Thesis (D. Min.)--Logos Evangelical Seminary, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 292-305).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 185-188.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-215).

This study is an examination of the institution of ordination to ministry of word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through the lens of the particular biblical-theological paradigm of diakonia, or servanthood. Chapter titles include: 1) Biblical Roots of Ordination 2) The Evolution of the Threefold Pattern of Ministry 3) Luther and Calvin on Ordination 4) Ordination in the Scottish Reformation 5) The Developing American Understanding of Ordination 6) Recent American Developments 7) A Contemporary Presbyterian Statement on Ordination. This study traces the concept of diakonia as a controlling paradigm for the understanding of ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Following a survey of biblical writings on ordination and ministry, it traces the rise of the "threefold pattern" of bishop, presbyter and deacon through the first three centuries of the church, then explores how the first-generation reformers Luther and Calvin discarded these forms in favor of a radically functional view, informed by the biblical concept of ministry as diakonia. This functional, servanthood model of ministry is traced through the Scottish reformation, to the new world, to recent developments in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The final chapter is an attempt to creatively state the essentials of the Presbyterian understanding of ministry as servanthood.

Using the concept of gender, this thesis examines how members of the Ulster Presbyterian community experienced family life, as adherents of a distinctive religious tradition, between 1780 and 1844. Drawing on Presbyterian church records, personal correspondence, diaries and other personal and family papers, it examines five areas relative to the history of the family: Courtship, Marriage, Parents and Young children, Youth and adolescence, and Widowhood.

In this thesis I argue that the received understanding of the work of the Women’s Missionary Association of the Presbyterian Church of England is flawed in that it does not acknowledge the agency of women themselves in creating and directing the path of the Association and its work of mission. Using archive material from the Presbyterian Church of England, and the Women’s Missionary Association itself, I show that as the context in which they were operating changed, the Women’s Missionary Association responded to that shifting context, and that changes in their relationship to the national Church affected the work that they sought to do among the congregations. I uncover a hitherto hidden story and to relate it to the context of the United Reformed Church which stands in the tradition of Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Churches of Christ. I demonstrate how the Story of the Women’s Missionary Association interacts with changing paradigms of mission. Further, I discuss the role of power relationships between the Women’s Missionary Association and the Presbyterian Church of England and the changing role and powerfulness/powerlessness of women in the Presbyterian Church and its successor the United Reformed Church. I show how seeming powerlessness can confer power and how being invited to the seat of power can restrict agency for the women of the Church. Finally, I look at the implications for the contemporary United Reformed Church.

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Thesis (D. Miss.)--Reformed Theological Seminary, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-198).

This study is designed to explore the ways in which PCC’s missional engagement with Agenda PCC 2000 programme has effectively facilitated the empowerment of women for leadership. Under girded with a missiological framework, the exploration draws on insights from the concept of the Mission of God (Missio Dei) and the resulting understanding of humanity created in the image of God (Imago-Dei) and Koinonia that are used to analyze issues of mission, leadership and partnership. African Feminist pastoral theory and Feminist cultural hermeneutics are applied as theories to further guide the study. The study argues that man and woman are created with equal dignity and they both represent God’s purpose on earth. In the light of this theological understanding the study calls into question the PCC exclusion of women from senior leadership role within its ecclesial community. The research question of this study s: What are the experiences of women being empowered for leadership within PCC since the launch of the Agenda PCC 2000 programme? The methodology of the study followed a “mixed method approach” that involves collecting and analyzing more than one form of data in a single study as a design in addressing complex questions in an interdisciplinary research. The process of data analysis involved making sense of the empirical and non-empirical data to ascertain and understand the meaning of the data obtained through interviews. Through textual criticism and discussion with women sharing their experiences on empowerment and leadership positioning, revealed that some women are included in leadership positions but they are alienated by the patriarchal ecclesial power structures of the PCC. If the PCC is to be effective in its missional and ecclesial endeavours’ it needs to embrace a theology of partnership of women and men in leadership structures of the church. The study asserted that if equal space and equity are given to both men and women to participate in decision-making, then fresh approaches to leadership and understanding of mission will be opened. The study concluded that the PCC can do much more in balancing the gender gap if it follows the Trinitarian model of leadership by restructuring its male dominating pattern of leadership that permeates its administrative structures. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.