Category: Church
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Revival as the Impetus for Church Growth
Summary A long time ago, a famous novelist wrote the immortal lines: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of time, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.”1 Charles Dickens’ inspiration perhaps came to him…
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The Church and the Understandings of God
The evolution of the concept of God and God’s nature is an important theological issue. In part II of his book on Christianity’s history, Gonzalez (2010) explains that more modern understandings of God as a caring entity and humanity’s father have been preceded by earlier concepts perceiving the Sun, which supports life, as a form…
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The Role of Gothic Cathedrals in the Popularization of the Catholic Church
When Gothic architecture first emerged in the 12th century, it made an immense impact on the popularization of faith and the attraction of new followers. Derived from the religious buildings of the Romanesque era, Gothic cathedrals were constructed specifically to represent the divine nature of God (Zhekova p. 18). For this purpose, the architects used…
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Snake Handling in Churches Myth Spread by Activists
The practice of snake handling in churches is not a new tradition, and its emergence was underpinned by the spread of interpretations of the Bible. They were quite literal as the words “They shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents” were considered as a command to do…
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Catholic Church as Social and Spiritual Organization
The Catholic Church is a worldwide religious organization with a large number of believers. The number of Catholic Christians constantly rises worldwide: the reason for that is the prevalence of psychological and spiritual problems around the globe, and the Christian belief system helps people cope with them. Many people encounter a lack of belief and…
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Servant Leadership in the Church and Its Purpose
Introduction Leadership is a quality that people can be endowed with if they can manage other groups for development. In addition, leadership qualities are formed over a long period, thus becoming the result of a person’s experience. Among leadership types, there is Servant Leadership, the essence of which is the leader’s service to the people…
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Bannister’s “The Word and Power Church”
Although the realm of the Christian community and, particularly, the Christian Church, might seem as entirely unclouded, several underlying conflicts have developed over years of interpreting the Word of God and implementing theological research. In his book The Word and Power Church, Dough Bannister (2009) expresses the concern that the inclination to choose between the…
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The History of God’s New Testament Church
Table of Contents Introduction Insights from the Content Essays Application of What Has Been Learned Major Questions That Arise How My Understanding of Religion Has Changed Conclusion References Introduction In his book “Turning Points,” historian Mark Noll attempts to trace significant events in the two-millennium history of God’s New Testament church. Noll (2012) examines the…
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Leadership Styles Used by the Church
Table of Contents Introduction Autocratic Leadership Despotic Leadership Democratic leadership Laissez-Faire Leadership Conclusion Reference Introduction Effective church leadership is important in the numerical growth of congregants. As such, the management strategy adopted by a church minister will have a bearing on the growth of membership. Poor administrative practices can lead to a drop in the…
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The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism
Personality development is essential for personal growth and involves different assessments, including awareness, relationship, and commitment, which determine character development. Self-awareness is the initial step of the development process that helps understand oneself and acquire introspective information. There are five primary self-awareness techniques: mindful meditation, personal vision, grounding techniques, observing others, and assessing emotional strength.…