Prayerful Teaching In Higher Education: A Survey Of Themes

Prayer is a primary spiritual discipline for Christians. Nonetheless, few contemporary scholarly discussions have ventured into exploring the role of prayer in college teaching. This paper extends the conversation by reviving three themes in writings about prayer and academics and making application of those themes to teaching and learning today

Organizational Buffering: Managing Boundaries and Cores

Organizations generally are more innovative, relevant, and responsive when they are exposed to market influences, yet they must regulate or limit the impact of outside influences to operate efficiently. This dynamic organization–environment tension has inspired the creation of several models of organizational buffering which delineate the systematic exposure and insulation of organizations from environmental uncertainty. We review three buffering paradigms — core, minimalist, and dispersed — and attempt to synthesize a model which weaves these perspectives together. The key to understanding functional and dysfunctional buffering lies with the organization’s requisite variety and continuous or discontinuous environmental change

Congregational Aid: North American Protestant Engagement in International Relief and Development

A review of large North American Protestant congregations (n = 423) engaging in global relief and development, or ‘holistic mission’ (HM), suggests that half engage in HM activities per year, with the majority of those activities focused on human and physical sectors. Most activities are led by religious NGOs or missionaries and about half are short-term. A mix of proximity, poverty, population, and policy variables direct short- and long-term aid. Findings provide a benchmark for enhancing learning and partnerships among churches, NGOs, and development scholars, ultimately enhancing the efficacy of Protestant aid

Ora Et Labora - The Practice Of Prayerful Teaching

Although prayer is a central spiritual discipline for Christians, few contemporary scholarly discussions have ventured into exploring the role of prayer in college teaching. This paper extends the conversation by proposing a model of prayerful teaching. Practical suggestions are offered by which an educator might apply the concepts

The Case against a National Test

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Extending the Conversation: A Network Analysis of Academic Associations in Workplace Spirituality

Examining academic networks provides insight into boundaries and boundary crossing as well as knowledge diffusion. We examine four academic networks focused on business, spirituality, and religion to identify network boundaries and boundary crossing. Scholars tend to align with networks consistent with the nature of their employing institution, both in its relative emphasis on research and its religious affiliation. Network and religious differences contribute to the relative isolation of research communities, despite shared topical interests and reliance on similar scholarly sources. The use of normative authorities may limit networking, but the relative absence of weak network links across networks may underestimate similarities. Increased boundary crossing may enhance innovation across networks

Connecting Religion and Work: Patterns and Influences of Work-Faith Integration

Religiosity can significantly impact human behavior yet little is known about how religious belief and practice integrate with work. Using the Faith at Work Scale, we surveyed Christian workers in the United States (n = 374) and found that work-faith integration was positively associated with faith maturity, church attendance, age and denominational strictness, and negatively associated with organizational size. Denominational groups varied in their degree of integration but displayed similar patterns across dimensions of integration.Work-faith integration was manifest most strongly in integration related to the self, and somewhat less so in areas related to others and in transcendent aspects of work. Respondents attributed spiritual disciplines and workplace mentors as salient influences of work-faith integration. Implications for workplace spirituality scholarship and management are explored