Subject Area

Religion

Abstract

The purpose of this Doctorate of Ministry practicum is to explore the use and effects of the spiritual disciplines of reading the scriptures, meditation on the readings followed by praying together with other members. The project was designed to strengthen the relationships between God and members of the congregation of St. Andrew Lutheran Church of Hurst, Texas as the members spent time together each day. Small groups were selected to communicate with each other daily. Their weekly communications with the pastor and other congregational members allowed for increased involvement at the congregational level. The small groups were composed of various genders and ages so that a good cross-section of the congregation was represented in each group.

The initial plan allowed the participating members to spend a week with a preliminary test project to give them an opportunity to make the necessary commitment for the ninety (90) days. The preliminary test lasted a week followed time to decide whether they wanted to commit to the project. The second phase of the project found that there were members who were not selected who insisted on being a part of the project. The third phase of the project brought members together who expanded their involvement with each other beyond the walls of the church. The final observations revealed that members became involved with each other on committees and other projects in support of each other. They not only worked more closely together, they spent time communicating, visiting, supporting and praying together on a regular basis.

Degree Date

Spring 2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

D.Min.

Department

Ministry

Advisor

Dr. Ruben Habito

Second Advisor

Dr. Carlos Cardoza-Orlandi

Number of Pages

146

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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