Doctor of Ministry, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, 2023, Practical Studies

This thesis explores the question, "How can an established congregation engage with Bowen Family Systems Theory to reveal hidden emotional processes that impact missional adaptive change?" The research took place in the context of a mid-sized Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation founded in 1851.The project utilized a Participatory Action Research (PAR) model with elders from the congregation serving as a research team along with the congregation's pastor as lead researcher. Four rounds of PAR research identified 1) a missional adaptive challenge for the congregation, 2) features of the congregation's emotional system in times of change, 3) features of the elders' nuclear family emotional systems in times of change, and 4) a systems informed missional experiment called "Laundry Love Day." This experiment incorporated what was learned about the emotional systems of the congregation and elders in order to more successfully address the missional adaptive challenge. Research was adapted midway to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic. The project successfully demonstrated the potential benefits and difficulties of incorporating Bowen Family Systems Theory in missional adaptive change efforts. This research opens the door to further studies exploring the confluence of Bowen theory and missiology.

Committee: Dr. Emlyn Ott (Advisor); Dr. Paul Kim (Advisor) Subjects: Organizational Behavior; Religion; Religious Congregations; Theology

Doctor of Ministry , Ashland University, 2014, Doctor of Ministry Program

This project discovered what the missional church meant to sixty-five lay and vocational leaders of six United Church of Canada congregations situated in Quinte West, Ontario. A quantitative and qualitative survey discovered that there was little knowledge of the missional church. The missional church is a worthy option where evangelism is lagging and congregational sustainability is in crisis. These churches offered an ideal study cohort since they shared core similarities in governance, theology and staff. The project suggested that the missional church approach would benefit their immediate ministry context. The questionnaire presented principles for movement in a missional direction.

Committee: Dawn Morton Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Clergy; Religion; Religious Congregations

Master of Gerontological Studies, Miami University, 2013, Gerontology

As Baby Boomers grow older in the innovative and youth-focused megachurches they largely helped build, questions arise regarding their futures and roles within megachurches. Using the sensitizing framework of age integration, this exploratory study sought to uncover the status of age integration in one megachurch and the implications thereof on the future of Boomers and the church. It is a first step toward addressing the lack of empirical research detailing the state of age integration or the success of age integration initiatives in various organizations. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with nine participants were augmented by limited participant observation and analysis of documents, media, and quantitative secondary survey data. Analysis utilized a grounded theory approach to transforming data that yielded two approaches to community building: categorically and values based communities/environments. Values based approaches were shown to offer greater opportunity for age integration than categorical approaches, which tend to lead to age segregation.

Committee: Kathryn McGrew (Committee Chair); Jennifer Kinney (Committee Member); James Bielo (Committee Member) Subjects: Aging; Gerontology; Organizational Behavior; Religion; Religious Congregations; Social Research; Social Structure; Spirituality