title: Made in the Image of the Church: The Transmission of Church-Based Values
Creators: name: Dalseno, Michael Peter
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2003
Subjects: subject: christian education
subject: minister training
subject: Assemblies of God
subject: Australia
subject: values
subject: church-based values

description: Following the completion of four minor research projects as part of a doctoral program at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, the writer developed an interest in the church-based values and beliefs held by students in Ministry Training Colleges (MTCs). The four minor projects revealed that a strongly embedded culture seemed to exist within the Assemblies Of God (AOG) in Australia. The aim of this study was to investigate the transmission of church-based values to students in an AOG, Ministry Training College (MTC) context. It undertakes this task by asking five Research Questions: What values are transmitted in AOG church contexts? ; From what principal sources do the values come? ; Why are the values transmitted in AOG church contexts? ; How, and by what means, are these values transmitted? ; and How and why would students choose to acquire these values? After briefly describing the religious context in Australia, defining the meaning of values, and examining various models of transfer, the dissertation includes a review of the literature relevant to values processes. The review is organized according to the Research Questions. From this, a theoretical explanation is produced that anticipates how values processes may impact on MTC students in an AOG context. A suitable method was selected, namely interactive interviews, from which to obtain data relevant to the Research Questions. Six student subjects from a MTC in Australia, as a selected group of AOG participants, were subsequently interviewed and the data were organized, presented and analyzed. The data analysis and interpretation confirmed the theoretical position taken as far as their overall applicability to values transfer was concerned, namely: the values transmitted are primarily charismatic values, with some lesser emphasis on character values; the sources from which the values come are primarily Christian-influenced; the values are transmitted in AOG contexts because AOG churches, departments and ministries aim to be change agents in the community, to promote church continuance, and to a lesser extent, to motivate their members; the values are transmitted through various AOG communicative methods and through utilizing suitable venues for facilitating transmission. Low-Road conditions (i.e., transferring values across highly similar situations) are utilized; and MTC students choose to acquire values because of their personal interests and passions, including their desire to be accepted within the AOG church. However, the data also indicate that the unique, personal characteristics of MTC students strongly impact on the way they engage with values processes. In short, the students are highly compliant and committed to the church. However, each student respondent has his/her own set of reasons and characteristics for cooperating with church-based values. The dissertation concludes by identifying a number of issues raised by the data, that need further investigation, and by discussing some of the implications arising from the data. Its key finding is that AOG students tend to eagerly acquire church-based values, even though they have different reasons for doing so, and that they present themselves to the AOG church as highly compliant. In this sense, students may be seen as &amp;quotmade in the image of the church&amp;quot.