From the walking dead to living for Christ: developing a new mindset in a church community

133 Pages·2017·1.15 MB·English

by  Karafanda, Shannon E.

Boston University
OpenBU http://open.bu.edu
Theses & Dissertations Boston University Theses & Dissertations
2018
From the walking dead to living for
Christ: developing a new mindset
in a church community
https://hdl.handle.net/2144/27346
Boston University
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

Project Thesis

FROM THE WALKING DEAD TO LIVING FOR CHRIST:
DEVELOPING A NEW MINDSET IN A CHURCH COMMUNITY

by

SHANNON E. KARAFANDA

B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1995
M. Div., Emory University, 2005

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Ministry
2018
© Copyright by
SHANNON E. KARAFANDA
2018
Approved by

Project Thesis Advisor _______________________________________________
Dr. Bryan P. Stone, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs,
E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism
Dedication
This work is dedicated to the memory of Rev. Allan Todd who nicknamed me
“Dr. K.” I’ve been called a lot of things in my life but that one makes me smile. Now that
I’ve earned it, my smile is much bigger. This work is also dedicated to Jill Fair. I never
thought a book suggestion over chips and salsa would lead me down this path. Thank you
for your faith, your friendship, and growth mindset – it is truly transforming.

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Acknowledgements
There is no way to express enough of my gratitude to the people of Cornerstone
United Methodist Church for their love and support during my classes, research, and
writing for this doctorate program. I hope that they have seen the fruit of this labor and
that they have a lasting reminder of growth mindset in all of their ministries. I would
especially like to thank Rev. Rick Price for his encouragement in starting this program.
Sometimes you just need someone to say, “Its time.” May I do the same for someone else
in the future. I’d also like to thank Rev. Dr. Scott Pickering for use of your personal
library as well as all the helpful information regarding leadership and emotional
intelligence. To those people in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist
Church, the Boston University School of Theology D.Min Cohorts and professors, and
the too many others who listened as I rambled on about growth mindset and helped me
think of ways to bring this to the church: thank you. Finally to my family, thank you for
allowing me the time to do this. It has been good for my soul. I love you.

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FROM THE WALKING DEAD TO LIVING FOR CHRIST:
DEVELOPING A NEW MINDSET IN A CHURCH COMMUNITY

SHANNON KARAFANDA
Boston University School of Theology Author, 2017
Project Thesis Advisor: Dr. Bryan P. Stone, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, E.
Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism

ABSTRACT
Cornerstone is a United Methodist congregation in Coweta County, Georgia, with
a desire to reach its changing community, but which has stagnated recently in doing so.
This project thesis builds upon Carol Dweck’s mindset research, which emphasizes an
intermediate step between the desire to reach a goal and the realization of that goal
breaking the hold of a fixed mindset by introducing key aspects of a growth mindset. This
thesis articulates and analyzes the design of a curriculum for lay leaders implemented at
Cornerstone that develops this new mindset so that the church can reconnect more fully
with its community.

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Table of Contents
List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... x
Chapter One ........................................................................................................................ 1
Leadership Problem Currently in Place .......................................................................... 1
The UMC and Leadership Development ........................................................................ 3
Order of Deacons ............................................................................................................ 5
Community History and Context .................................................................................... 7
Cornerstone Today ........................................................................................................ 12
Ongoing Improvement .................................................................................................. 23
Opportunity for Transformational Leadership .............................................................. 24
Chapter Two...................................................................................................................... 27
Literature Review.......................................................................................................... 27
Chapter Three.................................................................................................................... 52
Methodology ................................................................................................................. 52
Curriculum Analysis: .................................................................................................... 54
Session One: Exploring Leadership: ......................................................................... 54
Session Two: Leaders Know Themselves ................................................................ 62
Session Three: Leaders know God ........................................................................... 67
Session Four: Leaders are Learners .......................................................................... 70
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Session Five: Leaders Lead Now .............................................................................. 74
Session Six: Leaders Focus on Others: ..................................................................... 76
Session Seven: Field trip ........................................................................................... 79
Session Eight: Moving Forward ............................................................................... 80
Class Goals: .................................................................................................................. 82
Chapter Four ..................................................................................................................... 84
Results ........................................................................................................................... 84
Parallels to Wesleyan Theology and Leadership .......................................................... 86
The Importance of Storytelling: .................................................................................... 88
Contextual Mindset: ...................................................................................................... 89
Intrinsic Motivation: ..................................................................................................... 92
Effective Effort Rubric: ................................................................................................ 93
Challenges: ................................................................................................................ 94
Overcoming Obstacles: ............................................................................................. 96
Effort ......................................................................................................................... 98
Criticism .................................................................................................................. 102
Success of others: .................................................................................................... 104
Growth Mindset as Spiritual Practice: ........................................................................ 106
Keep Moving Forward (Recommendations) .............................................................. 108
viii
Creating a culture: ....................................................................................................... 110
Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 113
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 115
CV ................................................................................................................................... 119

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