This project's goal is to offer suggestions regarding prioritization and realignment of the identity and functions of regional ministers in these new and rapidly changing times. Utilizing survey results and follow-up interviews with several regional ministers of the CC(DoC), ministry role and/or function reprioritization strategies will be identified which result in ministry which more effectively connects, strengthens, and grows congregations and/or intra-congregational ministries. Specifically, effective "connections" would be demonstrated by an increase in congregations (or individuals/groups from different congregations) working together toward common ministry goals. "Strengthening" of ministry would be demonstrated by an increased resiliency in recovery from financial setbacks, contextual changes, and unexpected events (such as natural and/or human-made disasters). "Growth" in ministry would be demonstrated by an increase in the number of people and congregations actively involved in ministry endeavors, both individually and in coordination with one another.

Religious environmentalism is a growing expression of religious praxis in the United States. This engagement reflects a theologically informed commitment for facing the ecological challenges of our planetary home, and participation in the creation of a world where both humanity and the natural world can flourish. This dissertation explores the interconnected nature of human and ecological flourishing through following three congregationally based religious environmental groups. Using ethnographic methods, the experiences of these cohorts during specific stages of their work together were gathered for a critical dialogue between ecological discourses, theological discourses, and the groups' praxis. Observing the experiences of the three cohorts and inquiring how they connect their faith to ecological activism invited reflection upon the theological shifts that took place for the group members after incorporating this kind of praxis into their faith. This project uses the construct of hoping paradigms to illustrate the connection between the belief systems of the groups and their ecologically transformative praxis. These hoping paradigms are funded by theological anthropologies highlighting the interconnected nature of all life, and by eschatologies honoring the physically interrelated nature of the universe throughout time. The ecologically attuned spiritual praxis of the participating groups suggests that pastoral theological engagement with human experience must account for the flourishing of the ecological systems on which our shared life depends, and foster an expanded understanding of relational justice that widens to include ecological relationality. For pastoral theologies to be planetary in scope, they must be informed by ecological dimensions of human experience, and view care as critically engaging with the various circles of life that form the basis for our common flourishing. Through highlighting how the experiences of these cohorts catalyzed change in their local communities, ecologically concerned portions of the wider church may find their own hopes for transforming ecologically destructive social imaginaries refreshed.

Images of God, positive and negative, create an ongoing tension in the biblical text. This tension is due to the paradoxical character of God as seen in Exod 34:6-7. The cognitive dissonance created by the juxtaposition of positive and negative images of the divine is unsettling for many people. Consequently, these negative images are often overlooked. This project addresses one of the neglected images, the image of God as enemy. It seems peculiar that, despite the regularity of Israel's complaints against the divine and its familiarity with enemy language, the word enemy is not used more frequently in reference to God. This project considers the idea that while enemy language was part of Israel's cultural milieu, the word enemy was seldom used to describe God because the image of God as enemy borders on picturing God as demonic--a precipice that neither Job nor the writers of the Hebrew Bible wanted to cross. Insights in this dissertation are drawn from several approaches to biblical interpretation. This exploration begins with an analysis of theological issues that focus on theodicy informed by a womanist perspective regarding the image of God as enemy in the book of Job and other books of the Hebrew Bible. Literary criticism provides the lens for examining sample texts that express this image of the divine, implicitly and explicitly. The analysis includes consideration of defiance and humor as coping mechanisms that Job utilized in his response to the theodic crisis created by his understanding that God was the source of the reversals in his life.

My overall thesis is that Luke's redaction of the 'eternal life' question (Luke 10.25; 18.18) affects a reading of the Travel Narrative by emphasizing the eschatological nature of 'eternal life' over against the life of the narrative present age, an age characterized by the rule of Rome. In the first chapter, I treat Luke's redaction of the 'eternal life' question. The main result of Luke's redaction is that it gives the affected scenes a definitive eschatological tenor. In the second chapter, I place emphasis on the answers which Luke provides to the questions. By reading these citations from Torah as functioning metonymically (Deut 5-6; Lev 19), I highlight five general thematic connections between the citations from Torah and Luke's Travel Narrative. In the final chapter, I return to my analysis of Luke in order to trace the effects of Luke's 'eternal life' redactions on the plot of the Travel Narrative section.

As the field of pastoral theology continues to explore concerns rooted in issues surrounding gender, race, and class, there is a growing awareness of the constraints traditional paradigms of understanding grief have placed on marginalized persons and groups. This project attempts to highlight one such area by considering the unique needs of low-income, urban men in their experiences with grief. Consideration is given to issues of both gender and class, paying particular attention to the field of literature emerging around men and especially mens grief, as well as that which is given to working-class and low-income persons. A second point of focus is aimed at developing a composite sketch of experiences drawn from previously published field research and personal interviews. Finally, implications for the discipline of pastoral theology are addressed in an attempt to offer suggestions for more exhaustive studies in this particular portion of the larger pastoral theological field.

The BRIght Target Explorer mission consists of six nanosatellites, each equipped with an instrument capable of capturing defocused images of stars suitable for milli-magnitude accuracy differential photometry. BRITE is expected to provide information about the dynamics and life cycles of bright stars. The satellites are funded in pairs by Austria, Poland and Canada and designed at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Space Flight Laboratory. The present thesis document summarizes the contribution of the author to this project. This includes unit level integration, calibration, functional testing and science acceptance testing of the two BRITE Canada payloads; high level assembly and spacecraft level testing of the BRITE Canada spacecraft; sun stare testing and ground based observations of stars with engineering model instruments; launch campaign functional testing and preparations of UniBRITE, the first BRITE satellite funded by Austria; and on-orbit operations of UniBRITE.

The BRIght Target Explorer mission consists of six nanosatellites, each equipped with an instrument capable of capturing defocused images of stars suitable for milli-magnitude accuracy differential photometry. BRITE is expected to provide information about the dynamics and life cycles of bright stars. The satellites are funded in pairs by Austria, Poland and Canada and designed at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Space Flight Laboratory. The present thesis document summarizes the contribution of the author to this project. This includes unit level integration, calibration, functional testing and science acceptance testing of the two BRITE Canada payloads; high level assembly and spacecraft level testing of the BRITE Canada spacecraft; sun stare testing and ground based observations of stars with engineering model instruments; launch campaign functional testing and preparations of UniBRITE, the first BRITE satellite funded by Austria; and on-orbit operations of UniBRITE.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has forgotten its soul by disregarding the beauty that is intrinsic to its theology and mission. By diagnosing the problem of soul within the history of the Disciples of Christ and identifying the kind of beauty that is intrinsic to this tradition, I move towards a reconstruction of a Disciples theology of beauty that will help address this problem of soul for the present-day Disciples churches.

No description available.

The increasing prevalence of obesity and related health complications, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, demands thorough investigation of the underlying processes. One of the key tissues investigated in this context is adipose tissue. It is becoming increasingly clear that adipose tissue is a very dynamic and heterogenic organ. This thesis provides an overview of various aspects of adipose biology that illustrate its heterogenic nature and describes my own scientific contributions to this field. We typically distinguish between thermogenic, energy-expending brown adipocytes and energy-storing white adipocytes that are located in anatomically distinct adipose depots. In addition, brite (or beige) adipocytes are functionally thermogenic, but are located among white adipocytes. Related to functional variation, adipocytes and adipose tissues display a wide range of morphological appearances. An additional property that illustrates the heterogeneity among adipose cells and depots is the variation of cellular responses to physiological cues, such as changes in diet or environmental temperature. Furthermore, the developmental origins of various adipose types display great heterogeneity, which may explain some of the functional and dynamic differences that are observed. In line with the complexity of developmental origins, molecular markers that were initially proposed to distinguish between brown, brite/beige and white adipose subtypes have added to the notion that the composition of the adipose organ is much more complex than has long been appreciated. My own work has contributed to the enhancement of our understanding of the heterogeneity of adipose subtypes. In particular, my findings related to marker gene expression patterns have led to increased appreciation of the complex nature of adipose gene expression patterns and the complications of translating results obtained in mice to humans. Some of my other contributions have increased the understanding of the differences and similarities in thermogenic adipose tissue functionality and dynamics. With cell culture studies, I have revealed new characteristics of pre-adipose cells from various depots that further add to the appreciation of the adipose heterogeneity. Overall, this thesis provides an overview of important characteristics of the adipose organ, illustrating its heterogenic nature. Realization of this heterogeneity is of importance in order to properly study the adipose organ to ultimately understand how the adipose organ can be therapeutically targeted to effectively treat adipose-related diseases. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 7: Manuscript. Paper 8: Manuscript.</p>