The predominant method for ministry formation in the contemporary church consists of a course of study in a Bible college or seminary. While this has been and will continue to be an effective method for theological education, it does not work for everyone called to ministry. Some people for financial or practical reasons cannot follow this path.…

Chaplains are embedded in the culture and life of many universities and are a key part of university support for religious students. Yet university chaplaincy has rarely been researched by social scientists. This article explores the role of chaplains and chaplaincy in universities in the United Kingdom (UK), investigating understandings of what…

Youth with disabilities are overall less engaged in extracurricular, community, and social activities than their peers without disabilities. Specifically, youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD; e.g., autism, intellectual disability) are less likely to participate in extracurricular or social activities compared to peers with…

A small sample of faith leaders from the USA's three largest Mainline Protestant denominations (American Baptist, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and Methodist) were interviewed as part of a case study regarding sexuality education in their churches. The interview schedule, based on a previous Alan Guttmacher Institute designed…

The purpose of the research was to identify and compare strategies being used to make disciples of Christ among college students through Southern Baptist collegiate ministries. The researcher sought to determine the prevalent strategies used by campus-based ministries, church-based ministries, and collegiate church plants. The desired outcome of…

This article provides a study of scholarship on religions and education, published over the past forty years, in "History of Education". It also includes reference to other publications, attempting a thematic analysis that scrutinises work on missionaries, churchmen, convents, charitable societies, denominations and education. Methodologies and…

Sustained by rich archival and published material, this paper describes the experience of Father Matteo Ricci in China in the perspective of the general evolution of the Church and European Catholicism between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. Father Matteo Ricci's missionary works are re-read in the light of the more complex urgencies…

Women in many Christian cultures are told that men are strong and should lead the church. Consequently, some women rationalize that they should not assume top leadership roles in the church. When they do assume such roles, many female pastors experience challenges. The purpose of our qualitative case study was to give voice to Asian female…

The seminary is an educational institution that exists for the purpose of training people for a variety of vocational and academic ministries such as local church pastors, missionaries, educational instructors, seminary professors, and a plethora of other local church positions, and para-church organizations. The seminary has existed in various…

The ongoing crisis concerning torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of prisoners by U.S. personnel or under U.S. auspices in the "War on Terror" raises issues central to the identity of both church and society. The practice of torture cries out for practical theological reflection inasmuch as it threatens to eviscerate the moral…

This article looks at the contemporary rationale for faith-based universities. There has certainly been a new openness to issues in religion within higher education more generally. Religious influence and involvement in higher education continues to be extensive and manifests itself through the presence of believing Christians, Jews and Muslims in…

Divided into three parts, this article first describes the impact that historical and sociological factors, especially the weakening of the Catholic subculture and the recent development of "emerging adulthood", have on Catholic colleges and universities. The second part is a discussion of the typical approaches--both strengths and weaknesses--of…

The university or college chaplain performs a complex role, moving in the arenas of decisionmaking, piercing the fronts of factionalism and misuses of knowledge and power, serving as a reconciling and healing influence in the institution, and revealing, through symbol and ritual, the moral and spiritual resources of the religious traditions. In…

This article investigates the relationship of adult job satisfaction and motives for parachurch workers. Results indicate clearly that job satisfaction was significantly related to certain aspects of motivation for religious ministry. (Author/SSH)

In determining the role of professional religious leadership on the college or university campus, it is first necessary to ascertain and accept the theory that there is and ought to be a symbiotic relationship between religion and higher education. The religious professional, then, herein referred to as the campus chaplain, has a responsibility to…