The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of theological education on philosophy of human nature among Sunday school teachers in the Church of the Nazarene. Research materials consisted of Wrightsman's Philosophy of Human Nature scale and a demographic questionnaire constructed by the researcher. These materials were mailed to a random sample of 188 Sunday school teachers in the Oregon-Pacific District of the Church of the Nazarene. Useable materials were received from 157 subjects for an 84% return rate. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, and tested for significance at the p < 0.05 level. The null hypothesis was retained: there was no difference in philosophy of human nature between subjects with different levels of theological education. Other findings were: 1) Oregon-Pacific Nazarene Sunday school teachers had moderately positive scores on all subscales of the PHN. Previous studies had reported that conservative Christians had negative scores on the PHN. 2) Oregon-Pacific Nazarene Sunday school teachers had a higher level of educational attainment than adults in the United States generally. 3) Women had more positive scores than men, although they had far less theological education than men. 4) Subjects with at least a college degree had more complex views of people than did those with a high school diploma or some college as the highest level of educational attainment. Recommendations were outlined for the practice of Christian education and for future research. These recommendations included the following: 1) use of the PHN as a screening device for Sunday school teachers, 2) cooperation between Nazarene colleges and district CL/SS boards to provide training opportunities for Sunday school teachers, 3) equipping of women for expanded leadership roles in Sunday school and church, 4) examination of differences that may exist in the philosophy of human nature between Sunday school teachers of different denominational groups, and 5) study of the relationship between training experiences, educational beliefs, and effectiveness of Sunday school teachers. / Graduation date: 1990

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of volunteer experience and motivation by (a) identifying major influences impacting the volunteer with the Christian setting, (b) analyzing the impact of those influences upon volunteer experience and motivation, and (c) inferring volunteer motivation from that impact. Special attention was paid to the influences of the organization's climate, management practices of supervision and evaluation and involvement in a peer support group.The setting for this study was a Christian church with a membership of 726 people, located in a mid-sized town in Indiana. In this study formal interviews were conducted with ten informants chosen for their volunteer teaching activity. Using a recording device, three hours of interview evidence was gathered from each informant. This evidence was transcribed and analyzed.Five major categories of influence within this Christian setting emerged through an analysis of the evidence:Characteristics of the organizationInfluence of peer support group participationBenefits received by the volunteerFrustrations with volunteer teachingInteraction between the volunteer's Christian faith and the teaching experienceThis study's major conclusion was that a comprehensive peer support group system should be developed to address the problems of organizational support, teacher training, supervision and evaluation, and teacher accountability. This support group system should also address the need for greater church-wide communication and improved spiritual growth opportunities. / Department of Educational Leadership

The study collected information about training practices in local churches of the United Brethren in Christ. A mailed questionnaire was used to collect data from 230 churches nationwide. The instrument contained 22 questions, divided into three sections: (a) teacher involvement in religious education, (b) teacher training, and (c) demographic information. The return rate was 65.7% (151 surveys). Frequency counts and percentages were obtained. Data were summarized in table and narrative form. Cross-tabulations were completed between selected demographic variables and the provision for teacher training.Selected findings included: (a) among 15 possible religious education activities, at least two-thirds of the churches reported using teachers in five of them; (b) over half of the churches (51%) provided some form of training; (c) among those providing some form of training the scope was limited; (d) difficulty in scheduling and lack of fiscal resources were identified as the greatest obstacles to training; (e) training was more common in churches with larger attendance figures for worship and Sunday school.The following conclusions were formulated: (a) the extent to which teachers were used in religious education activities was affected by the scope of programs offered; (b) in the absence of a mandate for training, scheduling and scarce resources were negative factors; (c) even in churches conducting training, the activity was not a high priority; (d) reliance on consultants and conferences reflected the fact that churches did not conduct theirfor pastors to require training; and, (f) training occurred more often in larger churches where adequate resources and formal approaches to programming were common.Six recommendations were presented: (a) the denomination should develop and disseminate a position on teacher training; (b) pastors should be exposed to educational programs stressing the importance of training teachers; (c) the denomination should formulate and make available more programs and materials to support training; (d) the issue of effectiveness of training programs should be examined; (e) research on the selection, supervision, retention, and evaluation of teachers should be conducted.own training; (e) using volunteers made it more difficult / Department of Educational Leadership