Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-71).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-198).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-164).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 236-238).

Like so many other developing nations, Brazil has suffered from extreme inequality. Even though it has a healthy economy, free elections and multiple political parties, there are deep divides and unstable political institutions. The relatively recent transition to democracy has allowed a large and growing Evangelical community to emerge which is causing a religious shifting. The Pentecostal faith is providing alternative structures for social and political expression previously denied to many. Through community networks, many of Brazil's marginalized are accessing legitimacy, making them an undeniable force. The focus of this paper is to determine if Pentecostalism undermines or strengthens democratic consolidation in Brazil, and what role it has to play in power sharing.

This thesis examines the development of one of the twentieth century’s largest North American faith missions, the dual-organizational combination of the Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) from its founding in 1934 to 1982. WBT-SIL grew out of the distinctive vision of its founder, William Cameron Townsend (1896-1982), a former Central American Mission missionary. The extraordinarily inventive Townsend conceived of an approach to Christian mission that construed Bible translation as a linguistic and quasi-scientific enterprise, thereby permitting the non-sectarian SIL side of the organization to collaborate with anticlerical governments in Latin America, where it undertook pioneer Bible translation for indigenous peoples speaking as-yet unwritten languages. This unique government relations and scientific approach to missions was at many points in conflict with the prevailing missionary ethos of the organization’s North American evangelical constituency. Therefore the WBT side of the mission functioned as the religious arm of the enterprise for the purposes of publicity and recruiting. The dual organization drew sharp critique from nearly every quarter, ranging from North American evangelicals to Latin American Catholics to secular anthropologists. The controversial nature of the organization begs the question: Why did WBT-SIL become the largest faith mission of the twentieth century? This study seeks to answer this question by analysing the development WBT-SIL in both its foreign and domestic settings. The principal argument mounted in this thesis is that WBT-SIL met with success because its leaders and members followed Townsend’s lead in pragmatically adapting the organization to widely varying contexts both at home in North America and abroad as it sought to serve indigenous peoples through Bible translation, literacy and education. By striking a creative balance between maintaining the essentials of a traditional faith mission and imaginative breaking with convention when conditions necessitated a progressive approach, WBT-SIL became one of the largest and yet most unusual of twentieth-century evangelical missions.

Enacted as part of the 1996 Welfare Reform bill, the faith-based initiative was intended to ensure that small religious groups were not discriminated against in the awarding of government funding. While there has been a great deal of attention paid to changes at the federal level, little attention has been paid to how and why states are implementing the faith-based initiative. Currently, states are not required to implement any part of the initiative, other than guaranteeing that faith-based organizations (FBOs) will not be discriminated against in funding decisions. Nevertheless, states have been acting on the initiative in a variety of ways in the hope of increasing the number of faith-based organizations performing social services.Although religious groups have been receiving government funds to provide social services for much of American history, the faith-based initiative represents a new effort from both state and federal governments to encourage even greater participation. To understand the state-level faith-based implementation I focus on two research questions: Why are states creating faith-based policies and practices? What are these new policies and practices? Data collected from multiple sources reveal three key aspects of faith-based policy implementation: appointment of state actors known as Faith-Based Liaisons (FBLs), legislation, and presentation of state Faith-Based Policy conferences.While supporters argue that the faith-based initiative is about solving problems of poverty and an over-burdened welfare system, I find that these policies and practices do not respond to problems of poverty or welfare, and do not offer the substantial new help to the poor and needy that was promised by supporters. Instead, I find that state faith-based practices are more likely to be implemented in states with a strong evangelical movement presence. My data also shows that these practices are actually a series of symbolic policies that further the goals of the evangelical movement in two ways. First, state faith-based policies and practices enable the evangelical movement's greater goal of chipping away at church/state separation. Second, because these policies and practices reframe and reshape the church/state relationship in ways that appeal to deeply held ideological views by many in the United States, they have the potential to create new political allies for the evangelical movement.

Churches around the world offer Adult Sunday classes as a forum for adult religious education. This time-honored approach to church-based adult education has encountered difficulties in recent times. For many churches, Adult Sunday School is standing at a crossroads. Where does it go from here? This study attempted to determine those factors that influence adults' decisions about whether or not to attend Adult Sunday School and what changes could be made to increase participation in the program. The context for this study on Adult Sunday School is Langley Evangelical Free Church located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. This mid-sized church of approximately 600 people provided data upon which any conclusions were made. Surveys on Adult Sunday School were distributed to 365 adults and 195 surveys were returned. Respondents were given the opportunity to volunteer to participate in a discussion group to discuss the implications of the survey results. The results was that thirty-one people participated in six discussion groups. The discussion groups were instrumental in making sense of the data and recommending changes to increase participation in Adult Sunday School. The study asked participants to rate nine factors as to their influence in determining whether or not they would attend Adult Sunday School. The factors were ranked by respondents in the following order: spiritual growth, relevance, practicality, teaching style, sharing experiences, social contact, learning, intergenerational and external expectations. Other variables that were analyzed included age, marital status, family makeup, educational level and involvement in small group Bible studies. There were some significant differences in how members of some of the subgroups rated the factors. The study also looked at barriers to participation which were categorized as situational barriers, organizational barriers and personal barriers. The discussion groups concluded that three factors should be addressed to increase participation in Adult Sunday School at Langley Evangelical Free Church: content relevance, Sunday morning format and a more systematic structure. The results of this study provide valuable information for designing a blueprint for change at Langley Evangelical Free Church which may also be suggestive for other churches as they evaluate Adult Sunday School.

This dissertation presents a descriptive analysis of theological education in the Lesotho Evangelical Church, focussed largely on the work of Morija Theological Seminary. The dissertation provides an historical overview of the Lesotho Evangelical Church‘s work of theological education, and describes analytically various elements of and the roles of participants in preparation for the ordained ministry in the Lesotho Evangelical Church. This project proceeded as an organisational case study, and employed enthographic tools such as participant observation, documentary research, focus group interviews, and semi-structured individual interviews over the course of approximately two years between 2005 and 2007. Specific areas of investigative concentration included Campus Life and General Course of Study; Contextual Applicability of Pastoral Skills and Knowledge; Field Education; Christianity in Culture; Poverty; and HIV and AIDS. This dissertation presents data and discussion related primarily to findings in the first of these areas, and investigates data related to worship life, governance, and interpersonal relationships at Morija Theological Seminary as they relate to the educational task of the institution and its role within and connectedness to the history, life, and organisational structure of the wider Lesotho Evangelical Church. Findings are presented in conversation with Michel Foucault‘s presentation of the development of ―delinquency‖ in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, and within the context of assertions about normative relationships within Christianity and theological education, including Craig Dykstra‘s suggestion that theological seminaries should be "communities of faith and learning." The descriptive analysis and accompanying research data are presented as the first step of what Don Browning has called "fundamental practical theology." / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

The history of conflict in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ) has had negative results for the life of the church. This history has seen at its best the disintegration of the strongest social cords that ever existed, including the indigenous resources ubuntu and ukama. In the communal life of the Shona and the Ndebele in Zimbabwe, the concepts of ukama and ubuntu challenge, in a neighbourly way, negative views that people hold against each another. This position is strengthened by Luther’s teaching on neighbourliness through the metaphor of “becoming a Christ for your neighbour.” This metaphor expresses the deeper relationship that exists within members of the same faith shared with those outside their boundaries. Luther’s notion of neighbourliness can be combined with the local resources to achieve unity and break tensions within the local communities in Zimbabwe. Divisions and tensions tarnish human identities and mar the future potential of people in the country in general. Besides, the tensions and divisions distract the vision and purpose of the church in society. An indigenous African theology of unity can be constructed to counter the dehumanization of humanity. This study attempts to construct a local theological framework of unity that can guide the ELCZ in the continuing divisions and tensions that exist. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.