Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Ron Flowers

Second Advisor

Pamela Consuegra

Third Advisor

Elton DeMoraes

Abstract

Problem

This Doctor of Ministry (DMin) project addresses a pressing issue within the church context of the Adelaide Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Bahamas. We first observed sporadic attendance of our youth (Gen Z and Millennials) and their lack of identity with the church. Wider observation revealed weak relationships among the various generations within our church as well as in our homes. This absence of relatedness across generations potentially hinders some from embracing the community’s faith and growing spiritually.

Method

This study aimed to understand and address the nuanced factors contributing to this generational disconnection through the intervention of an educational seminar designed to revitalize the spiritual fabric of the Adelaide Seventh-day Adventist Church. The seminar integrated family system principles and intergenerational perspectives in five weekly sessions via Zoom with the Adelaide Church.

Results

Action research, along with pre- and post-testing of the 27 participants (including 7 Millennials and 6 from Gen Z) showed increased support for church-parent partnership, acknowledgement of the home as primary in discipleship, commitment to intergenerational worship, and affirmation of grandparent spiritual influence.

Conclusions

This intervention has led to significant transformation in the mindset and attitude of families within the Adelaide Church, such as the resurging practice of deliberate, dedicated time where grandparents and grandchildren engage in meaningful activities for sharing and bonding. Other noteworthy changes were embraced collectively by the group, such as the implementation of intergenerational worship services at the church. The study suggests that the transformative process, guided by divine grace, owes much to the application of family system thinking and intergenerational ideologies, staunchly supported by biblical teachings and a review of current literature.

Subject Area

Intergenerational relations--Religious aspects--Seventh-day Adventists; Intergenerational communication--Religious aspects--Seventh-day Adventists; Adelaide Seventh-day Adventist Church (Nassau, Bahamas); Church work with Generation Z--Seventh-day Adventists; Church work with Generation Y--Seventh-day Adventists; Church work with grandparents--Seventh-day Adventists

Download

Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS