The religious freedom introduced to Russia in 1989, due to perestroika, gave new opportunities for Christianity to expand. People accepted Christ and new churches were founded. Nevertheless after 16 years of transformation the evangelical churches in Russia are diminishing in growth. There are probably several reasons for this. One major reason which is suggested here, is that only a minority of Russian Christian men are willing to take up regular voluntary church ministry: like being a home group leader, taking care of the church building, having a part in Sunday school teaching, helping with the youth group or any other kind of service. As a result, not only are pastors often overloaded with administration work and can not find time for people but also ministry opportunities are not started, developed or expanded. Therefore this research aims to find out which factors are important to Russian Christian men in order for them to engage a regular voluntary church ministry. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

The religious freedom introduced to Russia in 1989, due to perestroika, gave new opportunities for Christianity to expand. People accepted Christ and new churches were founded. Nevertheless after 16 years of transformation the evangelical churches in Russia are diminishing in growth. There are probably several reasons for this. One major reason which is suggested here, is that only a minority of Russian Christian men are willing to take up regular voluntary church ministry: like being a home group leader, taking care of the church building, having a part in Sunday school teaching, helping with the youth group or any other kind of service. As a result, not only are pastors often overloaded with administration work and can not find time for people but also ministry opportunities are not started, developed or expanded. Therefore this research aims to find out which factors are important to Russian Christian men in order for them to engage a regular voluntary church ministry. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The division of labor in households is an important topic in marital relationships. Families are not static; they are in a constant state of change. Employment, individual family members’ schedules, and religious beliefs can impact how couples divide household tasks. This particular study draws on in-depth interviews of four married couples from American Baptist churches to explore how couples within this type of church divide household tasks. The interviews focused on the management of second- and third-shift household tasks, as well as childcare. The purpose of obtaining this information was to see if the way American Baptist couples handle second-, third-shift duties, and childcare is more consistent with general population couples or more consistent with Evangelical/Conservative couples. Husbands and wives were interviewed separately to obtain individual thoughts and opinions. The interviews revealed that when it comes to second-shift tasks and child care, American Baptist couples are more in line with general population couples. As far as third-shift duties, Evangelical, general population, and American Baptist couples are all currently handling in very similar ways with the female performing the majority of third-shift tasks.