Ecclesia and exilic theologies: Preaching the exile and a congregation's response

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منو

" Ecclesia and exilic theologies: Preaching the exile and a congregation's response "
Steven S. Steele J. H. O. Moorhead, Dennis T.

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	54907
Doc. No	:	TL24861
Call number	:	‭3381995‬
Main Entry	:	Steven S. Steele
Title & Author	:	Ecclesia and exilic theologies: Preaching the exile and a congregation's response\ Steven S. Steele
College	:	Princeton Theological Seminary
Date	:	2009
Degree	:	D.Min.
student score	:	2009
Page No	:	158
Abstract	:	This project examines the effects of exilic theologies on people experiencing personal loss, transience and displacement. The subject of this project--a small congregation that has experienced transience, loss, and change both internally and in its surrounding community--was tested using qualitative interviews and focus groups to determine whether exposure to exilic theologies provided a language with which to help people understand and reframe their experiences in ways that fostered new attachments to the church and to their community. The research was framed using the work of attachment theorist John Bowlby and theologian Walter Brueggemann. Bowlby provides a rubric for understanding human attachments as "secure" or "insecure," while Brueggemann exegetes the event of exile and the prophetic words given to Israel during exilic periods. Research participants were initially tested to determine baseline levels of awareness around their experiences of loss, displacement, and transience, as well as around their ability to understand themselves as "exiles." They were then exposed to six weeks of preaching and teaching discussions around biblical passages containing prophetic words to the exiles and retested to discover whether their levels of awareness and ability to understand their experiences in light of the exile events had shifted. Results of the research concluded that, while some participants were able to better understand their experiences of loss and transience through the language of the exile, most were not. Parallel to this finding, it was also discovered that many of the participants had experienced the loss of significant attachment objects in ways that Bowlby would define as "insecure." The author concludes that if members of the congregation are not able to experience loss or transience in ways that are secure, they may be less able to understand their experiences in light of a biblical framework or to form new, secure attachments. This paper is a Princeton Theological Seminary Final Project Report for the Doctor of Ministry degree. Faculty advisors for this project were Dr. James H. Moorhead and Dr. Dennis T. Olson.
Subject	:	Philosophy, religion and theology; Social sciences; Psychology; Ecclesia; Preaching; Exile; Congregation; Theology as attachment process; Displacement in San Jose, CA; Exilic theologies; California; Religion; Social psychology; Theology; Organizational behavior; 0703:Organizational behavior; 0469:Theology; 0318:Religion; 0451:Social psychology
Added Entry	:	J. H. O. Moorhead, Dennis T.
Added Entry	:	Princeton Theological Seminary