In the midst of preparing for my India trip, coaching Wesley’s tee ball team, and keeping up with my work at the church, I have been finishing the first three chapters of my dissertation…and I am finally finished!!! The long and rather academic title is “The Relationship Between Spiritual Transformation and Leadership Growth in a Pentecostal/Charismatic Context.” It is basiclly trying to understand the problem in ministry with leaders who a empowered by the Spirit for ministry, but end up in moral failure. My theory is that these leaders are Spirit-empowered by not Spirit-transformed.
You can read it online at:
http://derekvreeland.com/vreeland%20dissertation%20chapters%201-3.pdf
The week after I get back from India, I will head up to Asbury for my “Proposal Hearing.” The first three chapters of my dissertation (there will be five chapters in all) is call the dissertation proposal. I have to defend my work so far before a comittee at the seminary and then they will approve my project. The project is rather simple: I will interview about twenty pastors and ask them questions related to how their spiritual formation relates to their growth as a leader. That is all that I’m going to say in this blog…if you want to know more click the link above….it is a pdf file.
Hopefully my next post will be from India…..