In the current context in the United States the inclusion of persons with developmental disabilities, that is an intellectual or functional deficit identified prior to age twenty-one, is considered to be a special project. In the church this is often seen as something beyond the usual expectation of the church. This attitude is a development which…

This paper examines how people find happiness and create wellbeing when confronted by extreme adversity. Utilising the Dialogical Self Theory for an analysis of published autobiographies, it investigates two case studies, Nick Vujicic, who was born without limbs, and Austrian author Barbara Pachl-Eberhart, who narrates creating a fulfilled life…

Reverend Father Professor Amechi Nicholas Akwanya is one of the towering scholars of literature in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. For decades, and still counting, Fr. Prof. Akwanya has worked arduously, professing literature by way of teaching, researching, and writing in the Department of English and Literary Studies of the University of…

Narratives have a unique ability to grant listeners emotional and cognitive space in a way that encourages them to choose how they will make sense of a story. This effect, called narrative distance, also has the potential to help create transformative learning experiences. This article is a qualitative research study of experts who regularly…

This article describes how communal aspects of faith find their way back into the lives of adolescents. The communal aspects of faith within individualized societies need more attention. It seems that with the current emphasis on individual faith, the intrinsic power of communal aspects of faith has been lost. This study shows that informal…

This research, a phenomenological study, examined four different local churches in Rwanda to identify the key strategies and methods used to establish an orphan care culture and ministry. Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California has partnered with the country of Rwanda to end the orphan crisis. As of today, 35 orphanages in the country of…

Minimal prior research has examined the school chaplaincy programme in Australia. This exploratory study sought to identify the values primary school chaplains feel are the most important to them personally, and in their role as chaplain. Eight chaplains working in government primary schools were interviewed. Inductive thematic analysis was used…

A survey and interviews completed by peer ministers at Catholic colleges and universities in the United States from October 2012 to February 2013 reveal that the interviewed student ministers are engaging peers in interreligious dialogue. The research corroborates the premise that the promotion of interreligious relationships is important to this…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role critical reflection should play in preparing Lay leaders to serve as mission leaders in an interdisciplinary ministry. The aim of this study was to design an evidence-based case of the need for critical reflection as a tool for mission leader formation. A qualitative case study was the method in…

This article employs Catholic social thought as a lens to situate the work of Sister Cyril Mooney, Principal emerita at Loreto Day School Sealdah in Kolkata, India. Drawing on the Canadian authors' personal experiences of the school over several years, supplemented by a two day in-depth interview conducted at Loreto Convent in Altrincham, England…

The religious domain has been identified as an important domain for language maintenance (Fishman 1972; Gal 1979). However, the effect of religion in language maintenance is not always positive (Spolsky 2003). This paper attempts to explore whether religion, Catholicism for this study, plays a significant role in the maintenance of Hakka in a…

This study explored the transformative learning experiences of emerging adults through book reading in the context of the digital age. Qualitative in-person interviews were conducted with twenty-eight emerging adults, half of whom were seminary students and half of whom were campus ministry professionals. Half were women and half were men. The…

The purpose of this study was to determine: 1) Reality competition education quality of The State college of Islamic studies (STAIN) Pontianak after status change to the state institute of Islamic studies (IAIN) Pontianak, 2) Education quality management strategy of The State college of Islamic studies (STAIN) Pontianak after status change to the…

Most of the training material that Assemblies of God educators use in Latin America was originally written in English. Almost without exception nationals or missionaries translated the approved theology texts from English. While everyone contextualizes, the gospel message will not ever be completely at home in the Yucatan until the pastors think…

The most prevalent model of Catholic schools has always been and remains the parish elementary school. Catholic schools are not simply private schools but a faith based arm of a larger parish. The interconnected leadership of schools by pastors and principals is at the core of understanding the model and inseparable in long-term viability. The…