Browsing by Subject "Clergy"
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Item A study of ministerial students through the use of the thematic apperception test(Texas Tech University, 1956-08) Massey, Gilmore HaroldNot availableItem Built upon the Tower of Babel : language policy and the clergy in Bourbon Mexico(2016-05) Zakaib, Susan Blue; Deans-Smith, Susan, 1953-; Twinam, Ann; Butler, Matthew; Garrard-Burnett, Virginia; McDonough, KellyThis dissertation provides the first in-depth analysis of the “Bourbon language reforms”—a series of royal and ecclesiastical policies aimed at spreading the Spanish language in New Spain (now Mexico), enacted primarily between the 1750s and 1770s under the rule of the Bourbon dynasty. The limited scholarship on these reforms has assumed that a monolithic Bourbon state sought to mold a monolingual, Spanish-speaking empire. It has also suggested that creoles (American-born Spaniards), mendicants (Franciscan, Dominican and Augustinian friars), indigenous peoples, or some combination thereof responded by uniformly opposing the Bourbon state’s oppressive measures. I challenge both of these arguments by analyzing the central Mexican Catholic Church’s “language regime”—not only official policies, but also their historical context, and predominant ideologies about indigenous languages and their speakers—between 1700 and 1821. I demonstrate that indigenous languages were deeply integrated into the inner workings of the Church—not only its religious services, but also its bureaucracy and hierarchy. Native language competency helped to determine clerics’ career paths, forge socioeconomic hierarchies within the Church, and shape political disputes between warring royal and ecclesiastical factions. This key role of native languages in the Church helped induce the Bourbon language reforms. In spite of the reform effort, however, native languages continued to play a critical role in ecclesiastical administration through the end of the colonial period. This was due in large part to the fact that the Bourbon state did not seek uniformly to eradicate these languages; indeed, royal and ecclesiastical authorities could not even agree on precisely what their language policy should entail. Few priests (creole or not) felt the need to resist a reform effort that was contradictory, piecemeal, and of limited consequence for the Church. Contrary to many scholars’ assumptions, these findings indicate that modern Mexico’s linguistic inequality is not a persistent vestige of colonial policy. Instead, 18th-century language policy was only an early step in a centuries-long process leading to today’s particular brand of linguistic discrimination.Item Congregants' responses to clergy pornography addiction(Texas Tech University, 2008-05) Joiner, LynnAnne MichellePornography addiction has been identified as a form of sexual addiction and, although no solid prevalence rates exist, it is believed to be one of the most common forms of sexual addiction among clergy. Even though pornography addiction involves no direct offense against others, congregants are considered secondary victims of clergy’s sexual difficulties. This is supported by bioecological and systems theories which assume that individuals (clergy) are impacted by and have an influence on the systems and contexts in which they operate (church congregations). Despite this, no empirical investigations on congregants’ reactions to clergy pornography addiction exist. This is an exploratory study designed to gain initial information regarding congregants’ judgments and beliefs about clergy addicted to pornography. This study involved 233 surveys from undergraduate students at a private Christian university. Participants were surveyed about their perceptions of the character of clergy with no addictions, pornography addiction, and alcohol addiction. Their beliefs about how the clergy member should respond to the addiction and how the congregation should respond to the clergy member’s situation were also assessed. Results suggest that congregants give clergy with addiction lower trait ratings than those without addiction. However, they do not judge the character of clergy with pornography addiction more harshly than those with alcohol addiction. Surprisingly, participants rated married clergy more highly than single clergy on scales of character traits regardless of the presence of addiction. In addition, congregants believed clergy with both types of addiction should disclose their struggle to another person and receive professional help. They did not believe the addiction should be disclosed to the entire congregation, nor did they think the congregation’s funds should be used to help pay for professional treatment. Participants believed the cleric’s ability to do his job would be affected by his addiction, but did not think he should be removed from his position. These beliefs did not differ between types of addiction, as hypothesized. The study has several implications. Participants’ willingness to remain under the leadership of clergy with addictions may provide a sense of acceptance for clergy dealing with shame from their addiction and provide opportunities for open dialogue. This conversation, however, may be mitigated by congregants’ reluctance to have the addiction disclosed to the congregation. Thus systemically trained mental health professionals may play a vital role in facilitating healthy discussion among congregations affected by clergy pornography addiction. Further conclusions and implications of this study are given.Item Interfaith marriage counseling: Perspectives and practices among Christian Ministers(2011-05) Chapman, Kyle A.; Johnson, Paul; Dunham, Charlotte C.Members of the clergy provide a unique perspective to couples entering pre-marital counseling. The basis for most insights provided by the counseling is derived from church policies and procedures as well as personal and professional opinions and experience. When individuals in a relationship come from different faiths, guidelines and policy may differ or may even be contradictory, and these differences may have a direct effect on the delivery, substance, and outcome of premarital counseling. These differences may thus have an indirect effect on the effectiveness of the premarital preparation. The purpose of this study is to explore and identify differences among clergy/ministers in their practices and beliefs concerning the counseling of couples composed of one Christian and one non-Christian as well as demonstrate how those in interfaith marriages are different than couples from different Christian traditions. More specifically, the study will examine the degree to which religious policies and procedures as well as clergy’s own personal and professional opinions and empathy affect the challenge to accommodate interfaith couples. The study will also examine the difficulties that occur when a minister must serve in a religious advisory role given their individual stance on religious intermarriage.Item The Emotional and Spiritual Dimensions of Being a Pastor: Authenticity and Identity(2011-10-21) Otey, Penny AddisonEmotional labor and its influence on authenticity and identity amongst human service workers has been the focus of numerous studies. Often these studies viewed identity as a stable sense of self. This study set out to examine emotional labor amongst clergy and how it may differ from the emotional labor experienced in other occupations, with the premise that individuals have multiple identities that shift and change depending on the situational context. A thematic analysis of interviews conducted with twenty-seven clergy and a textual analysis of denominational/church texts was conducted to examine the following ideas: 1) how clergy negotiated tensions of authenticity and identity in their work; 2) how clergy described the spiritual and emotional dimensions of their work; 3) how denominational texts address issues of spiritual and emotional labor; and, 4) if clergy felt enabled and/or constrained by denominational standards and beliefs. The results of this study indicated that emotional and spiritual labor amongst clergy is unique for several reasons. One, the emotional labor clergy engaged in served a positive function because they see it as means of helping others. Second, clergy were aware that emotional labor was intrinsic to the job and they engaged in activities to preempt or manage the tension they felt when the job required them to mask their true feelings and display organizationally preferred feelings. Finally, clergy enjoyed the spiritual dimension of their jobs; thus they were engaged in spiritual work (authentic spirituality), not spiritual labor (inauthentic spirituality). Results also indicated that denominational texts did convey a preferred identity or ideal for how pastors should behave. Pastors indicated that the denominational expectations and guidelines for pastors both enabled and constrained them. The majority of the pastors felt the freedom to disagree civilly and the denomination/church provided venues in which pastors could communicate their dissenting views. However, in some cases, pastors felt the denominational guidelines for the "ideal pastor" were in conflict with how they saw their own role as pastor and they left the denomination. Results also revealed how pastors? identities shifted and changed as the context in which they were ministering changed.