Contextual Leadership Within Chin Immigrant Churches in the United States

This research explores the leadership practices of Chin immigrant congregations in the United States, focusing on how they can develop a more effective leadership practice in dealing with the new context of the new land. It attempts to answer the question: What kind of leadership practice will help Chin immigrant leaders apply adaptive leadership theory for implementing contextual oriented leadership theory for the church? The initial motivation for this research arose out of the researcher’s interest in the perception of Chin immigrant congregations on the issue of leadership. A qualitative case study research method was employed in this research. The research result indicates that the context of the immigrant churches in America challenges the traditional practices of leadership in Myanmar. It also challenges the total validity of western theories and methods of leadership when applied to different people with different cultures. Myanmar immigrant church leaders and ministers need to re-evaluate their understanding of leadership practice within the context of the immigrants they serve. At the same time, they should reconsider women’s participation in the church\u27s leadership role and let young people with contextual understanding of the new land participate in the leadership role for effective ministry to the immigrants in the US

Vocation of the ELCA: Dismantling White Supremacy

White Supremacy is an embodied belief and culture that must be eradicated in order for us to live into the diverse, mutually flourishing kin-doms that God has called us into. The history of white supremacy and racist theology includes ideas of mission, hierarchy, and compromise. White people and predominantly white institutions are vocationally called to do the specific work of dismantling white supremacy. The Lutheran theological tradition has commitments and practices that can ground and compel people into and through this work. Two ways of understanding white supremacy culture are White Body Supremacy by Resmaa Menakem and Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture by Tema Okun. These two ways of understanding white supremacy can help us to recognize, heal, and dismantle white supremacy, and eventually belong to new, recreated, or resurrected ways of whiteness without supremacy and full belonging in a diverse mutually flourishing kin-dom

Hospitality in the House of God: Deconstructing Habit and Building Missio Dei

This research project addresses neighborliness, change, and hospitality in the life of a mainline church of 1,200 members. It is a congregation that has traditional worship and programming with progressive values. The congregants are not comfortable with change and are coming to terms with the missing Millennial generation. Mixed method Action Research using missional practices of hospitality and neighbor interviews offered new faith formation and relationship growth with neighbors. There were also educational opportunities on change, the missional church movement, and neighborliness. The work relies on the theology of Serene Jones, Kosuke Koyama, and Miroslav Volf

Reaching the Diaspora: Streamed Worship and Preaching in the Lutheran Church of Australia, Cultivating Koinonia and Ecclesia

Streamed worship has been happening in the Lutheran Church of Australia since 2013. Who is it reaching? Where is it reaching? Is it connecting them to community and the church? Is the preaching reaching the people who gather outside of the physical church buildings? Is there anything we can do to improve the reach, the connection and the sense of belonging to the wider church even when living remotely or kept away from regular worship by illness, disability or work commitments? This exploratory case study seeks to find these answers and more and then to offer ways forward for the building up of the church through streamed worship

Do You Hear What I Hear? Discernment and Dialogue in a Secular Age

This Participatory Action Research (PAR) utilized a mixed methods approach to address an adaptive challenge in a Lutheran church in a bedroom community in a small town and rural setting. The research involved implementing PAR interventions that cultivated four spiritual capacities: see, hear, know, and say within the realm of faith formation. Results suggest the Holy Spirit initiated a process of cultural adaptation as participants began reframing their world view, having their missional imagination transformed, discerning the triune God’s active presence, and engaging in dialogue

Missional Discipleship Within the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria

This thesis considers how the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria might function as a missional church enabling discipleship in Nigeria

Preaching the Witness of Last Words: How Biblical Farewell Speeches Shape Contemporary Listeners\u27 Theological Legacy

This project explores several last words speeches in Scripture, in an attempt to mine core theological convictions. It considers the subject of theological legacy. It seeks to ascertain whether or not the preaching of last words of witness will be effective in influencing listeners’ consideration of their own cherished spiritual values. By means of a series of six sermons the author endeavored to encourage listeners to incorporate into their own lives of faith the treasured spiritual values that have been passed down to them as a theological legacy and to give greater thought as to what core theological convictions they would like to pass on to others as their own theological legacy. The project demonstrates that the preaching of last words of witness can effectively motivate listeners to treasure the legacy they have received and be intentional about sharing their own theological legacy with others. This project also addresses the decline in the mainline denominational churches in both numbers and vitality, and presents one way to curb that decline and to assist the Christian Church in courageously moving forward, treasuring the cherished legacy of faith that has been passed down by those who have gone before us and faithfully sharing this cherished legacy with the generations to come

Invisible Poverty: Awareness, Attitudes, and Action

In small-town rural America, we do not tend to see poverty. Poverty is relatively invisible, especially among our youth and children. Invisible Poverty explores the issues, challenges, stereotypes, and causes of small-town rural poverty while presenting possible solutions. Drawing from Alvin Luedke, Craig Van Gelder, Alan Roxburgh, Patrick Keifert, Cynthia Duncan, and Shannon Jung, Invisible Poverty presents a missional theology of accompaniment seeking justice and avoiding shame. In an effort to understand the complexity of rural poverty, Invisible Poverty asks; How might Action Research interventions affect awareness, attitudes, and actions of the congregation concerning the issues of poverty

Proclaiming Jubilee: Preaching that Sets Women Free

In Luke 4, Jesus outlines his mission: to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and free the oppressed. Yet the marginalization and oppression of women have been structurally normalized throughout history, both in secular society as well as Christian culture. Through historical, cultural, biblical, exegetical, hermeneutical, and homiletical analysis, this study posits that a jubilee homiletic is a crucial part of embodying liberation from textual interpretations that have prioritized those who are privileged, so that women may reclaim scripture as a source of freedom