Motivation to Prepare for Ministry

These examples, like many others in the history of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, indicate that there are some channels of recruitment which appear to be more effective than others. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit is selective with regards to effectiveness. Rather, it indicates that the Spirit moves through some channels better than others. It is important, from a recruitment point of view, to know the areas of motivation among those who have decided to prepare for the ministry. The prime motivators, when indicated, will serve as targets for effective recruitment activity. To define those targets is the purpose of this study

The Church with Ten Windows

Kent Hunter has been researching church growth for twenty-seven years, and he shares some of his insights gathered from hundreds of churches in this article

Core Values: Backbone Of A Movement

In the last 10 to 20 years, the Church Growth Movement has proliferated in at least three dimensions. First, the Movement has proliferated by topics. In the last decade or so, we have seen church growth leaders concentrate on mega-churches, metachurches, philosophy of ministry, understanding secular people, mission statements, the age wave, builders, boomers, busters, lifestyle evangelism, vision, change, small groups, Sunday Schools, breaking barriers, etc. In a second dimension, there has been proliferation in other ways. Not only was there the founding of the American Society for Church Growth, but there Church Growth Associations in other countries. In a third dimension, there has been proliferation of the Church Growth Movement by influence. The Movement has had its impact and stamp upon many other movements including Lausanne, A.D. 2000 and Beyond, DAWN, and the U.S. Center for World Mission

The Church with Ten Windows

Kent Hunter has been researching church growth for twenty-seven years, and he shares some of his insights gathered from hundreds of churches in this article

Blow Ups or Grow Ups: Strategic Issues for Turnaround Churches

This article addresses the theological and strategic issues affecting current turnaround churches in North America. In at least two scenarios, pastors can either “blow up” or “grow up” their church. The difference lies in the way change is introduced. Dr. Hunter explains that the biblical model of repentance, or metanoia, is always focused on turning towards God. To refocus the church’s mission on discipleship and away from the cultural drift, an understanding of the three most common church change strategies is essential. This discussion includes an analysis of the transition, extension, and organic models, along with an illustration of what constitutes church health

Blow Ups or Grow Ups: Strategic Issues for Turnaround Churches

This article addresses the theological and strategic issues affecting current turnaround churches in North America. In at least two scenarios, pastors can either “blow up” or “grow up” their church. The difference lies in the way change is introduced. Dr. Hunter explains that the biblical model of repentance, or metanoia, is always focused on turning towards God. To refocus the church’s mission on discipleship and away from the cultural drift, an understanding of the three most common church change strategies is essential. This discussion includes an analysis of the transition, extension, and organic models, along with an illustration of what constitutes church health

Core Values: Backbone Of A Movement

In the last 10 to 20 years, the Church Growth Movement has proliferated in at least three dimensions. First, the Movement has proliferated by topics. In the last decade or so, we have seen church growth leaders concentrate on mega-churches, metachurches, philosophy of ministry, understanding secular people, mission statements, the age wave, builders, boomers, busters, lifestyle evangelism, vision, change, small groups, Sunday Schools, breaking barriers, etc. In a second dimension, there has been proliferation in other ways. Not only was there the founding of the American Society for Church Growth, but there Church Growth Associations in other countries. In a third dimension, there has been proliferation of the Church Growth Movement by influence. The Movement has had its impact and stamp upon many other movements including Lausanne, A.D. 2000 and Beyond, DAWN, and the U.S. Center for World Mission

My Pilgrimage in the Church Growth Movement: Empowerment to Lead People to Jesus

As a child, Kent Hunter was a nominal Christian with faithful parents. During surgery for a football injury, God changed Kent from mediocrity to missionary. Kent’s journey through college and seminary provided theology, but little strategy. In search of mission training, he earned a Ph.D. in Theology. It would become the biblical foundation for his future. Kent’s first ministry was to pastor a dying, inner-city, Anglo church surrounded by unchurched African Americans. Humbled and discouraged by failure to effectively reach out, he enrolled in Fuller Seminary. God used that experience to transform his life, his church, and many others on six continents

Fatigue and Recovery from Dynamic Contractions in Men and Women Differ for Arm and Leg Muscles

Introduction: Whether there is a gender difference in fatigue and recovery from maximal velocity fatiguing contractions and across muscles is not understood. Methods: Sixteen men and 19 women performed 90 isotonic contractions at maximal voluntary shortening velocity (maximal velocity concentric contractions, MVCC) with the elbow flexor and knee extensor muscles (separate days) at a load equivalent to 20% maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC). Results: Power (from MVCCs) decreased similarly for men and women for both muscles (P \u3e 0.05). Men and women had similar declines in MVIC of elbow flexors, but men had greater reductions in knee extensor MVIC force and MVIC electromyogram activity than women (P \u3c 0.05). The decline in MVIC and power was greater, and force recovery was slower for the elbow flexors compared with knee extensors. Conclusions: The gender difference in muscle fatigue often observed during isometric tasks was diminished during fast dynamic contractions for upper and lower limb muscles

Non-Pharmacological Pain Management Interventions to Decrease Pharmacological Need in a Long-Term Care Facility: A Quality Improvement Study

The Implementation of Non-Pharmacological Pain Management Interventions to Decrease Pharmacological Need in a Long-Term Care Facility: a Quality Improvement Study Effective pain management is a universal issue throughout the healthcare field, especially in long-term care. The increasing older adult population, coupled with chronic under-staffing, produces an environment that inhibits efforts to treat chronic pain and acute pain flares that are often present in this patient population. In response to an increasing demand for improved pain treatment, research has focused on locating and testing the efficacy of many non-pharmacological pain management techniques. These techniques include healing touch, music therapy, cold/heat application, re-positioning, Range Of Motions exercises, and environmental modification. The long-term care facility in this study, Good Shepherd Community, identified controlling chronic pain with acute flares as an area that would benefit from a quality improvement project. In response to this issue, we established a pain management chart with non-pharmacological interventions corresponding to the facility’s pain rating scale (1-10) for six to eight residents on three separate units. Our goal was to decrease the rating and occurrence of pain through the utilization of non-pharmacological treatment in conjunction with medications already prescribed to the resident