A Leadership Development Project Design For Financial Stability And Missional Momentum At The Houston Northwest Seventh-day Adventist Church

Problem The Houston Northwest Seventh-day Adventist church, located in Spring, Texas, has experienced very little membership growth and a decline in attendance and contribution in the ten years from 2003 to 2012. Due to financial challenges during this period, the church did not develop any defined and significant outreach or evangelistic strategies. The need to create financial stability and missional momentum consisting of leadership development is needed. A lack of such intervention the church would continue to remain stagnant in its membership growth with a decline in its contribution and attendance. Method This project document explored the Houston Northwest Seventh-day Adventist church\u27s lack of evangelistic strategies and leadership development. In addition to a community demographical surveys and a spiritual health assessment evaluation a series of contemporary evangelistic methods and strategies, were deemed the best antidote for the problems of the church. This study also took into account the church\u27s demographics and their culture of origin, religious convictions, racial make-up, traditional practices, and economic conditions. In order to develop these methods and strategies, this project used the examples set forth by the Old Testament model on revitalized worship, the example of King Hezekiah, the New Testament model on leadership, and the example of Jesus Christ to His disciples. This mandate notes that once leaders are led by the Holy Spirit to bring the people of God back to worship they must proclaim the advent of Jesus Christ. In addition, leaders should, as Jesus did, teach members how to become steward leaders. They should teach members on how to use their spiritual gifts, talents, and skills to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Finally, church leaders should develop members into disciples and church leaders themselves. Results Upon implementation of the series of contemporary evangelistic methods and strategies that were presented to the Houston Northwest Seventh-day Adventist church leaders and members, which had a stagnant membership growth and a decline in contribution and attendance over the past ten years, contributions increased by 38.23%, church membership by 41 members an increase of 12.58%, and attendance by 50 individuals a 39.68% increase over the four-year period of the project. Based on these significant increases, the project was a success. -- Solutions. The outcome of the methods and strategies used to stabilize financially and create missional momentum for the Houston Northwest Seventh-day Adventist church demonstrated the divine authority and power of God to grow His church when its leaders come back and lead others to worship Him. It also demonstrated how Christ’s method of leading people to the good news of the gospel is the only method that adds to the body of Christ, the church. It uplifts the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of His people. The members of the church, once lost in knowing how to evangelize and whom to evangelize, have now been reenergized to do great things for their church and their community. Challenges still lie ahead for the church. These challenges will be overcome when the leaders continue to provide a vision and enlist members to participate in achieving the mission of the church. These members are also to become leaders themselves and efficiently disciple new members to become involved in achieving the church\u27s mission. The development of the systematic approach to change as explained in this project should continue to be used by its leaders. Change is necessary and critical for church growth. Learning how to implement, manage, and deal with change within the church will be an ongoing practice for church leaders. Following Christ’s method is the solution for this challenge

Lessons on transparency from the glassfrog

Transparency in glassfrogs has potential implications for human blood clotting

An assessment of residents’ and fellows’ personal finance literacy: An unmet medical education need

Objectives: This study aimed to assess residents' and fellows' knowledge of finance principles that may affect their personal financial health. Methods: A cross-sectional, anonymous, web-based survey was administered to a convenience sample of residents and fellows at two academic medical centers. Respondents answered 20 questions on personal finance and 28 questions about their own financial planning, attitudes, and debt. Questions regarding satisfaction with one's financial condition and investment-risk tolerance used a 10-point Likert scale (1=lowest, 10=highest). Of 2,010 trainees, 422 (21%) responded (median age 30 years; interquartile range, 28-33). Results: The mean quiz score was 52.0% (SD = 19.1). Of 299 (71%) respondents with student loan debt, 144 (48%) owed over $200,000. Many respondents had other debt, including 86 (21$25,000. Respondents' mean satisfaction with their current personal financial condition was 4.8 (SD = 2.5) and investment-risk tolerance was 5.3 (SD = 2.3). Indebted trainees reported lower satisfaction than trainees without debt (4.4 vs. 6.2, F (1,419) = 41.57, p < .001). Knowledge was moderately correlated with investment-risk tolerance (r=0.41, p < .001), and weakly correlated with satisfaction with financial status (r=0.23, p < .001). Conclusions: Residents and fellows had low financial literacy and investment-risk tolerance, high debt, and deficits in their financial preparedness. Adding personal financial education to the medical education curriculum would benefit trainees. Providing education in areas such as budgeting, estate planning, investment strategies, and retirement planning early in training can offer significant long-term benefits.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Lack of a response of the sub-tropical rodent (Saccostomus campestris) to a secondary plant compound, 6-methoxybenzoxazolinone — consequences for reproductive strategy

A potential strategy for southern African small mammals to maximise reproductive success is to cue breeding activity to rainfall and subsequent vegetative growth via a secondary plant compound such as 6-methoxybenzoxazolinone (6MBOA). This study investigated whether the sub-tropical rodent Saccostomus campestris utilised this compound to enhance reproductive activity. 6MBOA or control vehicle were injected into adult females and into peri-pubertal females under long day (LD) and short day (SD) photoperiods (adults n = 6 to 8: peri-pubertals n = 5 to 10/treatment). There was no significant effect of 6MBOA or photoperiod on uterine or ovarian masses nor on ovarian development in sacrificed animals, nor on age at vaginal opening of peri-pubertals It was concluded that 6MBOA is not a major stimulant of reproduction in this species. Rather, we propose that seasonal breeding occurs in response to multiple environmental cues. This reproductive strategy and omnivory permit