The lack of shared leadership between clergy and laity presents a challenge to the small rural church. A model of ministry for engaging the pastor and laity of a small membership rural church in educational, spiritual, and action experiences to help them maximize their human potential as co-laborers in God's vineyard has been developed in this dissertation study. Its purpose is to teach and model an approach to helping clergy, lay leaders and members of the congregation learn to share leadership and work together in order to change the way people think and behave in the areas of worship, mission and evangelism. The approach used includes the engagement of a church administrative council in a nine week Bible study of selected scriptures to help them gain an understanding of the nature and mission of the church as well as the role of clergy and laity in accomplishing that mission. At varying times in the progression of the study sessions, members of the administrative council are requested to begin modeling certain specified behaviors. Questionnaires are used at specified intervals during the ministry project to gauge progress and provide feedback for follow-up in succeeding sessions as well as evaluation of the project. This model of ministry is simple enough for any small congregation to adopt and powerful enough to be profitable. Yet, it is adaptable for use in any congregation where the lay leadership can be intimately involved with the congregation.

In today's times, research and common knowledge have substantiated that pastors and clergy persons experience an alarming rate of divorce, substance abuse, and other related issues resulting in mental and emotional burn-outs. This rate can be attributed among clergy to many factors, and these factors may continue to rise unless effective corrective actions are taken to include pastoral care and counseling as an instructional component to the teaching and assessment process for new persons entering the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Ministry in Southwest Georgia. As a whole, empirical research has proven that clergy stress and burnout are multiphasic because of the spiritual and secular demands and expectations from others. The primary purpose of this project is to enhance the present Board of Examiner's process in southwest Georgia to include a pastoral care and counseling component in its teaching and assessment process for new persons entering the A.M.E. ministry because the current Board of Examiner's process does not include the benefits and use of Pastoral Care and Counseling in its seventeen week training program in the preparation of ministry to men and women for ministry. This project has created a Demographic, Pre and Post Test Survey of new persons entering the A.M.E. ministry in Southwest Georgia, developed a Teacher's Instructional and Lesson Plan which includes the history of Pastoral Care and Counseling, various Vignette Case Studies, and most importantly this project developed a method of approaching a parishioner/client in an attitude and modality of acceptance. The emphasis will be on the need to take care of oneself in the ministry and to recognize when there is a need to solicit professional help from a specialist. Plans, after this project, will also include a 'new persons' psychological assessment test for incoming ministers with a continued efforts to reduce or avert the ever-increasing rate of divorce, substance abuse, and mental and emotional burnout among clergy. The methods used in this project will be qualitative and quantitative in a case study format. This project did impact and produce the following results: (1) It did permit a pastoral care and counseling component in the teaching and assessment process for new persons entering the A.M.E. ministry. (2) The Bishop, the Dean, and the Board of Examiners realized the benefits of Pastoral Care and Counseling as an 'equipping tool' for persons entering the ministry and included it in their lesson plans for 2004. (3) New persons in ministry learned about Pastoral Care and Counseling and were more appreciative of a time for renewal, reflections. Lastly, they were instructed to be better prepared to identify the needs for more specialized professional help during their ministerial career in order to maintain a well-balanced mental healthiness.

This dissertation is an in-depth study of the nineteenth-century Shalu Abbatial History, a collection of biographies of abbots and other important religious masters, or lamas, from the Tibetan monastery of Shalu, located in the Tibetan region of Tsang. Examining the History in conjunction with the autobiography of its author, Losel Tengyong (b. 1804), and vis-à-vis other texts from Shalu, reveals, I argue, that the Shalu Abbatial History is a guidebook of conduct that prescribes to the Shalu monk, its intended reader, a discrete pattern of exemplarity that constitutes the author's own particular vision of what a noble lama should be within the Shalu tradition. The constitution of this pattern of exemplarity is examined within four themes of virtuous conduct: the dedication to resolving congregational conflicts, the literalist observance of the Buddhist disciplinary code contained within the Vinaya, the devotion to the preservation of books, and the power to successfully exploit violent rituals to protect the monastic tradition. The prescriptive vision, moreover, constituted by these four virtuous themes, lies not only within the History itself, but also more broadly in the intertextual connections that clarify this prescription and infuse it with meaning from the Shalu tradition—the world that has generated, and is reflected within, the text.

The purpose of the project was to encourage and increase the level of Christian Fellowship (Koinonia) and involvement in the Trinity African Episcopal Methodist Church, Atlanta. The church is situated in what was a transitional community. It is now approximately 98% black in the South West section of the city. The project consisted of five (5) consecutive weeks of student input. It involved 24 - 42 members, divided into three (3) groups. Group A, the control group, attended the worship services and took the questionnaire. Group B, the target group, attended the worship services, attended the input sessions, and took the questionnaire. Group C, the super target group, participated in all of the above activities, in addition to engaging in encounter sessions with the student. The worship services were the traditional order of worship of the A. M. E. Church with an emphasis on fellowship, i.e., the call to worship, the scriptures, the prayers, the hymns, and sermons. Five (5) sermons were preached focusing on the need for fellowship, what it is, and how it can be accomplished and maintained. The input sessions were weekly, one to one hour and a half (1-1.1/2) sessions consisting of study sessions, discussions, group interaction, prayers, and the sharing of a repast. The encounter sessions with the student consisted of frank dialogue between the student and participants in Group C. The overall hypothesis was that as a result of the worship and preaching services the participants would show an increase on all positive statements the questionnaire; and that Groups B and C would show more of a significant change than Group A, and Group C would show more of a significant change than either of the other two groups. While there was some positive movement by all of the groups, there was not enough of significant changes to merit any real attention. This does not mean that the project was a failure. For in the ensuing months following the project there was an increase in persons joining the congregation, expressed appreciation for the church by members who participated in the project, increased attendance at most of the church functions, and a much better enthusiasm regarding the local church and the Church in general. For this I am grateful to the Lord. The first-half of this final report consists of the writer's reflections on the Black Church as a unique religious institution; The calling to the Black church to address itself to the historical mission of the Black church and the mission of the Church; the writer's theory of ministry; and a survey of the meaning of Liberation and Koinonia from biblical, theological, and sociological perspectives. The second-half of the report focuses on the actual project involving the writer's understanding of liberation and Koinonia and an amalgamation of the two. Charts, graphs and tables have been inserted to aid the reader in ascertaining the mathematical breakdown of the growth-decline of the project participants. The final chapter focuses on the future aspects of the writer's ministry, goals for the church as well as for the writer.

No description available.

The purpose of this project was to empower the incarcerated women at the Jefferson Correctional Institution in Monticello, Florida, through the use of a faith-based program, 'Empowered to Endure Hardship.' The project consisted of sixteen (16) consecutive weeks of group participation, involving 75 women who were divided into two groups. Group A, the target group, consisted of 45 women who completed the questionnaires and participated in all of the group sessions and activities. Group B, the control group, consisted of 30 women who only completed the questionnaires. The sessions in which the target group participated included video and audio preaching tapes, live preaching, group interaction and discussions, prayer and a short devotional period at each session. All of the sermons contained one common thread: How to overcome or endure hardships in life. Practical examples were given for endurance and overcoming techniques were demonstrated. The overall hypothesis was as a result of Group A's participation in an organized structured group, the participants would receive fewer disciplinary reports, corrective counseling reports, and confinement visitations than those in Group B. While this goal was attained by Group A, there was not enough significant difference in Group B to merit any real attention. This does not mean the project was a failure. For in the ensuing weeks after the project was completed, the members of Group B continued to ask that another group be formed in which they could participate to receive the same empowerment that Group A had received. This model of ministry for the women at Jefferson Correctional Institution is ongoing and allows for additional components of ministry as future needs arise.

In general, the number of Christian male disciples are less than women disciples in all churches. This phenomenon is prevalent in churches throughout America. C. Eric Lincoln, (Lincoln, 1990), conducted a study where he found that 70% of the adults who attends church are women. A misinterpretation of the patriarchal style of leadership and a lack of empathy for the dilemma of today's men shed great insight into the problem of men not attending church regularly. The misinterpreted patriarchal style of leadership is very confusing too men who want to share the leadership of the church. Women seem to endure this style of leadership better than men, but this probably because women are socialized by the church and society to consider themselves the weaker of the sexes in all phases of life. Empathy from male pastors toward male parishioners is inadequate for several reasons. Males are socialized to be strong and not show true emotions when faced with crises. This leads male pastors to be indifferent to many of the issues that male parishioners face on a day to day basis. Because men have a general inflexibility and fear about expressing their feelings, when these men become pastors and unless they are taught how to empathize with their brothers, they carry these inadequate traits of leadership to the pastoral office.

This dissertation is an in-depth study of the nineteenth-century Shalu Abbatial History, a collection of biographies of abbots and other important religious masters, or lamas, from the Tibetan monastery of Shalu, located in the Tibetan region of Tsang. Examining the History in conjunction with the autobiography of its author, Losel Tengyong (b. 1804), and vis-à-vis other texts from Shalu, reveals, I argue, that the Shalu Abbatial History is a guidebook of conduct that prescribes to the Shalu monk, its intended reader, a discrete pattern of exemplarity that constitutes the author's own particular vision of what a noble lama should be within the Shalu tradition. The constitution of this pattern of exemplarity is examined within four themes of virtuous conduct: the dedication to resolving congregational conflicts, the literalist observance of the Buddhist disciplinary code contained within the Vinaya, the devotion to the preservation of books, and the power to successfully exploit violent rituals to protect the monastic tradition. The prescriptive vision, moreover, constituted by these four virtuous themes, lies not only within the History itself, but also more broadly in the intertextual connections that clarify this prescription and infuse it with meaning from the Shalu tradition—the world that has generated, and is reflected within, the text.

The purpose and focus of this work is to seek practical means by which local African-American congregations can minister to persons living with AIDS (PLWAs), and to institute an educational awareness model which emphasizes prevention of the HIV virus. The impetus for the study was a pastoral clinical education program which brought the researcher in contact with HIV/AIDS patients and their families. The study and resulting model for ministry is designed to inspire clergy and laity to institute sharing and caring ministries for PLWAs. Members of the faith community are challenged to respond to the Biblical mandate of Jesus Christ by developing compassionate outreach programs in their local communities. Having studied the literature, the time has come to demonstrate the practice of this ministry issue at the Antioch African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.C.) in Decatur, Georgia.

The purpose of this ministry project is to educate religious leaders about an alternative to approaching organ donation and organ transplantation, using the Theory of Gift Exchange as the model paradigm. This ministry project is based on the premise that religious leaders generally use dated statistical material, life changing stories, and personal experiences to raise awareness on the subject. Thus, the Theory of Gift Exchange is a different approach and a unique model for religious leaders to begin understanding the complex nature of organ donation and organ transplantation, and ultimately embracing it with less reluctance. The results of this ministry project discovered that practically every religious leader was unfamiliar with the idea of Gift Exchange. However, they were familiar with this concept only as it relates to the exchanging of personal gifts around special occasions and holidays. Thus, the conclusion gathered from this ministry project suggests that the 'Theory of Gift Exchange' is an excellent model to educate about organ donation and organ transplantation. This conceptual idea makes it easy for a religious leader to understand and embrace the subject, and feel less threatened by it, particularly because one can see that the overall intent is about gift giving and gift receiving.