Date of Award

2-2023

Document Type

Project Portfolio

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Ekaterina Lomperis, PhD

Second Advisor

Jacqueline Bland, DMin

Third Advisor

MaryKate Morse, PhD

Abstract

The monastic and liturgical tradition and literature of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is underutilized to address the need for spiritual formation and direction ministry. This poses a challenge to Ethiopian Orthodox youth and the laity in general who are struggling to identify their spiritual needs and necessary spiritual disciplines. The goal is to provide practical solutions for addressing these needs and to make the Church's liturgical and monastic traditions more accessible to the broader Orthodox community, thus allowing the congregation to align with the precepts of spiritual formation that have been passed down in the church from generation to generation. Becoming All Flame, an eight week session on Orthodox spiritual formation, explores these spiritual traditions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, in an effort to revitalize the spiritual formation of believers. To address these challenges, I plan to publish a curriculum based on Ethiopic liturgical texts geared towards spiritual discipline along with a training manual for priests and Sunday school teachers. The project also includes a daily meditation for the Lenten season using translations of the liturgically significant hymns of St. Yared the Ethiopian, a famous church composer whose spiritual compositions dating from the 5th century are still used today. This Lenten season, one of the most significant in the Orthodox calendar, allows believers to utilize their fast for their spiritual benefit as they prepare for Easter. Overall, the dissertation aims to demonstrate how the Church's spiritual traditions can answer the spiritual thirst of the generation and provide a deeper understanding of the Church's liturgical monastic spirituality. While the program is mainly designed for Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church members, I hope it will contribute to the ecumenical dialogue on spirituality and that other churches will also benefit from this spiritual treasure.

Included in

Christianity Commons

Share

COinS