DOCTORAL LEVEL

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    A missiological response to female head covering in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 in worship at the Sunnyside Seventh-Day Adventist Church
    (Adventist University of Africa, Theological Seminary, 2016-09) Moesi, Mosimanegape Super
    This study was pictured to help Sunnyside Seventh-day Adventist church to adopt a balanced view on the issue of head covering. The adoption of the balanced view would lead the church to use the right biblical principles to interpret Scripture, consider both missiological and cultural implications. The initial evaluation had revealed that, members take the Bible at face value and are torn between culture and the Bible. The study of biblical instances of uses of head covering in both the Old Testament and the New Testament indicated that there is no biblical command for head covering. The Bible revealed that head covering was a symbol with different meanings for different societies. However, the literature review indicated that there are two main different schools of thoughts among scholars. The first school suggests that head covering is imperative and universal for all Christendom. The reasons advanced varyfrom theological thinking to personal experience. The second school indicates that Paul’s passage in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 is non-imperative but relative to the Corinthian culture. However, the latter school of thought acknowledges that the passage is still applicable to Christians today. This is in the light of timeless principles from the passage which could be applied relevantly today. The initial survey used both the qualitative and quantitative (mixed) methods. It revealed that the action taken by Sunnyside for female worshipers to cover their heads on the pulpit was done hastily without adequate information to make the move. Seminars conducted – Five two-hour seminars were conducted on Sabbath afternoons as pre-arranged with the church except for additional two which were one hour sessions scheduled on Sabbath mornings. A quantitative final evaluation was conducted to ensure that the participants understood and captured the balanced view of head covering. The final analysis revealed that 107 (71%) participants of the respondents indicated that the head covering topic was adequately addressed by the researcher. Again, 107 (71%) of the respondents indicated that culture plays a role in the way people understand and interpret Scripture. Lastly, 120 (80%) of the participants indicated that the symbol of head covering can be used when reaching out to those who take it as a sign of honor and respect. The results indicated that the intervention met its objective of bringing a balanced view of head covering. Sunnyside may be used as a model church to help other churches to resolve the issue. As shown in Appendix E, some members requested to have the presentations in order to help other churches.
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    A strategy to minimize marital infidelity among Seventh-day Adventist Church members in the Gweru Urban Territory, Zimbabwe
    (Adventist University of Africa, Theological Seminary, 2017-02) Manyakara, Jotham Haurovi
    The talk about marital infidelity among members of God’s church, the unhappiness that infidelity causes in the families and the damage that infidelity causes to the reputation and credibility of the church calls for a study of unfaithfulness in marriage as a way of trying to minimize its occurrence in the church. The study was meant to establish the prevalence, causes and impact of marital infidelity in the church and to design and implement a program that would work to minimize infidelity among members of the church. The method that was used in carrying out the research was the mixed method approach that uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative aspect of the research utilized focus group discussions and the quantitative aspect used questionnaires as the means to collect data.Three churches were selected for the research. The churches belonged to the same church district with the same pastor. Focus groups were established in each of the three churches and each group had nine members. A total of 75 questionnaires were distributed in the three churches with each church getting 25 sets. The two instruments used showed that infidelity was indeed taking place among church members. A program was designed and implemented to minimize infidelity among members of the church. After the implementation of the program, focus group discussions were held and a questionnaire was distributed in the three selected churches to determine whether the program had helped in curbing infidelity. Indications from the instruments were that some positive outcomes were realized. The conclusions made from the study were that infidelity was taking place in the churches. It was also established that the designed and implemented program was able to help some members to change their attitude towards infidelity and to recommit themselves to marital fidelity. It is to be realized that working to minimize infidelity should be ongoing rather than it to be an event in the church.
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    A strategy to restore the sanctity of the Sabbath in the Limbe Seventh-day Adventist Church, South Malawi Field
    (Adventist University of Africa, Theological Seminary, 2017-06) Mthunzi, Eliezer Ernest
    This study led to a strategy to restore the sanctity of the Sabbath in Limbe Seventh-day Adventist Church, South Malawi Field. It was initiated because of the need for the observance and the sanctity of the Sabbath, which many Adventist members in Limbe Adventist Church were not able to do, even though they knew that they should observe the Sabbath as stipulated in the Bible (Isaiah 58:13, 14 and Exod. 20:8-11). The Adventist congregation in Limbe has been steadily growing numerically, but the quality of membership there may be improved. For example, one of the key pillars of the Adventist faith, the doctrine of the Sabbath, is negated by the way many Adventists in Limbe observe and keep it. The prevalence of profanation and violation of the sanctity of the Sabbath in Limbe makes a mockery of the general self understanding of the Adventist Church to be the remnant church that “keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” It is estimated that out of 190 baptized church members, over 50% of the members do not regard the sanctity of this seventh-day Sabbath according to the Scriptural admonitions. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate a biblically under girded strategy that would address challenges of inadequate theological understanding of the sanctity of the Sabbath. This may, in turn, raise the Limbe Adventist Church members’ awareness of the need to keep the Sabbath holy. In this research, the researcher endeavoured in all the possible areas that had to do with the Sabbath and its redemptive components to salvation. All the findings are discussed in the six chapters of this dissertation. At first, the Adventist members did not have a place of worship that they owned—they rented the Imperial Tobacco Group (I. T. G.) facilities as their place of worship. This place was also rented by other denominations for the same purpose. Apparently, Adventists of Limbe area were impacted by the surrounding Christian denominations who keep their Sabbath (Sunday) and tended to compromise biblical principles. The study of biblical instances of the sanctity and observance of Sabbath, both in Old Testament and the New Testament, revealed that the sanctity and observance of the Sabbath was imperative to all Christians. The initial survey used both qualitative and quantitative (mixed) methods. This revealed more the need of Sabbath observance and its sanctity. Seminars were conducted. Each seminar took one hour. PowerPoint presentations were done during different intervals. A quantitative final evaluation was conducted to ensure that the participants understood the importance of the sanctity and observance of Sabbath. The final analysis revealed that 75% (14) of the participants indicated that the challenge to restore the sanctity of Sabbath was adequately addressed by the researcher. Eighty-five (85%, 15 participants) indicated that leadership should take a greater role in informing the church members of the proper way to keep the Sabbath holy. The urgent need was to encourage them to be positive and teachable when it comes to principles of Sabbath observance in the Adventist Church. The results indicated that the intervention met its objective of restoring the sanctity of the Sabbath. Limbe Adventist Church may be used as a pilot and a model to help other churches to resolve the issue. As shown in the appendix, some church members requested the presentations to help other churches.
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    Training Adventist youth in empowerment skills to reduce unemployment and enhance Mission in Abidjan, Cote D'ivoire
    (Adventist University of Africa, Theological Seminary, 2016-06) Enang, Nkeruwem John
    The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church exists for mission—communicating the “everlasting gospel” of Revelation 14:6-12 as mandated by Christ (Matt 28:19, 20) to the world. The young people with their youthful energies and zeal, who should be at the forefront of this mission enterprise, are disabled by the unemployment problem which denies them the opportunity of living up to their God-given potentials. Though a global problem, the African context with growing youth population and reducing job opportunities may be worse hit by this debilitating problem, which is getting worse with time. Because of the multifaceted nature of the problem, this dissertation designed and implemented a training model—a synergy of mission and livelihood skills that would empower the youth and at the same time unleash their potentials for involvement in the mission of the church.This research used the mixed methodology: qualitative and quantitative. Part of the study of the SDA Church in Cote d’Ivoire and the phenomenon of youth unemployment in Cocody-Philadelphia SDA Church were done qualitatively while the quantitative approach was used for the pre and post-training surveys. The study revealed that the problem of youth unemployment that was regarded as socioeconomic had significant theological and missiological implications. Therefore, the SDA Church should be involved in tackling it to reduce the prevalence among its youth membership. Samples of interventions and models from the different economic strata of the globe were examined; in addition, initiatives by faith-based organizations were studied. The gap which this study discovered was the absence of, or minimal application of the spiritual dimension into these models—which this project seeks to accomplish by adopting a holistic approach. The strategy adopted for this project was the synergy of mission and livelihood skills that may reduce youth unemployment in the SDA Churches in Abidjan and at the same time unleash their potentials for involvement in mission. Contacts with the focus group showed that they are aware of the problem and wanted something to be done about it. The researcher administered the pre-training survey to determine the prevalence of the problem. The result showed that of a sample group of 34 youth who took the survey, about 74% were unemployed which confirmed the focus group position. The intervention was a Training of Trainers (TOT) program whose participants were selected from the churches at Abidjan based on their academic qualification—a minimum of a high school graduate. The package for the training consists of three major modules: inculcation, livelihood skill, and entrepreneurial skills. After the training, participants were given materials that would enable them replicate the program. At a post-training survey, 86% of trainees indicated the ability to replicate the training with minimal or no assistance. With this capacity building training in place, about twenty persons can train in youth empowerment whereas there was none before the training. The youth director of Cote d’Ivoire Conference would galvanize the efforts of these trainees to train youth in the church at Abidjan and beyond. The more youth unemployment is reduced the more mission is enhanced.