Program

Doctor of Ministry

Number of Pages

264

Year Approved

2025

First Advisor

Parolini, Jeanine

Second Reader

Katie Friesen Smith; Joshua Carroll

Abstract

This research focuses on the lack of practices that address emotional anxiety in rural church attendees in Southwestern Iowa caused by the apparent absence of control over situations that require trusting divine sovereignty or human free will. The research theorized that the anxiety of rural church attendees in Southwestern Iowa is caused by inadequate control over adverse situations. As a result, adverse impacts were always considered harmful. However, according to Scripture, what an individual perceives as harmful is always used by God for their good in some manner. Thus, anxiety seems rooted in a desire to avoid perceived harm rather than trusting that God is working for their ultimate good. This qualitative research employed surveys, pre-interview questionnaires, interviews, post-interview questionnaires, and thirteen case studies to examine the spectrum of emotional anxiety impacting a rural church. Incorporation into the research is an examination of Bowen Family System Theory, Romans 9:1-24 and Ephesians 2:1-10 to develop an understanding of divine sovereignty and human free will in which to modify Bowen Family System Theory, specifically emotional triangles, to incorporate God as rescuer and indweller. The modified emotional triangle is proposed as the basis for alleviating anxiety by developing the practice of trusting divine sovereignty to guide human free will through spiritual and cognitive fusion.

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

Document Type

Doctoral thesis

Terms of Use and License Information

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

Download

Included in

Christianity Commons

Share

COinS