This thesis examines three prevalent models of community engagement in the black churches in the United States of America since the year 2000. It will contribute to existing scholarship by identifying theological motivations for community engagement by the black churches, and assessing the extent to which the black churches address and fulfill criteria for advancing liberation delineated from three generations of scholarship in Black Theology. This shall provide theological insight into the continued social relevance of the black churches. Existing scholarship has shown that the black churches historically have engaged the oppressed communities they have served by addressing their secular and social needs in addition to their spiritual ones, with a sense of mission to affirm human dignity and advance social justice. This praxis of liberation through community engagement was necessitated by the oppressive contexts in which the black churches were founded, and has continued in varied ways in tandem with shifts in social location of black people in America. Black church community initiatives have also been marked among three generations of scholars in Black Theology, who have delineated imperatives for which the black churches might engage their communities to fully continue the praxis of liberation in the present. The interrelated aims of this thesis are to discover the theological motivations of black church community engagement agents, and, to consider the extent to which the community engagement initiatives of the black churches of the twenty-first century address critical theological criteria from Black Theology for advancing liberation; each of which will help to illuminate theological implications for the continued social relevance of the black churches. This project requires an examination of contemporary models of black church community engagement in their own social reality. The models of community engagement that are researched are grass-roots movements where black churchpersons use non-violent direct action to advance particular social justice causes, community development corporations where churches filter grant money from the government to create economic opportunities for their local communities, and megachurch initiatives where congregations use the revenue of their large memberships to effect positive change in their communities. Local examples of each model are examined from a grounded theory approach through interviews with clergy and community workers, observations of worship and program activities, and textual analysis of bulletins, websites, and brochures.

This doctoral thesis entails a research project to determine whether grass roots preachers in a southern Africa context can be instructed to prepare effective expository sermons. In order to make that determination it was necessary to first collect and analyze expository sermons from such preachers prior to any instruction. Then, on the basis of instruction in expository preaching in a seminar format, it was necessary to collect and analyze additional sermons from the same preachers. To that end we conducted two five-day seminars in Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively. The content of those seminars included two major elements. The first was a theology of preaching that is detailed in Chapter 1. Within a theology of preaching we have given treatment to various topics including the need for a theology of preaching, the Old Testament basis for preaching, the New Testament mandate for preaching, a definition and defense of expository preaching, and a discussion of the necessary qualities of effective expository preaching. The second element of the seminars involved a method of preaching detailed in Chapter 2. Within the method of preaching we have given treatment to various topics, including the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching, exegesis of the sermon text, and making the transition from the text to the completed sermon. Given the foundational material of Chapters 1 and 2, we developed the seminar materials found in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 includes the schedules by which the sermons were analyzed. Each sermon was subjected to the same schedule to determine its effectiveness as an expository sermon. Those results are then analyzed in Chapter 5 leading to the conclusion that grass roots preachers in a southern Africa context can indeed be instructed to preach effective expository sermons. / Practical Theologyy / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

O Concílio do Vaticano II, realizado entre 1962 e 1965, balizou a renovação das práticas pastorais da Igreja. O Padre José Edwaldo Gomes assumiu a Paróquia da Casa Forte, na cidade do Recife, em 1970, e nela inseriu novas perspectivas. Suas atividades foram situadas em dois períodos bastante significativos: no âmbito externo à Igreja, na política nacional, os militares mergulharam o Brasil em forte ditadura, entre 1964 e 1985. No âmbito interno, elegemos o período de 1985 a 1990, que compreende os primeiros cinco anos após a substituição de Dom Helder Camara à frente da Arquidiocese de Olinda e Recife. Os acontecimentos dos dois períodos se refletiram na atuação da Paróquia da Casa Forte. Observamos as características dessa incidência no fenômeno religioso analisado a prática pastoral. Compartilhando as novas tendências pautadas nos desdobramentos do Concílio referido, Padre Edwaldo procurou construir suas atividades de forma a envolver um maior número de paroquianos, buscando implementar uma mentalidade mais participativa no planejamento e na execução das práticas pastorais, que passaram a ser mais diversificadas. Apoiados na escassa documentação disponível e nos depoimentos gravados, analisamos as tendências e os movimentos eclesiais de todo o período estudado (1970 a 1990), referenciando-as a elaborações formuladas por cientistas da religião e de áreas auxiliares / The Council of Vatican II, conducted between the years 1962 and 1965, guided the renovation of pastoral practices of the Church. Father José Edwaldo Gomes became responsible for the Parish of Casa Forte, in the city of Recife in 1970 and began to implant the new orientations. His activities were situated in two very distinctive moments: in the external context of the Church and national politics, the military submerged Brasil in a stern dictatorship in the years 1964 1985. In the internal context, we select the period from 1985 to 1990, which coves the first five years after the substitution of Dom Helder Camara as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife. The events of these two periods reflect the activity of the Parish of Casa Forte. We observe the characteristics of the events in the religious phenomena analyzed the pastoral activities. Using the new orientations developed during Vatican II, Father Edwaldo sought to implement a mentality more participative in the planning and execution of pastoral activities which became ever more diverse. Based on the somewhat limited documentation available and recorded interviews, we analyze the tendencies and ecclesiastical movements of the entire period studied (1970 - 1990), utilizing concepts formulated by researchers in the sciences of religion and related topics

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This thesis explores how the tactics of intimidation, harrassment and criminalization impact the activists providing humanitarian assistance to migrants at the border between Poland and Belarus. Through an investigation of the relations of power between the authorities, the activists and the migrants, this study aims to understand the complex context of the border in which the activists provide the assistance. With the aim of exploring how the activists operate under the threat of criminalization, it makes a contribution to the emerging body of research on the phenomenon of criminalization of grass-roots humanitarian efforts, which has been on the rise in Europe and around the world. The findings reveal that as a result of the state imposed measures, such as heavy militarization and policing of the broder, as well as restrictions on freedom of movement and public access to information, the humanitarian aid is provided in an atmosphere of fear. Nevertheless, the desired effect of deterrence is not achieved, as the activists perceive providing aid as their duty.

This thesis explores how stakeholders in Mongolian rural development projects interpret the concept of 'participation'. While previous research has provided an ethnographic snapshot of participation in rural development projects, none has yet focused on Mongolia – a post-socialist nation that receives significant amounts of foreign aid. To gain a holistic picture of 'participation', this study explores: how stakeholders understand participation; what stakeholders perceive and prioritise as the benefits of participation; and which factors motivate or inhibit participation. This study's methodology involved an inductive, qualitative approach with a multiple case study design. Three Mongolia rural development projects, each with objectives of poverty-reduction and participation, were selected from three different development organisations and interviews were conducted with different stakeholder groups: development organisation managers, field staff, and local people of the project sites (participants and non-participants). The results of this study revealed a dominant or 'Mongolian' understanding of 'participation' existed across the various stakeholders: 'Participation is local contributions of group labour and information for material benefits, within a top-down authoritarian structure (including local institutions)'. This understanding arose from development organisations' emphasis on efficiency and sustainable results and local people engaging with the project as a normative livelihood strategy. In this study, given the incidence and nature of rural poverty, stakeholders prioritised the tangible benefits of participation over the intangible and linked empowerment to tangible outcomes. Development staff prioritised the longer-term tangible benefits (food security and income), and to ensure their sustainability sub-benefits were provided sequentially, mental capital, then physical capital, with social capital built naturally through the project's formal and informal activities. In contrast, local people prioritised the manifest tangible benefits, which initially meant the physical capital gifted by the project, and then later the material outcomes of the new livelihoods. While development staff envisioned intangible benefits as important in their own right, for Mongolian participants they were a gateway to the project's tangible outputs. Four prominent intangible benefits emerged: knowledge/mental investment, 'power within', social connections, and involvement in groups – each uniquely valuable within the Mongolian context. The results also showed that the factors which shaped participation reflected the unique circumstances of rural Mongolia and each project's activities. Economic rationality appeared as the foundational incentive for participation, followed by social motivations that included: widespread, detailed, and positive information about the project; the perceived power, leadership, and organisational skills of the development organisation; a deep personal relationship between development staff and local people; and rurally-oriented seminars and workshops. The major barriers to 'Mongolian' participation included: a lack of opportunity or incentive to participate; the current situation of poverty and unemployment; Mongolia's governance structures, culture, and history; the geography of isolation; the development organisation‟s procedures; and the dynamics of project 'groups'. Moreover, the results indicated that projects which require higher levels of local participation, i.e. decision-making, may face more fundamental obstacles because of the cultural value placed upon top-down, authoritarian leadership and a prevailing mentality of dependence. Based on these results, this study concludes that interpretations of participation arise out of field-level realities, and thus the level of participation incorporated into development projects needs to reflect the local culture, context, and history.

The aim of this qualitative interpretive research was to explore the experiences of HIV counsellors and how these experiences influence the counsellors' psychological wellbeing. The complexities of the context within which HIV pre and post test counselling occurs form the day-to-day real ity of barely trained volunteer counsellors whose task it is to counsel, inform and educate people at grass roots concerning HIV. The guiding question of the current research pertained to the experience of HIV counselors regarding the influence of their work on their own well-being. A case study design was used. In depth interviews were conducted with nine Sotho speaking HIV counselors working in primary healthcare clinics in the Sedibeng region of Gauteng. Additional data was collected through observation. Data was initially coded, using axial coding; this was followed by thematic analysis. The focus was .on the psychological well-being of the volunteer HIV counsellors. The data indicated that the participants were not overwhelmed by the many stressors of their challenging occupations. They succeeded in developing their own ways of stress relief especially through practising their spiritual beliefs and other means like participating in community activities and meaningful relationships of significant other. They experienced personal growth and empowerment in general, but especially in the field of health and sexuality. The female participants were increasingly able to negotiate safer sex. Participants' lives were enriched through amongst others the regard they received from their communities, and being in a position to give information and advice that they gained from the training and exposure to information. The participants experienced feelings of self-worth in that they were able to contribute to their communities and thereby adding meaning to their own existence. It became clear that their character strengths such as wisdom, courage, humanity, justice and transcendence enabled them to function and grow in their difficult situation. The research highlighted that the inner strengths and virtues of the volunteer counsellors enable them to persist, in challenging work conditions and socio-economic circumstances. Difficulties facing volunteer HIV counsellors that became clear are the lack of support and recognition they have to contend with. It is therefore recommended that more attention should be given by the relevant stakeholders to strengthen the support and to make more resources available to them. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

The aim of this qualitative interpretive research was to explore the experiences of HIV counsellors and how these experiences influence the counsellors' psychological wellbeing. The complexities of the context within which HIV pre and post test counselling occurs form the day-to-day real ity of barely trained volunteer counsellors whose task it is to counsel, inform and educate people at grass roots concerning HIV. The guiding question of the current research pertained to the experience of HIV counselors regarding the influence of their work on their own well-being. A case study design was used. In depth interviews were conducted with nine Sotho speaking HIV counselors working in primary healthcare clinics in the Sedibeng region of Gauteng. Additional data was collected through observation. Data was initially coded, using axial coding; this was followed by thematic analysis. The focus was .on the psychological well-being of the volunteer HIV counsellors. The data indicated that the participants were not overwhelmed by the many stressors of their challenging occupations. They succeeded in developing their own ways of stress relief especially through practising their spiritual beliefs and other means like participating in community activities and meaningful relationships of significant other. They experienced personal growth and empowerment in general, but especially in the field of health and sexuality. The female participants were increasingly able to negotiate safer sex. Participants' lives were enriched through amongst others the regard they received from their communities, and being in a position to give information and advice that they gained from the training and exposure to information. The participants experienced feelings of self-worth in that they were able to contribute to their communities and thereby adding meaning to their own existence. It became clear that their character strengths such as wisdom, courage, humanity, justice and transcendence enabled them to function and grow in their difficult situation. The research highlighted that the inner strengths and virtues of the volunteer counsellors enable them to persist, in challenging work conditions and socio-economic circumstances. Difficulties facing volunteer HIV counsellors that became clear are the lack of support and recognition they have to contend with. It is therefore recommended that more attention should be given by the relevant stakeholders to strengthen the support and to make more resources available to them. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

Originating from a disenfranchisement with the contemporary definition and realisation of Westernised architecture as a commodity and product, this thesis seeks to explore alternative examples of positive socio-spatial practice and agency. These alternative spatial practices and methodologies are drawn from participatory and grass-roots development agency in informal settlements and contexts of economic absence, most notably in the global South. This thesis explores whether such examples can be interpreted as practical realisations of key theoretical advocacies for positive social space that have emerged in the context of post-Second World-War capitalism. The principal methodological framework utilises two differing trajectories of spatial discourse. Firstly, Henri Lefebvre and Doreen Massey as formative protagonists of Western spatial critique, and secondly, John F. C. Turner and Nabeel Hamdi as key advocates of participatory development practice in informal settlements. These two research trajectories are notably separated by geographical, economic and political differentiations, as well as conventional disciplinary boundaries. However by undertaking a close textual reading of these discourses this thesis critically re-contextualises the socio-spatial methodologies of participatory development practice, observing multiple theoretical convergences and provocative commonalities. This research proposes that by critically comparing these previously unconnected disciplinary trajectories certain similarities, resonances and equivalences become apparent. These resonances reveal comparable critiques of choice, value, and identity which transcend the gap between such differing theoretical and practical engagements with space. Subsequently, these thematic resonances allow this research to critically engage with further appropriate surrounding discourses, including Marxist theory, orientalism, post- structural pluralism, development anthropology, post-colonial theory and subaltern theory. 5 In summary, this thesis explores aspects of Henri Lefebvre's and Doreen Massey's urban and spatial theory through a close textual reading of key texts from their respective discourses. This methodology provides a layered analysis of post-Marxist urban space, and an exploration of an explicit connection between Lefebvre and Massey in terms of the social production and multiplicity of space. Subsequently, this examination provides a theoretical framework from which to reinterpret and revalue the approaches to participatory development practice found in the writings and projects of John Turner and Nabeel Hamdi. The resulting comparative framework generates interconnected thematic trajectories of enquiry that facilitate the re-reading and critical reflection of Turner and Hamdi's development practices. Thus, selected Western spatial discourse acts as a critical lens through which to re-value the social, political and economical achievements of participatory development. Reciprocally, development practice methodologies are recognised as invaluable and provocative realisations of the socio-spatial qualities that Western spatial discourse has long advocated for, and yet have remained predominantly unrealised in the global North.

本研究分析我國49家本國銀行、55家信用合作社、287家農會信用部及27家漁會信用部等四類金融機構之經營現況，並參照各國金融預警制度運作方式，選取適合的財務比率，運用SAS統計軟體及Z-score、Logistic等模型，分別找出造成各類金融機構經營失敗之顯著相關財務比率，評估各類金融機構之經營效率、失敗機率與模型之正確區別率，以建立預測金融機構失敗機率之預警模型。研究之樣本資料分別為：本國銀行49家、2001年第2季~2003年底共計11季25項財務比率，信用合作社55家、1998年底~2003年底共計21季26項財務比率，農會信用部287家1998年底~2003年底共計21季25項財務比率，漁會信用部27家1998年底~2003年底共計21季25項財務比率。 本研究之結論為： 一、彙整Z-Score模型對各類金融機構具有顯著性之財務變數，本國銀行有6項、信用合作社有7項、農會信用部有6項，漁會信用部有4項。 二、彙整Logistic模型對各類金融機構具有顯著性之財務變數，本國銀行、信用合作社各有6項，農會信用部有5項，漁會信用部有4項。 三、金融預警模型中，Logistic模型較Z-Score模型有較高的正確區別率。 / This research analyzes 49 domestic banks, 55 credit cooperative unions, 287 credit department of farmer associations and 27 credit department of fisherman associations above four kind of financial institution´s management situation, and refers the operation ways of various countries financial early warning system, selects suitable financial ratios , utilizes SAS statistics software and Z-score, Logistic models, it identifies the root cause of bankruptcy thus reveals finance of ratio the correlation, appraises management efficiency, the defeat probability each kind of financial institution if the correct difference rate. It appraises each kind of financial institution´s management efficiency, defeats probability and correct difference rate. It establishes early warning model that forecasts financial institutions failure rate. The research model and period: used 49 domestic banks from 2001 in 2nd season to the end of 2003 total 11 seasons and 25 items of finance ratio、55 credit cooperative associations from the end of 1998 to the end of 2003 total 21 seasons and 26 items of finance ratio、287 credit department of farmer associations and 27 credit department of fisherman associations from the end of 1998 to the end of 2003 total 21 seasons which used respectively 25 items of finance ratio. The conclusion of this research are: Firstly, it collects the entire Z-Score model to have significant financial indicator to each kind of financial institution, the domestic banks have 6 items, the credit cooperative associations have 7 items, the credit department of farmer associations have 6 items, and the credit department of fisherman associations have 4 items. Secondly, it collects the entire Logistic model to have significant financial indicator to each kind of financial institution, the domestic banks and the credit cooperative associations have 6 items respectively, the credit department of farmer associations have 5 items, and the credit department of fisherman associations have 4 items. Thirdly, in the financial early warning model, when comparing Z-Score with Logistic model , the latter appears to have a higher correct difference rate.