Resilience and Success of African American Pastors


Book Description

The content of this manuscript is research investigated for the resilience and success of pastors in the Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal denomination that has over six million members, to include over three-thousand pastors. The research is a phenomenological study designed to provide a narrative, interview of the participants to share their background, role, and day-to-day practices of the work of ministry as a senior pastor in this organization. The research will consist of seven to ten pastors selected from across the country, all African-American males, age groups ranging from 42 years to 72 years of age. The information will be gathered by personal interviews conducted by asking each of them the same questions to gather all the facts and data for this research design. The instrument used will be a recording device that will record all conversations that will be transcribed in writing verbatim. As the human instrument conducting this research, it will constitute travel, lodging, and scheduling of each participant that will give the researcher an intimate up and close contact with each participant. The information will be safeguarded, names will be protected and all information will be useful as a model example of what constitutes success for ministry and the tools and resources needed to maintain a healthy and productive state of mind to be resilient in leading the charge as clergymen in the field of ministry. It is with great joy and a privilege to conduct this interview with pastors serving in the Church of God in Christ.




Resilience and Success of African American Pastors


Book Description

The content of this manuscript is research investigated for the resilience and success of pastors in the Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal denomination that has over six million members, to include over three-thousand pastors. The research is a phenomenological study designed to provide a narrative, interview of the participants to share their background, role, and day-to-day practices of the work of ministry as a senior pastor in this organization. The research will consist of seven to ten pastors selected from across the country, all African-American males, age groups ranging from 42 years to 72 years of age. The information will be gathered by personal interviews conducted by asking each of them the same questions to gather all the facts and data for this research design. The instrument used will be a recording device that will record all conversations that will be transcribed in writing verbatim. As the human instrument conducting this research, it will constitute travel, lodging, and scheduling of each participant that will give the researcher an intimate up and close contact with each participant. The information will be safeguarded, names will be protected and all information will be useful as a model example of what constitutes success for ministry and the tools and resources needed to maintain a healthy and productive state of mind to be resilient in leading the charge as clergymen in the field of ministry. It is with great joy and a privilege to conduct this interview with pastors serving in the Church of God in Christ.




Resilient Ministry


Book Description

Why does one well-equipped, well-meaning person in ministry succeed while another fails? Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman and Donald Guthrie undertook a five-year intensive research project on the frontlines of pastoral ministry to answer that question. What they found was nothing less than the DNA of thriving ministry today.




Building on Resilience


Book Description

How do we fix the leaky educational pipeline into a conduit of success for Black males?That the issue is critical is demonstrated by the statistics that only 10% of Black males in the United States are proficient in 8th grade reading, only 52% graduate from high school within four years, and only 35 percent graduate from college.This book uniquely examines the trajectory of Black males through the educational pipeline from pre-school through college. In doing so it not only contributes significantly to the scholarship on the experiences of this population, but bridges the gap between theory and practice to provide frameworks and models that will improve these young men’s educational outcomes throughout their educational journeys.A compelling feature of the book is that that it does not treat Black males as homogeneous, but recognizes the diversity that exists among Black males in various educational settings. It demonstrates the need to recognize students’ intersectionalities and individual characteristics as an essential preliminary to developing practices to improve outcomes at every educational stage.Throughout, the contributing authors also focus on the strategies and experiences of Black males who achieve academic excellence, examining growth-producing and asset-based practices that can be sustained, and that build upon the recognition that these males have agency and possess qualities such as resilience that are essential to their learning and development. The frameworks and models that conclude each chapter are equally commendable to K–12 educators and administrators; higher education faculty, student affairs practitioners, and administrators; and policymakers, for whom templates are provided for rectifying the continuing inequities of our educational system.




African American Male Academic Success


Book Description

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of 10 selected academically successful African American male leaders. In this study, "academic success" was defined as these African American men who attained a master's or postgraduate degree such as a M.D., Ph.D., or J.D. Even though there is bountiful research on the deficiencies in the lives of African American males, it is still unclear what conditions lead African American men to higher educational attainment. The goal of this study was to also add to the deficient, ever-emerging body of research in the area of African American male educational attainment, while providing viable solutions that speak to the plights of African American males from all educational backgrounds and experiences. Using a basic interpretive qualitative inquiry format, the research questions focused on (a) how professional and familial social capital is related to academic success, (b) the participant's perception of the role of resilience in the pursuit of academic attainment, and (c) how does self-efficacy influence academic success for these African American male participants? This research analyzed recurring themes from these participants, who were solicited because they can provide expert testimony on how an African American male can achieve academically. The inquiry produced three recurring themes: Self-Belief and Identity, Social Network and Support, and Faith, Spirituality, and Inspiration. After a comprehensive qualitative analysis of the themes, the following categories emerged: Resilience Over Faulty Mindsets; Competition; Above Mediocrity; Social Network and Support; Family; Positive Influences, Mentors, and Peers; Opportunities; Faith, Spirituality, and Inspiration; Faith in a Higher Power; and Historical Responsibility. All the participants identified Social Network and Support as a major factor in their academic success. Most participants credited a parent, peer, mentor, or teacher as the most influential person that helped them throughout their educational pursuits.




Addiction Recovery and Resilience


Book Description

We live in an era of substance misuse colliding with public health shortcomings. Consequences of mass incarceration and other racial disparities of the "drug war" are felt acutely in the neighborhoods and communities least equipped to deal with them. More than 600,000 people are released from US prisons each year; nearly two-thirds of returning citizens have a substance use disorder (SUD) and have limited access to treatment. Even among the general public, only one in ten people with SUD receive any type of specialty treatment. Community organizations make important contributions to improve access and help to heal these societal fractures. Using a social ecology of resilience model, Addiction Recovery and Resilience is a yearslong ethnographic case study of a faith-based health organization with a focus on long-term recovery. It explores the organization's triumphs and missteps as it has worked to respond to the opioid crisis and improve the health of affiliates and the neighborhood for nearly twenty years. Addiction Recovery and Resilience concludes with best practices for individual, organizational, and community health and public policy at a time when nontraditional health care providers are increasingly important.




A Lynched Black Wall Street


Book Description

This book remembers one hundred years since Black Wall Street and it reflects on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Black Wall Street was the most successful Black business district in the United States; yet, it was isolated from the blooming white oil town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, because of racism. During the early twentieth century African-Americans lived in the constant threat of extreme violence by white supremacy, lynching, and Jim and Jane Crow laws. The text explores, through a Womanist lens, the moral dilemma of Black ontology and the existential crisis of living in America as equal human beings to white Americans. This prosperous Black business district and residential community was lynched by white terror, hate, jealousy, and hegemonic power, using unjust laws and a legally sanctioned white mob. Terrorism operated historically based on the lies of Black inferiority with the support of law and white supremacy. Today this same precedence continues to terrorize the life experiences of African-Americans. The research examines Native Americans and African-Americans, the Black migration west, the role of religion, Black women's contributions, lynching, and the continued resilience of Black Americans.




Teaching Black Girls


Book Description

This book focuses on the pedagogical and educational needs of poor and working-class African American female students.




African Pentecostalism, the Bible, and Cultural Resilience


Book Description

"This volume, based on a PhD thesis submitted to the University of Zimbabwe, investigates the resilience of Shona religion and culture among ZAOGA Pentecostal Christians. Whereas the Pentecostal ideology suggests that 'old things' have passed away, it appears that 'old things' continue to have high significance for the 'new'. The book demonstrates how belief in avenging spirits, witches and witchcraft, value of words spoken prior to death, the role, status and significance of women, belief in unnatural events, liturgy and salvation have remained relevant to the lives of ZAOGA Shona converts. The patterns of continuity, discontinuity, extension, collaboration, contradiction, re-interpretation and rejection between Shona traditional religion and culture and ZAOGA are explored, challenging the framing of African Pentecostalism as a mere imitation and parroting of US theology. The conclusion is that while ZAOGA self-consciously presents itself as a sophisticated, trans-national and progressive Pentecostal movement, members continue to wrestle with Shona indigenous beliefs and practices. An African womanist framework is adapted to challenge ZAOGA to promote the well-being of women." --




Crushing


Book Description

Follow God's process for growth and learn how you can benefit from life's challenging experiences with this book by bestselling inspirational author T.D. Jakes. In this insightful book, #1 New York Times bestselling author T.D. Jakes wrestles with the age-old questions: Why do the righteous suffer? Where is God in all the injustice? In his most personal offering yet, Bishop Jakes tells crushing stories from his own journey-the painful experience of learning his young teenage daughter was pregnant, the agony of watching his mother succumb to Alzheimer's, and the shock and helplessness he felt when his son had a heart attack. Bishop Jakes wants to encourage you that God uses difficult, crushing experiences to prepare you for unexpected blessings. If you are faithful through suffering, you will be surprised by God's joy, comforted by His peace, and fulfilled with His purpose. Crushing will inspire you to have hope, even in your most difficult moments. If you trust in God and lean on Him during setbacks, He will lead you through.