<p> Chapter 1 is the introduction, which gives an overview of the entire study. Chapter 2 is the literature review, defining the problem of stunted spiritual growth and considering coaching as a possible catalyst to move people out of stagnation. Chapter 3 covers the methods of the present study, describing how the treatment and effects study was set up in order to determine if the participants who were coached would experience more spiritual growth than the non-coached participants and how the focus group interviews were conducted to ascertain any noticeable difference in the spiritual growth between the two groups by looking for areas of growth that the coached group experienced that were not reflected in the DSGS and then seeing if the non-coached group grew in those same areas or different areas. Chapter 4 details the results of the study. The hypothesis that coached participants would score at higher levels of spiritual growth than non-coached participants was not supported by the results. The data showed that both groups scored at the same level of growth with no significant difference when t-tested. Chapter 5 addresses conclusions of the study and suggestions for related studies that could help address the problem of spiritual stagnation in the United States church.</p><p>

<p> The main purpose of this research was to explore the ways the members of church-based small groups of various denominations in Southern California have experienced transformative learning, and to identify the factors that contribute to that experience. </p><p> A qualitative research was conducted. Purposeful sampling was used, and the data was collected by semi structured interviews between May to September 2015. The interviewees had at least two years of experience in a church-based small group and had experienced a major change in their worldviews and values. A total of 22 people from six different churches were selected. Data was analyzed using the program NVivo 10. </p><p> The data analysis was done in two main sections. In the first section the transformative learning experiences of the participants were discussed. Some of the transformative learning experiences of the participants had started outside the small group, but the small group supported the person during the hard time of transformation. In the second section factors that fostered transformative learning were discussed. Ten major themes came up: relationships, Bible, God, good examples, problems, ministry, Christian literature, willingness, preaching of the church and church retreats. The most prominent theme was relationship, which had two main subcategories: Small group and one on one relationships. Small group in itself had nine subcategories: praying, discussion, love, sharing, accountability, transparency, support, fellowship and safe environment. </p><p> Implications of the study were presented: the church should faithfully teach the Bible; the church should provide opportunities for the members to get connected and develop relationships; to foster transformation within the small group, besides studying the Bible, the leader should provide room for discussions, sharing and fellowship; to support the members during transformation the group should be a safe haven, the Bible should be taught, but also relationships should be nurtured by sharing, praying for each other and holding each other accountable; role models should be available; serving should be encouraged; the members should be exposed to Christian literature; joining sermon-based small groups should be encouraged ; the group leaders should be attentive to the Spirit&rsquo;s works and flexible to adapt their plans.</p>

The present thesis is a contribution to an unresolved debate in philosophy of education about the logical coherence of a particular account of Religious Education. The account of Religious Education at issue, which I call the liberal account, prescribes the teaching of religious understanding without religious belief. It stipulates that the aim of Religious Education is to teach pupils the meaning of religious propositions while leaving open the question of their truth. Underpinning the account are the assumptions that (i) no religious proposition is known to be either true or false and (ii) it is morally objectionable to teach questionable propositions as if they were known to be true. Opponents of the liberal account argue that it is logically incoherent. Their argument rests on two premises: (i) that religious propositions constitute an autonomous epistemological class or 'form of knowledge', and (ii) that understanding a form of knowledge involves holding certain propositions of that form to be true or false. If both premises are sound, it follows that religious understanding necessarily involves religious belief. The aim of the present thesis is to show that this challenge to the logical coherence of the liberal account of Religious Education is unsuccessful. I argue that the second premise is sound but the first is not. The second premise, that understanding a form of knowledge involves holding certain propositions of that form to be true or false, is an extension of an argument about language in general made by Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein claims that 'If language is to be a means of communication there must be agreement not only in definitions but also (queer as this may sound) in judgments' (Wittgenstein, 1953, Section 242). That is to say, language-users must reach agreement not only on how words are connected to each other (agreement in definitions) but also on how words are connected to experiences (agreement in judgments). The process of fixing experiential criteria necessarily involves accepting the truth of certain contingent propositions. I contend that Wittgenstein's argument can properly be extended to individual epistemological classes, with the exception of the class of necessary propositions. The validity of the first premise, that there is a religious form of knowledge, turns on the method of verification of religious propositions. I argue that religious propositions are propositions about divine persons and, as such, are verified in exactly the same way as propositions about human persons. Gods, like other persons, comprise minds and bodies (or minds and a relation to the material world analogous to 'having a body'), so religious propositions can be distributed without remainder over the familiar epistemological classes of mental and material propositions. Pupils can be taught what religious propositions mean with reference to other propositions of the same epistemological kinds and without reference to distinctively religious experiences. It follows that the aim of teaching for religious understanding without religious belief is logically coherent.

<p> The author presents that Cuban house churches lack leaders who can evangelize their own people without help from Christians of other countries. This is a problem in ministry for the indigenous house church leaders in Cuba. The project was &ldquo;experimental research,&rdquo; in which an intervention in evangelism training was introduced and then evaluated. He recruited 60 participants and used a 40-item Evangelism-Ready Checklist to measure participants&rsquo; perceived confidence levels in their ability to do evangelism. The researcher interviewed 60 participants and searched for indicators of increased confidence levels in students&rsquo; ability to do evangelism on their own. The true picture of the participants&rsquo; confidence in their evangelism-readiness was to take into account their sense that some topics were not covered sufficiently. Both the quantitative data and their interview data at six months post revealed great confidence and was combined with qualitative interview data to give the full picture. Recommendations were offered on how the evangelism training course could be improved.</p>

<p> Senior adults face a quandary through the process of aging. While enjoying the benefits of retirement, the senior adult also struggles with issues of health, independence, loneliness, and society&rsquo;s stereotypes concerning their relevance and usefulness. With the aging of the population and graying of the church membership, the necessity to mobilize and equip senior adults becomes critical in maintaining a healthy church. As senior adults face an ever-changing society filled with technological, organizational, and social transitions, they need assistance in coping with and managing these age-related issues.</p><p> The project includes training materials to mobilize and equip the senior adults attending Crowley Assembly for effective ministry within the church and to the local community, thus validating the significance and relevance of senior adults in the local church. The project focuses on four ministry interventions: a four-part sermon series for the congregation, a ministry opportunities seminar for senior adults, an age-related issues management seminar for senior adult leaders, and the development of a senior adult ministries manual. Post-sermon, pre-seminar, and post-seminar surveys identify the understanding of and attitude toward material presented in the respective sermons and seminars. The project promotes a biblical awareness of the importance and value of senior adults in the congregation at Crowley Assembly and encourages acceptance of intergenerational ministries. A closer evaluation reveals the keys to the project&rsquo;s effectiveness and identifies improvements for future projects. </p>

<p> The Society of Jesus sponsors more colleges and universities than any other religious order in American Catholic Higher Education. At Jesuit institutions, the decline of members of the sponsoring order, challenging admissions markets, and financial pressures are some of the forces that are impacting already existing tensions. These tensions in which American Jesuit schools choose to live generate particular challenges, each shaped by the context of an individual school. This study is focused on the ways that leaders of six Jesuit institutions are thinking about these tensions and responding to the challenges that result from choosing to live in them.</p><p> Research revealed that the declining number of Jesuits, and the increasing number of students who claim to have no religious affiliation, have cracked foundational assumptions on these campuses. This uneasiness, coupled with increased pressure to enroll classes and stabilize financial positions, has created concerns about whether or not the religious mission of the institutions can be sustained long-term. It is clear that presidents play an important role in balancing these tensions, and that their focus or lack of focus on the religious mission sets the tone for a campus. As a result, presidents and mission officers are working more intentionally to interpret the mission, and ways it is promulgated on campus given the current circumstances. This includes practices like hiring for mission, mission programming for faculty and staff, and efforts to educate faculty and staff in the foundational principles of the Jesuits. Leaders are working to build a critical mass of faculty and staff members who are both educated in the foundational mission and who care deeply about preserving it for future generations of students. This critical mass will help address the long term issues presented by current tensions, and prevent future questions about the sustainability of the mission.</p>

M.Ed. / Ondersoek na die behoefte aan Godsdiensonderrig in swart sekondere skole in die Vaaldriehoek, vorm die tema van hierdie verhandeling. Godsdiensonderrig is een van die verpligte vakke wat in skole onder die toesig van die vorige Departement van Onderwys en Opleiding onderrig word. Godsdiensonderrig is 'n verpligte vak vanaf graad 1 tot standerd 10. Die fokus van hierdie studie lig die aktualiteit van die probleem uit. Vorige wetgewing in Suid-Afrika het nie net die vak verpligtend gemaak nie, maar ook net aandag gegee aan die Christelike godsdiens in staatskole. Na die verkiesing in 1994, het daar 'n nuwe interim regering aan bewind gekom. Dit bring die verandering mee dat die klem nie langer alleen op die Christelike godsdiens val nie, maar dat alle godsdienste nou gelykelik in staatskole hanteer moet word. Die doel van hierdie studie was om vas te stel of: Daar enigsins 'n behoefte by studente bestaan om Godsdiensonderrig in sekondere skole te neem. Indien daar 'n behoefte bestaan, watter godsdiens Daar ook kennis verlang word van die ander godsdienste en gelowe wat in ons land voorkom. Uit die literatuurstudie blyk dit dat soortgelyke probleme ook in ander lande met 'n verskeidenheid godsdienste en gelowe voorgekom het. Daarom word daar verwys na die hantering van Godsdiensonderrig in Amerika en Engeland. Ook lande in Afrika waar daar telkens, na 'n verandering in regering, 'n herondersoek na die vak gedoen is. Die sluit lande in soos Nigerie, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambie en Namibie. In Suid-Afrika is die klem geld op die verlede, hede en toekoms van Godsdiensonderrig. Die navorsingsmetode behels vraelyste aan studente en onderhoude met belanghebbende persone in die onderwys. Al die data wat in die ondersoek verkry is, is geanaliseer en die resultate rekenaarmatig verwerk. Na 'n deeglike bestudering van die resultate, is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat respondente voel dat: Godsdiensonderrig 'n regmatige plek in die kurrikulum behoort te he. Die oorwegende godsdiens die Christelike godsdiens is. Daar beslis 'n behoefte bestaan om meer te wete te kom van die ander godsdienste en gelowe in ons land.

<p> Assemblies of God USA statistics on credentialed ministers reveal an aging ministerial membership as well as a decline in the number of ministers under the age of forty&mdash;a trend that needs reversing. To address this problem, this project implements a mentoring process at Raleigh First Assembly in Raleigh, North Carolina for those sensing a call to vocational credentialed ministry. Experienced, credentialed ministers connect with thirteen ministry candidates for a six-month mentoring relationship to explore calling and provide direction in walking mentees through the steps of fulfilling their calling. </p><p> This project builds a solid biblical foundation for the mentoring process, which affirms both God&rsquo;s calling to ministry and individuals&rsquo; responses to it. Further, the project&rsquo;s research of contemporary literature reveals that effective mentoring requires both relationship and intentionality for mentee transformation. A survey of new credential applicants in the past five years also reinforces the need for mentoring. </p><p> The resulting impact of the project brings together ministry candidates in relationship with experienced ministers, providing reciprocal benefits to both mentors and mentees. Further, the project demonstrates that a connection of an emerging leader with a seasoned mentoring minister within an equipping and empowering community remains critical to their ongoing development and long-term sustained impact.</p><p>

This dissertation tackles two research questions through two research methods - how public, private, and private and public-private partnership schools relate to student achievement (quantitative); and how Islam relates to parental educational decision making for school choice (qualitative). These questions are partly driven by the increase in public-private partnerships in Punjab, Pakistan, and by the recent worldwide focus on Islam. Quantitative findings show that when the educational outcome is educational quality measured by test scores, public-private partnership schools are related to a greater increase in student test scores than are private schools, and 5th grade test scores show greater dependence on school type than 8th grade test scores. Public-private partnerships can be positively related to test scores potentially because of their unobservable institutional characteristics. Qualitative analysis findings show that the ideal school type for a representative sample of parents incorporates both secular and religious components in order to produce a second educational outcome - student ethics and civic identity. Combining answers to both research questions shows that both top-to-bottom interaction between the government and schools, and bottom-to-top interaction between parents and schools are important for informing education policy that aims to increase educational quality while also catering towards parental preferences. However, all established private and social goals of education - including efficiency, equity, school choice, and social cohesion - as well as cost considerations need to be further researched before deciding if and how to formulate a large scale public-private partnership policy.

This ethnographic study aims to understand how African parents use religion to help raise their children in the U.S. It is based on 18 months of fieldwork among African immigrant and refugee families, who identify as born again Christians and attend one of two churches located in the Greater Boston Area of Massachusetts. The parents in this study have voluntarily left or fled the homes and countries (predominantly Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Burundi) where they were raised and now have children of their own to raise in a new country and culture. They are using God (in concert with church, prayer, and the Bible) to cope with the challenges and find understanding, belonging, and betterment for themselves and their children. Their ultimate hope is for their children "to know God." But what does it mean, "to know God?" Why is this so important for these parents? How do parents help children "to know God" (i.e. what processes are entailed)? And how does this shape their identities and intrapersonal and interpersonal development? This ethnography aims to answer these questions through an analysis of the language and literacy processes of socialization. I describe local child rearing theories, which influence interactions with children and the everyday routines they follow; the characteristics and practices through which a sense of belonging and community is fostered; as well as the practices of praying, engaging with the Bible, and discussion about what their faith means psychologically and socially. Parents and children are teaching and learning from one another through their participation in church services, Sunday school, and Bible studies; in routine prayer individually and collectively; in conversations about God and the world; and reading and discussing the Bible at home at night. I also examine the consequences, theoretical and empirical, of such socialization processes on the understanding of self and one's relationships with God, other believers, and non-believers. I conclude that in learning to distinguish God's voice among their own thoughts, children are potentially developing a Christian sense of self. Yet, adults and children encounter competing discourses within different communities of practice about with whom one should be friends. Social relationships entail positioning him or herself in the way one talks and acts so as to be (or not be) identified as a believer. These African born again Christian parents are socializing their children to be and become believers.