This research analyzed the factors contributing to the decline of protestant churches in metropolitan centers. Houston, Texas, was named as the metropolitan center. The research concern is that there is a lack of current and recent knowledge of factors leading to the decline of Protestant churches in metropolitan centers. The purpose of this study was to identify the biblical and theological, leadership and organizational, cultural, and demographic factors contributing to the decline of Protestant churches. Precedent literature reviews the literature written in the area of church growth and decline. Five areas are researched: Church growth specialists is a review of leading contributors to the church growth movement. Biblical and theological concerns is a review of God's loving relationship with his people and the people's rebellion and decline. Leadership and organizational concerns is a review of the effects of leadership and organization on the churches today. Cultural concerns is a review of the effects of culture on the church today. It reviews both Christianity in culture and culture in the church. And, demographic concerns is a review of how demographic changes have affected the church. It reviews the contextual factors leading to church decline and the life-cycle of the church. The methodological design of the study was a survey of Protestant churches in Houston, Texas. The sampling of 542 churches was taken from 842 Protestant churches of nine major denominations. A Likert response scale survey was created based on the research found in the precedent literature. Two surveys were created and distributed: an electronic response survey the pastors responded to online and a paper survey mailed out to the churches. The analysis of findings reviewed the one hundred churches that responded to the survey. In all, nineteen factors within the areas of concern were researched and analyzed. The results demonstrate that biblical and theological concerns illustrate no differences between growing and declining churches. Leadership and organizational concerns, cultural concerns and demographic concerns all demonstrate a difference between growing and declining churches. The conclusion was that there are many factors that contribute to church decline. The declining churches had numerous factors that were contributing to the decline. Decisive actions must be taken for the churches to turn into healthy and productive growing churches. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

This thesis deals with the term layman in the church background, especially in the Protestant one. It searches for roots of understanding of laicism in Bible, in the history of the church and in the present Protestant environment of Czech Republic. It defines the term layman in relation to its church counterpart, which is usually considered clergy. It observes, what kind of activities are within the authority of laymen and what kind of activities are beyond their power. It investigates proper ecclesiological models, that allow laymen to be used in the biblical way according to their charisma. It proposes a change of terminology and a new point of view on the role of laymen in the church practices. Keywords Layman, general priesthood, ordination, hierarchy, laos

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Sociology

Originally presented as the author's Lizentiatsarbeit--Universität Bern, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Despite the fact that partnership has be en a pronounced goal in ecumenical relationships for over eighty years, the realization of mutuality, solidarity, and koinonia has, even until present times, proven to be illusive. This fact raises a number of questions. First, why is this so? What wer e the historical antecedents that led to the concept of partnership? What were the original secular and religious contexts in which the term partnership was used, and how has its meaning been understood and contested over time? And secondly, what can we learn from this history? Are there any problematic issues or themes that repeatedly appear in the narrative, causing churches to continually fall short in these relationships? In seeking to answer these questions, this thesis will trace the history of ecu menical partnerships from its antecedents, found in the beginning of the modern Protestant missionary movement, through to current times, focusing on the relationships between churches historically involved in the International Missionary Council (IMC) and , after 1961 when the IMC integrated with the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). Importantly, Lamin Sanneh’s typology of churches as either Global (the churches of the North or Western world, also forme rly known as ‘sending’ or ‘older’ churches) or World (the churches of the South and East, formerly known as ‘receiving’ or ‘younger’ churches) will be the lens used to understand these ecumenical relationships. Using this typology, each of the chapters th at form the main body of this research focuses on a different era of history and will follow a similar pattern. The first section of each chapter serves to situate the church’s partnership discourse in its secular setting, paying special attention to issu es pertaining to North/South political and economic power, as well as how power has been contested. The remainder of each chapter will trace the ecumenical history of partnership, focusing especially on the discussions and findings of world ecumenical mis sion meetings, starting with The Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions in New York in 1900. While the main emphasis will be on these ecumenical meetings and their findings, attention will also be given to individuals and events that played significant roles in the development of the understanding and practice of partnership. Significantly, at the conclusion of each chapter four prominent themes or issues will be traced which continually reappear in the narrative and make partnership difficult to reali ze. When reviewing this history, it is evident that the term partnership was a product of colonial times and therefore captive to colonial and, later, neocolonial interpretations. However, it is also clear that from the very beginnings of the moder n Protestant missionary movement some church and missionary leaders, from both the Global and World churches, have sought to ground partnership in Biblical, egalitarian, and liberationist understandings. While this can serve to encourage those involved in partnership today, the historical analysis also shows plainly four key themes or issues that continually make the attainment of equitable relationships impossible to realize; namely, the home base , humanitarianism and development , authority , and rhetoric and reality . It is clear that the differences in worldviews, as described by Sanneh’s typology, have had and continue to have detrimental effects on the relationships between the churches of Global and World Christianity. Given this history, it is assert ed in this thesis that for ecumenical partnerships to have any chance of overcoming these issues, the churches of Global Christianity must stop seeing mission as expansion and lose the desire to remake others in their image; in short, they must become, in their worldview and ethos, World churches. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Traditional Chinese religion involves the belief in a large number of good and evil spirit beings who are arranged in a strict hierarchical order. The spirit world is a mi r r or ed existence of the world of the living and the hierarchical order is a copy of that which was observed during the Han dynasty. Even the spirit beings are portrayed in the clothing styles of that period. The Chinese tend to be eclectic and syncretistic in their religion. Their approach to the adoption of a set of beliefs may be described as supermarket shopping for religious ideas. The historical development of Buddhism, religious Taoism as well as certain of the new religious movements in Tai~an show ample evidence of attempts to syncretise rites and beliefs. The development of filial piety since the earliest period of China's history gave rise to the formalisation of behaviour towards parents and the earlier ancestors. Certain behavioural patterns became entrenched as rites which were observed even after the death of the parents. The educated class of traditional China saw the observance of such postfunerary rites as culturally educative exercises to instill family loyalty and reverence for the dead. Such rites were also used as opportunities for the bereaved to deal with their grief in a ceremonious manner. The less educated were more prone to practise such rites as the worship of the ancestors. Filial piety served as the vehicle of ancestor veneration and in the more extreme cases, ancestor worship. The study provides a number of insights related to the different attitudes of Chinese Protestants towards the cult of the ancestors which were previously not available. A reasonably strong fundamentalist attitude exists in the Protestant community which decries any ritualistic association with the ancestral cult. A large number of Protestants draw a distinction between the cultural and the religious aspects of the ancestral cult. The reverence shown to the ancestors is seen as cultural and therefore acceptable as long as reverence is interpreted as the showing of a deep respect for the dead. The churches do not show a deep understanding of the role which the cult plays in the culture of the community. The practice of filial piety continues to be observed in tandem with the parallel Biblical teachings. However, the role of filial piety as the vehicle of ancestor veneration has not been fully grasped by the majority of church leaders and even less by the members and adherents. Certain of the churches embarked on a low profile programme to combat ancestor veneration rites especially among the senior citizens in their congregations. The attendance at the two major cultic festivals by Christians ' is no longer seen as attendance or participation in a religious rite. Such visits to the graves of relatives and friends are considered as cultural and social activities completely devoid of religious implications. The researcher found that because confusion exists in the use of certain religious terms, a corresponding confusion exists in the practice of the ancestor cult by some Chinese. On the whole, the study revealed a relatively well-informed community even amongst the younger people who were locally raised and educated when certain rites such as the 'Inviting home' ceremony was mentioned. The cult of the ancestors in Johannesburg shows a traditional persistence Johannesburg. ls gaining a few thousand environs. in spite of the Protestant influences In certain instances it appears that the new momentum, especially with the influx Taiwanese Chinese into Johannesburg and in cult of a its Many of the new immigrants continue to traditional funerary rites. observe the The sympathetic attitude of the Roman Catholic church towards the veneration of Confucius and the ancestors may in fact encourage the continued observance of the cultic rites. The Chinese Protestants continue to be faced with religious and cultural issues in terms of continuity and discontinuity. The churches and their members need to consider these issues with greater intensity and urgency. Guidelines are needed for the new generation of Chinese Protestants to the age-old question: what must a Christian surrender of his culture for the sake of his faith? / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1989.

The purpose of this creative project is to report on the beginning stage of a heuristic analysis project. The purpose is to examine the problem of declining marriage numbers that face the Protestant Evangelical community, and address that dilemma in the design criteria of an online dating website. Clarifying values will be part of the analysis of the Evangelical culture inequities. In particular, by assessing Evangelical culture to form the basis of site design, and making recommendations of action that can free it from its current constraints with respect to online dating. A study of the Marry Well Website will include investigating the perceived problems by the laity in connection with online dating. The research here is predictive in nature, in that the study creates a set of questions that can set in motion further research. / Department of Telecommunications

Protestant pastors in America are leaders who provide guidance in spiritual matters to millions of people. The demands of their work can be stressful and overwhelming, leading to burnout. Burnout results in some pastors leaving their leadership positions, which has a negative impact on the members of the congregation as well as the pastors themselves. This study's goal was to determine the perceived needs of pastors, in order to prevent burnout, and the kinds of resources they perceive would best meet their needs. This study utilized a qualitative approach in the collection, description, and analysis of data. The results revealed pastors feel over-extended and face unrealistic expectations in their work. Support systems, such as clergy groups may be helpful in combating these. Taking time off, spiritual renewal practices, and exercise are some important practices many of the pastors in this study agreed would be beneficial as well. / Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology

This dissertation challenges the adequacy of three interrelated foci of twentieth- century Protestant Pauline interpretation. Interpreters regularly: (1) distinguish Paul's theology from his ethics, (2) emphasise his preaching as the sole or primary vehicle for gospel proclamation and divine revelation, and (3) deny that Paul engages in reasoned, ethical reflection. This study offers a new proposal for understanding how Paul does theology and ethics as a former Pharisee and first-century pastoral theologian a Christian community-builder with an apocalyptic (i.e. revelatory) perspective. Paul integrates Christian thinking and living, combining what interpreters frequently separate as theology and ethics. This becomes evident in Paul's complex process of theological, moral reasoning for which we have coined the phrase 'theo-ethical reasoning'. This characterisation captures both the divine and human elements of Paul's behavioural reasoning grounded in the revelation of the risen Christ to Paul and in Paul. According to theo-ethical reasoning, Paul associates specific acts of Christ-conforming conduct with the power of God that becomes manifest in community experiences of new life. Since this reasoning often lies beneath the surface of the texts, the study explores the underlying logic of Paul's arguments. This highlights the consistent pattern of reasoning by which Paul analyses and responds to behavioural issues. The study also argues that Paul encourages his churches to practise spiritual discernment by engaging in theo-ethical reasoning a dialogical, comparative process of reasoned reflection on the links between behaviour and experience. In this practice of looking for life, the Spirit leads community members to associate experiences of new life with conduct that conforms to Christ's cruciform pattern of self-giving love for others. This correlation grounds both Paul's proclamation of Jesus Christ by word and deed and believers' faith in the power of God. We conclude that theo-ethical reasoning lies at the centre of Paul's religion.

Thesis (S.T.M.)--Yale Divinity School, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.