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Spiritual Well-Being of Black LGBT Individuals When Faced With Religious Homonegativity by Patricia A. Hill MA, Loyola University-Chicago, 2004 BS, Chicago State University, 2000 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology Walden University May 2015 Abstract Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) individuals in the United States often face homophobic sermons and messages within their traditional religious settings. This phenomelogical research study was designed to document and understand the lived experiences of Black LGBT individuals' spiritual well-being in the face of homonegativity, and to identify the ways in which they cope with these experiences. The qualitative interview data from 9 participants were interpreted through the lens of feminist theory and Pargament's theory of the psychology of religion and coping. Recurring themes were coded from the participants' interviews using the QSR Nvivo 10 software program. Interview themes included change in faith community, experiencing familial acceptance or discord/rejection due to sexual orientation, feelings of abandonment by God/religion, negative experiences in a religious setting due to sexual orientation, emotional reactions, maladaptive coping, adaptive coping, and religious and/or spiritual reconciliation. The results of this study provide insight into the challenges that Black LGBT individual experience with religious homonegativity and they ways in which they cope with these stresses and challenges. This study promotes positive social change by providing a better understanding of the impact of Christian religion on the mental and spiritual well-being of the Black LGBT individual. These findings can be used to inform therapists and psychologists who are seeking treatment strategies for their Black LGBT clients. The findings suggest there is an educational component that also could benefit family, friends, and religious leaders who want to be present and accepting of the Black LGBT community.

This research is an ethnography which investigates the effects of Hurricane Katrina upon the capacity of African American Protestant churches in New Orleans to provide spiritual and social ministry to the city's underprivileged. More than three years after Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury upon the city, fifty per cent of the churches remain as the hurricane left them. Pre-Katrina, fifty per cent of the population lived at or below the poverty line and depended upon faith-based programs as part of their support network and ladder toward selfsufficiency. Because of the disaster, there was substantive loss of parishioners, financial resources, and program operational infrastructure that severely limited or destroyed faith-based capacity to serve. The purpose of the study is to examine what social vulnerabilities and barriers hinder churches' capacity to serve community needs in four particular areas, including providing and advocating for affordable housing, quality health care, strategies for eliminating poverty, and disaster evacuation education, preparedness and response. The researcher hypothesizes that structural and institutional racism were already undermining that capacity pre-Katrina and continues to hinder it more than three years since. The study investigates the veracity of this hypothesis. It attempts to offer strategies to help mitigate the social vulnerabilities and increase the community's resiliency and sustainability against future disasters. This research is important because it provides increased awareness and understanding of how pre-existing social vulnerabilities in combination with Hurricane Katrina contributed to the lingering diminished capacity of the church and community. It also provides insight into how the faith community's attitude and action toward handling its vulnerabilities lead to increased resiliency and sustainability, and suggest a course of action toward the alleviation of marginalization of both the faith institutions and the people they serve.

Canada has distinct contemporary faith communities that differ from western and European counterparts. Unfortunately statistics tracking denominational allegiances give little insight into the daily intricacies of collective religious practice. The purpose of this study is to contribute towards filling a gap within scholarly research on the lived culture and experiences of contemporary religious communities within Canada. This study examines the pattern of culture-sharing within a non-denominational faith community as lived and practiced in Ottawa. Through autoethnography, this study asks why members attend and how members view the use of popular culture video clips within church. Individual and collective religious identities are constructed through observations, interviews and material artifacts gleaned through participant observation from January 2011 to December 2011. The results show that within the church, a community of practice is built around shared parenthood and spiritual journey. Members place importance on children, on providing support of all kinds for one another, and on keeping religion relevant. Reasons for attending are echoes of the patterns of culture-sharing: members enjoy the feeling of community, the support, the friendships, the play dates. Participants view popular culture video clips played within church as one aspect of an overall importance placed upon relevance. Mutuality of engagement results in members experiencing their lives as meaningful, it validates their worth through belonging, and it creates personal histories of becoming within the context of a community of practice. Future research recommendations include further study of other contemporary faith communities within Canada, with investigation into the possibility that communities of practice may be what the churched and unchurched are seeking.

Faith community nursing is one of the newest specialized practices of professional nursing. A faith community nurse is an actively registered professional nurse, who serves as a paid or volunteer staff member in a faith community. The faith community nurse promotes health and wholism of the faith community, its groups, families, and individual members. A faith community, as in a church, synagogue or mosque, is an organization of individuals and families who share common beliefs, values, religious doctrine, and faith practices that influence their lives. The faith community functions as a client system for the faith community nurse. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of Protestant faith community nurses "living the call" to health ministry. Previous researchers have explored the roles of the faith community nurse, but have not specifically investigated the experience of living the call. A hermeneutical phenomenological methodology was used to answer the question, "What is the lived experience of faith community nurses living the call to health ministry?" The participants were ten Caucasian female faith community nurses residing in four regions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. All participants acknowledged receiving a "call" to health ministry. A structured interview of 60 to 90 minutes was conducted with each participant. The interview consisted of structured and semi-structured questions and explored the meaning of living the call to health ministry. Data were analyzed using the phenomenological method of Max van Manen. Five themes emerged including: 1) the calling; 2) relating to God in living the call; 3) practice in living the call; 4) challenges in living the call; and 5) blessings in living the call. Participants described the experiences of the callings to health ministry, consistent communications with God and the challenges and blessings of faith community nursing. The practices of faith community nurses were also described by the participants. The findings provide a glimpse into the lifeworld of the faith community nurse living the call to health ministry. This study may be helpful to others wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of the calling to health ministry as well as the experiences of relating to God, practice, challenges, and blessings.

Canada has distinct contemporary faith communities that differ from western and European counterparts. Unfortunately statistics tracking denominational allegiances give little insight into the daily intricacies of collective religious practice. The purpose of this study is to contribute towards filling a gap within scholarly research on the lived culture and experiences of contemporary religious communities within Canada. This study examines the pattern of culture-sharing within a non-denominational faith community as lived and practiced in Ottawa. Through autoethnography, this study asks why members attend and how members view the use of popular culture video clips within church. Individual and collective religious identities are constructed through observations, interviews and material artifacts gleaned through participant observation from January 2011 to December 2011. The results show that within the church, a community of practice is built around shared parenthood and spiritual journey. Members place importance on children, on providing support of all kinds for one another, and on keeping religion relevant. Reasons for attending are echoes of the patterns of culture-sharing: members enjoy the feeling of community, the support, the friendships, the play dates. Participants view popular culture video clips played within church as one aspect of an overall importance placed upon relevance. Mutuality of engagement results in members experiencing their lives as meaningful, it validates their worth through belonging, and it creates personal histories of becoming within the context of a community of practice. Future research recommendations include further study of other contemporary faith communities within Canada, with investigation into the possibility that communities of practice may be what the churched and unchurched are seeking.

Although confirmation should be the zenith of a young person's personal attachment to God and the congregation of believers, the exact opposite of this seems to be true when one considers the large numbers of young people that leave the church directly after their confirmation. A literature study shows that attempts to solve this problem have thus far to a large extent focussed on the young people in the process of preparing for confirmation. The purpose of this study is to shift the focus to the community of believers, more specifically to the role of such a community of believers in the guidance of young people in the process of preparing for confirmation, in order to find a solution to the problem. The following research question arose as a result: What is the role of the congregation as a community of believers in the guidance of young members through the confirmation process? The method employed was as follows: Basis-theoretical principles were formulated from Scripture as a result of literature studies and exegesis of relevant passages of Scripture. Meta-theoretical perspectives came to light by utilisation of the auxiliary science, Sociology, amongst other things. The role of the community of believers as a socialising agent of the youngsters was examined. The actual situation regarding the role of the community of believers in confirmation was examined meta-theoretically by means of a literature study on the situation within the broader Reformed tradition of the three Sister Churches, together with an empirical analysis of the situation within the Reformed churches of South Africa. Practical-theoretical guidelines were given following the hermeneutical interaction between the basis-theoretical principles and the meta-theoretical perspectives. The final conclusion is that the congregation as a community of believers is one of the most important agents in the religious socialisation of young people and therefore plays a very important role in preparing them for and guiding them in confirmation. The responsibility of the community of believers lies on the following levels: The shaping of a Biblical vision of the church or congregation that the young people can commit to. The concretion of this vision by means of the persistent practice of the fourfold ministry (“Hebrew text”) while simultaneously involving the whole congregation (young and old) in order that everything the congregation is, says, prays and does, is in congruence. This approach will lend credibility to the community of believers and by doing this the young people will be drawn closer. Focused community pursuit with special attention given to the acceptance of the young people, self-sacrificing and loving service towards the youths, as well as the verbal and practical teaching and instruction of the youngsters. A change in perception and sometimes a change of attitude of heart regarding the inclusion and participation of young people in the congregation. The creation of a culture in which every member earnestly considers his personal religious commitment and is prepared to be held responsible for this commitment. Such a culture of personal religious commitment, together with accountability to that commitment will carry the youths through their own personal commitment within confirmation, while confirming the importance of such a commitment at the same time. / Thesis (M.Th. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 200

Although confirmation should be the zenith of a young person's personal attachment to God and the congregation of believers, the exact opposite of this seems to be true when one considers the large numbers of young people that leave the church directly after their confirmation. A literature study shows that attempts to solve this problem have thus far to a large extent focussed on the young people in the process of preparing for confirmation. The purpose of this study is to shift the focus to the community of believers, more specifically to the role of such a community of believers in the guidance of young people in the process of preparing for confirmation, in order to find a solution to the problem. The following research question arose as a result: What is the role of the congregation as a community of believers in the guidance of young members through the confirmation process? The method employed was as follows: Basis-theoretical principles were formulated from Scripture as a result of literature studies and exegesis of relevant passages of Scripture. Meta-theoretical perspectives came to light by utilisation of the auxiliary science, Sociology, amongst other things. The role of the community of believers as a socialising agent of the youngsters was examined. The actual situation regarding the role of the community of believers in confirmation was examined meta-theoretically by means of a literature study on the situation within the broader Reformed tradition of the three Sister Churches, together with an empirical analysis of the situation within the Reformed churches of South Africa. Practical-theoretical guidelines were given following the hermeneutical interaction between the basis-theoretical principles and the meta-theoretical perspectives. The final conclusion is that the congregation as a community of believers is one of the most important agents in the religious socialisation of young people and therefore plays a very important role in preparing them for and guiding them in confirmation. The responsibility of the community of believers lies on the following levels: The shaping of a Biblical vision of the church or congregation that the young people can commit to. The concretion of this vision by means of the persistent practice of the fourfold ministry (“Hebrew text”) while simultaneously involving the whole congregation (young and old) in order that everything the congregation is, says, prays and does, is in congruence. This approach will lend credibility to the community of believers and by doing this the young people will be drawn closer. Focused community pursuit with special attention given to the acceptance of the young people, self-sacrificing and loving service towards the youths, as well as the verbal and practical teaching and instruction of the youngsters. A change in perception and sometimes a change of attitude of heart regarding the inclusion and participation of young people in the congregation. The creation of a culture in which every member earnestly considers his personal religious commitment and is prepared to be held responsible for this commitment. Such a culture of personal religious commitment, together with accountability to that commitment will carry the youths through their own personal commitment within confirmation, while confirming the importance of such a commitment at the same time. / Thesis (M.Th. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 200

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-171).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Institute for Worship Studies, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-171).