Leadership. This framework bases itself on the personal integration of meaning, on the tenets of experiential learning, and on the wisdom of Biblical teachings. It is my hope that through this elucidation, our very image of God will evolve into an image large enough to hold our collective challenges. It is also my hope that through investigation s such as these, the substance and essence of Spiritual Leadership will be redefined and will evolve into a compassionate and holy repository, powerful enough to represent this awesome God.</p> <p>As we move through the chapters, two concepts will be continuously juxtaposed: the concepts of substance and essence. For the purposes of this work, I will use these terms to denote specific and limited definitions. By 'substance', I will refer to those elements of the framework that are based in investigation, elucidation, and human study. By 'essence', I will refer to those elements of the framework that are based in soulfulness, wisdom, and spiritual teaching. It is my belief that a combination of these two fields brings us closer to a full act of knowing - biased to neither the Science orientation nor the Faith orientation. In order to proceed to a truthful and innocent redefinition of Spiritual Leadership, I do not believe we can exonerate ourselves from the complexities and difficulties of intellectual and spiritual honesty. As such, substance and essence will be presented as two sides of the ' awareness' coin.</p> <p>But awareness of what? What are the arguments presented in this thesis? There are two:</p> <p>3) Human growth is an evolution of consciousness which gives rise to the personal levels of thought, affect, relationship, and spirituality. This ground is the founding element of meaning-constitutive consciousness. Evolution takes place through a process of emergence of ever-increasing forms of complexity within a person's internal equilibrium. This evolution is inherent in the Judeo-Christian inheritance and is described by the Pentateuchal narrative.<br /> 4) Spiritual Leaders humbly accompany clients through the process of Emergence by co-constructing with the client a Culture of Embeddedness. This Culture involves goal orientation, environment-creation, attitudinal alignment, and practical techniques. The Culture is created through an unwavering commitment of the Spiritual Leader to the person of the client and not through a staunch defense of the system within which the Spiritual Leader functions.</p> <p>I will investigate the above arguments through a theologized psychology where the study of psychology is taken in its literal sense: studying psyche and studying logos. It is my firm belief that the evolution of psyche and the progression of logos are the seminal factors in an ' ever-progressive motion ' of the spirit. In asking about the difficult issues inherent in being human, our approach to psychology is a true scrutiny of the ability to more fully see.</p> / Master of Theological Studies (MTS)

<p>There are very few treatments of the Spirit in Mark, and those are often dismissive or too eager to find a larger pattern of pneumatology than the relative dearth of material in the Gospel justifies. It has become necessary to approach the text of Mark carefully and exegetically in order to discover any Markan emphasis on the Spirit. As such, this study will examine each passage pertaining to the Spirit with the theological development of Mark in <br />mind, after examining the Gospels and Pauline Epistles for their emphasis on the Spirit. This will reveal a marked pattern of association between the Spirit and the Kingdom of God in Mark's Gospel which, though not representative of a carefully formed Markan pneu1l1atology, distinguishes the Markan emphasis on the Spirit from the rest of the New Testament's.</p> / Master of Theological Studies (MTS)

<p>The metaphor (daughter Zion) is examined using cognitive theories of metaphor which consider a metaphor not to be an exceptional matter of poetic creativity or excessive rhetoric, but to be an ordinary component of everyday language and its effect to be mainly dependent on its cultural context.</p> <p>The metaphor "daughter Zion" signifies the Israelites' pride and faith in relationship with God. Threatened by a mighty enemy, biblical writers express their confidence in God by using "daughter Zion." They also warn the sinful Israelites using the image of daughter Zion's pain and killing. After Israel 's destruction, they reveal their lament and distress in the picture of daughter Zion's ruin. However, "daughter Zion" is also a metaphor of hope. Daughter Zion's restoration symbolizes the restoration of her people. Therefore, the biblical writers, who warn Israelites using the picture of daughter Zion's ruin, encourage them to have hope by employing daughter Zion.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Lamentations is analyzed using synchronic poetic analysis supplemented with intertextual and dialogic criticism. Lamentations is read as a literary whole, with a focus on its metaphoric language and the dialogical interaction among the voices. The interaction of Daughter Zion and the Speaker plays a significant role in leading the community through its suffering. Significant here is the Daughter Zion metaphor, which evokes contrasting responses of judgment and pity. The Speaker experiences these attitudes as he dialogues with Zion and moves through detachment, sympathy, and empathy. Ultimately he identifies with the suffering of Zion and her search for hope as the imagery moves from the corporate to the individual. He then leads the suffering community from within in their first steps toward redemption. Lamentations demonstrates movement from judgment to pity, from detachment to empathy, from suffering to hope, and from the corporate through the individual to the corporate perspective once more.</p> / Master of Theological Studies (MTS)

<p>Beginning in the 1960s, shifts in the Canadian religious climate required the United Church of Canada and Canadian Mennonites to reassess their respective relationships with the state. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War presented practical and urgent challenges to the churches' political theologies. By examining these denominations through the lens of their periodicals, this thesis demonstrates that each church's response to the Vietnam War was a function of its ongoing internal negotiations with respect to church-state relations and the engagement of society. When an influential contingent within the United Church recognized that the denomination was no longer viewed as Canada's vital source of moral legitimacy, they became more willing to voice unpopular opinions. Meanwhile, once-marginalized Mennonites re-evaluated their traditional isolationism when faced with new opportunities to express their pacifist beliefs. Both Canada's priests and its martyrs began to realize that their role in the national landscape was to be a prophetic one.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The relationship between Gregory of Nyssa's theological conclusions and his philosophy and spirituality demonstrates how he views the function of theological epinoia iconically. This iconic function of theological epinoia can be analyzed by monitoring one's gaze from its inception in relation to sensible objects through to its culmination as the ontological transformation of the soul into the image of God.</p> <p>Theological epinoiai develop as a result of the noetic process. This process begins when one accumulates information from material objects through the senses. This information is relayed by the soul to the mind where a conceptual image is formed. However, since the divine essence is invisible and imperceptible, this image is formed in the mind using categories from the sensible realm, which are subsequently conferred onto the divine essence. This is the apophatic problem. The divine essence is therefore contemplated using social analogies and spoken of using a universally acknowledged grammar of divinity.</p> <p>It can be determined that Gregory views theological epinoia iconically not only because of the prevailing sight motif occupying much of his thought, but also because his epistemology ensures the limited yet necessary function of concepts in theology. Because theological epinoiai are formed by observing God's operations in the sensible realm, they can enable a human to extend beyond conceptual interpretations by transforming into the divine likeness.</p> <p>The 'ontological gaze' thus emerges as a result of the soul transforming into the image of God. To the extent that this occurs, the 'ontological gaze' from the 'eye of the soul' is positioned on and directed towards the external divine essence.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the pervasive and critical issue of body image that deeply affects the lives of many women in order to help the Canadian evangelical church articulate a theology of the body as it seeks to provide a holisitic and incarnational ministry to and for women. This thesis drew upon an approach to theology called practical theology as transforming practice, which is rooted in human experience and seeks to help people to reflect theologically on their experiences. The results of this thesis affirm the vital role that formulating a theology of the body plays in a ministry to and for women who struggle with the issue of body image in contemporary culture. This thesis concludes by presenting church leaders with ministry initiatives to implement in their ministry contexts in order to foster change that offers women the subversive hope of the message of the Gospel.</p> / Master of Divinity (M.Div)

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to help church leaders learn to respond effectively to conflict that arises during times of change. In order to transform a community of faith, change is needed. Transformation involves changing perceptions, behaviours, opinions, and even personal values. Transformation requires a renewed purpose for and commitment to reaching communities with the gospel. In order for this transformation to take place, however, Christian leaders need to be equipped with an approach to help people effectively work through conflict that accompanies change. This transformational process is what Ronald Heifetz calls adaptive work. It involves learning to diminish the gap between reality and the perception of reality that currently shapes a congregation's response to their current circumstances. This thesis will present church leaders with a team-based approach for responding to situations of conflict arising from change. My aim is to help inspire transformation using an adaptive work model.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church (C&MA) in Canada debated, for nearly twenty years, whether or not it was appropriate for women to be Elders in the church. The purpose of this thesis is to examine, through interviews and archival research, why members of the C&MA could not agree on this issue and to argue that the lack of resolution throughout the debates is the result of a variety of interconnected factors. First, there was confusion and disagreement over the denomination's tradition of women in ministry. Second, there was disagreement over what was the appropriate response to rapid cultural changes both inside and outside of the church. Third, the denomination's inability to come to a consensus on the interpretation of scripture contributed to the lack of resolution.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German pastor and theologian involved with the Confessing church as part of the German church struggle in the 1930's. A central concern for Bonhoeffer was the Ayran clause that was introduced by the National Socialists and implemented by their supporters within the Protestant church. The Aryan clause was designed to remove anyone of Jewish heritage from the civil service, which affected the Protestant church since its pastors were paid by the state. Bonhoeffer rejected the Aryan clause due to the various influences and experiences leading up to 1933. These life experiences were rooted in Bonhoeffer's family life, his university years, his year in America, and in his vocational work in the years preceding the rise of National Socialism. These four epochs contain the key influences experience that enable Bonhoeffer to resist the implementation of the Aryan clause within the German Protestant church in 1933.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)