Sangam: A Confluence of Knowledge Streams

WIGGLING THROUGH IT: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY ON DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES OF UNITED METHODIST CHURCH SECOND-CAREER CLERGY STUDENTS' ROUTES TO MINISTRY

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dc.contributor Dr. Colleen Aalsburg Wiessner, Committee Chair
dc.contributor Dr. Tamara V. Young, Committee Member
dc.contributor Dr. Tuere Bowles, Committee Member
dc.contributor Dr. Julia Storberg-Walker, Committee Member
dc.creator Hansen-Holloway, Mellinda Gay
dc.date 2010-04-02T19:12:08Z
dc.date 2010-04-02T19:12:08Z
dc.date 2008-12-08
dc.date.accessioned 2023-02-28T17:08:19Z
dc.date.available 2023-02-28T17:08:19Z
dc.identifier etd-03272008-181212
dc.identifier http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/resolver/1840.16/5347
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/265670
dc.description ABSTRACT HANSEN-HOLLOWAY, MELLINDA GAY. Wiggling Through It: A Comparative Case Study on Decision-Making Processes of United Methodist Church Second-Career Clergy Students’ Routes to Ministry. (Under direction of Colleen Aalsburg Wiessner.) The purpose of this research is to better understand how second-career professionals choose between a graduate professional degree and graduate level continuing education in order to purse a new profession. Using Student Choice Construct (Paulsen & St. John, 2002; Perna, 2004) as a lens to examine these choices, the study details the experiences of six second-career clergy student’s beginning with their call to the ministry and concluding with their first appointments as ordained clergy members in the United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church recognizes two educational tracks, the Masters of Divinity, which is a professional degree, and the Course of Study, which is a continuing education program. Either track can be used to seek Ordination as an Elder in Full Connection, the highest professional standard for the denomination. Based upon the theory of Student Choice Construct (Perna, 2004), it was expected that second-career clergy would base their educational and vocational choices primarily upon their educational, socioeconomic, familial and professional backgrounds. Instead, the second-career clergy students based their choices primarily upon their call experiences and the United Methodist Church’s institutional requirements for ordination. The participants’ educational experiences were impacted by issues of gender and educational, socioeconomic, familial and professional backgrounds. It was also discovered that the formal education of clergy, regardless of the type of program, only provided the clergy with the theological and theoretical background needed for their new careers. The remaining skill sets needed for their new profession was either learned through on-the-job training or was transferred from a prior profession.
dc.rights I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.
dc.subject theological education.
dc.subject adult education
dc.subject religious education
dc.subject Second-career students
dc.subject call to serve God
dc.subject nontraditional students
dc.subject Student Choice Construct
dc.subject social capital
dc.subject cultural capital
dc.subject human capital
dc.subject economic capital
dc.subject call
dc.subject UMC
dc.subject clergy
dc.subject educational choice
dc.subject comparative case study
dc.subject qualitative study
dc.subject situated learning
dc.subject professional education verses vocational educat
dc.subject route to ordination
dc.subject community of practice
dc.subject United Methodist Church Clergy Education
dc.title WIGGLING THROUGH IT: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY ON DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES OF UNITED METHODIST CHURCH SECOND-CAREER CLERGY STUDENTS' ROUTES TO MINISTRY


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