Research Paper Assignment Instructions

Overview

Without your own understanding of the purpose of suffering, crisis responders cannot truly offer emotional and spiritual care in disasters and provide comfort and direction to others in their suffering and pain. Your own understanding of the biblical teaching on the topic of suffering is your “theology” of suffering. Your theology of suffering not only informs how you personally view suffering in God’s economy but will guide how you respond to victims of suffering, offer them encouragement, and seek to meet their immediate physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Your theology of suffering also informs how you would guide a church as it anticipates disasters and seeks to foster resilience in the church’s leadership, who bear primary responsibilities in the crisis response.

Instructions

This assignment is a research project based on the scholarly literature that includes the following element:

·       Develop your own “theology” of suffering based on a review of at least 10 scholarly sources dealing with the topic of suffering from a biblical worldview

·       In addition, explain how you would consult with a congregation to set up a plan of preparation for pre-incidence disasters describe the important elements of a church’s pre-incident plan based on the class sources as well as outside scholarly sources.

·       As part of the church’s plan, include a strong section on how you would foster resiliency in the pastor and congregation. 

·       The paper should be at least 12 pages in length, but length could vary based on completeness of discussion. Minimum length excludes title page, abstract, and reference section.

·       The paper will follow the current version of APA for formatting.

·       At least 10 scholarly sources in addition to class sources should be included. Acceptable sources include pertinent journal articles and scholarly books. Avoid general web sources.  

As you prepare your paper, please also review the grading rubric.

Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.