VTS Masters Theses

Title

VTS Masters Theses

Subject

VTS Thesis Collection

Description

Theses for the M.Div. or M.A. from participating authors 2017-

Publisher

Virginia Theological Seminary

Date

2017-

Collection Items

Feed My Sheep : An Anglican Defense of Lay Presidency
The Diocese of Alaska is the largest diocese in The Episcopal Church (TEC) by geographical size. The 6,072 members of its 48 constituent congregations are spread out over an area larger than the total combined size of California, Texas, Montana, and…

Joy Cometh in the Morning : Ritual, Art, and Crisis
This Capstone Project is designed to celebrate the triumph of The Episcopal
Church as it moved through the crisis of HIV/AIDS in North America in the last third of the twentieth century. My objective is to tell a story about how the Episcopal Church…

A Formula for the Application of Trauma-Informed Care in the African American Church
How can the church minister in a more effective way to individuals who have suffered some form of trauma? One of the solutions is to become trauma-informed . This Capstone will offer a deeper understanding of the impact of childhood trauma, and…

Paradox Unpacked : Jesus as God in the Gospel of John
The Prologue of the Gospel of John previews the theological framework which guides readers through the book. This thesis identifies in the Prologue three paradoxes pertaining to Jesus’ identity, mission, and purpose and traces them through the…

Infinite Sanctum
A site-specific immersive exhibition allowing guests to explore their (a)theism in community while engaging all five senses at different exhibits, in an amazing historical building on the campus of Virginia Theological Seminary. Guests can expect to…

Sin and Salvation : An Inter-Cultural Re-Reading
Is it possible to have only one conception of sin? Of salvation? Derek Nelson in Sin: A Guide for the Perplexed observes that with a variety of approaches, we are able to “see, in relief and detail, features of sin that might be otherwise obscured.”…

Servant Leaders Seeking Justice : An Ethnographic Sketch of Trinity United Methodist Church (1774-2023)
On November 20, 1774, a young, itinerant Methodist minister, William Duke, rode into Alexandria, Virginia, and preached to a small group of local people. He recorded in his diary that he had “formed them into a new society.” No pomp and circumstance,…

Intentional Mentorship Lesson Plan for Training Lay and Clergy Leaders : a tool for Children's Ministry in the Diocese of Bondo, Kenya
Bondo Diocese is one of the Anglican dioceses that has made history in the life of the Anglican Province of Kenya through its progressive support of the quest for the ministry of women’s liberation. This diocese was the first to ordain and consecrate…

The Apostle Andrew in Scripture and Tradition
The name of Andrew the Apostle appears thirteen times in the Gospels and Acts, and he is the generative character in four crucial episodes of Jesus’s ministry. But his role as an apostle is muted in the New Testament, in the Church, and in…

Face to Face : The Kenosis of God Before Christ
Thesis (MA)--Virginia Theological Seminary, 2021.\"Prepared in fulfillment of the Master of Divinity program at Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia."
Advisor: Stephen L. Cook. Readers: Katherine Sonderegger, Victor H. Matthews.

The Post-Colonial Imperative of Interreligious Dialogue : Translating the missio Dei through Nicholas Black Elk’s Multireligious Participation
By Hubbard, Joe. (2021) -- "This conversation around the nature of “mission,” the church’s role in it –as well as the role of the “missionary” and the role of the “missionized” –emerges from the complicated context of my own journey. It…

Listening for the Monastic Imagination
By Walker, Demarius J. (2021) -- "My project starts with Jesus’ questions to his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” The question is as pertinent today as it was over 2000 years ago. The question invites us into the prophetic…

The Significance of Inculturation for Evangelism : A case study of The Anglican Church in the Diocese of Masasi, Tanzania.
Mhema, Oraph Joseph (2021) -- "This thesis presents the process of inculturation as an effective means to render the Christian faith more meaningful and practical to people in their local cultures. The historical survey of the evangelization process…

The influence of American Missionaries on the culture, education, and medicine of Tamil people in Jaffna, Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
By Vijayathasan, Daniel Jeyaruban (2021) -- In the 19thCentury, as a result of the American Presbyterian and Congregationalist Missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission, the river of God’s love flowed into Jaffna, Ceylon…

Church in the Forefront:Addressing Violence Against Women in the Anglican Diocese of Bondo, Kenya.
Gender-based violence is recognized as a pressing social issue because of its psychological and physical consequences to the victimized.1 This study will elaborate on how the presence of gender-based violence …

The Significance of Inculturation for Evangelism: A case study of The Anglican Church in the Diocese of Masasi, Tanzania.
This thesis presents the process of inculturation as an effective means to render the Christian faith more meaningful and practical to people in their local cultures. The historical survey of the evangelization process among the Makua people and many…

Baptism to confirmation in the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia: Strategies for faith formation in children (ages 7-12).
This capstone focuses on the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia. The faith formation of children has not been a priority in many churches within the diocese of over 30 years. Inadequate attention has been paid to the resources used or the modes of…

Unhooked by Grace : My Inner Work With St. Paul on Recovering from Binge Eating
A Capstone project submitted to the Faculty of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Religion and Culture.

God Thinks Otherwise: Jesus Demonstrates that God is not Against the War Victims in Sri Lanka
By Shanthakumar, Sureshkumar (2020) - Abstract During Sri Lanka’s long civil war, religion was an important part of the collective identity and social narrative of many participants. Though the war was not strictly a religious conflict, understanding…

Breaking the Silence: Towards an Understanding of Human Disability for Family Life in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika
By Tumaini Sarakikya, 2020.  Abstract This thesis examines unexpressed suffering of mothers of children with disabilities in family life in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika in Tanzania. While the needs of the people with disabilities are given great…

Power and Piety: discretio spirituum in the paratexts of early modern English women translators
By Amanda Bourne, 2020 -- The use of modesty topoi by early modern women writers has frequently been studied, but very rarely have these literary devices been explicated in light of the theological traditions which dictated their use. This study…

Towards an Understanding of Congregational Health:  How Do We Nurture the Growth of God's Kingdom?
By Diana Moreland, 2020 -- What is a healthy congregation in the Episcopal Church? In April 2001, a research report on New Church Development commissioned by the Episcopal Church classified health or success as a “new church reaching a large enough…

Living the Gospel in Haiti with Konbit: The Intersection of the Gospel and Culture for a Responsive and Responsible Church
By Guimond Pierre-Louis, 2020. In Haiti, the relationship between Gospel and culture tends to disrupt relationships and even communities, portraying a church that is more French than Haitian. It is often argued on the account of the Bible that once…

Word Upon Words: The Sacramentality of Scripture As Expressed in Augustine and Speech Act Theory
By Miller, Benjamin, 2020 -- "Is the language of Scripture abstract, compared to the presence of Christ in the eucharist? Does divine presence and self-disclosure become more abstract just because it occurs in the realm of language rather than in…

The Episcopal Church in Native American Boarding Schools (1862-1905): Varieties of Assimilation through Transfer Narratives
By Jean Cotting (2020) -- "Within the context of Native American boarding schools, the main objective of the founding Christian churches and later the government was assimilation of students. That is to say, unlike the conventional definition of…
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