Research

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Research Paper Template

Introduction

In this section, introduce the who, what, when, where, how, and why of your topic by explaining:

· Why you picked this issue;

· How does secular society view the issue;

· How it has impacted you directly or indirectly;

· What makes this issue a problem/challenge for Christian couples and/or families in the church;

· What (if any) impact it has had on those in your church;

· What are the short-term effects;

· What are the long-term effects;

· What has been done in the past in the church regarding this issue.

This section will be several pages in length. Note that you will not show the “bullets,” and plan on making each item above into its own paragraph.

The final paragraph of this section should be used to provide the reader with a “path” of understanding of why this issue is crucial, what the church needs to be aware of, and what the writer is attempting to do in the paper.

Brief Review of the Literature

This section is where you take the time to review articles from journals and books, providing detail about the issue. These may or may not come directly from pastoral counseling-specific sources, and that is fine. Your job here is to show what research and writing others have done on this topic. You need to have a minimum of 10 resources (more will be better) IN ADDITION to the course textbooks. While this is not expected to be exhaustive research, there still needs to be high-quality academic work here. You should plan on this section being around 3-4 pages by itself, with the information one or two research articles provide being made into their own paragraphs. Sources need to mainly be from books and journal articles, with no more than three (3) coming from online websites (in current APA format).

Brief Review of Scripture

This section discusses how the issue is looked at from the lens of the Bible. Again, this is not an exhaustive review of every scriptural injunction but is used to provide the reader with evidence of how God looks at the issue from a biblical standpoint. It is also understood that not every issue chosen will have direct Scripture references, so it is up to the student to use the context of biblical understanding and worldview to support the premise of the paper. Plan on having a minimum of 5-10 Scriptures (in context) here.

Pastoral Counseling Action Plan

As a pastoral counselor, your job is to work with couples and families in your church, so this section is to provide the reader with an “action plan” of what the writer will do to meet the challenge of working with this issue if it is already in the/their church, or provide an “action plan” of what the counselor will do in the event it becomes an issue in the/their church. Provide an introductory paragraph to this section. The action plan must cover the following three (3) areas (show as level 2 headings: flush left and bold). Each should be a minimum of one to two paragraphs long:

Church Analysis

Seek to answer these questions (place each question in a separate paragraph): What are some of the problems this issue has created, or can create, in your church? How have leaders in the church confronted the issue? If it hasn’t been an issue yet, how do you think they will confront it, based on past actions with other/similar issues? How has the congregation reacted to the issue, or how would the congregation react to the issue (in your opinion)?

Church Evaluation

(Place each question in a separate paragraph): How effective have church leaders been in handling the issue (or past issues, if the writer’s issue has not happened yet in their church) that have affected the church? What has been the consequences (write about both the good and the bad) in the ways the church leaders have handled the issue (or past issues, if the writer’s issue has not happened yet in their church)? Is there are better way to handle the issue?

Church Creating

Propose a biblically based response to the issue, from a pastoral counselor’s viewpoint. It should cover these areas (place each question in a separate paragraph): How should it be done in the church (e.g., as a pastoral message/series on Sunday mornings; a “seminar” done on a Wednesday or Sunday night; over several weeks as an in-home Bible study; done in small groups; done as one large topical group, etc.)? Does Scripture provide a model for dealing with the issue? What are the possible positives of your proposal? What are the possible negatives of your proposal? What is the desired outcome?

Conclusion

Use this last section to wrap-up with an overview of a few sentences explain each of the above sections, and several sentences of other possible research/counseling practice needs as it relates to the issue in the church, and what kind of books, journal articles, trainings, etc., would be helpful for all pastoral counselors who are/may deal with this issue.

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