Mormon contributions to California history are generally well known. Most school children have heard of the march of the Mormon Battalion. The name of Samuel Brannan is known to almost any student interested in this area. The more inquisitive scholar is familiar with the voyage of the BROOKLYN and subsequent relations of the Mormons to the history of San Francisco. The mention of New Hope, however, brings puzzled looks to the faces of most people, including Mormons today living within twenty miles of the area. The Mormon movement to California was part of a general exodus by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the East and Mid-west. Persecuted for many reasons, the Mormons had been forced to leave their homes in Illinois for some place "beyond the Rocky Mountains". At the same time, those members of' the Church in the eastern states were directed to proceed by ship to a spot on the Pacific Coast. It is the latter group about whom Part I is written. Much of the history of the Mormons in California, and of New Hope in particular, is sketchy, misleading and at times in actual error. Although it must be admitted that almost all the material contained in Part I had been used before by other writers, this study, as far as it is known, offers a contribution in that every reference available on Mormons in central California, in New Hope in particular, is gathered together within one volume.

As one peers across the vistas of the past two types of holy men stand out with striking prominence and significance. The advance of religious thought and life has largely been due to the activities and contributions of these two, the priest and the prophet. It has been the purpose of this research to seek to discover the particular functions of each of these, to show their correlation in producing religious advance, and to make certain suggestions as to how the values each has to contribute to the program of the modern Christian church may be more adequately realized.

Information received during interviews with fifteen prominent choral directors, ministers and laymen of different communities end questionnaire responses from thirty of fifty churches of the San Joaquin Presbytery of tho Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., indicates almost unanimously that there is a growing need. and also a growing awakening among the youth of the church for participation in church musical activities. For many years churches, large and small, have been struggling with the difficult problems of providing satisfactory musical experiences for both the adults and the youth in the churches of various denominations. For the large churches, with large budgets at their command, the matter is simplified by the hiring of paid singers and competent directors at good salaries. In the case of the smaller churches, the duties of furnishing music for various services and special programs usually fall to a local music instructor, and interested layman, the wife of the minister, or perhaps the minister himself. In some cases there is a small monthly remuneration, but in many cases the work done is a matter of donated time and labor on the part of the director. Much has been discussed as to the reasons for the lack of interest shown by the young people of various denominations in the musical life of the churches, but little practical information can be found to remedy the situation. In a conference with Dr. Clair Morrow, moderators of the Synod of California and Minister of the First Church of Fresno, and Leonard Ballmer, Moderators of the San Joaquin Presbytery, it was felt that such a study should take place in order to evaluate and compare the Youth Music Program at the First Church in Fresno with the other churches in the Presbytery.

Starting in November of 2016, a documentary series aired on the original network A&E where it continues to capture the attention of thousands of viewers in America. Scientology: The Aftermath, starring the well-known King of Queens and Dancing with the Stars actress Leah Remini and former senior executive of the church of Scientology International and Sea Organization Mike Rinder, aim to reveal the "truth" that hides behind the church of Scientology. The show interviews ex-practitioners who claim their lives have been deeply impacted by the church and who want to assist in revealing the shocking stories of abuse and harassment the church tries to keep secret. The goal of the show, in short, is to not only share the "real" face of Scientology to the public, but to also reach out and assist people who have been affected personally by the church; some have lost their family and friends while others have been followed or monitored by church members. A simple Google search on Scientology brings up multiple news headlines on the church being labeled as a "cult" and "criminal" while magazines in the lines of grocery stores display the downfall on the marriage of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes due to the intensity of the Church of Scientology. Yet Scientology isn’t alone in receiving negative attention from the media. Christian Science has been accused of depriving the ill of needed medical attention which has led to some members becoming severely ill and dying in some cases. Most of these cases are children that were deprived of needed medical assistance due to their parents' religious views. Religious Studies scholar, Mary Bednarowski, adds that due to these circumstances, Christian Science has long experienced harsh criticism. With families and anti-cult movements protesting in the streets, ads, books, and magazines displaying their opposition, and the media labeling these movements as "dangerous", why would people join and remain in these New Religious Movements? What is it that makes these religious movements alluring and what are their adherents benefiting from them?

The effects of the colonial project in Kenya created multi-faceted damages to the land and indigenous people-groups. Using the lens of ecofeminism, this study examines the undergirding structures that produce systems such as colonization that oppress and destroy land, people, and other beings. By highlighting the experience of the Kikuyu people within the Kenyan colonial program, the innovative and ingenious response of Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement proves to be a relevant and effective counter to women's disempowerment and environmental devastation in a post-colonial nation. The approach of the Green Belt Movement offers a unique and accessible method for empowering women, restoring the land, and addressing loss of cultural identity, while also contributing a theoretical template for addressing climate change.

Religion and religious ritual has been linked to providing individuals and entire communities with the ability to cope in the aftermath of life-changing traumas. This thesis explores the intersection of coping and ritual in the aftermath of the recent persecution of the Yezidi people. The methodology utilizes qualitative interviews and participant observation which was conducted in Ainkawa, Lalish and Bashiqa during fieldwork that took place in July 2017. A sample of 25 Yezidis who remain displaced in Northern Iraq were asked to describe their experience of coping in the aftermath of the Sinjar Massacre. I argue that the introduction of a baptismal ritual extended to adult women became a medium to reclaim identity. This allowed women who were abducted to symbolically re- declare themselves as Yezidi, cope with the trauma, reintegrate into the community and reclaim their identity through ritual, which presents healing in a framework that is largely relatable.

This thesis examines a specific type of instance that bridges the divide between seeing sacred texts as merely vehicles for content and as objects themselves: self-reference. Doing so yielded a heuristic system of categories of self-reference in sacred texts based on the way the text self-describes: Inlibration, Necessity, and Untranslatability. I provide examples of these self-referential features as found in various sacred texts: the Vedas, Āgamas, Papyrus of Ani, Torah, Quran, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, and the Book of Mormon. I then examine how different theories of sacredness interact with them. What do Durkheim, Otto, Freud, or Levinas say about these? How are their theories changed when confronted with sacred texts as objects as well as containers for content? I conclude by asserting that these self-referential features can be seen as ‘self-sacralizing’ in that they: match understandings of sacredness, speak for themselves, and do not occur in mundane texts.

This thesis investigates artifacts and concepts present in the Noahide world and how they affect Noahide identity. Five factors are analyzed, namely Noahide law, religious pluralism, ritual, sectarianism, and conversion. I consult the Hebrew Scriptures as well as early, medieval, and modern rabbinic sources to set the conceptual background of the Noahide movement before moving into the primary, contemporary sources written by Orthodox Jews, Orthodox rabbis, and Noahides. To supplement my literary analysis, I have conducted a survey of self-identifying Noahide practitioners. This survey collects data concerning religious background, religious behavior, demographics, and free responses. I aim to show first and foremost that Noahidism is a new, exclusive religious tradition which comprises the lay order of Orthodox Judaism. This is born out of a theology which requires belief in the Jewish God and Jewish revelation, a strict ritual system based on Orthodox Jewish prescriptions, and a sectarian typology which mirrors Orthodox Jewish sectarianism. Additionally, my analysis of conversion shows Noahidism is not a gateway to Orthodox conversion, but an end in itself.

This study examined the experiences of Hospice Bereavement Coordinators (HBCs) and Hospice Chaplains working with grief narratives from patient-family units exhibiting signs of anticipatory or complicated grief. While a significant amount of research has been conducted on Hospice employees, no qualitative studies have examined the interpretation of meaning from employees whose primary role focused on the psychosocial-spiritual aspects of clients exhibiting anticipatory or complicated grief. The researcher identified shared meaning of death, trauma, and loss from six participants in the context of a high stress and high loss environment. This study‘s findings revealed ten central themes: Death is an earthly transition to immortality; Death is an intense progression; Trauma is an interpretive response to a bad experience; Trauma highlights quality of life; Loss is an adaptation to change; Loss highlights self-awareness about mortality; Cases impact views of death, trauma, and loss; Influences of spirituality; Stressful aspects of working in hospice settings; and Methods of coping. Through this study, the researcher captured five elements of the shared phenomena: the conflicting nature of anticipatory or complicated grief with the participant‘s interpretation of death; the acknowledgement of loss as the next stage for survivors of the deceased; the instability patient-family units exhibiting anticipatory or complicated grief faced; the role of faith; and the proactive efforts of participants to create a balance between work and their personal life. These meanings contributed to the continued need for future qualitative studies whereby the lived experiences of Hospice employees could be expressed to assist with the development of structured training programs specific to the requirements outlined by the nature of their work.

The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of gender on the work of Latin American rabinas within Conservative congregations in Latin America. The fact that women’s roles in Latin America and in Judaism have been traditionally linked to nurturing and caring serves as the point of departure for my hypothesis, which is that the role rabinas play within their congregations is also linked to those traits. In this research I utilize a social scientific approach and qualitative methodology, conducting personal interviews with the rabinas. While this work proves that Conservative congregations in Latin America are gendered, my research demonstrates that this gendered division of labor does not have a negative impact on the work of rabinas. On the contrary, by embracing attributes of womanhood and motherhood rabinas become imah (mother) on the bimah (pulpit), educating, caring, and nurturing their congregations in a special and unique way.