Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
4-2024
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2509-8509
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Jackie Halstead
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
B.J. McMichael
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Jon D. Schwiethale
Abstract
Abstract The aim of this multicase study dissertation research was to examine the experiences, perceptions, and feelings of pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention who completed their undergraduate degrees from a Southern Baptist Convention higher education institution. Participants of the study had 3–10 years of full-time church ministry experience in local Southern Baptist Convention affiliated churches and had not yet attended graduate school or seminary. These qualifiers were placed on the selection process to allow the discovery of a possible gap between the pastor’s higher education experience and the practical ministry training required for their first local church ministry. Two themes emerged from the undergraduate experiences of participants. First, relationships with university professors and their peers were paramount in terms of mentoring the pastors and having someone to discuss ministry questions. Second, the pastors desired more hands-on experiences in their higher education programs, including experiential learning, real-world ministry experiences, and internships.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Morrison, Barton D., "Exploring a Potential Preparedness Gap Between Undergraduate Ministry Programs and Real-Life Ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention" (2024). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 765.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/765