Thesis (Th. M.)--Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, 2006. / "Athumia" appears in Greek letters on t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-77).

The purpose of this study is to suggest a paradigm shift that will enable the traditional pastor to effectively mobilize his congregation. An in depth look at the early history of the pastor of the Carletonville-AFM congregation and his idea of the ministry was undertaken. Due to certain frustrations he experienced trying to do everything himself, the Body of Christ model was proposed for the congregation whereby every member of the congregation has a function in fulfulling the Great Commision. Certain statistics of the Carletonville-AFM congregation were analysed to obtain information about membership involvement in service ministry. It became clear that a process for the mobilisation of the congregation was needed. Mobilising the congregation should be seen as the purpose of the pastor and considered to be very important. The pastor’s managerial approach was scrutinized from the paradigm shift of ‘purposefulness,’ and the recommendation made that as the leader, he should build a strong team around himself to whom he can delegate work, thus making his work load lighter. This will empower him to concentrate on the purpose of mobilising the congregation. The study argues that there is no such thing as an untalented member, in other words, everybody has received a talent to do service ministry. The potential in people must be developed by way of equipping the members. The pastor is responsible for this development and equipping of the members. This study is a contribution that endeavours to focus the managerial approach of the pastor in the mobilisation of the Body of Christ. / Prof. W.J. Hattingh

The aim of this study was to research the content of the Robertsham AFM congregation, as well as to identify growth areas in the congregation and to design and implement guidelines for mobilisation. The Robertsham AFM congregation was evaluated, in order to determine its profile at the commencement of the study. This profile enabled the pastor to offer members of the congregation the opportunity to join the growth towards bigger involvement. Questionnaires were used to conduct the evaluation. The mobilisation process of the Robertsham AFM congregation was preceded by a preparatory process, during which the pastor as well as the congregation were prepared. Church leaders had to be prepared in terms of mobilisation, a serious reflection on their reason for existence (raison d¡¦etre) and the way ahead. The upliftment of both the congregation and members of the congregation contributed as follows: ƒá The way members of the congregation experienced God, was promoted by positive preaching, word school presentations and spiritual growth classes. The church going experience of the congregation was enhanced, by implementing specific essential actions. ƒá The image of a congregation that had been uplifted created pride within members of the congregation. Currently, more members of the community are aware of what Robertsham AFM congregation stands for. ƒá Member¡¦s experience of their fellow human beings was promoted by interpersonal relationships and by creating specific opportunities. ƒá The needs of poor members of the community were addressed by implementing a number of services. These services also promoted job creation. Eight quality characteristics of growing churches, according to CA Schwarz, are currently still being used to evaluate and monitor the congregational context. A questionnaire was used to determine to what extent members of the congregation benefitted from the development process at an early stage. Testimonies from members of the congregation were provided to supplement the personal enrichment process. The research demonstrated the importance of knowledge of the background of members of the congregation, as well as the profile of the congregation. The preparation of the pastor is of importance, in order for the mobilisation process to support and promote the correct upliftment, resources and development of members of the congregation. The research contributes towards mobilising and structuring the Robertsham AFM congregation in such a way that it will result in members of the congregation developing their potential to the maximum. In turn, this will enable them to help develop other people¡¦s potential to the maximum. / Prof. W.J. Hattingh

Coaching is a modern tool for personal development with many advantages and successful applications. However, some concerns arise from the religious and ethical perspectives. Links to esoterics and New Age have been proclaimed by leaders of coaching schools that operate in the Czech Republic. Moreover, a survey has indicated that ethical limits of Czech coaches are more liberal than the official position of the Catholic Church. Thus, for a Catholic Christian, the coaching is promising as well as questionable. Biblical texts, as well as the facts from the subsequent history of Church, indicate many similarities: Christianity has exhibited marks of coaching since the very beginnings. On the other hand, most of the coaching schools deny God, absolute truth, or the concept of sin. An appropriate approach how to address this tension is a reflection of anthropological fundaments. Analyzing sincerely one of the coaching schools (Neuroleadership), we can conclude that all of them have clear counterparts in the Christian doctrine. In spite to this positive conclusion, it is necessary to be cautious when facing practical ethical dilemmas. A wise application of the coaching approach can be helpful also in the spiritual direction. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Theology in the field of Practical Theology at the university of Zululand, 2005. / This research is an investigation into spiritual formation programmes available at different theological institutions in Kwa-Zulu Natal with the aim of finding out how spiritual formation is being intentionally or specifically pursued and whether these programmes are meeting the spiritual needs of the students. The research is based on the hypothesis that spiritual formation should have a legitimate place in theological education in spite continuing disagreements about the nature and place of spiritual formation. If it is imperative that theological graduates be people of competence and character, then spiritual formation must be as much a part of the agenda of the institution as academic competence. Curricular standards for theological education involves concern about intellectual, professional and spiritual formation. Unfortunately the current dominant structure of theological curricula tends to favour academic instruction, tolerate the practical and compartmentalize the spiritual. The average Protestant theological institute suffers from the perception that spiritual formation is not necessary. A reason for this can be traced to a belief that the church is the proper environment for spiritual formation. Cognitive instruction is thought of as the province of the curriculum, with spiritual formation happening implicitly, informally and on a personal basis. The present study contributes empirical data to the growing literature on the relationship between spiritual formation and theological education. Research was conducted at five selected theological institutions to reveal an imbalance in the nature of theological education where the focus is on the academic aspects of learning. This study shows that attempts to take spiritual formation seriously were met with resistance. The field-work revealed that only one of the selected theological institutions has an intentional spiritual formation programme. In the main, the majority of theological institutions did not have an intentional spiritual formation programme despite the fact that they feel an obligation to develop students spiritually as seen by the varied spiritual activities in place. The spiritual maturity of future Christian leaders is an important problem and needs to be addressed throughout theological training. Spiritual formation cannot be left to chance, any more than the pastoral or strictly academic components of ministry formation. This study highlighted a critical task of theological education: the responsibility to develop students holistically. While spiritual formation can and should be intentionally pursued in specific courses, it is important to see it as a crucial dimension of theological education as a whole. This study concluded with general observations about the future of theological education, especially the need for an integrated education. An approach to spiritual formation was offered for an evangelical theological institution. The findings of this study underscore a much neglected area in the training and equipping of pastors that needs immediate remedial action. The weight of the research's contribution lies in its empirical research and it is of publishable quality

Responding to the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was founded by Moderate Baptists seeking to reclaim the historic Baptist principle of soul freedom. While this effort was successful, such soul freedom made it difficult for Moderates to hold diverse viewpoints together in unity within the context of a covenant community. Borrowing from the Christian contemplative tradition, which offers a set of shared spiritual practices capable of constructing diverse covenant communities, it is the purpose of this project to offer a process for applying contemplative spiritual practices to the life of Moderate Baptist congregations to reframe Baptist soul freedom as that which allows for personal liberty within the context of a diverse covenant community. / 2025-01-25T00:00:00Z

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:20:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elismar Alves dos Santos.pdf: 501089 bytes, checksum: 969dd6518dc323dc819a56c36938ccc9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-06-19 / The current work, theorical-empirical, about the subjective power of spiritual direction attemps to rescue the humanizing psychological dimension of this old and actual Catholic-Cristian religious practice. The techinique used to explore the humanizer meanings experienced by the four searched subjects, is qualitative with phenomenological background. The results point to the efficacy of this religious practice en the fiel of the human adjustment and development, as well as stress its effects to the experience of a religiosity that is more solid and human. / O presente trabalho, de natureza teórico-empírica, sobre o poder subjetivante da direção espirtual, tem como objetivo resgatar a dimensão psicológica humanizante dessa milenar prática religiosa Cristã-Católica. O método usado para explorar os significados humanizadores propiciados através dessa técnica e vivenciados pelos quatros sujeitos pesquisador, é o qualitativo de base fenomenológica. Os resultados apontam a eficácia dessa prática religiosa no campo do desenvolvimento e ajustamento humano, assim como assinalam seu efeito para a vivência de uma religiosidade mais solidamente humana.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2003. / Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-223).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-149).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-149).