Doctor of Ministry , Ashland University, 2021, Doctor of Ministry Program

The purpose of this project was to impact the understanding of select members and attendees of the First Baptist Church of Bradford, Ohio, concerning the place of children within the church's corporate worship by means of a four-week applied instruction. The design of the project was a pre-assessment followed by four weeks of classroom interaction, adjusted Sunday worship services, and a post-assessment. The topic of the project centered on the need to welcome children into corporate worship inviting their participation. The most prominent finding was that participants understood the need for worship to be a participatory event.

Committee: Joann Shade Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2025, Music

In the past decade, academic and public interest in American evangelicalism has increased thanks largely to the political activity of its self-identified members. Eager to frame this political activity by focusing on a readily identified evangelical tradition—Contemporary Worship Music (CWM)—ethnomusicologists undertook fieldwork in local congregations, conferences, and worship concerts to make sense of the interplay between the musical habits, congregational life, piety, and values of evangelicals. But what can be said of the music this tradition produces? How do evangelical values and philosophies regarding music influence the decisions of those responsible for producing and reproducing CWM? With a commitment to CWM's musical objects, my dissertation seeks to answer these questions. More specifically, it highlights the sonic ramifications of evangelical values by foregrounding reverb—a musical parameter of particular importance to CWM—as a sonic phenomenon, topic of discourse among practitioners, and tool for the creation of sonic space. By combining musical analysis, fieldwork, interviews, historical research, and the author's personal experience within CWM, this dissertation demonstrates the role and importance of reverb in the construction of “that worship sound” which has, for many, become inseparable from the concept of evangelical worship itself. Additionally, this dissertation shows that the ways in which practitioners discuss reverberation often resemble, draw from, and influence broader Christian imagery thus impacting evangelical piety. To accomplish these goals, Chapter 2 notes the multifaceted importance of the live worship experience to CWM before identifying sonic characteristics of these experiences, many of which are reverb dependent. So central are these audible elements, I contend, that they become stylistic elements that CWM audiences expect to hear if a recording is to be understood as “worshipful.” Catering to this expectation, CWM rec (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Graeme M. Boone (Advisor); Morgan Liu (Committee Member); Danielle Fosler-Lussier (Committee Member); Anna Gawboy (Committee Member) Subjects: Music; Religion; Religious History

Master of Applied Communication Theory and Methodology, Cleveland State University, 2008, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

This study explored worship style, music and social identity from a communication perspective. Specifically, this study was interested in understanding the variables that influence worship music preference. Results indicated that Missouri Synod Lutherans who prefer traditional worship components identify more strongly with the larger organization, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Moreover, music preference strongly predicts worship style preference. In addition, parishioners perception of self-disclosure in hymns and praise songs was also examined. Results indicated that certain dimensions of self-disclosure are more prevalent in hymns and praise songs than others and perceived self-disclosure is stronger with those who attend a contemporary worship service than those who attend a traditional service. Research participants completed a questionnaire survey, which utilized the Revised Self-Disclosure Scale to measure their perception of self-disclosure through worship music and the Identification with a Psychological Group scale to measure their identification with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Additionally, the survey measured music preference, worship preferences, lifestyle values and religiosity

Committee: Jill Rudd PhD (Advisor); Kimberly Neuendorf PhD (Committee Member); Guowei Jian PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Religious Congregations; Religious History

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2010, Communication Studies

As a response to increasingly low rates of participation among university aged students, Christian churches across the country are spending increasing amounts of money on music and technology with the assumption that such expenditures will attract that target demographic. Across denominational affiliations, it is a commonly held belief that such practices must be in place in order to attract and retain this demographic, but this belief has no empirical support. Therefore, this research project investigated the worship preferences of professing Christian students at Bluffton University paying particular attention to the utilization of music and technology. Those who have studied related issues have done so with clearly non-academic objectives, most with pre-existing religious affiliations and/or ties to funding from Christian-based organizations. The participants of this study were traditional-aged undergraduate students who were enrolled full-time at Bluffton University during spring semester, 2009. Bluffton University is affiliated with the Mennonite Church, USA, but represents many Christian denominations with the top three being: Evangelical, Catholic, and Mennonite. This research incorporated survey questionnaires based on the uses and gratifications perspective. The intent of the instrument was to measure three areas, as each relates to university student preferences toward the use of music and technology in Christian worship: relationship between technology use and current preferences; relationship between past worship experiences and current preferences; and, relationship between the on-campus religious activities of students and their current preferences. An instrument was developed based on the population being studied. The total sample was 123 participants, from ages 18-22, with a mean age of 20.00 (SD = 1.21). Of the participants, 43 were male (35.00%) and 80 were female (65.00%). This study produced two key findings directly related to the research quest (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Catherine Cassara-Jemai PhD (Advisor); Peter Vanderhart PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Croucher PhD (Committee Member); Lara Martin Lengel PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Ministry , Ashland University, 2024, Doctor of Ministry Program

The purpose of this project was to create and evaluate a manual for the equipping of worship leaders in The Word Church and The Light Church of Northeastern Ohio. The manual was evaluated by a panel of twenty-four experts using a five-point Likert scale survey administered electronically via Google documents and in person. Major findings suggested an overwhelming response by the panel experts who believed the manual is a usable tool that would help church worship leaders be equipped to lead and enhance the worship ministry.

Committee: William Myers Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Minority and Ethnic Groups; Religion; Religious Congregations

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1974, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1963, Theatre

Committee: Harold B. Obee (Advisor) Subjects: Religion; Theater

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2022, College of Education

This dissertation researches the lived experience of Black males ages 18-39 and their level of participation with the Baptist church in Columbus, Ohio. Recent researchers have identified specifically the mass exodus of Black men leaving the church (Lampley, 2017). The PEW Research Center reported in a 2014 Religion Landscape Study that the decline in the presence and engagement of the young adult population within Christian religious communities has become a worldwide issue, not limited to a single denomination, race, or location. Recent studies suggest that the church has always satisfied the spiritual need to help Black men in providing leadership to their families and community (Collins et al., 2015). However, this study will identify and understand the mitigating factors absent in past research that motivate this group of Black men's commitment to attending and participating in church. This dissertation uses Ryan and Deci's (1985) self-determination theory and Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory (1943) as frameworks within which to understand this phenomenon.

Committee: Judy Alston (Committee Chair) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2021, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

This qualitative research study was designed to explore lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) young adults' views about how being a member of supportive and affirming religious places of worship and social groups influenced their self-acceptance, as well as their ability to integrate their religious and sexual minority identities. In this study, six in-person interviews were completed with participants who (a) were 18-24 years old; (b) identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual; (c) were members of supportive Jewish and Christian religious groups; and (d) identified as cisgender. The data from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis to tell cohesive stories about the perceptions of LGB young adults on the influence of supportive religious group membership. I found that all six participants reported that finding their religious supportive groups had a significant positive impact on their ability to integrate their religious and sexual identities. All six participants also reported that being a member of the affirming religious group allowed them to keep their identity, overall, as a unified whole. The results of my study have positive implications for clinicians working with the LGB population, parents of LGB people, friends of LGB people, LGB advocacy work within the religious community, and for religious groups and places of worship who want to increase membership of minority individuals.

Committee: Kathi Borden PhD (Committee Chair); Barbara Belcher-Timme PsyD (Committee Member); Judy Solman PsyD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Glbt Studies; Religion

Doctor of Musical Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Music

This document serves as both an exploration and informal analysis of five published settings of the Evening Canticles (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) written by living American composers. Its main objective is to highlight music which is lesser known among a genre based primarily in the works of English composers. Furthermore, it aims to show the compositional methods used by these American composers and how they use them to set these ancient texts. The introduction includes a brief historical background on the birth of the Church of England as well as the development of Choral Evensong. The final chapter is a pedagogical discussion on methods of teaching these works based on the writer's study and conducting experience.

Committee: Robert Ward (Advisor) Subjects: Music

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Ancestor worship is a common tradition in Anhui, China and its relevant ritual practices constitute an important part of local popular religion. It is now experiencing revival along with a flourishing of popular religion across mainland China in the wake of the reform era. Cultural and religious researchers have generated much interest in this widespread social phenomenon. They explain it as an attempt to fill a “spiritual vacuum” or simply as an effort to garner political and economic benefits. But I argue that we should avoid lumping a great variety of beliefs and practices together under the name of “popular religion,” trying to explain them as a whole. Instead, we must address the variety of form and theoretical significance of these practices. Examination of a particular form of local ritual can yield new and different insights into a set of cultural and social values behind it. This paper studies the symbolic meanings of the objects and behaviors in a style of ritual performance of ancestor worship in a small village of Huizhou area in eastern China. To analyze the symbolic meanings of this ritual and its social meanings, I use the performance approach and social analysis of ideological discourse to point out that there are religious and political realities intertwined and embodied in these performances. Therefore, the revival of ancestor worship is actually a move to reenact the ancient Confucian tradition of respecting ancestors and its myth of kingly governance and, thus, to cause common people to comply with the dominant political power in the modern context. My analysis facilitates the understanding of the vernacular aspect of Confucian ritual practices in terms of its role in carrying on the tradition, negotiating with the dominant official discourse and maintaining social cohesion.

Committee: Mark Bender (Advisor); Meow Hui Goh (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Folklore; Literature

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2016, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

This research focused on assessing the performance of teams of volunteers in Houses of Worship (HOWs) in the State of Massachusetts that are successfully planning, advancing and completing sustainable initiatives. The sustainable initiatives included solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, city public parks cleaning projects, efficient windows installations, efficient lighting fixtures installations, and building insulation improvements. The goal of this research was to assess the dynamics of a total of eight successful teams, including the relationships among team members and their leaders with facilitative skills that they perceived were instrumental to their effective and efficient performance. The role of team leadership was more relevant than anticipated, and it presented statistical interdependence with team interpersonal processes such as: collaboration, cooperation, cohesion, communication, coordination, trust, and especially conflict resolution. Based on this knowledge and qualitative data from interviews, a set of guidelines on “best practices” was produced, containing recommendations on how to build and manage HOW teams to conduct local sustainability projects. Key words: sustainability best practices, team, leader with facilitative skills, House of Worship (HOW), solar energy, energy efficiency.

Committee: James Gruber Ph.D. (Committee Chair); James Jordan Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert Pojasek Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Energy; Environmental Studies; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Sustainability

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2016, Communication Studies (Communication)

Storytellers Church is a nondenominational Christian church that began weekly services in Macomb, Michigan in January, 2014. Founded by Pastor Bryan Ball and his wife Brittany, the mission of Storytellers Church is “telling stories of life change so people far from God will hear” (storytellersmi.org). This dissertation is an ethnographic case study rooted in my participation as a volunteer, attendee, and eventually, a leader at Storytellers. I share my experiences with the physical construction of Storytellers, as well as my own church background and the sense-making process my fellow participants and I journeyed through together. I also detail the qualitative analysis I employed to allow my findings to be grounded in the field notes and interviews I gathered over the course of Storytellers' first year of services. This process led me to three dialectical tensions, which I detail in chapters three, four, and five respectively: authority assertion and surrender, the idealization and realization of stories, and performance and worship. By placing each of these dialectical tensions in conversation with literature regarding Christian authority, narrative theories, and the performance work of Erving Goffman, I offer ways in which new churches can embrace a dialectical approach as a hopeful and generative perspective from which to build their organizations. Three more tensions also surfaced in my evidence, and those are discussed as directions for future research in chapter six: uncertainty and faith, accountability and acceptance, and stability and change.

Committee: William Rawlins (Advisor) Subjects: Communication

Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.), Trinity Lutheran Seminary, 2016, Bible Division

Ancestor worship has been a vexing issue for Christian missionaries since the 16th century in Vietnam due to Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Communist influences. However, there are few studies from the Protestant perspective on the ancestor cult. This thesis hopes to contribute to the mission work by analyzing the ancestor cult in light of Paul's First Corinthians 8––10, namely how Christian freedom informed participants regarding worshiping idols and consuming food sacrificed to idols. The analysis includes delineating the complexity of Vietnamese religious pluralism and tracing the similarities and differences between the Christian cult of the saints and the ancestor cult. This thesis challenges the traditional perspective that the ancestor cult in Vietnam is religious and superstitious; rather, the ancestor cult is cultural in every aspect. A successful inculturation of the Gospel must separate the ancestor cult from the religious components of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and popular folk religion.

Committee: Walter Taylor Jr./Ph.D. (Advisor); Henry Langknecht Th.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Bible; Biblical Studies; Religion; Theology

BA, Kent State University, 2015, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

This thesis discusses what it meant to become a Christian in first century Roman Corinth for Corinthians from Jewish, Roman, Greek, or Egyptian religious backgrounds. Because the first generation of Christian converts came directly from other religious constructs, these religious constructs were strongly influential in the development of early Christianity in Corinth. Evidence for this influence can be seen in the Apostle Paul's letters to the Corinthians, where the presence of argumentation indicates that some of the Christians disagreed with Paul on various topics, many of which were related to contemporary Corinthian religious practices. As the early Christians distinguished themselves from the Diaspora Jewish communities in which they originated and actively pursued Gentile converts, the fusion of believers with differing religious backgrounds caused uncertainty and conflict over acceptable beliefs and practices within Christian communities, such as the need for Jewish rites of circumcision and dietary restrictions or the freedom of believers to continue interacting with idols. By discussing Paul's Corinthian letters alongside other ancient sources and archaeological evidence, this thesis shows how the religious diversity in first century Corinth influenced the Christian community, demonstrating that Christianity was not formed in a vacuum but in conversation with contemporary religious constructs.

Committee: Lindsay Starkey PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Ancient History; History; Religion; Religious History

Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), University of Dayton, 2006, International Marian Research Institute

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Committee: Johann Roten S.M. (Advisor) Subjects: Asian Studies; Theology

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, 2001, Psychology

The growing visibility of the grassroots movement of men's support groups throughout this country and a resurgence of spiritual interest and faith within the American population come together in the emerging phenomena of men gathering together to worship. To better understand the motivations behind men's participation in such events, the Xavier Religious Index (XRI) was designed to identify factors forming underlying motivational constructs and was administered to two separate groups of men who had attended one or more such religious events. The test sample was comprised of 1190 men who attended a large, religious, men's conference. The cross validation sample was comprised of 301 men who had attended one or more men's retreat week-ends at a spiritual renewal center. In both samples, the factor identified as comprising the largest portion of the variance was that of Male Bonding. Other factors included: Self-awareness, Relationship with God, Isolation or Emptiness, Faith/Prayer Community, Father-Son Relationships, Coping Strategies, and Grief or Burdens. The data were also examined for differences across the life span. When the first and fourth quadrants of Sample 1 were grouped for age and compared, corresponding values existed. However, on examination of Factor 2, Self-awareness and Existential Concern, the directions in which these men focused were diametrically opposed, with older men endorsing a higher satisfaction with quality of life. The implications of this are discussed in light of developmental theory.

Committee: W. Michael Nelson Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Chair); John J. Barrett Ph.D. (Committee Member); Norman Barry Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gerald L. Quatman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Religion; Spirituality

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

Historic buildings are a physical reminder of where a society has come from and how it has changed over time. They reflect the values, the struggles, the advances, the culture, the preferences, the norms, the anomalies, the major historical turning points, and the everyday lives of generations of people. Although progress and change are necessary for the advancement of society, remembering and preserving the origins and achievements of the past are equally as necessary. Of all the historic buildings in American cities, places of worship are among the most representative artifacts of communities, from both the past and present. They are constructed with a desire to celebrate and connect with something greater than the physical world. They evoke emotions, both positive and negative, from those who experience them. They bring skillful art and architecture, as well as a sense of identity to the built environment. They house congregations that in turn serve and foster the well being of the larger community. Whether they are analyzed as living institutions and congregations, purely as historic physical structures of architectural significance, or as a combination of both, they add true and irreplaceable value to American communities. However, like all other elements of the built environment, they are subject to the pressures of time, nature, human behavior, and new development in the name of progress. Changes in the religious landscape of the United States, movement of populations, and financial burden are putting the historic places of worship in American urban centers, including Cincinnati, Ohio, at risk of being lost to neglect, necessity, or progress. Because of declining support and resources, coupled with the high cost of maintaining historic places of worship, many of these buildings are neglected, abandoned, or sold. They are often demolished in order to make room for new development or are simply left to deteriorate over time. These buildings are important asse (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Menelaos Triantafillou MLA (Committee Chair); Colleen McTague PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Classics

This dissertation provides the first comprehensive account of private worship associated with childbirth throughout the ancient Greek world. It documents the rituals performed by individuals during various stages of the reproductive cycle and the different types of votives that were dedicated to the gods of fertility and birth. My work on this subject builds upon previous studies, which have collected much of the available evidence, by asking new questions of the material. In particular, I have sought to define the patterns of childbirth rituals that occurred in the lives of Greek women and to examine how the dedication of childbirth votives fits within this larger pattern of worship. The first chapter examines the cultural background within which the rituals and the votives must be understood. In addition to providing information about the divinities who oversaw childbirth and the sanctuaries for which childbirth worship is attested, this chapter explores the wider social and religious attitudes towards procreation and birth that played a defining role in the formation and practice of childbirth rituals. The second chapter provides a detailed discussion of the rituals surrounding childbirth. By examining the private rituals performed both within sanctuaries and within the home, this chapter establishes the patterns of ritual that punctuated the entire process of birth from the period immediately preceding conception through the time when the mother and child were (re)admitted into society after the birth. The third chapter examines the votives that represent the best-preserved evidence for childbirth rituals. By providing a critical assessment of the votives by type, I first define what objects were dedicated as childbirth votives, and then I examine these votives in order to gather further information about childbirth rituals and Greek attitudes towards childbirth in general. A catalogue of the votives is provided in Appendix 1. In my conclusions I summarize the p (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Brian Rose (Advisor) Subjects:

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning: Architecture (Master of)

Spirituality and sanctity are some of the most important qualities that can be expressed through architecture. These qualities and the spaces that express them also play a fundamental role in our existence. They are experienced across many lands and cultures and with many beliefs and practices. My argument maintains that these powerful experiences should not be limited to only a certain group of users, but rather should be open for all to experience. This type of architectural expression need not be limited to merely religious uses or members of a particular religious group but should extend beyond the limitations and rules of religion and embrace multitudes of people, beliefs, uses and qualities. This thesis explores the idea of sacred space and what it means in an urban context. It also questions how to create physical space that can be the gateway or transition to spiritual communication with another realm of being, that can allow healing and learning to take place, and that can provide an escape or retreat from the ordinary. The thesis project is an architectural exploration of designing spaces that search for these qualities of the sacred.

Committee: David Saile (Advisor) Subjects: Architecture