Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

8-2010

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Graduate School of Theology

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

David W. Wray

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Jeff W. Childers

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Charles Siburt

Abstract

This thesis presents the results of a project designed to address a malformed spirituality of generosity at the Highland Oaks Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. This intervention employed a team of Highland Oaks' members representing a cross-section of the church. This 13-member team met for a spiritual retreat in September 2006 for crafting a 2-year, repeatable, spiritual formation pathway to cultivate authentic generosity in the hearts of God's people at Highland Oaks. Through interaction in the retreat, a repeatable, two-year spiritual formation pathway was crafted through which generosity could be cultivated in the hearts of the people at Highland Oaks. Evaluation of the project yielded the following conclusions: 1) Theology rooted in God's generosity shown in creation, the sending of Christ, and the invitation to life with Him through the Holy Spirit is essential to the cultivation of generosity, 2) Generosity is a fruit of God's Spirit, thus cultivation of broader life in the Spirit is vital. 3) A multifaceted approach is needed to be effective, 4) Engagement with particular spiritual disciplines repeatedly over time was the method most likely to cultivate authentic generosity.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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