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Existing scholarly work on the contemporary Jewish Renewal movement focuses largely on its feminist assertions and the general practices and characteristics of adherents. This investigation examines the underlying theology expressed through the written work and authoritative texts of the movement's leadership, especially Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Using an interdisciplinary approach melded with the techniques of rhetorical criticism and qualitative research/grounded theory development, the study identifies and examines five strategies used by the Jewish Renewal movement to reconstruct Jewish theology. Those strategies are: reinterpretation of the fundamental themes of Jewish theology, God/Torah/and the people Israel, to suit contemporary sensibilities; deriving authority for that reinterpretation from both traditional and contemporary thinkers; emphasizing the imaginal to achieve redemption; expressing the interpretation in liturgy; and linking the interpretation to the greater purpose of providing a direction for post-Holocaust Judaism. This study demonstrates that Jewish Renewal reconstructs Jewish theology in a way that resonates with the postmodern ethos, yet is profoundly Jewish, being firmly rooted in Jewish sources and texts. While Renewal theology stands in tension with other contemporary Jewish theological trends, it nevertheless is making an important contribution to the development of a postmodern, post-Holocaust Judaism.

The number of Catholic women's colleges has decreased dramatically since 1970. This has caused a void in the Roman Catholic Church's educational system. This research investigated life-cycle theory and its application to organizations. A college as an organization can be analyzed within the framework of organizational life-cycle theory. The phases identified in life-cycle theory are birth, growth, maintenance, decline, and death. The birth phase includes all the events which make the organization a reality; ideas, funding, location, and personnel. The growth phase is of indeterminate length. It details the movement of the organization from the end of the birth phase until the organization has earned a place for itself in the organizational world. The maintenance phase is a period in the organization's history when it stops to take stock of its accomplishments and sets a direction for its future. The decline phase of life-cycle theory is characterized by a drop in production or in delivery of service with subsequent loss of income. The final phase, death, occurs when the organization no longer functions as intended--going out of business, experiencing a take-over, submitting to a merger. The case study of the two Catholic women's colleges presented in this research were developed around these life-cycle phases. In the account of one college, the case study chronicles the college's movement from birth to its untimely death. The other case study follows the college from birth through decline. It then describes the college's activities during decline which turned the college from death to new growth. The comparison of the events in the decline phase may lead administrators of other Catholic women's colleges to examine comparable factors in their settings and make adjustments to insure continued existence.

<p> Teacher retention is a concern in all educational sectors in America. It is of special importance to Islamic schools, which tend to lack the resources necessary in recruiting and training new teachers. This dissertation addressed this problem in full-time Islamic schools in New York State by conducting a discrete choice experiment, which reflects an innovative, interdisciplinary, new methodological approach borrowed primarily from the fields of economics, social psychology, and decision theory. This approach re-conceptualized teacher retention as a series of decisions or discrete choices made throughout a teacher's career (as suggested by human capital theory) and has not been employed in this manner previously in educational research on teacher retention. This new approach offered additional insights in this important area of educational research, theory, and practice. This study examined the effects of six position-related characteristics in the discrete choice experiment: (a) opportunities to practice Islam, (b) work environment, (c) amount of work, (d) salary, (e) prestige, and (f) health benefits on the decisions of teachers in Islamic schools to continue teaching in those schools. The study also determined how the subjects&rsquo; characteristics (case-specific attributes) interacted with these position-related characteristics (alternative-specific attributes). All six alternative-specific attributes were found to be important to a certain extent, but their levels of influence varied across three preference profiles. Generally, the single most important factor affecting teacher retention in Islamic schools is the work environment of the school followed by the presence of opportunities to practice the Islamic faith. Contrary to the common belief, salary (and prestige) had the least impact on retaining Islamic school teachers. </p>

This study examined the personality characteristics of Christian counselors and determined whether those characteristics could be employed to predict job satisfaction. The objectives of the study included determining if Christian counselors differ from the general population on any of the nine personality traits found in the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis and determining if a correlation exists between the nine traits and reported job satisfaction. Data was collected from 51 self-identified Christian counselors from Arizona and California. The results indicate that Christian counselors are more expressive-responsive and less depressive and subjective than the general population. While those Christian counselors who indicated high job satisfaction tended to be less depressive and subjective and more expressive-responsive than those who indicated medium or low job satisfaction, it was shown that personality traits are not predictive of job satisfaction in Christian counselors.

<p> The transition from a usually autocratic to generally participative style of leadership has been a process full of frustration, anxiety, and concerns for Nigerian immigrant pastors in The Apostolic Church (TAC) North America. These pastors have brought the values, concepts, practices, and behavior which they learned in Nigeria to lead the American church, but their inability to identify differences between the two cultures and make the necessary changes for easy adaptation has often led to conflict and power struggle between church authorities, pastors, and members in TAC North America. Thus, this study examined how Nigerian pastors in TAC North America are adapting the leadership style they learned in Nigeria to the North American context. </p><p> The study used the mixed method approach and data was gathered through self-reported questionnaires and semi-structured in-depth interviews. A purposeful sampling method was used in conjunction with snowball sampling. Ten churches with congregations of 100 and above were purposefully selected. The participants included the pastor, an elder, and a member. A total of three participants from each church representing an overall total of thirty participants contributed to the study. The self-report questionnaires provided information on the demographic characteristics of the respondents as well as their cultural dimension and perception of leadership style. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were also used to provide a more thorough understanding of the pastor&rsquo;s life history, experiences, and leadership styles. </p><p> The results obtained showed that most of the participants scored low on power distance, but scored high on uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and long-term orientation. On the perceived leadership behavior scale, a greater number of the elders and members perceived their pastor&rsquo;s behavior as being high on Instrumental Leadership (IL), supportive leadership (SL), and participative leadership (PL). The pastors interviewed expressed some of their frustrations which includes their accents preventing them from reaching out to people who are not Africans, lack of funds to finance church projects, seemingly lack of respect for pastors as well as the congregation&rsquo;s lack of commitment, and poor attendance to church services. Some doctrinal challenges include men and women sitting together in church, women not covering their hair and wearing pants/trousers to church, allowing unmarried couples to partake in holy communion and even be ordained as church officers, and tithes and offering were concerns for the pastors. </p><p> Despite all the hindrances and challenges, the pastors expressed their determination to fulfill their calling and in their efforts to adapt and accept the democratic and participatory style of leadership, as opposed to the generally hierarchical and autocratic approach used in TAC Nigeria. Nigerian pastors in TAC North America and the executives in Nigeria need to examine these challenges and formulate better policies for sending and supporting missionary pastors in TAC North America.</p>

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a leading figure shaping many facets of Dutch culture during and after his long life. In addition to exerting a profound influence on politics, ecclesiastical concerns, journalism, elementary and secondary education, and societal life in the Netherlands, he also founded and was the primary formative influence shaping the Free University of Amsterdam. / The problem taken up by this dissertation is the discovery and elucidation of Kuyper's concept of the nature, task, authority and role of the university in modern society as it is shaped by significant theological views he held. Specifically, this study demonstrates how Abraham Kuyper's emphasis on the goodness of creation which is structured by divine ordinances, the corrupting influence of the fall, and the workings of God's particular and common grace, result in a call for the living all of life "for King Jesus." / Kuyper affirms the lordship of Jesus Christ over all of life and argues that he alone holds absolute sovereignty. He delegates limited authority to the various spheres of life, enabling them to carry out their God-given tasks. Each sphere of life has a task and authority determined by the creation structure, and this sphere must not be violated by any other life sphere. / The sphere of science, with the university as its primary institution, has the unique task to "think God's thoughts after him." It is to study and understand the structure of creation and the relationships between its various aspects. / This scientific task of humanity cannot be the unified effort of all human beings. Because of sin and regeneration, there is an antithesis between the new humanity and the old. This results in two kinds of science, each based on different and opposed foundations. Kuyper advocates a confessionally pluralistic approach to science and the university, in which each confessional community is guaranteed the right and funding to establish a university on its unique foundation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2619. / Major Professor: John E. Kelsay. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.