Senior Theses
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This is the collection of theses written by seniors.
Recent Submissions
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Unity Among Us? Three Theses on Church Unity: A Hermann Sasse-Inspired Perspective
(2024)In this paper, I intend to posit three theses on the pursuit of inter-church unity, commonly known as ecumenism. Drawing extensively on letters and essays by Hermann Sasse, I seek to distill several ideas from what he ... -
Faith, a Haven for Gen Z's Emotions: A Qualitative Study of How Faith Relates to Gen Z's Emotions
(2024)Gen Z faces unique emotional challenges that stem from a variety of ways in which they are different from generations before them. This paper highlights various challenges that Gen Z Christians have regarding emotions ... -
Orthodoxy is not Dead: The Life and Works of Erdmann Neumeister as a Rebuttal to the Charge of "Dead Orthodoxy"
(2024)One of the critiques of Pietism against Lutheran Orthodoxy can be found in the epithet “dead Orthodoxy,” the idea that an emphasis on doctrine necessarily means a weak Christian life. There is a degree of merit to this ... -
Do This in Rememberance For Those Who Do Not Remember: A Study of the Distribution of the Lord's Supper to Lutherans with Dementia
(2024)For members of the Lutheran church, participation in the Lord’s Supper is the pinnacle of fellowship between communicant, God, and fellow believers. Every time the body and blood of Christ are distributed from Lutheran ... -
Road to Rebellion: Analyzing Bonhoeffer's Theology of Resistance
(2024)Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and theologian who wrote extensively on discipleship, vocation, and Christian ethics. However, he is best known for supporting a plot to overthrow Adolf Hitler during the Second ... -
Sacrifices to Today's Idols: A Christian Reaction to Modern Marketplace Boycotts
(2024)In recent years, Christians have increased their engagement in the economy through tools like economic boycotts. As Christians consider how they use their money in a God-pleasing way in the marketplace, how do they react ... -
Something New Under the Sun? A Lutheran Response to Cancel-Culture
(2024)In recent years, there has been a new phenomenon that has been circling in society called, Cancel Culture. What is it? Is it something that is new or has it been seen before? Is this a legitimate or illegitimate phenomenon? ... -
Modern-Day Moses Mentality: Applying Moses' Call and Responses to God and God's Call to Modern People and their Concerns, Desires and Motivations for Pastoral Ministry and other Careers
(2024)This paper was written with two main goals. The first goal is to find ways to encourage our young students who are thinking about ministry, and even those who are not, in an efficient way that spotlights God’s responses ... -
Lutherans Responding to Crisis: 1529 and 2001
(2024)This paper explores the events of The Siege of Vienna in 1529 and the terrorist attack of 9/11/2001. In both situations, Lutheran voices responded to the two crises: Martin Luther in 1529, and the Wisconsin Evangelical ... -
Campus Ministry Affects the Culture of a Congregation
(2024)The problem this thesis addresses is how campus ministry affects a congregation and its mindset toward ministry. This research aims to analyze the reasons for a congregation engaging in campus ministry and how that ... -
The Voice of our Fathers on the Controversy of the Ministry: The Writings of Abraham Calov and Johann Andreas Quenstedt
(2024)The doctrine of the public ministry has long been an area of controversy between the confessional Lutheran churches of America. Differences between theologians of the Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Synod came to light ... -
The Battle Against the Self: How Philosophy, Scripture, and Physiology Affect Self-Discipline
(2024)As mankind’s culture has shifted throughout history, the conflict of worldly culture and Christianity has always remained. However, in today’s culture we have seen a slight shift in how culture forms identity. No longer ... -
The Garden Temple: Analyzation and Implications of the Relationship between Eden and the Tabernacle/Temple
(2024)The garden of Eden was God’s non-architectural temple of creation. Adam was the first priest. The future blueprints of the tabernacle and temple which God directed to be built were concessions that allowed humans to remain ... -
A Pastor's Guide to Providing Care for his Congregation within the First Year of it Being Touched by Suicide
(2024)Suicide is as important an issue as any for a pastor to be prepared to handle. Over 34,000 people in the United States alone take their own lives each year.[1] Contemporary factors contributing to a rise in mental illness ... -
Academia Cristo and TELL English: Overcoming Challenges with these Mission Efforts
(2024)Academia Cristo is the multi-faceted effort of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) Latin America mission team to spread the gospel and plant churches in the Spanish speaking world. TELL English is a Multi-Language ... -
"Can I Trust This Guy?": Evaluating the Potential for Pastoral Trust-Building in Evangelistic Outreach
(2024)How can a pastor demonstrate that he can be trusted? Today’s world is one in which the concept of interpersonal trust has drastically eroded. Societally, this is a serious issue. For the church, it could prove devastating. ... -
Examination Variability: One size Does Not Fit All
(2024)Examination before confirmation has been practiced since the early centuries of Christian Church history. Even with a practice this longstanding, the Lutheran Church does not have a uniform methodology or purpose for ... -
The “Mumbojumbo” of the Rite of Confirmation
(2024)This thesis aims to define the rite of confirmation used in the Wisconsin Synod. Confirmation is a mixed bag. Throughout history, no one knows what to do with the rite. Many congregational traditions make it almost ... -
The Harvest is Plentiful and the Potential Workers are Many: A Study of Ministry Recruitment in WELS Area Lutheran High Schools and Its Effectiveness among Students
(2024)The Area Lutheran High Schools of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod are ripe fields for ministry recruitment. According to surveys in three ALHSs, 31.28% of the WELS member students have at least considered a ... -
Here Be Dragons: Fantasy, Escapism, and a Christian Response
(2024)Fantasy may be criticized for its lack of practicality or its denial of reality. However, beauty and creativity are parts of creation to be used and enjoyed by mankind before, and fantasy is a valid expression of that ...