Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

1987

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Reuben A. Hubbard

Second Advisor

C. Raymond Holmes

Third Advisor

C. Mervyn Maxwell

Abstract

Problem

Jesus came to give fullness of life and yet people leave the church because of unsatisfying interpersonal relationships. It was the task of this project to measure the effects of Sabbath services upon the interpersonal relationships between church members.

Method

Ten Sabbath services were specifically designed to improve the interpersonal behaviors of inclusion, control, and openness, and to stimulate the interpersonal feelings of significance, competence, and love. The Schutz Measures instrument was administered before and after the ten services to determine whether these behaviors and feelings had improved.

Results

The scores on the Schutz instrument revealed that improvements were realized for the feelings of significance, competence, and love, and the behaviors of inclusion and control. Even though the congregation's score on openness moved slightly toward desiring more privacy, the intensity of the desire for openness also improved.

Conclusions

The average number of members and visitors attending weekly during the study was only nineteen, so conclusions can not be generalized; however, the evidence indicated that the use of ten-minute prayer-request times, life-situational sermons, post-sermon discussions, and instruction on felt needs helped the congregation to feel that interpersonal relationships had improved.

Subject Area

Interpersonal relations; Pastoral theology

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/705

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