Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1952. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-93). Also available via the Internet.

The philosophers of the Enlightenment base their ideas on reason while attracting public attention on the futility of religion. The concept of the universe inherited from Antiquity is rejuvenated by contemporary sciences and, at first sight, we would think that nature governs the supernatural. A number of philosophical works, which would today be considered anthropological, deal with the customs and manners of different countries of the world, inevitably describing the religious cults and ceremonies practiced throughout the centuries. To what extent are these rituals kept, neglected or transformed in the century of Enlightenment? What is the connection between the ceremonies of Antiquity and the rituals practiced in the confined space of modern secret societies? Speculative Freemasonry, introduced to France at the beginning of the 18 th century, counts among its members a number of well-known philosophers. Do these enlightened minds, most of whom are adversaries of religion, practice the rituals based on sacred and incommunicable mysteries? These are some of the questions which this dissertation tries to answer in analyzing the philosophers' (i.e. Voltaire, Dupuis, Boulanger, Demeunier) anthropological views; the origins of Freemasonry and the ancient sacred tradition; the founding murder and the sacrificial ritual; freemasonic and initiatory symbols in Ramsay's Voyages of Cyrus (1727); Ramsay's quest and the mysteries in his Discourse (1736); Casanova's Icosameron (1788), a freemasonic utopia, hermetic allegory and symbolic fable. This dissertation attempts to demonstrate that the denial of the mystery and the supposed domination of the world by reason are only the well-known and visible aspect of the 18 th century.

Making a Difference: Professional Socialization and Practice of the Clergy is a reflection upon pastoral preparation and practice within the Church. This case study of ministerial graduates of Nazarene Theological Seminary and Nazarene Bible College seeks to understand, first, how these institutions envision and propose to prepare their students for professional practice in the ministry and, secondly, to understand how this preparation has affected the practice of their graduates in the models of ministry graduates utilize, the relationships to authority which they employ, and the professional mobility which they find within the practice of their ministry and the hierarchy of the Church of the Nazarene. The structure of the analysis grows out of the work of Wilcox (1982). As a reproduction theorist, she found that differing educational systems socialized their students in ways that maintain inequalities by teaching different kinds of skills, preparing students for differing relationships to authority, and creating different expectations about their future roles as adults. This structure was applied to two professional schools of clergy preparation. A document analysis was oeutilized to investigate the impact of professional theological education upon the practice of the clergy. Skill development was not found to be significantly influenced by institutional socialization. Relationships to authority were somewhat related to institutional patterns and expectations. Mobility and opportunity were highly influences by institutional type. Reproduction theory was found to be helpful in explaining professional socialization but not complete. The power of the workplace and an understanding of professional education as certification into differing levels of the profession were also useful in explaining the findings. At its essence, this research tried to answer the desire of all educators to know if their work effects practice and, importantly, if that effect has had a liberating and positive impact or a limiting impact on their students. This understanding may provide a basis for the revision of mission statements, expectations, and patterns of socialization within educational institutions and may provide a clearer understanding for future students of the power of professional preparation to expand or limit their practice within the field.

This exploratory study uses a qualitative, case study approach to investigate the perspectives of faculty and administrators at three Protestant seminaries about why their institutions decided to embark on programs for the alternative delivery of theological education. Alternative delivery includes all forms of instruction other than to students in a typical classroom on the home campus. The study also explored perspectives on the impacts of alternative delivery programs on the organizational culture and mission of the institutions, as well as on gender patterns and spiritual formation. The author conducted 32 personal interviews with faculty members and administrators at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis; Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis; and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Among the perspectives offered by faculty and administrators about why their institutions decided to pursue alternative delivery programs were: (1) to respond to pastoral shortages, the needs of churches and prospective students, and denominational leaders; (2) to fulfill the seminary's mission; (3) to promote the institution and extend its "reach;" and (4) to grow student enrollments and enhance revenue, thereby strengthening the home campus. Concerning the impacts of alternative delivery programs on the seminaries, faculty and administrators believed that such programs increased enrollment, but disagreed about the revenue effect. Many of those interviewed believed that alternative programs had impacted the organization, technology, operations, personnel, decision-making, quality, and curricula of the seminaries---both positively and negatively. In all three cases, female enrollment appears to be impacted positively by alternative programs, but perspectives differ about whether spiritual formation among students enrolled in alternative programs is comparable to that of students on the home campus---although some interviewees believed spiritual formation is stronger among extension cohorts. Major findings include awareness by faculty and administrators that: (1) alternative delivery impacts the seminary both positively and negatively in numerous, unintended ways; (2) transfer of learning can occur from alternative programs back to the home campus, impacting traditional programs positively; (3) alternative programs can increase female enrollment; and (4) such programs can improve relationships with a seminary's various constituencies and extend the seminary's "reach."

<p> This mixed methods study investigated teacher, parent, and school leader perceptions of the impact of parent communications and expectation on teacher practices, focusing specifically on four categories: grading, communication, instructional, and curriculum practices. Quantitative data were collected through online surveys from 25 teachers in second through fifth grades, as well as 96 parents of second through fifth-graders, in five private Jewish day schools located in the Southeastern United States. Qualitative data were collected from ten teachers, ten parents, and three school leaders who provided interviews, where they elaborated on the nature of parental communications and expectations at their own schools and their perceptions of their impact on teacher practices.</p><p> The findings indicated that parent communications take place with high frequency, and are initiated fairly evenly between parents and teachers. Parents and teachers differ on their perceptions of negativity of communications, with teachers reporting more negative communications than parents. A t-test was conducted on the survey items that corresponded with the four categories to compare parent and teacher responses. There were some statistically significant differences in the perceptions of parents and teachers of the impact of particular types of parent communications on teacher practices in private Jewish day schools. These included requests for reviews of a child's grade or a grade change, as well as requests for changes in the content of homework. However, the qualitative data overwhelmingly indicated that parents and teachers have similar perceptions of the impact of parents communications and expectations. They felt that parents occasionally request certain changes, but that these changes have minimal impact in the classroom, outside of isolated, individual events. The school leaders who participated in the study agreed that, for the most part, the day-to-day practices of teachers were not greatly impacted by parent communications.</p>

<p>The context of this project was Arise Church in Spokane, Washington. The problem is Arise members are not reaching out into the community. The purpose is to train participants in Spirit-led prayer to prepare them for outreach. The central question explored was: Can training in Spirit-led prayer increase motivation and empower participants for outreach? The training occurred in a home fellowship group. The method of research employed was a qualitative case study. Data was collected using pre and post training surveys, interviews, and journals. The results were participants had increased knowledge, skill, and confidence in Spirit-led prayer. </p>

<p> With the many challenges that Chinese American churches are facing, together with the ever-changing needs of their members, Chinese American churches need to look for ways to nurture their members and to develop them into mature leaders. This thesis project is designed to explore the leadership development strategies of selected Chinese churches in North America that have demonstrated certain effectiveness and success in developing leaders, in hopes of discovering some common effective leadership development strategies. This author has interviewed eleven large Chinese American churches, with Sunday attendance ranging from 500 to 2600, regarding the strategies they use and the challenges they face in developing leaders. Using qualitative analysis, this author has discovered some common principles that have been used by these churches to develop leaders and has formulated some practical pointers that may be applicable to other Chinese American churches and beyond. </p><p> The findings reveal that faith and character development precedes skill training. Likewise, Christ-like character, spiritual maturity, and a willingness to serve are more important than a person's natural abilities and talents. In addition, the pastoral staff should be highly involved in designing and executing the leadership development programs. Moreover, the church should create a learning atmosphere by publicizing and offering life-relevant and need-based trainings through classrooms, small groups, or other venues. Outside resources such as guest speakers, seminars and conferences should also be utilized. Furthermore, opportunities should be provided for lay people to participate in service with the help of on-the-job training and ongoing support.</p>

<p> A tremendous opportunity exists for church and business leaders to work together to bridge an ever-widening gap in both dialogue and understanding of the needs of believers on the front-lines of workplace service. Church leaders are anointed and responsible for equipping believers for ministry in all spheres of life, including service in the marketplace (Eph. 4:13). Church and business professionals need each other; however, due to realities such as the sacred-secular divide and unbiblical working definitions of "ministry" and "vocation," countless numbers of believers have a bifurcated, compartmentalized view of life and vocation. Research reveals that the vast majority of believers do not view their work as an expression of worship to God and service to others. </p><p> Phase one of this project involves research in the form of fifteen interviews with church and business leaders to understand their worldviews so as to better appreciate the factors contributing to the gap. Phase two involves the creation of a Workplace Roundtable Curriculum informed by the interviews and then piloted with church and business leaders at three Roundtable discussions. </p><p> The interviews and Roundtables yielded rich and thoughtful discussions about "whole-life discipleship" and revealed that participants believe workplace discussions are productive and worthwhile. These discussions help facilitate a greater understanding of the sacred-secular divide and its negative, damaging effects on believers, as well as a deeper appreciation of the biblical meaning of "ministry" and "vocation."</p>

<p>Individuals and societies have traditionally sought answers to important questions in life through religion. In the 21st century, physical churches with clergy are no longer the sole source of spiritual answers or knowledge. Since the late 1960s, church attendance has been declining. Church leaders have begun to implement new methods such as using the Internet as a resource to support the needs of church members. While digital natives&mdash;persons who are conversant with the Internet&mdash;view electronic communication as a means to express ideas and feelings, digital immigrants&mdash;for whom the Internet is new&mdash;lag behind in utilizing the Internet. The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of digital immigrants who used a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning church website to understand how the Internet affects their perceptions of religious identity. The findings revealed that the participants were unfamiliar with sharing knowledge through computer supported collaborative learning. The findings also showed that the benefits of CSCL were recognized by digital immigrants, but Church leaders may need to learn how to provide training and support for digital immigrants by blending face-to-face sermons and reflective CSCL engagement. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project is to argue that in order for social and emotional learning (SEL) goals to achieve their intended outcomes for students and society, religious pluralism must be reflected in student instruction. SEL involves the use of evidence-based practices to provide opportunities to develop competencies related to self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making which are intended to enable students to demonstrate morally appropriate actions and ethical decisions, which I am calling "right behavior." </p><p> It is my argument that one's understanding of right behavior embodies both implicit and explicit moral beliefs based on one's worldview which reflects a certain conception of the good life and the good society. In many cultures this concept is shaped by the dominant, organized religion of the group. However, the religious diversity in the United States since its inception led to an American tendency to privatize religion and avoid meaningful public deliberation of competing views of the good life and the good society. However, I contend that this paradigm is no longer adequate for equipping twenty-first century students with the background knowledge, critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethical judgment skills required for full participation in the social, political, and economic spheres of society. Instead, I am proposing a SEL-religious studies model that values religious freedom, equality, and neighborly affection, and recognizes the presence of moral and religious pluralism in American society. </p>