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

Jeffrey O. Brown

Second Advisor

Patrick Herbert

Abstract

Problem

The foundation of the Seventh-day Adventist church is based on principles of Holy Spirit-inspired vision and execution, established on the example of Jesus who directly implemented spiritual graces in ministry. Within Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist church, pastoral observation revealed a disconnect in developing and implementing vision and the spiritual graces to achieve evangelistic activity within church leadership and laity. This divide has resulted in a decrease in effective evangelism.

Method

A program focusing on vision development/implementation and teaching/implementation of the spiritual graces was developed utilizing a combination of presentations and practical applications. The project lasted from May 2022 through March 2023 and consisted of four cohorts in the Birmingham, Alabama area: the church Discipleship Group, the Friday Cohort, the small Multi-denominational Cohort, and the Prison Cohort. Throughout the program, attendees participated in learning about vision and the spiritual graces, developed their own vision, and chose methods to implement the spiritual graces within their spheres of influence. Self-reported feedback and collective quantitative results were obtained and evaluated for measuring program effectiveness.

Results

The study revealed an initial deficit in all four cohorts related to an understanding and implementation of both vision and the spiritual graces as was evident in the pre-survey and verbal feedback. Throughout the course of the program, each cohort increased in attendance and participation with attendees reporting increased engagement in their spheres of influence. In addition, each of the cohorts reported an increase in knowledge of the spiritual graces, as well as many individuals reported an increase in implementing the spiritual graces. Collective quantitative results revealed increased church and community engagement, as well as an increase in participation in outreach initiatives and overall evangelistic activity. In addition, the post-survey and collected feedback revealed an overall increase in knowledge on the topics of vision, spiritual graces, and their relationship to evangelistic growth. Moreover, participants revealed an overall continued interest in the program, appreciation for the importance of vision and the spiritual graces, and a desire to implement the learned methods in the future.

Conclusion

Based on feedback and quantitative results, the program was successful in increasing knowledge of vision and the spiritual graces in all four cohorts. In addition, participants appear to have implemented the concepts learned into practical application within their individual spheres of influence via developing vision and executing the spiritual graces to achieve the desired self-created vision. Increase in evangelistic activity was achieved in all four cohorts. Consequently, further exploration of vision and the spiritual graces in the context of evangelistic church growth in the 21st century is merited and recommended.

Subject Area

Evangelistic work--Alabama--Birmingham; Evangelistic work--Seventh-day Adventists; Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist Church (Birmingham, Ala.); Pastoral theology; Church work--Alabama

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