Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-90).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 2005. / Includes vita. Non-Latin script record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-244 and 172-175).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Lutheran Seminary, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references.

This study examined perceptions of paradigms and duties in pastoral ministry. In particular, the imperative to preach the Word was researched to ascertain its priority among other duties. The research focused on duties (the what) of ministry over against style (the how) ultimately to determine if clarity or confusion exists. From a population of over 37,000 Southern Baptist Convention churches, more than 400 pastors (principally senior or solo pastors) were sampled. Respondents selfidentified paradigms previously taught, ideally desired, and currently used. They also rated the importance of 10 pastoral duties and other aspects of ministry via a rating scale. Data were analyzed to describe current perceptions of pastoral ministry. Though perceptions on paradigms and duties did differ, preaching was consistently rated the most prominent; actual practice, however, trailed taught expectations. Perceptions are invaluable for (1) seminaries in curriculum development, (2) seminarians in paradigm formation, (3) leaders in contextualization, and (4) churches in ministry alignment. Key words: Paradigms, pastoral ministry, pastoral duties, pastoral tasks, ministry models.

It will be the purpose of the remaining chapters of this thesis to trace the characteristics and conventions of the pastoral as they can be observed in specific bucolic works from various writers of various nationalities and ultimately examine specific examples of English pastoral drama in light of these conventions and characteristics.

Although pastors in Africa have received a Western form of theological training, the findings of this research reveal that their mode of counselling does not bear a resemblance to the form of counselling that is practised in the West. The counselling that takes place in Africa takes its cue from the traditional mode of counselling. This indicates the stronger influence of their worldview in spite of the long duration of Western instruction that the pastors receive in the course of their training. This research set out to explore the practice and experience of pastoral counselling within four evangelical churches in Nigeria. It also had the intention of recommending ways of improving the current form of counselling. In order to do that, it needed a basis for comparison. A concept analysis of pastoral counselling from a Western perspective provided the needed reference. The research, located within practical theology as its overarching framework, engaged the Generic Format as its social science research methodology. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and participants observation. A theological reflection of the thesis revealed that there are various practices that are consistent with the Christian tradition but others that tend towards extremes. The research also reveals that counselling in the West is more professional and psychologically-based but has deviated from its original course after the introduction of psychological theories to its counselling ministry. Therefore, both practices in conversation have encouraged each other in the areas of their strengths and challenged each other to revisit their weaknesses in order to enrich their counselling ministries. It has recommended that theological seminaries in Africa should take the lead in enriching their pastoral training curriculum. Also, pastors called into the counselling ministry should be encouraged to develop such ministry while the Church creates the forum for their practices.

No description available.

No description available.

<p> The purpose of writing, <i>The Relationship Between Candidate Preparation and Effective Healing Prayer at Living Christ Church in Nyack, NY</i> was to narrow the focus of preparation for a healing prayer ministry session to four key factors that would be implemented as the basis for pre-screening for a healing prayer ministry session. The purpose was achieved by determining if there was a relationship between the preparation of candidates for healing prayer with the four key factors and the effectiveness of the healing prayer ministry session. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

<p>The purpose of writing The Effectiveness of the Chaplaincy Pocket Guide, ?Airmen?s Guide to Grief Recovery? on Members of the Community at Aviano Air Force Base, Italy is to discover the effectiveness of a grief recovery program in the Air Force context at Aviano Air Base. A pocket guide was designed specifically to reach out to the Airmen at Aviano, in such a way as to encourage, strengthen, and educate them in their individual grief journeys. There are ten embedded units at Aviano Air Base and the present researcher selected one participant from each unit to use the AGGR pocket guide in addressing their grief issues as part of this study. Although the AGGR pocket guide was written for airmen, not all ten participants were airmen. The three who were not?a spouse, a civilian employee and a member of an army tenant unit?nevertheless, are residents of Aviano AB and are immersed in Air Force culture and familiar with the common sources of grief associated with life on an air base. The grief issues were varied, some due to deaths (though not necessarily combat related), and some due to divorce. The researcher employed a Grief Recovery Survey as the instrument to measure the degree of grief recovery and interviewed all ten participants about their experience of grief recovery. The findings were generally positive and the researcher is inclined to believe pocket guides like the AGGR can be useful tools for the chaplain?s office.