Tag: CM

Sophia Choat

Religious Belonging in Eugene, Oregon

Belonging is a blessing to the church that knows how to invite others into it well and a curse to the individual who does not feel as though they belong. Churches that practice and encourage belonging will not only be healthier but also will withstand the dechurching epidemic. There are many layers to understanding why this may be a hard practice for some of us, with important landmark events like the COVID-19 pandemic escalating what was only – at one point – boiling under the surface. 

The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the impact of the pandemic on churches and emphasize the significance of belonging within a church community. To further explore these themes, I have conducted qualitative interviews with six local pastors to gain insight into what belonging in a church in Eugene, Oregon entails post-pandemic.

CM 499, Senior Capstone

Agam Iheanyi-Igwe

L204

2 – 2:30 PM

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Emmett Stevens

Persecution or Christian Nationalism: The Christian Way

This paper will examine how faith in the context of church persecution is meant to inform the understanding of Christianity in American Christian culture. Using sources from theologians, peer-reviewed research, testimonials, biblical passages, and other historical sources and articles, the essay explores what persecution for faith looks like in modern times and ancient times, followed by defining features of Christian nationalism, and how the persecuted expression of faith seems to be incongruent with the views of Christian Nationalism and nationalistic positions. 

CM 499, Senior Capstone

Agam Iheanyi-Igwe

L204

2:30 – 3 PM

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Braden Abbott

Effective Pastoral Care for Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Multigenerational Communities

What is effective pastoral care for baby boomers, generation x, millennials, and multigenerational communities? This research question has been the focus of my capstone since the beginning of the semester. As a Christian ministries major with a focus in pastoral ministry, I know that most of my time throughout my career will be spent providing spiritual care to those around me. It is obvious that this is a topic that will help me prepare for this task, but what if I told you that this topic is relevant to every church-going Christian? Pastoral care is an overlooked area of mental health which has the potential to help anyone struggling with things like depression, anxiety, life transitions, meaning making, and more. Finding a working definition of this concept and applying it to different populations is essential for its effective practice. Once this is established, effective pastoral care can be applied to a broad sociological profile for each of the generations mentioned in the research question. Finally, all this research will be applied to a multigenerational community such as a church serving multiple age groups in relationship. The findings of this capstone will prepare me to be a more effective practitioner of pastoral care and allow anyone in the audience to better understand how pastoral care can help them, regardless of the generational cohort they belong to or the experiences they have had throughout their lives.

CM499- Senior Capstone

Dr. Agam Iheanyi-Igwe

3:30pm – Bucher Room

Isaac Johnston

Worship: The Key to Spiritual Formation and the Heart of Discipleship

This project shows how an individual’s view of worship impacts their spiritual maturity. This paper will define the terms “worship” and “liturgy,” walk through transforming uses of liturgy to direct our worship in a congregational setting, and show how liturgy can form and point our individual worship to God in day-to-day life. In these things we will find the key to becoming like Christ for our personal spiritual formation and our discipleship of others.

CM 499 – Senior Capstone

Dr. Agam Iheanyi-Igwe

4pm – Bucher Room

Tyler King

Remember and the Bible

Remembering is a major theme of the Hebrew Bible from altars to Israelites forgetting, and this theme persists into the New Testament. What can we learn about God through seeing how the word remember is used in the New Testament and how does that affect our walk with God? The words remember remind and forget come up eighty different times in the New Testament making them a central piece of these letters therefore christians should pay attention to how they are used. Some lessons that can be learned from examining how these themes are used are, praying for the persecuted church, dwelling on scripture, using physical reminders, having mentors/mentees, and more.

CM 499 – Senior Capstone

Dr. Agam Iheanyi-Igwe

3pm – Bucher Room

Conner Borigo

Mentoring in Female Sports
This project focuses on how mentoring in middle school female basketball is desired to help said athletes to navigate the challenges of being an adolescent female athlete in a male dominated sport. I examine the problem with young women in sports by identifying the internal and external factors that could affect their mental and physical well-being. I also look into the women’s history in general and in respect to athletics. I give a biblical perspective of mentorship from Paul and Timothy’s relationship in 2 Timothy 1-4, and give a model of a successful modern mentorship. With the help of personal interviews with both a mentor and mentee in the local area, this research project will give insight on how to mentor young female basketball athletes.
CM 499, Capstone
Agametochukwu D. Iheanyi-Igwe
P103
10:30 – 11 AM
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Taylorann Matz

Homeless Adolescents and Faith
This project seeks inform listeners on how faith contributes to the development in homeless adolescents through a general overview of sources. Homeless adolescents need to have a sense of belonging to a group, a sense of hope, a sense of being loved, and a sense of purpose. This project looks at a biblical approach to addressing these needs with in a shelter environment.
Keywords: homeless, adolescents, faith, development
CM 499, Capstone
Agametochukwu D. Iheanyi-Igwe
P103
11 – 11:30 AM
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Jonathan Sprouse

Social Media and the Church
This presentation will assess the use of social media by churches with the studies and knowledge of social media addiction. Several studies have been conducted on the use of social media and its effect on public health, however little has been done to study if the Christian Church should knowingly utilize these tools if they are addicting. This presentation will assess what social media is along with its benefits and downfalls. Additionally the presentation will address the downfalls of social media with what the scriptures of the Bible tell how we should respond. It is hoped that this presentation will inform church workers on how to use the tools of social media properly with the understanding of the Word.
CM 499, Capstone
Agametochukwu D. Iheanyi-Igwe
P103
11:30 – Noon
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Scholar Lunch

Come to L203 at noon. If you’re one of the first to arrive, you can have free pizza. The meal’s entertainment consists of five minute talks by representatives from majors and minors across campus. Speakers will take a single idea they learned from their major or minor coursework, explain it, explain why it’s useful or beautiful, and explain why they personally love it. Scheduled speakers:

  • Annie Anderson, Music
  • Michael Buss, Communication
  • Jessica Garner, Accounting
  • Kelsey Hansen, Psychology
  • Bri Jury, Spanish
  • Stephen Kaelin, History
  • Gabe Piechowicz, Christian Ministry
  • Laurie Salness, English

L203

Noon – 1 PM

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Ryan Bates

7 Key Characteristics of Succesful Church Plants

The purpose of this paper is to provide church planters with a tool to help them do better with what they feel called to do. Close to one-third of church plants don’t make it to year 5, and the majority that do remain small and struggling, and this paper is to help church plants to continue to grow and flourish. This paper identifies seven key areas that are essential for church success, and goes into detail on how new plants can utilize them. The seven key areas are; Community Driven, Teamwork and Togetherness, Strong Vision, the Importance and Reality of the Gospel, an Evangelical Focus, Proper Marketing, and Strong Leadership. This paper goes in depth on how these seven characteristics are essential for today’s church planter, and looks at multiple different models of ministry that use these characteristics successfully.

CM 499, Capstone

Terry O’Casey

P103

11:30 AM – Noon

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Mitchell Davis & Alec Duncan

The Church & Youth Identity Formation

At the core of any human is their self-identity. The process of identity formation happens primarily during one’s youth. The culture of our world today is damaging for youth identity formation. Social Media and the entertainment industry promote unhealthy lifestyles and cause youth to form their identities around unhealthy things. Our hope with this study is to give churches a look into what they can do to help students form their identities around God instead of the world.  First research was done in the area of identity formation, exploring different theories on how identity is formed in the human mind. Next, we studied adolescent culture in the past and present day. After identifying key influences on identity formation, we looked at how the church can answer the questions running around the minds of young students struggling to find their identity. Our main conclusions are that the Church needs to be a place where students can find their purpose in Christ, unconditional love, and relationships with older believers who can mentor them.

CM 499, Capstone

Terry O’Casey

P103

11 – 11:30 AM

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Kristyn Dodge

“I Answered His Call: Women in Senior Pastoral Roles”

Despite the leaps and bounds that have been made in reinventing gender roles for women in the home, workplace, and public service, one area in which women continually find themselves being obstructed is that of pastoral ministry. Due to traditional views on women that can be traced back to pre-Hellenistic Middle Eastern social constructs, women who are called to preach or serve as senior pastors face massive criticism and are prevented from fulfilling their calling. One of the sources such critics turn to for their obstruction is scripture itself. Using scripture to justify the obstruction of women in pastoral ministry is to commit eisegesis as opposed to exegesis. This is not just a Christian problem, however, but a religious problem across the board. In this presentation we see this manifested in three case studies: Rabbi Sally Pritchard, the first female rabbi of the American Jewish community; Mother Superior Mary Clare Millea, an abbess and Vatican advocate with a PhD. in Canon Law; and the Right Reverend Vashti Murphy McKenzie, Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. By reviewing each of these American women of different faiths we see that despite their religious differences, they each tell a story of a contemporary woman who had to overcome traditional viewpoints and misapplication of scripture to answer God’s call to serve Him in pastoral ministry.

CM 499, Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

P114

3:30 – 4 PM

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Scholar Lunch

Come to L203 at noon. If you’re one of the first to arrive, you can have free pizza. The meal’s entertainment consists of five minute talks by representatives from majors and minors across campus. Speakers will take a single idea they learned from their major or minor coursework, explain it, explain why it’s useful or beautiful, and explain why they personally love it. Scheduled speakers:

  • Calvin Anderson, Christian Ministry
  • Austin Dame, Business
  • Ben Drach, Biology
  • Colby Hanson, Communication
  • Zoe Herron, English
  • Delaney McMahon, Music & Worship Arts
  • Sam Nervino, Exercise Science
  • Chelsea Taylor, Psychology

L203

Noon – 1 PM

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Chloe Combs & Joseph Laurendeau

Redefining Communication and Education Through Storytelling and the Arts.

The majority of the world’s population identify as oral learners, meaning they more effectively understand and exchange information by means other than reading and writing. Despite this fact, oral communication has become a lost art over the years. Education systems and daily human interaction have come to rely on technology and print communication almost exclusively. This presentation focuses on the power and importance of orality-based communication, and addresses the benefits and validity of storytelling and the arts in education.

CM 499, Capstone

Terry O’Casey

P114

10 – 10:30 AM

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Calvin Anderson

The Injustice of Youth Homelessness

Homeless youth are typically between the ages of 12-24. Youth are homeless for a number of reasons, including aging out of the foster care system, getting kicked out of their homes, running to the streets due to abusive home lives, addictions to drugs and alcohol, and growing up in homeless families. Youth must learn to survive on the street, leading many to engage in risky behaviors such as survival sex and crime. Local to Eugene, there are hundreds of homeless youth, and thousands of homeless individuals. Nationally, there are millions. Youth homelessness is one of the greatest injustices in the 21st century. Society, specifically Jesus followers, must come together to help get homeless youth off the streets permanently. Jesus was near to the poor, and we must also be near to the poor. Although there are many long term remedies to helping homeless youth discover life, one immediate remedy is to teach them social skills and give them joyful experiences in community outings. Community outings are about reconciling youth back to society in a fun way, while teaching them vital life skills that will aid their future.

CM 499 Capstone

Terry O’Casey

PFB 114

11:00 – 11:30 AM

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