Thesis (S.T.M.)--Yale University School of Divinity, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 43).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 2005. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-244 and 172-175).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-314).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 2005. / Includes vita. Non-Latin script record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-244 and 172-175).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Lutheran Seminary, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references.

Although pastors in Africa have received a Western form of theological training, the findings of this research reveal that their mode of counselling does not bear a resemblance to the form of counselling that is practised in the West. The counselling that takes place in Africa takes its cue from the traditional mode of counselling. This indicates the stronger influence of their worldview in spite of the long duration of Western instruction that the pastors receive in the course of their training. This research set out to explore the practice and experience of pastoral counselling within four evangelical churches in Nigeria. It also had the intention of recommending ways of improving the current form of counselling. In order to do that, it needed a basis for comparison. A concept analysis of pastoral counselling from a Western perspective provided the needed reference. The research, located within practical theology as its overarching framework, engaged the Generic Format as its social science research methodology. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and participants observation. A theological reflection of the thesis revealed that there are various practices that are consistent with the Christian tradition but others that tend towards extremes. The research also reveals that counselling in the West is more professional and psychologically-based but has deviated from its original course after the introduction of psychological theories to its counselling ministry. Therefore, both practices in conversation have encouraged each other in the areas of their strengths and challenged each other to revisit their weaknesses in order to enrich their counselling ministries. It has recommended that theological seminaries in Africa should take the lead in enriching their pastoral training curriculum. Also, pastors called into the counselling ministry should be encouraged to develop such ministry while the Church creates the forum for their practices.

<p> The purpose of writing, <i>The Relationship Between Candidate Preparation and Effective Healing Prayer at Living Christ Church in Nyack, NY</i> was to narrow the focus of preparation for a healing prayer ministry session to four key factors that would be implemented as the basis for pre-screening for a healing prayer ministry session. The purpose was achieved by determining if there was a relationship between the preparation of candidates for healing prayer with the four key factors and the effectiveness of the healing prayer ministry session. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

<p>The purpose of writing The Effectiveness of the Chaplaincy Pocket Guide, ?Airmen?s Guide to Grief Recovery? on Members of the Community at Aviano Air Force Base, Italy is to discover the effectiveness of a grief recovery program in the Air Force context at Aviano Air Base. A pocket guide was designed specifically to reach out to the Airmen at Aviano, in such a way as to encourage, strengthen, and educate them in their individual grief journeys. There are ten embedded units at Aviano Air Base and the present researcher selected one participant from each unit to use the AGGR pocket guide in addressing their grief issues as part of this study. Although the AGGR pocket guide was written for airmen, not all ten participants were airmen. The three who were not?a spouse, a civilian employee and a member of an army tenant unit?nevertheless, are residents of Aviano AB and are immersed in Air Force culture and familiar with the common sources of grief associated with life on an air base. The grief issues were varied, some due to deaths (though not necessarily combat related), and some due to divorce. The researcher employed a Grief Recovery Survey as the instrument to measure the degree of grief recovery and interviewed all ten participants about their experience of grief recovery. The findings were generally positive and the researcher is inclined to believe pocket guides like the AGGR can be useful tools for the chaplain?s office.

<p> The purpose of writing <i>The Impact of inner healing prayer on Christian Maturity at Stanwich Congregational Church, Greenwich, Connecticut </i> is to determine the impact of Inner Healing prayer on a Christian&rsquo;s maturity and well-being in the five human dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and intellectual. </p><p> Chapter 1 provides the purpose, goals, context, and rationale of this project. This chapter includes: the researcher&rsquo;s personal story, purpose of the study, ministry problem addressed, context in which research was conducted, research questions and model of research, definition of terms&mdash;inner healing, holistic holiness, spiritual formation/soul care, the soul, Christian maturity&mdash;and possible limitations and delimitations of the current project. </p><p> Chapter 2 provides literature review and theological foundations for present research of the impact that inner healing prayer can have on Christian maturity. </p><p> Chapter 3 sets forth the research methodology utilized in approaching inner healing prayer including: recruitment, selection and characteristics of participants, instrument used, standardization of treatment and data collection. </p><p> Chapter 4 presents an analysis of the findings including: quantitative and qualitative data of the five research questions, maturity levels before and after inner healing prayer, anecdotal participants&rsquo; responses of the greatest impact of inner healing prayer and greatest need for further growth. </p><p> Chapter 5 summarizes the purpose of current research and how the results fulfill that purpose. The research questions are restated. The researcher&rsquo;s conclusions include: surprises and what the researcher discovered that was not necessarily anticipated, findings in relation to literature review, reflections on the research design, recommendations for future research and concluding remarks.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The problem of the dissertation is twofold: first, to study the relationship of theological language to the pastoral counseling function in selected Christian traditions; second, to study this relationship with regard to the variables of locale, presenting problem and the counselor's authority as a priest or minister. The emergence of pastoral counseling as an identifiable movement in the late 1940's gave rise to several significant questions concerning the relation of the theological perspective of the pastor to the essentially secular orientation of other helping professions. A basic concern is the extent to which pastoral counseling might be moving away from an overt identification with the Church and with a theological orientation. Does the use of secular language schemes mean that the counseling being done has lost its pastoral dimension identified with the Church and with theology? Rather, are there other variables which influence the particular language used by the pastor in counseling? These questions suggested the need to explore the relationship of theological language to the pastoral counseling function in selected Christian traditions and to such variables as the locale in which the counseling occurs, the presenting problem and the authority of the priest and minister. [TRUNCATED]