Alternative Title
How and Why Black Churches Should Address Social Isolation and Loneliness among Black Older Adults
Subject Area
Theology/Religious Education, Religion, Social Sciences, General/Other
Abstract
To address the growing and widespread epidemic of social isolation and loneliness, with special focus on Black churches, this dissertation developed a program with the following areas of application: 1) how healthcare trained chaplains can coordinate with churches to positively impact individuals identified as lonely and socially isolated with better social and physical health, 2) how principles of chaplaincy and pastoral care can mitigate and intervene competently when such people are identified, and 3) how the project’s model can be organized, taught, and incorporated into existing arenas of church ministry.
The purpose of the project was to create a ministry model to address isolation and loneliness in the context of Black churches. This model was developed from three primary sources: 1) Principles and wisdom gleaned from many years in pastoral ministry and hospital chaplaincy, including Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training, various church staff, pastoring and teaching positions, and Director of Spiritual Care at Methodist Hospital, 2) The cooperative work of healthcare alongside congregations throughout Indiana, engineered by the Indianapolis-based group, Congregational Care Network[1] (CCN); and 3) Other research models were created to address and measure this issue, including the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale and the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale.
Degree Date
Spring 5-16-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
D.Min.
Department
Perkins School of Theology
Advisor
Harold Recinos
Second Advisor
Charles Millikan
Number of Pages
103
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Kemp, Albert A., "Incorporating Principles and Wisdom from Hospital Chaplaincy and Pastoral Ministry to Create a Ministry Model to Address Social Isolation and Loneliness in Black Churches" (2026). Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses. 63.
https://scholar.smu.edu/theology_ministry_etds/63
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