This study explores two ancient approaches to spirituality, together with the cultural contexts in which they developed. Spirituality is a popular concept today among people of widely differing religious traditions, and among those who espouse no religious tradition. Spirituality defines the way in which people relate to what concerns them ultimately, and ways in which this concern is manifested in their daily lives. This popular interest has resulted in the rise of spirituality as an academic discipline. An in-depth study of Celtic and African Spirituality is presented in this study. Celtic Spirituality dates from the fifth century CE onwards, whereas African Spirituality predates written history. Few examples of African Spirituality are recorded in writing before the twentieth century, although some have existed for centuries in oral form. Many Celtic poems, and other examples of traditional oral literature were collected and recorded in writing by medieval monks, and thus preserved for later generations in writing. Both Celtic and African Spiritualities have a healthy, integrated approach to the material world and to the spiritual world. They acknowledge a constant interaction between the two realms, and do not dismiss or devalue either the physical or the spiritual. Art and oral literature also play an important role in enabling communication and expression of ideas. Power and powerlessness emerges as a dominant theme in African thought and spirituality, especially where African peoples perceive themselves to be powerless politically or economically. Areas of relevance of Celtic and African Spiritualities to the life of the church today are identified and discussed, such as ecological spirituality; oral and symbolic communication; the role of women in church and society; and the theme of power. These are areas from which the world-wide church has much to learn from both Celtic and African Spiritualities. The findings of this study are then discussed in terms of their relevance and helpfulness to church and society. Insights from Celtic and African spiritualities should be used in the future to deepen devotional life of individual Christians and of congregations, and ideas such as ecological responsibility and recognition of the value and gifts of women should permeate the teaching and practice of the church in the future. / Religious Studies and Arabic Studies / D. Th.(Religious Studies & Arabic Studies)

The Scriptures, as found in the Old and New Testaments, are foundational to a genuine Christian spirituality. Among the different existing approaches to spirituality, the evangelical and charismatic churches in South Africa today need to rediscover a distinctive biblical approach to spirituality for themselves in order to facilitate the discipleship of their own members. A holistic biblical spirituality can also serve society in practical ways and challenge the perceptions and practices of a South African society which is seeking to advance without religious foundations. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Christian Spirituality)

<p> Spirituality in the workplace has received increased focus over the past two decades. This heuristic study examined how religious spirituality informs and/or influences individual perceptions of meaningful work experiences. A literature review on the subject found a dearth of research. </p><p> The primary research question was the following: What is the relationship between religious spirituality and meaningful work for the co-researchers in the study? The eight co-researchers were members of a United Methodist congregation in Washington, DC. The co-researchers ranged in age from 30 to 53 years old. All identified as African American. Six discussed meaningful work experiences that involved paid work, while the other two mentioned meaningful work experiences as unpaid volunteers. Semi-structured interviews were used as the primary means of collecting data. </p><p> The researcher analyzed and synthesized the data using Moustakas&rsquo;s (1990) approach. The co-researchers&rsquo; experiences shared four themes. The first, seeking God&rsquo;s purpose, relates to the co-researcher&rsquo;s desire to do work considered pleasing in God&rsquo;s sight and in pursuit of the fulfillment of a higher purpose or calling. The second theme involves placing a priority on the mission of the work versus the monetary benefit. The third, growing spiritually through meaningful work, describes the intangible benefit co-researchers received through their meaningful work experiences. Finally, the fourth theme, impacting the lives of others, is described as a key component of all of the co-researcher&rsquo;s meaningful work experiences. Based on the results, a creative synthesis was developed, and implications and recommendations are suggested.</p>

<p> This project in ministry concentrates on the new evangelization for pastoral workers in an increasingly secular environment. The new evangelization calls upon pastoral ministers to respond to signs of the times. The Church by its very nature is missionary, and the new evangelization brings to the forefront in the hearts and minds of ministers awareness of the on-going missionary activity of the Church. The spirit of the new evangelization calls for more creativity and renewed verve in promoting the Gospel to those who do not know Christ and to those who have separated themselves from the Church, and to exercise greater pastoral care to those who belong to the local worshipping community. This project concentrates on ministering proactively to couples desiring to have their child baptized in their local parish and for the parish staff to build a relationship with young families. My pastoral experience has shown that the vast majority of parents seeking the sacrament of Baptism have not been associated with a parish for a number of years. </p><p> I examine the foundational causes of the growing decline in organized religion in the United States. The extensive research of Dr. Linda A. Mecadante helps to explore the increasingly popular &ldquo;I am spiritual but not religious&rdquo; ethos. This project also provides detailed analysis of the growth of secularism in the West, in particular, the intellectual and spiritual contribution of Pope Benedict XVI.</p>

<p> This thesis explores the spiritual-bypass phenomenon identified by John Welwood and how it can be a defense against wholeness as defined in Jungian psychology. Using hermeneutic and heuristic methodologies, and drawing on depth psychological theories, the author discusses the various forms of spiritual bypass and the underlying shadow dynamics, such as emotional repression. The author examines the nature of psychological and spiritual development through states and stages of consciousness development, healthy transcendence versus unhealthy transcendence, and the Jungian process of individuation toward wholeness. The research also explores contributing factors to spiritual bypass including the effect of early childhood attachment style and demonstrates the significance of integrating psychological development in a spiritual path. Finally, the author provides suggestions for therapists working with clients who may be in spiritual bypass.</p>

<p> Religious persecution is a part of daily life for most of the world&rsquo;s population. Religious freedom is elusive for many and the effect of violent religious persecution is potentially debilitating and traumatic. Despite research in the areas of refugee trauma and genocide studies, there is a lack of best practice methodology for psychosocial interventions on behalf of survivors of political and religious persecution. A literature review reveals both a lack of research in terms of best practice for this sub-group and a potential for consensus-based and participatory action research for best practice and staff team empowerment. A participatory action research framework was developed to enable our diverse, international staff trauma team and partners to work toward an inclusive, participative, consensus process leading to a collective narrative and action planning. The data collection and analysis included a consensus process, individual interviews, a focus group, field notes and document review. The joint analysis and narratives were presented as a written narrative with emerging themes that included: narrative and story, community and culture and identity and reconnection. The process allowed previously marginalized staff, voices from the Global South, to emerge along with staff of Western countries. Finally, action planning proposed organizational and community of practice change based on the emerging practice consensus and illuminative narratives.</p>

<p> "Sowing Stories Deep in the Soul" is a creative, interactive workshop model focused on "Transformative Biblical Storytelling Ministry with Adolescent Young Women" to meet the need for this course within the Congress of Christian Education of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Baptist State Convention of Indiana. Adolescent young women and leaders participate in the study of Scripture as ancient stories within an oral/aural media experience and performance paradigm to elicit positive impact. Qualitative research findings show a relationship between internalizing stories, applying them personally, performing them by heart, and the impact of transformative spiritual formation for adolescent young women.</p>

<p> Utilizing twelve case studies, this project hypothesized that participants from diverse contexts would develop the ability to understand the correct meaning of their dreams, without mediation, as modeled by the researcher. The researcher and an observer interpreted participant's dreams during six meetings, using biblical symbolism and relying upon inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Many participants perceived the meaning of their dreams following the exercise of Christian dream interpretation. The observers verified that many of the participant dream interpretations resonated with Scripture and the person of the Holy Spirit. Participants received guidance, encouragement, and healing, and expressed significantly increased interpretive acumen.</p>

<p> Standards for integration of spirituality and religion within mental health training continue to be ambiguous. Although increased attention has incorporated such diversity into multiculturalism, proficiency remains inadequate among non-religiously affiliated individuals and institutions. This study examined competence levels utilizing the Revised Spiritual Competence Scale II (SCS-R-II) and the Spiritual and Religious Competency Assessment (SARCA). Participants were 125 students attending accredited counseling, psychology, and social work schools in the United States. Counselor trainees scored highest on both measures as did students with very strong personal religious affiliation and attendees of Christian affiliated schools. Implications and future recommendations are discussed.</p>

<p> This dissertation seeks to formulate an integral psychology framework to better understand the nature and unfoldment of postformal, or postconventional, characterizations of individual consciousness evolution. To this end, an extensive critical evaluation and problematization of the disparate theoretical literatures indicated that while the egocentric and cosmocentric dimensions have been taken into account by various models, the psychocentric, or more specifically, the evolutionary soul dimension and its role in postconventional development has been largely overlooked. </p><p> With this background, there appeared to be hardly any substantial signs of agreement in the extensive and rapidly expanding literatures on human development. Such division has resulted in increasingly heated disagreements and debates concerning controversies of shape, goals, and, particularly, direction (e.g., structural-hierarchical versus spiral-dynamic models). Further, it was found that egocentric and cosmocentric biases bring to the fore a related set of problems that, in present-day formulation, can be summarized as the issue of epiphenomenalism along with the problem of identifying a facilitative agent (an ontological reference point that might help explain the how and why of stage change), which has apparently all but escaped developmental psychologists. </p><p> As a dialogue partner, the study adopts Sri Aurobindo and the Mother&rsquo;s rich integral acumen concerning the psychic being as an alternative assumption ground to both reveal and challenge some of the taken-for-granted assumptions found to underlie much of the ongoing theoretical debate. The guiding purpose of this dissertation, then, has been to advance the fields of both Western and integral yoga psychologies by contributing new and unique pathways to postconventional development&mdash;an integral psychology framework that places the deeper inmost source of evolution at the very center of a comprehensive whole person vision of human growth and development.</p>