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The pursuit of this action research project is to construct a leadership growth plan for Christian and Missionary Alliance churches experiencing a decline in their local church or slow church plant growth for the sustainability of the local church in the Alliance movement.

The Harvest House of Hope (HHH) located in the inner-city of San Bernardino, Ca offers a mission services ministry to their community, they had become inactive in their community outreach missions. The ministry concerns of HHH surround the subject of spiritual transformation and the role of the church in community outreach. The purpose of this project is to educate the men, women, and children of Harvest House of Hope on the value of mission services, in hopes to drive them towards the spirit of community outreach. The proposed educational component included a theological structure built upon the Holy Scripture, as it pertained to caring for the homeless, underprivileged, and poverty-ridden community, built on the foundation of love, compassion and commitment. This project will investigate the effectiveness of the preaching, teaching, training and implementation of the intervention design. The results of this project gained through research of books, journals, Scripture, and data from focus groups, interviews and questionnaires will enable HHH to redefine the specific causes of inactivity as it pertains to community outreach and project the need for further study.

The Prison Industrial Complex impacts 2.3 million people, affects the poor, and the nation's minority family's ability to retain a sense of unity. These data impact community health with the absence of the father figures, lack of power to gain viable income, and in some cases, the right to vote. The issue decimates African American young men. This topic is needed because the research suggests a cyclic nature of excavation of human capital by incarceration and is depleting communities of capital by jailing wage earners from the Black community. Voting capital is dwindling in some states where felony crimes remove the individual right to vote. The Trump administration signed First Step legislation aligned with the relief of the reported 77 percent of federal and 38 percent of state released prisoners experience rearrests within five years. How can the church build an anti-recidivism ministry model using the testimonials of successful ex-offenders, justice system professionals, input from pastors, and other community stakeholders? The mixed-method applied collected data and validated narratives and coding responses through Atlasti software. Guided survey questions for all participants produced contrasting perspectives to validate ex-offender audio-recorded interviews. This process removed blind spots to the truth, and facilitated the booklet Relocation and Reentry, and provided contextualized relevant curriculum for strategic evangelism before, during, and after incarceration. Community stakeholders, non-profits, and pastors will find it easier to collaborate on the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment for the least of these (Mt 28:19-20; 22:36-40; 25: 31-46).

An internal time keeping mechanism known as the circadian clock allows organisms to anticipate changes in the environment (Michael et al., 2003; Dodd, 2005). Environmental stressors have been shown to disrupt the circadian clock so it cannot accurately predict those changes. For example, a previous study revealed that a Pseudomonas syringae infection altered the clock, leading to long period and dampened circadian rhythms (Li et al., 2018). These clock phenotypes were triggered by host and pathogen responses (Li et al., 2018). In this thesis, we explored the molecular mechanisms that regulate the observed clock phenotypes upon infection. We found that pathogen-triggered responses directly target clock components, which likely results in the observed clock phenotypes. Such results suggest that, at least in plants, the outcome of host-pathogen interactions relies on the control of the circadian clock function.

Alcohol addiction is a pervasive ill within our society with detrimental bio-psycho-social outcomes. Unfortunately, the Baptist churches or more specifically those churches who are members of the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGVA) are not immune to seeing the devastation of this disease, including the spiritual impact. Pastors may find themselves in the role of "first responder" unprepared to fully address this issue. This study explored, through a web-based questionnaire, how those churches associated with the BGVA are currently addressing alcoholism and if pastors would find a referral tool helpful to connect members with professional therapists. It is widely accepted that clinical therapy, along with spiritual guidance, can be effective in altering the course of one's addiction to alcohol. This study examined how some BGVA Baptist pastors, when confronted with members using alcohol, are prepared to assess and willing to provide appropriate guidance for clinical intervention. The results showed that while some referrals are being made to therapists, the Baptist pastors who are in this study would find a referral tool helpful when members present with alcohol misuse

Isang Yun's violin concerti imitate the sound of Korean folk instruments (kŏmunʼgo, haegŭm) but played on the violin.

Analyzes Album leaves, a set of five character pieces for piano (2001), Scherzino (street scenes of ovada) for solo piano (2010), and Four miniatures for piano four hands (2003).

Kingdom Authority Christian Center (KACC) is growing more attentive to the changing demographics in the world. It seeks to understand that as other countries and nations continue to diversify by race and ethnicity, change is needed. The problem is that KACC has no training curriculum designed to impact and employ change. A mixed-method approach will be applied to fix KACC's problem and the proposal of correspondence from People of the Dream. This thesis project will provide research from individual interviews, a population group, and an inside viewpoint from one of the people in the dream. This project will also add to the already training analysis provided by the many scholarly articles, peer reviews, and dissertations.

Blended families experience repeated divorce and contribute to the growth of dysfunctional families because churches do not have a dedicated biblically sound education that is specifically designed for blended families. Such an education, addressing issues representative of what blended families experience, will help establish blended families that follow the biblical model as stated in Colossians 3:18-21, with a submissive wife, a loving husband, and obedient children. Blended families will continue to struggle if they cannot access additional resources that will help them in dealing promptly with blended family issues as they surface, using God's precepts. Family therapists and counselors, including those who claim to be experts on blended family matters, cannot address blended family issues because they tend to apply solutions based on the traditional or nuclear family setting. The proposed education will equip blended families to prevent surfacing issues or promptly handle blended family issues that could result in repeated divorce or family members ending up in a dysfunctional state. This project will examine the need for such a proposed education.

"This dissertation evaluates the earliest phase of American engagement in the Pacific Ocean through a close examination of the fur-trading ship Columbia during the years 1787-93. I argue that Columbia established the dominant pattern of American commerce in the Pacific and, in doing so, played a significant role in the integration of disparate shores into a single Pacific World. This study also reconstructs her pioneering, yet understudied voyages in order to challenge a historiographical neglect of the eighteenth-century foundations of American empire in the Pacific. My research unfolds on three scales. First, Columbia reveals a series of interconnected local histories that hinge upon individuals in Boston, on the Northwest Coast of America, and in Canton. Second, her expeditions show how American merchants and sea captains leveraged transnational variations in trade to reorient the United States toward the commerce of the Pacific Ocean. Third, Columbia demonstrates how entrepreneurs of the Early Republic established a global trade circuit integrating the markets of the United States, the Pacific World, and China. This study also stresses the experimental nature of the Columbia expeditions. By reconstructing the financial outcomes of her voyages, I emphasize improvisation and adaptation as vital strategies in the development of a successful enterprise in the ocean hemisphere. Columbia's success inspired a new generation of investors, imitators, and innovators to pursue similar profits in the Pacific World."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

"This autoethnography critically examines my experiences with the Catholic Church, Catholic schools, organizational structures, and hierarchical relationships in order to make social and cultural connections that speak to the larger Catholic community. Through this research method I use my five year journey as an administrator at a Catholic elementary school with a predominately Latino population, in a conservative West Texas city to illuminate the obstacles involved with practicing critical democracy running counter to an hegemonic culture. I identify significant themes from my experiences that disclose the illusion of democracy found in the Church's organizational structures. In addition, I reveal the oppressive relationship between pastor and laity when clergy mistake their leadership position for a positions of superiority over the laity. Moreover, this study explores the struggles and successes involved utilizing critically-democratic pedagogy in an educational environment micro-managed by an oppressive leader and structure. This dissertation makes suggestions for Catholic school administrators attempting to introduce and sustain a critical democracy in their schools and challenges the Church to discontinue its discriminatory practices and re-envision a Church where ALL are truly welcome."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.

Compares solo instrumental sonatas by Girolamo Fantini, Biago Marini, and Dario Castello.

Analyzes three big band compositions of Thad Jones: To you, Three and one, and Cherry juice.

Combines elements of South Indian carnatic music, gospel, rhythm and blues, jazz fusion, and minimalism.